Amy Adams talks ‘Nightbitch’.
Opening in theaters on December 6th is ‘Nightbitch’, which was directed by Marielle Heller (‘A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood’), and stars Oscar-nominee Amy Adams (‘The Fighter’, ‘American Hustle’), Scoot McNairy (‘Speak No Evil’), Zoë Chao (‘The Afterparty’), Mary Holland (‘Senior Year’), Ella Thomas (’Desperation Road’), Roslyn Gentle (‘Bombshell’) and Jessica Harper (‘Minority Report’).
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Amy Adams about her work on ‘Nightbitch’, developing the project as a producer, her approach to playing her character and the difficulties in her marriage, and the challenges of working with children and dogs.
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Amy Adams in ‘Nightbitch’. Photo Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2024 Searchlight Pictures All Rights Reserved.
MF: To begin with, can you talk about developing this project as a producer and the themes you wanted to explore on screen as an actress?
Amy Adams: Well, I read the novel before there was a screenplay, so I was brought early on to produce it with Sue Naegle and Annapurna Pictures. Then, we immediately got Mari (director Marielle Heller) on board and Mari’s unique perspective and how she brought that unique tone from the novel into the screenplay. I thought the tone was unique. I thought it dealt with so many important issues. It brings up not only motherhood, parenthood, relationships, community, generational trauma, all these things, of course, that I love to dive into. I really wanted to tell this story.
Amy Adams in ‘Nightbitch’. Photo Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2024 Searchlight Pictures All Rights Reserved.
MF: Can you talk about the frustrations that your character is having with her husband and motherhood in general?
AA: I think as we find her in the film, she’s at this place where she and father (Scoot McNairy) haven’t really communicated effectively how there would be an equitable division inside of the home. She’s taken on the bulk of responsibility of parenthood. What I love about what Mari’s done with the film and how Scoot McNairy plays the father is that he really isn’t the antagonist of the film and nor is motherhood the antagonist. There’s always a conflict of, and I think that feels so human and so true, between feeling lost and feeling like you’ve lost yourself and yet loving the new life that you could create, but not knowing how important communication and community is through that. Again, I think Scoot does such a wonderful job of playing this husband because he is so loving and invested. He just doesn’t know what’s going on and she hasn’t been able to communicate the truth and the depth of her frustration and her loss of self.
Amy Adams in ‘Nightbitch’. Photo Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2024 Searchlight Pictures All Rights Reserved.
MF: Finally, there is an old saying that you should “never work with children or animals,” and you do both in this film. What was that like for you?
AA: I said that making this movie was a lot like having a baby. Now that I’m done, I’m like, “It was not hard at all.” But I think in the moment, if I’m really being honest, there were some challenges, but it was such a wonderful experience. These boys, Emmett and Arleigh (Snowden), they’re these twins that we worked with, were so open and kind of reminded me of the natural give and take of acting that sometimes can get away from me in bigger themes. It kind of brought me back to the play of acting, and it was a lot of fun to work with them. They were so beautiful and the whole set rallied around the experience. We had the prop master constantly bringing new things for them to play with, and Mari down here talking to them. It was a full community working with these kids.
“Unleash the beast”
A woman, thrown into the stay-at-home routine of raising a toddler in the suburbs, slowly embraces the feral power deeply rooted in motherhood, as she becomes increasingly… Read the Plot
What is the plot of ‘Nightbitch’?
The film concerns a magical realism-style story of a stay-at-home mom (Amy Adams) who sometimes transforms into a dog.
Who is in the cast of ‘Nightbitch’?
Marielle Heller on the set of ‘Nightbitch’. Photo By Anne Marie Fox, Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures © 2024 Searchlight Pictures All Rights Reserved.
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