VARIETY Magazine: Julia Roberts, Andrew Garfield, Ayo Edebiri, and More on AFTER THE HUNT

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In a new cover story for VARIETY, Julia Roberts joins fellow stars of AFTER THE HUNT Andrew Garfield, Ayo Edebiri, Chloë Sevigny, Michael Stuhlbarg, and director Luca Guadagnino to sit down with Co-Editor-in-Chief Ramin Setoodeh about the film’s message and how the cast was thrilled to work with Roberts—and nervous to meet Sevigny. They also discuss a potential sequel to MY BEST FRIEND’S WEDDING, Guadagnino’s adaptation of AMERICAN PSYCHO, Roberts wearing a sweater with Guadagnino’s face on it, and more. 

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Roberts on how she approaches her character in “After the Hunt”:

In the film, Roberts plays Yale philosophy professor Alma Olsson, who finds herself in the middle of a scandal when her favorite student, Maggie (Edebiri) accuses another professor, Hank (Garfield), of sexual assault.

“The hardest part for me was not being sympathetic and empathetic. For me as a person, it’s like, ‘Oh, how can I hold her?’ And she was not to be held. This was not the time. I have a very hen-like personality; I want to gather, and I want to feed and care. And she’s just the opposite of every instinct I’ve ever had in my life. And I think there were times where I just found it really exhausting; the mental gymnastics of the way she lives her life is very unfamiliar to me. So having Luca keep me on the right rails at all times. And then, it’s a playground. I don’t mean to single you out, Michael, but I go into these scenes with Michael, and I just turn to Luca and I’m like, ‘Are you fucking kidding me?’ What he’s doing is so unexpected and original, and I’m just watching him. I’m not even in the scene anymore, because it’s so fucking unreal what you’re doing right now.”

Sevigny and Guadagnino on working with Roberts:

Sevigny: “Can I say when we left, I needed more Julia. On the plane ride home, I watched, like, three of your movies. I just wanted more!…‘Notting Hill,’ ‘My Best Friend’s Wedding’ and I can’t remember the third. But I was like, ‘I just want more Julia!’…I was like, ‘I’m not ready to say goodbye.’ Luckily there’s a whole canon I can go home and keep watching…I felt close to her the first time I met her. But she invited us to her home for rehearsals, and we stayed in her beach house. And she was just very giving and generous.”

Guadagnino: “You have to know something about Julia. She’s an incredible cook. She does an amazing salmon, but she also does an incredible banana bread…The point being that Julia is, like, amazing. She’s a friend, she’s a mother, she cares for people. Spending time with her in their private life is amazing. Being in the house is amazing. Doing things with Julia is amazing, and then she shows up on set. And the day after, she knows every single person in the crew’s name, and it’s not an affectation. She’s actually curious. She wants to know. You knew every single person before I did…And I have a last, lovely thing. We went to promote ‘Queer,’ and we went to San Francisco, and Julia hosted a screening for me and Daniel [Craig]. And then she brought me banana bread. We were staying at your house, me and the production designer Stefano Baisi…And we were sharing their bathroom. And then we left for Italy. And in the morning, there was a banana bread. Two loafs. So I ate one with Stefano, and the second one we took, and we were at the lounge waiting, and the staff of the lounge came to me: ‘Oh, it looks very beautiful.’ I said, ‘Try it.’ They came back, ‘Who did this? This is the most beautiful banana bread.’ They don’t know it was Julia’s banana bread, but people were starstruck by the banana bread.”

Roberts on being both excited and intimidated when meeting Sevigny with her daughter, Hazel:

“But I was so excited and intimidated about meeting Chloë. And when we were at my house, we’re all sitting around the kitchen table, and Hazel was making herself some lunch, and we’re talking about the material and rehearsing. Allan [Mandelbaum], our producer, he came in, and he goes, ‘Chloë should just be here in a couple minutes.’ And I look up, and Ayo looks up, and we match eyes. Luca goes, ‘What?’ And I go, ‘I’m scared.’ And Ayo goes, ‘Me too.’ And Hazel goes, ‘I’m leaving.’ And then, like a minute later, the doorbell rang, and Hazel goes, ‘I’m leaving through the garage.’ And truly we were so excited and intimidated.”

Guadagnino and Sevigny on whether she’ll be in his new adaptation of “American Psycho”:

Guadagnino: “I don’t talk about ‘American Psycho.’”

Sevigny: “I pitched that I should play the same part.”

Guadagnino: “The answer is if the movie happens, for sure.”

Roberts, Edebiri, and Guadagnino on a journalist interpreting “After the Hunt” as “anti-feminist”:

Roberts: “I made a meal of it.”

Edebiri: “I thought you answered it very well.”

Roberts: “I mean, everybody’s going to have their own opinion. That’s what’s so great about it.”

Guadagnino: “Can I say something? Two things: One, a movie with these sublimely powerful female characters, how can that be described as anti-feminist? The second thing I want to say: Historically, feminism, as we know, has gone from places in the world and affirmed amazing forward thinking through history, but also created many different waves of feminism. But what I’m trying to say is the idea that something is anti-feminist is a bit generic, and also is so devoid of the pleasure of watching the movie, because look at the fucking movie and enjoy the story of these people. Don’t think about a generic thing that doesn’t exist, historically, socially, philosophically. So it’s a lazy question.”

Roberts: “No, Luca … [She laughs.]”

Edebiri: “But I do think the women who are portraying these women are deeply intelligent and deeply empowered. When I sit at this table and I look at Chloë and I look at Julia, these are not just girls who are like, ‘Yeah, do whatever you want.’ That framing takes away our agency as well, and it takes away nuance, and I don’t think that that’s fair to any of us.”

Guadagnino and Edebiri on whether they think calling “After the Hunt” a movie about #MeToo is fair:

Guadagnino: “I think it’s a bit of a lazy way to describe it. It’s a passé way of thinking.”

Edebiri: “I think it’s also like saying, ‘“The Godfather”’ is a movie about an Italian wedding.’ There’s so much richness happening in the lives of these characters, genuinely, and that boggles my mind.”

Guadagnino on whether Amazon MGM was concerned about the message of the film:

“This was my fourth movie with Amazon. They released ‘Suspiria’” then ‘Bones and All,’ then ‘Challengers.’ We are never in a place where there is a prescription from the studio: ‘Do this, and we’re going to be happy.’ I can promise you that the creation of the movie, and then the campaign to release the movie, has been made with passion.”

Roberts and Guadagnino on Roberts’ sweater with his face on it:

When Roberts arrived at the Venice Film Festival, she wore a sweater with Guadagnino’s face all over it. However, Guadagnino had no idea.

Roberts: “I made that happen. I might have a few more surprises as the tour goes on. I’m currently wearing Chloë Sevigny’s underpants. You know, Luca was so excited about coming to Venice, so that was my way of arriving, literally, with Luca on my sleeves.”

Guadagnino: “She sent me a picture in the morning in the boat. I thought, ‘How sweet. A beautiful picture.’ And then I go, ‘What’s that?’…I was on set because I’m shooting a movie. I started to laugh. And then an hour later, I started to be bombed by messages.”

[Photo Credit: Xavi Gordo for Variety]

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