I had the pleasure ofchatting withwriter-directorEmerald Fennelland starsCarey MulliganandBo Burnhamfor one of my most anticipated films of Sundance 2020 back in January,Promising Young Woman. While that chat was quite informative and an utter delight, getting the chance to talk about the making ofPromising Young Womanafter actually seeing the film is a completely different experience.
The movie stars Mulligan as Cassie, a “promising young woman” until she dropped out of med school. Now, during the day, Cassie works in her good friend Gail’s (Laverne Cox) coffee shop, but at night, she goes out to bars and clubs, operating as a vigilante of sorts. Cassie pretends to be drunk and simply waits for someone to take the bait - and they always do under the “nice guy” guise, before attempting to take advantage of the situation.
WithPromising Young Womanhitting theaters on December 25th, I got the chance to chat with Mulligan and Cox about their experience working on the film. Not only did they discuss what was unique to thePromising Young Womanprep process and the backstory behind Gail and Cassie’s friendship, but they also took a moment to highlight what a phenomenal leader Fennell is on set, a quality that was vital for Mulligan when bringing Cassie’s story to screen. Here’s how she put it:
“I had complete faith in Emerald from the moment we met, but there was one thing that she was very clear on that set in my mind - I knew that the rest of the film would follow this order. It was like the first meeting we ever had and we were talking about the stripping scene, when Cassie goes to the party dressed as the nurse and Em was sort of describing how the scene would go down; ‘And she would go in and she’d put the bottle down,’ and she was talking me through the whole thing, and then she said, ‘She reaches for her zip, and then the camera turns on the men and then you never see anything. You just see their reactions to it.’ That’s kind of how she handled the whole film. And similarly to Cassie I think, there’s very little in the film where Cassie’s not completely in control. She’s under the guise of being someone who’s out of control. She’s completely in control. And so I think it was all very considered and thought through, so that all felt completely safe. Also, she’s just so funny, Emerald. She’s just one of the funniest people. And she’s a joy as a leader because she’s hilarious and so the crew loved her and all the actors love her. The set was just fun and light, and we took it seriously when we needed to.”
Cox further emphasized the value of Fennell’s sense of humor, and her firm handle on the material as well:
“She’s hilarious. She’s so genuinely funny and just infectious, and I wanna hang out with her all the time. [Laughs] Emerald is just such a good time. She very naturally puts everyone at ease and so there’s a safety in that. She manages to be really funny, but fully in control and in command of everything as well. And so she’s handling things and is on top of everything in a brilliant way, but there’s so much fun with it. So I think that sense of fun, but a clarity to the vision. I mean, she wrote it [laughs], but she’s crystal clear about what she wants and needs in a moment, so that kind of clarity gives me, as an artist, room to play, to understand where we’re going and then to find ways to live in the character while going for whatever it is that we’re going for in a scene or in a moment.”
If you’d like to hear more from Mulligan and Cox, check out the full non-spoiler portion of our chat at the top of this article! Also, be sure to come back to Collider whenPromising Young Womanarrives on Digital. We’ll have more from Mulligan on the ending of the film that you’ll probably want to hear.
Carey Mulligan and Laverne Cox:
