When you were first pitched this story, what really clicked for you? Was there a moment or scene that really convinced you that you wanted to make this?
Peter Cattaneo: Well, it’s based on a memoir, and I think what felt really exciting was that you would never dream up this set of facts.
What is it like finally bringing a film into the world after you’ve been working on it for close to five years?
Gints Zilbalodis: It’s been very intense, and very strange, sitting in a room by yourself for such a long time and then going to twenty or thirty places and meeting crowds of people.
This is a wonderfully imaginative film that has so much to say. Can you talk about your adaptation process?
Bong Joon Ho: So I first read a ten page treatment of the novel, and I was just immediately fascinated by the concept of human printing.
Anora is such an intense and ferocious character, but there’s an understated vulnerability. How did you weave that into the performance?
Mikey Madison: I always saw her as someone who was deeply vulnerable on the inside but is constantly protecting herself by covering it up with anger and spunk.
Jesse, what inspired this story? I understand it was a long road for you, between the initial idea and getting it up on the screen.
Jesse Eisenberg: Yeah, I’d been, like, sitting with the seeds of this movie for twenty years.