(She in fact would go on to win both the Olivier and Tony forPrima Facie.)
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It feels great.
Jeff held the fort and did press for like around three months, I feel like.
So hes well rehearsed.
I have to say this is the first time Im speaking about the film.
So Im going to have to cast my mind back a lot, but it feels amazing.
I feel like when I watched the film for the first time, I was so energized by it.
What did you think when you first met Kathy on the page of Jeffs script?
I kind of immediately fell in love with her.
She just felt like such a force of nature.
She felt like an incredible storyteller.
And then he said, You know I have 30 minutes of audio of her?
And I was like why have you kept this from me?
Like why dont I have this?!
She doesnt really hold back.
There were so many little things I noticed.
There was just something about her that was a little messy.
I just felt like she led with her gut.
Thats how I felt when I saw her.
I noticed as well she always had her red nails no matter what.
Through the years, she always had like a really hot red color nail polish.
So it was little things like that, that you kind of take what you’re free to.
She had such a perspective into this world.
It seemed like for her, maybe this was a chance of getting a lot off her shoulders.
She falls madly in love with him.
And shes a woman, so its just very different for her.
What is the secret or the challenge of developing a Chicagoan accent?
So it became more about that.
A lot of the vowel sounds werent in a traditional Chicago accent.
So it just became about listening to that nonstop really.
So I found a lot of trust in Jeff.
There were a lot of conversations when I was rehearsing.
Theyre all so tricky.
So theyre all tricky.
It would never get old.
It pulls people in, and I recognize that Kathy had that quality about her.
So definitely, yeah.
Could you talk about Kathys relationship with Tom Hardys Johnny?
But of course that is not the man who she met.
Its that classic thing of you met him, and hes exactly who he is now.
Do you know what I mean?
And then of course Benny has his own kind of complicated relationship with Johnny in the same way.
Johnny has an expectation of Benny and wants him to fill his shoes and commit to this role.
Id met Austin earlier on, and hes such a professional and has such a sensitivity about him.
Its all at the start and it was brilliant, and the same with Tom.
The entire ensemble, I spent a lot of time with Mike Faist, I have to say.
So how fast were you going?
Wellll, we werent really on one.
[Laughs] We were in a whole rig for that shot… [Laughs] Its the magic of cinema.
But he did so much of his own riding apart from that.
Its very rock and roll and seductive for her to experience that for the first time.
It was great to kind of have that moment myself.
Had you ridden a motorcycle before this project?
And everyone was like [gasps], Are you going to ride a motorcycle?
And I was like, No, its not my character.
I didnt even get to wear any leather.
[Laughs] I didnt get to wear any leather.
Whats interesting is Johnny and Benny are trying to play up to the Brando key in.
And in a way, do you feel Kathy is more honest than either of them?
I mean, dont get me wrong.
Whether shes completely reliable is another thing.
Like there is no pretense with her, which I loved.
Shes not very self-aware.
you might see that in the way she dresses.
She just is who she is.
… Its just these guys, you know?!
And he still cant do it.
He was part of it at the time.
Do you see this movie as a glorification of this culture or maybe something else?
Listen, I think its both.
The Bikeriders opens June 21.
