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How easy is it at the end of the day to leave that character behind?

MA: … I like to stay with my characters a bit, because it allows me to learn more about myself and the experience. Working with Paul has taught me a lot about the creative process and about being a better listener and person, because he takes every opinion with such curiosity and respect. Hopefully I can apply that in my personal and professional life.

MB: … Mostly with my characters I can get into them and then go, “Okay, what’s for lunch?” …

MK: I’m more on the side of, “Hey, what are we having for lunch?” too. This is purely my own take on it. I will live it for those 20 minutes that I’m on set that I need to live it, but it’s called acting for a reason. This is just me. There are people that are very close to me that use a very different method, but that isn’t me. I feel like if I am emotionally drained at the end of the day, I did a good job, but I don’t want to keep living it. I want to go home and have a glass of wine and go to bed. And in this film I was so emotionally drained at the end of every day that I was like, “Oh Lord, Jesus Christ I just want to go home!” I was just tired. You don’t even have the energy to be, “I want to go with my depressed character home.”

Then I go to work the next day and it’s, “Here I go again!” But it’s great. It’s a selfishly gratifying thing, but for lunch I was ready to eat lunch and snap into it. And also I do a lot of homework before I come to set. My script will have a thousand words on it that will ultimately never make sense to me six months later and then I show up to set and disregard it and just go with the flow of it. Then it’s more of a dance with your partner on set. Otherwise it’s acting against a white wall if you come in and go, “This is what I’m going to do with this speech pattern…” then you’re done and putting yourself six feet under. I show up and see what everyone else does. But I am not a trained actress, I did not go to Julliard, no one should listen to me ever. This is what works for me and probably nobody else (laughs).

Speaking of process, you each have a very interesting relationship with a man in the film. How did you go about creating them, because you only are with them in a short amount of time, but we still feel the arc of the relationship.

MK: James [Franco] and I’ve known each other for a long time, so we were very lucky that we didn’t need to build chemistry, but I know we met in [Paul’s] apartment in Italy and talked about the relationship between the two of us. I wouldn’t say it was hard. I’m sure everyone had a relationship that they wish went different and didn’t go as well as planned, and there are still repercussions and in this case the repercussion is a child. So again, it’s about going back to the first question that it’s all relative.

PH: Every set of actors I’ve dealt with differently. Usually I think if an actor has done their homework and understands the scene, they can act it. Just maybe you haven’t been clear to what we are trying to get to, so I’d walk them through to understand it.

MA: I have three men I have to relate to in the film. It’s interesting, because sometimes men get shy doing certain things, because they respect you and there was a scene where [Vincio Marchioni] had to put his hand underneath my top and he felt very uncomfortable. I explained it to him that between takes, we are free to do whatever we want. After that there is a whole different set of rules and we needed to show in a very short amount of time a history. What helps me sometimes is other people… and sometimes you are in such a magical space with an actor that you forget [the after] and you have a hand on your breast and it does feel humiliating, because another man is watching.

MB: I worked with [Adrien Brody] on the phone and I was going to be on set for our phone call scene, because I’ve only met him once for five minutes, but I had strep throat and a hundred degree fever so I just remember being in my bed trying to talk to him and not be friendly. But he was lovely.

MK: Paul is very passionate so when he loves it he will scream and when he hates it, he’ll let you know that you are shit. Either way, you will know. There’s no question. So his confidence will inspire you to take these weird risks that are sometimes awful, but in a weird way great. It’s the greatest thing to hear versus a director who is, “Uhm, I don’t know, well…” where we are both confused and don’t know what to do. He’s a very confident director and I respond well to that.

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