With its captivating stories and attractive actors, Hollywood is frequently portrayed as a glamorous and enchanted place. What takes place in the background, however, may not always be charming. This may be the case with Lily James, who spoke candidly about her experience working on the psychological thriller Rebecca alongside Armie Hammer.
Netflix’s latest gothic thriller, Rebecca, is not a remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1940 film, despite the fact that it is based on the same book. Based on the 1938 novel of the same name by Daphne du Maurier, his film starred Laurence Olivier as Maxim de Winter, a wealthy British man who invites his new young bride, Joan Fontaine, to his Manderley estate, where he and his late wife Rebecca resided.
Now, Ben Wheatley is the director of Netflix’s Rebecca, a movie that stars Armie Hammer as Maxim and Lily James as his second bride.
Also read: 7 Most Notable Lily James Roles
Lily James’ Experience Filming Rebecca with Armie Hammer
Lily James, best known for her performances in Cinderella and Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, embraced the chance to play the mysterious lead character in Ben Wheatley’s Rebecca. Armie Hammer, famous for his roles in Call Me By Your Name and The Social Network, played Maxim de Winter opposite her.
As the plot demanded, Rebecca has a spooky atmosphere that seemed to scare the cast and crew, as James noted when speaking to The Guardian:
“Towards the end of making it, I started getting this thing where my heart was beating so loudly that you could hear it. It’s really scary. All of a sudden, you become very, very aware of your heartbeat and you can feel it going really fast.”
The actress continued by revealing that Kristin Scott Thomas, who played Mrs. Danvers, her ruthless adversary, told her that she had the same experiences around her age (via The Guardian):
“And when you look at the psychological aspect of the book, and the darkness and the twistedness in it, it suddenly made sense.”
Scott Thomas also thought that Alfred Hitchcock, who helmed the 1940 film Rebecca, was likely subject to similar scrutiny when he decided to adapt the book. She told Variety:
“I imagine when he made his film, they were probably saying the same thing, ‘How could you make a film of this novel? There have been many adaptations since then of the novel, so I don’t really think about it that much. Yes, it is a beautiful film and I admire it very much and I’ve seen it many times, but I think ours is just a different take. It’s a different approach.”
Lily James Wasn’t Aware What Was ‘Coinciding At The Time’
The plot of Daphne du Maurier’s novel was ambiguous, and Lily James portrayed Mrs. de Winter as a shy girl who became a bold woman after learning information about her husband’s past. Even the cast and producers of the movie, according to the Baby Driver actress’ statement to The Guardian:
“People felt differently about it – there were so many readings.”
It was crucial, she emphasized, for the movie to be able to
“Keep those difficult areas and let people decide whether it is a great love story, or whether it is about an abuser and a victim.”
The dramatic change has an effect on their mental health because they have to accept the turbulent emotional journey of their characters. James noted (via The Guardian):
“I think I got a bit sucked into the vortex. I didn’t know which way to turn at times. It was the mindset of the character: it really got under my skin – the insecurities, the questioning herself and the paranoia. I think I let that overtake me a bit sometimes.”
After the filming of Rebecca was finished, the actress, 34, acknowledged feeling an unexpected sense of paranoia and dread as she told The Guardian:
“And I didn’t know who to trust. It was creepy but it was also… I don’t know what was coinciding at the time.”
Armie Hammer, meanwhile, revealed to Variety that he had not seen Alfred Hitchcock’s movie or read the book before committing to the new film:
“I kind of went into it with a clean slate but then when I got hired, I read the book. Ben Wheatley said, ‘Just don’t watch the movie. I don’t want you to do what Laurence Olivier did. We’re doing our own adaptation. It’s going to be different. It’s going to be modernized’.”
Sam Riley, Keeley Hawes, Ann Dowd, and Kristin Scott Thomas were also featured in the movie. Critics gave it varying ratings and unfavorable comparisons to Hitchcock’s 1940 version in their reviews.
You can stream Ben Wheatley’s Rebecca on Netflix.
Source- The Guardian; Variety
