(Left) Alicia Vikander in ‘The Assessment’, a Magnolia Pictures release. Photo credit: Magnus Jønck. © 2024 Number 9 Films Assessment Limited, TA Co-Production GmbH, ShivHans Productions, LLC, TA2022 Investors, LLC, Tiki Tāne Pictures, LLC. Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures. (Right) Fleur Fortuné, director of ‘The Assessment’, a Magnolia Pictures release. Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures.
Opening in theaters on March 21st is the new science fiction thriller ‘The Assessment’, which was directed by Fleur Fortuné and stars Oscar winner Alicia Vikander (‘The Danish Girl’ and ‘Tomb Raider’), Elizabeth Olsen (‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’), and Himesh Patel (‘Yesterday’).
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Alicia Vikander and director Fleur Fortuné about their work on ‘The Assessment’, the themes Fortuné wanted to explore, Vikander’s approach to her character, the challenges of performing her child like qualities, and how Fortuné created a visually unique world on screen.
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(L to R) Alicia Vikander and Elizabeth Olsen in ‘The Assessment’, a Magnolia Pictures release. Photo credit: Magnus Jønck. © 2024 Number 9 Films Assessment Limited, TA Co-Production GmbH, ShivHans Productions, LLC, TA2022 Investors, LLC, Tiki Tāne Pictures, LLC. Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures.
Moviefone: To begin with, Fleur, can you talk about your first reaction to this screenplay and the themes that you wanted to explore as a director?
Fleur Fortuné: I think my first reaction, I was like, “Whoa.” Because I felt like I was on the edge of my seat, and even though there was a lot of work, I could see how far I could bring it, and there were so many topics that I found interesting. I think the chamber piece, I love that some of my favorite movies are chamber pieces, even though some are very different. The idea to create an absurd test to decide if people could have kids or not, I didn’t think I had read that idea before. Then the sci-fi element, I could see how I could bring it into a place that was different. So, I think if I read the script and suddenly a lot of ideas come up, I think it’s a good sign.
MF: Alicia, when you first read the script, what was your initial reaction to Virginia, and did you approach playing her?
Alicia Vikander: You’re trying to figure out what this woman’s intentions are and what she might be coming from and if there’s any hidden agenda you don’t know about. I think that was a joy taking on a character like that. But then it’s almost roles within a role. I knew I was able to have this character step into many different versions of herself. Within that, I knew I was going to be able to stretch my acting abilities and do something quite different from anything I’ve done before. So, it was a daunting project, but one that I very much enjoyed.
Alicia Vikander in ‘The Assessment’, a Magnolia Pictures release. Photo credit: Magnus Jønck. © 2024 Number 9 Films Assessment Limited, TA Co-Production GmbH, ShivHans Productions, LLC, TA2022 Investors, LLC, Tiki Tāne Pictures, LLC. Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures.
MF: As an actor, was it challenging to tap into the character’s childlike qualities, or did you find it freeing to be able to go to those places?
AV: I think one of my joys that I love is that It’s like child play. I’ve always loved stepping into characters, trying to get to understand certain behavior, people, emotions, actions, even though you know, they’re questionable. I think when you come to the end of the story, too, I had enough of getting to the core of this character to really know where it all kind of comes from. So, it’s not that it’s anything just plastered on top. Even though it might not look like it at first, it really is kind of grounded from somewhere so that I could begin a journey from there and then do as players on like high-end loud notes as I was able to do in this film. It was work I enjoyed.
MF: Finally, Fleur, can you talk about the challenges of creating this visually unique world on screen?
FF: Very early on when I was reading the script, I always try to think on how I can do it in a different way in something that you haven’t seen before. Because it’s three characters in a room, I didn’t want it to be too cold and too blank and too minimal. I was talking to the production designer and when we were scouting Tenerife, which is a volcanic, very windy, and kind of threatening at the same time. So, you start to think from the story and the universe, the fact that there’s no forest, so you don’t have wood. We were building that, little by little, that. Then I wanted Mia’s universe, each one of them, Virginia, Aaryan, to have to feel the character within the place. They live in a certain way. So Aaryan, I think he’s scared of everything that is real. So, he creates things in the world that feels like completely virtual when there’s like nothing. Mia, she’s the opposite. She has access to a technology that is very advanced, but she chooses to repair and fix stuff and touch things in a very raw and real way. I think the place where Virginia lives that you discover later, you understand a lot there. I wanted to have a lot of her own history and her character and who she is behind the state employee and all that. So, I think it comes from the story, and then you create it visually.
“Would you pass?”
In a climate change-ravaged world, a utopian society optimizes life, including parenthood assessments. A successful couple faces scrutiny by an evaluator over seven… Read the Plot
What is the plot of ‘The Assessment’?
In the near future, prospective parents must pass an initial test to prove their suitability for parenthood, and then endure a seven-day live-in visit from a facilitator known as the assessor who will put them through the wringer in all kinds of imaginable and unimaginable situations where, at the end, they will either get a passing grade — or not. Mia (Elizabeth Olsen) and Aaryan (Himesh Patel) are assigned an assessor named Virginia (Alicia Vikander), and as they begin the uncomfortable tests, their relationship begins to crumble.
Who is in the cast of ‘The Assessment’?
Alicia Vikander in ‘The Assessment’, a Magnolia Pictures release. Photo credit: Magnus Jønck. © 2024 Number 9 Films Assessment Limited, TA Co-Production GmbH, ShivHans Productions, LLC, TA2022 Investors, LLC, Tiki Tāne Pictures, LLC. Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures.
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