This interview with Rachel Weisz and Kitty Hawthorne of “Dead Ringers” first appeared in the limited series/TV movie issue of TheWrap awards magazine.
Rachel Weisz appears in nearly every scene in “Dead Ringers,” Amazon Prime’s six-episode reimagining of David Cronenberg’s seminal 1988 film about codependent twin gynecologists. Jeremy Irons played both brothers in the original, and in the new limited series produced by acclaimed British playwright Alice Birch, Weisz pulls double duty, playing Beverly and Elliot Mantle, brilliant obstetricians whose symbiotic relationship proves untenable when one of them falls. . in love.
So, Weisz doesn’t just appear in almost every scene, he appears in almost every scene. twice.
“It was the biggest acting challenge I’ve ever done,” Weisz said.
To film scenes featuring both twins, Weisz acted alongside Kitty Hawthorne, usually playing Elliot first while Hawthorne played Beverly. They would shoot, switch roles, and film the scene again. And for Weisz, Hawthorne (who also plays the feisty mother of the twin babies in flashbacks) was much more than a stand-in. “I had a brilliant partnership with Kitty,” Weisz said. “We were really partners.”
We spoke to both actors about their experience.
Rachel, you had to choose your scene partner carefully to make “Dead Ringers” work. What made Kitty right for the job?
Rachel Weisz: Kitty had not yet graduated from Guildhall Drama School. So she sent in an audition tape and did the scene in the diner that opens the show. She did Beverly and Elliot, and she was a phenomenal actress. She made bold, fabulous and interesting decisions. And I couldn’t see the performance. And then she and I did Zoom. She is full of life and energy and is very intelligent.
Hawthorne Kitten You’re making me blush, Rachel.
Kitty, this is a first job for a recent drama school graduate.
Hawthorne: I was so excited. I had my final show on a Friday and then flew to New York on Saturday. It was like a dream. it was insane. The writing is so amazing, everyone involved is so amazing. In drama school, we didn’t do a lot of screen work, so this felt like boot camp of screen work every day, just learning how to do it the best way from the best directors and the best actors. I also learned about the importance of tea on set. We drank a lot of tea.
Weisz: Yes, yes, tea. That’s my acting crutch. I need PG Tips around just to feel like all is at peace in the world.
Rachel, not only do you play two very different twins, but you play twins who pose as one another to confuse other characters. How did you wrap your head inhabiting both sisters?
Weisz:I worked with Alice for quite a while before we were in the writers room and before the writers went on the script, so I had an idea of their differences. It took many weeks of sitting in my office with the door closed, delving into the characters and straining psychologically to find them because they are clearly different human beings whose lives revolve around each other, but they are radically different. So I prepared them separately.
Hawthorne: It was all about the script, right, Rachel? Even the way the characters scored [their speech], which changes the breath. I didn’t have that much time to prepare. I think I had about a week before we started, so I was learning the lines as fast as I could. That was my main concern.
Going back and forth in scenes with many other actors, for example, did you ever get confused about which twin you were playing?
Weisz: Never never. No. I mean, it’s just chalk and cheese. Right, kitty?
Hawthorne: Never never. They are so different.
There’s a scene in an elevator where Elliot keeps swiping on Beverly’s phone and she just calmly ignores him, over and over again. Was it difficult filming that, synchronizing the time?
Weisz: Did we have, like, ringing in our ear?
Hawthorne: Oh yeah, we did. I forgot about that. All I remember is that we were wearing really big rings and it hurt when we hit each other. [Laughs]
Weisz: Generally, we learned to start with Elliot in any scene when they were both there because Elliot sets the pace. She’s more mobile, more volatile, whereas Beverly is more still and quiet and will fit into what Elliot does. So I guess we start with Elliot. He was technically very challenging because we were going beyond the limit of split screen. So we pulled aside and then oh my gosh my brain hurts thinking about it. [Laughs] It’s amazing, isn’t it? Then when I was being Beverly, I had to imagine getting hit because her hand didn’t really go in. So she winced when I heard the beep.
Hawthorne: I also think about those massive dinners. Technically, they were difficult because there was a lot of overlap. [dialogue], and I wasn’t allowed to be on the audio track, but I still had to suggest the lines with my body because they were cues for other actors. And that makes for a huge puzzle.
Weisz: Yes, 12 people around a table and then an exchange of cufflinks.
Kitty, you also play the mother of the twins in flashbacks, when she suffers from postpartum depression. At what point did she know that she would also play that role?
Hawthorne:It was always part of the deal, I think, that Alice would write a part for whoever did it. [the scene-partner] job. And then Alice had the really smart idea of having me play her mother because she knew the twins so well. She felt good that she was playing her mother. And they cast my real-life boyfriend to play my husband, without me realizing it. So that was, like, the coolest thing in the entire world.
Weisz: Nobody knew. He got the job and Kitty said, that’s Brandon [Bassir)]This is my boyfriend.
Espino: We trained together in drama school, so it felt like a real full-circle moment. It was lovely.
Read more of the number of limited series/TV movies here.
