‘A Talent for Murder’ Interview: Helen Mirren and More

(L to R) Alden Ehrenreich and Helen Mirren star in 'A Talent for Murder'. — (L to R) Alden Ehrenreich and Helen Mirren star in ‘A Talent for Murder’.

Opening in theaters on October 23rd is the new thriller ‘A Talent for Murder’ which was directed by Anton Corbijn (‘Control’).

The film is based on the play ‘Switzerland’, which tells a fictionalized story about author Patricia Highsmith, who wrote ‘The Talented Mr. Ripley’.

The new movie stars Oscar winner Helen Mirren (‘The Queen’), Alden Ehrenreich (‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’), and Olivia Cooke (‘Ready Player One’).

Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Helen Mirren and Alden Ehrenreich about their work on ‘A Talent for Murder’, Mirren’s approach to playing Patricia Highsmith, Ehrenreich’s experience working with Mirren, their characters’ unique dynamic, and collaborating with director Anton Corbijn on set.

Related Article: Helen Mirren and Pierce Brosnan Talk ‘The Thursday Murder Club’

Helen Mirren in 'A Talent for Murder'. Photo: Bleecker Street and LD Entertainment. — Helen Mirren in ‘A Talent for Murder’. Photo: Bleecker Street and LD Entertainment.

Moviefone: To begin with, Helen, can you talk about the challenges of playing a character based on a real person in a completely fictional story? Did that give you a certain freedom to create the character however you saw fit in a way that you couldn’t if the film was based on a true story?

Helen Mirren: No, Jami, honestly, I felt it was incumbent upon me to be as precise and as real a manifestation of Patricia Highsmith as I could manage. Because she was such an interesting, complex, and amazing character, why not? If you have a character like that from real life, and I’ve always said, truth is more interesting than fiction. When you investigate real people, their eccentricities, their complication, their neurosis, their history, their passion, it is always absolutely fascinating to me. So, I tried to not reproduce Patricia Highsmith, but I paid a lot of attention to the way she looked, the way she sounded, and the way she moved. I thought that was very important. Otherwise, we’re making a film about just two invented characters. What’s the point? She was such a strong character, why not try to do that as much as possible? But you’re absolutely right, it’s not a documentary.

(L to R) Helen Mirren and Alden Ehrenreich in 'A Talent for Murder'. Photo: Bleecker Street and LD Entertainment. — (L to R) Helen Mirren and Alden Ehrenreich in ‘A Talent for Murder’. Photo: Bleecker Street and LD Entertainment.

MF: Alden, can you talk about Edward’s initial encounters with Patricia, their dynamic together and what it was like creating that on screen with Helen?

Alden Ehrenreich: Well, so much of the appeal of this movie and the two things that were the most exciting, was the opportunity to work this closely with Helen and then also these opportunity to play these two characters. So, we rehearsed for a week, a year in advance of shooting, and then the movie fell apart and then it came back together. We came back, we did a day of rehearsal and then I went to Rome and shot all the Ripley scenes. So it was useful in the sense that I had in my bloodstream what the Ripley thing was. So, all of the stuff that happens between Edward and Patricia is really this journey of Edward stepping into his inner Ripley, so to speak.

'A Talent for Murder' director Anton Corbijn. — ‘A Talent for Murder’ director Anton Corbijn.

MF: Finally, Helen, what was it like collaborating with director Anton Corbijn on set?

HM: Well, I have to say, I was so lucky to have Anton as we were so lucky to have Anton as our partner. Because his approach to work is both workmanlike and inventive, and that’s exactly what you want to have as an actor. I felt very much that it was a partnership between the two of us. I’m not saying we’re technical, but we both understand the technical requirements of filmmaking, which are quite stringent. We had a very short amount of time. It was the most intense film experience I’ve ever had in terms of acting on film, because we were doing so much work in such a short space of time, in such difficult physical circumstances, shooting in one small space. It was incredibly demanding and intense. You could only get through it with a director who was as strong and as committed and as funny. It was the four of us really, Anton, Robbie Ryan, our cinematographer, and Alden and I. We were like this intense team, just working, working, working, and there’s no time to think about it. We didn’t have the time to think or discuss. We just had to do it. I think that was very valuable in many ways. What you see on the screen is considered, of course, but it’s incredibly instinctive as well from everybody’s point of view.

Alden Ehrenreich in 'A Talent for Murder'. Photo: Bleecker Street and LD Entertainment. — Alden Ehrenreich in ‘A Talent for Murder’. Photo: Bleecker Street and LD Entertainment.

What is the plot of ‘A Talent for Murder’?

A young man (Alden Ehrenreich) travels from New York to Switzerland to try to persuade acclaimed thriller writer Patricia Highsmith (Helen Mirren) to write one final installment of her Tom Ripley series, with his efforts gradually turning more sinister.