At some point over the Christmas and New Year holidays, an AMPAS member will open up the Academy’s screener app and begin watching Ridley Scott’s “The Last Duel.” The movie has significant buzz among members, but there is one great performance that has somewhat gotten lost in the zeitgeist, Jodie Comer’s impressive turn as the woman at the center of the historical drama, Marguerite de Carrouges. And if enough members of the Academy’s Oscar branch catch the epic (we know the Director’s branch has its fans) Comer could be an Oscar nomination morning surprise.
Based on true events, “The Last Duel” follows three different perspectives leading up to the rape of Marguerite by a French Knight, Jacques Le Gris (Adam Driver), in the 14th Century. The screenplay, co-written by Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, and Nicole Holofcener, frames each of their perspectives as well as that of Sir Jean de Carrouges (played by Damon), Marguerite’s husband and onetime close friend of Le Gris. The case was settled by a jousting duel between the two men with Marguerite’s life inexplicably also on the line.
The “Killing Eve” Emmy winner jumped on the phone earlier this month to reflect on the impact of “Last Duel” but kept circling back to Scott’s incredible filmmaking talents. Anyone who has worked in narrative production might expect a film with so many scenes having multiple viewpoints to take days to film. Scott simply doesn’t work that way. According to Comer, because Scott uses multiple cameras on almost every scene the process was like “lightning speed.”
“It’s crazy. Because when I first started, I was like, ‘Whoa, hang on a minute.’ He’s like, ‘Great, got it.’ And you could have done two takes, and you’re like, ‘Oh, hang on a minute. Did he really?’ But then as you go along in the process and you realize how many cameras are actually rolling at one given moment, and he’s so meticulous, and then. you become more comfortable with it,” Comer says. “And then you feel spoiled because when I think of the scene in the court when she’s being asked all these really intrusive questions about the rape itself and about her sex lives, her sexual preferences, all these awful things, I remember the day that we did that. I think we did three takes in total, but in any other production, you could be spending at least a good five hours on that. Or when you think of the scene of the rape, they were extremely long takes. And if you didn’t have all those cameras in that room, we could have been on that a whole day.”
Comer can’t hider her enthusisam over the process. She loves the creativity that comes with being an actor.
“It’s so much fun,” Comer says. “I mean, we just finished the last season of ‘Killing Eve.’ The amount of days I have on that set, and I’m going, ‘Wow, how silly is this? How fun is this? How crazy is this?’ And we love it. I will never take that for granted. That’s for sure.”
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
_____
The Playlist: I know, you shot this film a while ago, and it came out in October, but it has sort of taken on a life of its own. And I’m sure Disney isn’t thrilled about it, but it’s actually become one of the most pirated films online. Are you aware of this?
Jodie Comer: Pirated?
Yes. Illegally downloaded. Did you know this?
No. No!
I was wondering if you had any idea of its sort of growing sort of fan base?
Well, my dad keeps me informed. My dad definitely has a beady eye on the internet. I was on the phone with him the other day, and he just said, “Oh, have you seen that ‘The Last Duel’ is now kind of … You can buy it online. It’s one of the most-watched films.” And I was like, “Well, that’s amazing.” It’s unfortunate that we couldn’t get more people into the cinemas, but I think it’s great that now people are sitting down to watch the film. That’s amazing.
When the project came your way, what about it was so intriguing about it? What made you want to jump on board?
Oh, gosh. I mean, there were so many factors. I mean, obviously one is to work with “the” Ridley Scott. It’s a very, very obvious one. I think what really kind of drew me when I got the email and I got a kind of summary of the story that it’s loosely based on a book. And I knew I was meeting Ridley, and I didn’t actually have the script yet. So I bought the book to try and see what it was all about. And I was so kind of struck by how much information there was about this event and these men. And there was just so little about this woman who was at the heart of it, who was the one who suffered from this act. And then it was really speaking with Ridley and Matt, Ben, and Nicole, and realizing what their goal was and the format of the script. And this idea of perspective is quite dangerous to me, just to play around with that. And ultimately, her own hero[ism] and actually the only reliable narrator, to give her a chance to tell her side and play around with the perspective. I was actually having to really kind of step out of my instincts from my own character and be of service to the other characters and really try and think about what they needed from me for their stories to be truthful. So, it was a really interesting process.
Obviously, as you mentioned, you have many, many scenes that are shot from those different perspectives. How difficult as an actor was it to play those? Or did Ridley set it up like, “O.K., today we’re doing perspective A. We’re doing tomorrow, even though we’re in the same scene, we’re doing B”?
