RP: What was your first film?
NA: Lady Macbeth with Florence Pugh and Cosmo Jarvis. Donkeys ago, I was 24, can you imagine? I want to get back to what you’re saying. Suddenly after ten years you’re like, “Oh my god, I’ve been taking this job and the industry so seriously.” If I’ve survived this long, maybe I should take some more risks. I guess we hold each job in such reverence, such high esteem, and yes, when we’re there we completely apply ourselves, but at the same time, play comes from not taking it too seriously.
RP: Then also the more jobs you do, the more comfortable you are in your techniques, but you don’t want to get too comfortable…
NA: Get lazy.
RP: And you only realise that too late, so you’re halfway through a scene and you’re like, “I don’t know where I am.” [both laugh] You suddenly feel completely naked.
NA: What was your favourite…
RP: I should be asking you questions.
NA: I can’t help it, I like asking questions. Come on Rob, ask me a question.
RP: Are there any films or other works of art that have really stuck with you and continue to inspire you?
NA: This is funny actually, because you were in it. I’m saying this because it’s the thing that started me on the journey of acting: Harry Potter. Which, obviously, Cedric Diggory, what a loss – heartbreaking. You know how many times I watched those films? I actually revert back to childhood a lot, I feel like I watch current stuff with such discerning eyes, it feels like I’m working, like, I’m looking at the angles. But all the childhood stuff, reading old Roald Dahl books and Shirley Hughes, Harry Potter, things that make me feel young again and remind me why I wanted to do this. You know when people ask your dream job or what role you’d like to play next? I can never think of it, I used to be like, “I want to play a queen,” or something. But what is that? It’s not a real thing. The thing I want to play doesn’t exist until I find it. So basically I don’t know how to answer your question. [laughs]
RP: I remember saying for ages that I wanted to do a movie about vengeance, but I could never find it and did all this other stuff that was the total opposite of that, and then suddenly The Batman came up and the working title was ‘Vengeance’.
NA: Oh shit.
RP: It’s something you’re trying to find, but it’s not as specific as you think it is.
NA: One hundred percent. In that scenario, the thing I’d like to play is something really gutsy. Because in my life, most of the time I walk around and at some point in the day I just want to scream really loudly. [both laugh]
RP: Every day. [laughs]
NA: I do want to play a character who is fully wild. I was actually writing a script about a woman who – I don’t think I’m going to do it any more so I can say it – a woman who turns into a lizard. Because there’s this animal thing I still want to access and portray on camera in a way that isn’t self-indulgent, but I haven’t figured it out yet. It’s not about female rage or anything like that, it’s just a character who is completely wild. Because I think inside I feel completely wild, [laughs] so I’m looking for something to channel that.
RP: You’ll end up playing a queen who thinks she’s…
NA: A lizard. [both laugh]
RP: That’d be so fun.
NA: It would be! That’s partially why I want to get more into making my own stuff. I started in theatre and I was convinced I was going to be a theatre-maker and have my own theatre company. Obviously then film came and took me down a different route, but I’m just now getting back into the spirit of selling my TV show and producing. I feel like maybe the thing I want to do hasn’t been made, and maybe it needs to be made by me.
RP: Is the TV show the script that I read?
NA: Did I send it to you? Shit, I forgot that I did that. [both laugh] That’s the one, I’ve rewritten some parts and I’m trying to sell it again. Right now, I’m still searching for roles for women that let me do what dudes get to do. You get to do the funnest shit!
RP: The only parts dudes get, you have to get a fucking eight-pack for. [both laugh] That’s my experience. No matter what it is, salmon only. [laughs]
NA: I still can’t believe you only had salmon and avocado. [laughs] Wait, which job was that for? Was it for Batman?
RP: No, it was literally a romantic movie! [both laugh] It was almost totally unnecessary.
NA: That’s so funny. But no, dudes do! It’s hard to put a finger on it. Don’t get me wrong, there are some amazing characters for women, and I think the older I get the better it’s going to get. But I’m not going to lie, I do get a lot of auditions to play the girlfriend who asks, “When are you coming home?”
RP: But what is the guy doing that’s so interesting?
NA: He’s off flying a plane or something, killing guys. I dunno, dude stuff. [both laugh]
RP: Because the more conventional paradigm of what were successful movies is not really working anymore. Almost every actor, even if they’re just starting out, they immediately do movies that go to Cannes or things like that. I think audiences have changed. Most people who are going to watch movies now, they’re so much more accepting of stranger stuff. And the more the audience wants it, the more those parts are going to exist. Up until fairly recently, I don’t know if you’ve noticed this, but the idea of what used to be a ‘commercial’ movie isn’t commercial anymore. Everyone I talk to, for a long time they were like, “Scripts have not been great for a while.” Then suddenly something has shifted and what studios want to make is a little bit left-field. Did you ever read, Pictures at a Revolution, about the movies nominated for Best Picture in 1967? It’s at the end of the old studio system and the beginning of the independents. Now, because everyone doesn’t really know what to do with streaming, they’re like, let’s try something, and it results in some cool stuff.
NA: I really agree and think that Mickey 17 is a prime example. By the way, you’re fantastic [in it]. I remember on the last shoot day, and I kick myself every time I think about it, I gave you a hug and went, “You’re very good at acting.” [both laugh] And then left. That was weird from me, but you are! [laughs] I think it’s a very charming film, that doesn’t go the way you think it’s going to go. That’s what we need more, films that aren’t predictable.
RP: And it’s so cool that it’s a big studio doing it. It’s crazy!
NA: I’ve had so many people come up to me like, “I can not wait to see this film.” I just remembered the days where I’d watch you put the teeth in. [both laugh]
RP: What happened to that tooth?
NA: Was it only one you put in?
RP: Just one tooth.
NA: I went to watch it at a screening room with my team and they were like, “There’s something different about the two Robs but we can’t put our finger on it.” The tooth!
