SCAD Savannah Film Festival 2022: Eddie Redmayne, Jenna Ortega Red Carpet Interviews
The SCAD Savannah Film Festival began this weekend celebrating its 25th-Anniversary with exciting programming and screenings. Kerry Condon accepted the Distinguished Performance Award following the screening of The Banshees of Inisherin, Ron Howard accepted theLifetime Achievement in Directing Award following the screening of Thirteen Lives, Eddie Redmayne accepted the Virtuoso Award following the screening of The Good Nurse, Jenna Ortega accepted the Breakthrough Award following the screening of X, and Jeremy Pope accepted the Distinguished Performance Award following the screening of The Inspection.
Additional guests in attendance were actor Kayli Carter(SCAD Alumni, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), director Eric Appel (WEIRD: The Al Yankovic Story), director and film critic Elvis Mitchell (Is That Black Enough for You?!?), director and writer P.J. Palmer (North Star), director and writer Brett Wagner (The Big Bend), actor David Sullivan (The Big Bend), cinematographer Paul Atkins (The Big Bend), director, writer and producer Ahsen Nadeem (Crows Are White), cinematographer Gabriella Garcia-Pardo (SCAD Alumni, The Bardia), director, writer and producer Tom Huang (Dealing With Dad), director and producer Kayla Johnson (Fenom), producer Ariel Hairston (Fenom), and film subjects Kia Brooks and Ameen Brooks (Fenom). Additionally, the film subject of The Good Nurse, Amy Loughren, was in attendance alongside Eddie Redmayne.
During the festival, Blackfilmandtv.com spoke with Eddie Redmayne about his latest film The Good Nurse and with Jenna Ortega on her most recent project, Ti West’s X.
In playing Charles Cullen in The Good Nurse, do you try to find the humanity in him outside of what’s in the book and the script?
Eddie Redmayne: Yeah. This man did horrific things. But with Amy Loughren, who is the Charlie’s friend, and is the character that Jessica Chastain plays, we were lucky enough to spend time with her before we started filming. And it was his humanity that she kept reaffirming; his kindness, the fact that he saved her life, his humor, his self deprecating wit, and that there was another character that she met only twice and this thing glazed over him and it was a different human being. So for us, part of us wants to see this person as a monster and what he did was monstrous. But as an actor, when you're playing as a character, you should go in looking for their humanity.
How was working with Jessica on the project?
Eddie Redmayne: I love Jessica Chastain. I can't speak highly enough. I had massively high expectations going in and she's superseded even those. She's incredibly rigorous. She doesn't take her work home with her. She's passionate. She's funny. And also we had similar processes, which was kind of wonderful because it meant that going into making this film and it is an intimate piece, we knew we were on the same page and telling the same story.
From Scream to X, what's been the joy of having a great year so far?
Jenna Ortega: Thank you. Yeah. It's weird to look at it that way. Because I just love my work. And I'm so happy. I'm so fortunate to do what I do. And I feel very lucky, working on the jobs that I've worked on recently that are very creative, and creatively fulfilling to me in a way. So it has been a really good year. But I can acknowledge my privilege, and obviously I'd love for it to keep going. But in the meantime, creatively, I'm feeling really good. And that's a joy.
What was your experience like on X?
Jenna Ortega: X was definitely one of my more favorite experiences, I shot in the beautiful and wonderful New Zealand, which I've never been in that environment before. And it's absolutely stunning. I worked with really, really talented people that I was learning from every single day that I was on set, and a diverse array of actors. So it was really, really special to me. And I had actually been a fan of Ti West for a long time, he’s very original. When I read the script, I knew that it was something that I had to be a part of, and I just couldn't believe I was there.
What did you take from his direction that you can take on to your next project?
Jenna Ortega: Something that really moves me about Ti and what makes him stand out from the rest is that he writes, directs and edits. He's a part of all of that. I've never worked with someone who had so much creative control one but also was so sure what they wanted. So to have somebody who was very direct and straight with you, but also incredibly kind and to work with someone who knows the world that they've created so well is so reassuring as an actor because you know that they're not going to lead you astray. He's not going to stop filming until he gets what he wants. So it was nice having that comfort and knowing there's someone who's so sure.
Celebrating its 25th year, the SCAD Savannah Film Festival and competitions provide SCAD students with opportunities as unique as the selected films. This year, the festival received more than 1,500 submissions for the competition series. During the festival, students from every academic discipline connect with leaders from the entertainment industry through master classes, coffee talks, lectures, workshops, and panel discussions. Savannah, a premier film hub in the Southeast, promotes quality movies produced by independent and studio filmmakers.