Yeah, well, we pretty much shot them simultaneously, because, I mean, the amazing thing about working with Ridley, which you come to realize … When you get to set, everyone’s ready to go. You get called to set because everything is set for you. And once those cameras are kind of in their positions, it was very much the case of in regards to those scenes, we do … A lot of the time, we did Marguerite first, which I was really grateful of, especially in regards to the darker scenes. And when you think of the rape itself and the scenes leading up to that, what was really helpful for me about doing Marguerite’s story first was just really establishing the truth and then having to go, “Right. O.K. I’m clearly saying no, I’m clearly protesting. I’m actually moving back. I’m retreating. How can I now make this action look like some form of invitation?” So, that was really helpful in that sense. But yeah, we pretty much shot them one after the other. And it sometimes was very confusing again, because I always felt like I was kind of betraying my character a little bit.
One I’m thinking of the top of my head is the moment where Le Gris and Carrouges meet at the party, and Carrouges tells Marguerite to kiss Le Gris, as a kind of coming together. And we literally shot them one after the other. So, it was a case of going, “Right, whose story are we in? What are we trying to portray?” And then Ridley let me run with that, and we’d just play around with how much we wanted to push it. Because I think that the beauty, hopefully, of the film is that it’s incredibly nuanced in a sense of how subtle it is. But I was really struck by when reading the scenes from several perspectives was like, “Oh, wow, there’s not one line of dialogue that’s changed. This is all going to be relying on performance.” And then you want to make sure that you’re not overdoing it. You don’t want people to get a sense of where you are going before. You always want to be one step ahead, so that was all about just really making sure that we got the level right. So that when the audience is in each perspective, they’re really fully engaged and believing what they’re being told.
You talked about the idea that you were betraying your character. Was it important that you shot her perspective first?
Yeah, no, it did matter more for the scenes in the bedroom and when we were actually coming to film the rape, one for an energy thing and stamina. Because you go to some depth with that emotional stuff. Everyone always will probably say the same thing of like it’s best to get that done, as the energy is high and there’s an awful lot going on. But it really helped me establish the truth and then try and figure out how he could have seen this as anything other than what it is. Like I say, walking away, retreating, how does he see that as an invitation when I’m still saying no? How can I say no, that now may seem like a yes? And even Adam, he is such a great actor and was so respectful and was so on board with getting that version down first. It was an extremely collaborative and playful process in a sense of, there were so many possibilities and ways in which we could have taken it and just figuring stuff out. It can be tricky, but I feel like it was a really rewarding experience.
And, correct me if I’m wrong, you’re shooting with Ridley again, right? You’re playing Josephine Bonaparte in “Kitbag”?
Yeah, in the new year. We’re literally just in prep at the moment, which is really exciting. But yeah, I think any actor who you speak with, who’s worked with Ridley before, he works in such a unique way. He has four or five cameras rolling the entire time. It’s very, very immersive and it kind of feels like theater in a way. It feels very alive, and everyone has to be present because everyone’s on camera. So when the opportunity came up and he brought “Kitbag” to me, there was no doubt that I was going to be a part of it.
I didn’t realize he uses so many moving cameras. Does it make it feel like the production is moving faster?
Oh, yeah. It’s like lightning speed. It’s crazy. Because when I first started, I was like, “Whoa, hang on a minute.” He’s like, “Great, got it.” And you could have done two takes, and you’re like, “Oh, hang on a minute. Did he really?” But then as you go along in the process and you realize how many cameras are actually rolling at one given moment, and he’s so meticulous, and then. you become more comfortable with it. And then you feel spoiled because when I think of the scene in the court when she’s being asked all these really intrusive questions about the rape itself and about her sex lives, her sexual preferences, all these awful things, I remember the day that we did that. I think we did three takes in total, but in any other production, you could be spending at least a good five hours on that. Or when you think of the scene of the rape, they were extremely long takes. And if you didn’t have all those cameras in that room, we could have been on that a whole day. You know?
Yeah.
So there’s something that’s very efficient about the way he works. And it is very quick, but he always gives you the space to try things. I think he enjoys that element of surprise, and he isn’t rushing through it. It’s just, he knows what he’s doing is the truth of it. And he’s confident. It’s like when you work with a director who has that confidence in themselves and the crew and the team that they’re working with, you feel you’re in an incredibly safe space.
Just listening to you talk it sounds like you get excited by the process. Especially when it’s so creative.
Absolutely. Yeah. I feel like that is what acting is. It’s all about creativity, about imagination. I feel like now, what I really gain from the characters I play is like an uncovering or like a discovery of myself. I think that’s really interesting. People often ask you, “Oh, are you left with your characters afterward?” And I don’t think it’s necessarily that, that you can’t shake something off, but I think you discover a lot, especially when you get to work with people like who are on this film, who are top of their game. And you get to witness and watch them work. And that in itself was like a kind of school. You’re always learning, but I love it. I love it. And I love the opportunity to try and get as far away from myself as I can.
It can be fun.
Yes. It’s so much fun. I mean, we just finished the last season of “Killing Eve.” The amount of days I have on that set, and I’m going, “Wow, how silly is this? How fun is this? How crazy is this?” And we love it. I will never take that for granted. That’s for sure.
____
“The Last Duel” is now available on digital and PVOD.