Mia Goth Was ‘Terrified’ Filming ‘Pearl’ Because She ‘Never Went to Film School’
Samantha Bergeson
3 min read
Mia Goth Was ‘Terrified’ Filming ‘Pearl’ Because She ‘Never Went to Film School’
Mia Goth may not have a film school degree, but she’s well-versed in her cinematic influences.
The “X” actress made her film debut in Lars von Trier’s “Nymphomaniac” in 2013 and now lands her first screenwriting credit with “X” prequel film “Pearl,” in theaters September 16. To portray the titular teen dreaming of stardom, while hiding slasher tendencies, Goth looked towards Björk in “Dancer in the Dark” and Bette Davis in “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?” as inspirations.
Pearl and West also drew from Michael Fassbender’s extended monologue from “Hunger,” directed by Steve McQueen, for a particularly taxing scene. But the scariest part of playing Pearl proved to be the loftiness by which Goth and co-writer/director Ti West set out to capture her breaking point, rather than her bloody outbursts.
“I was really terrified to shoot [the monologue], because I never went to film school,” Goth told W Magazine. “I didn’t have any tools to gear myself up to something like that.”
Director West scheduled the scene towards the end of production, which Goth called “a great move, because the emotional turbulence Pearl had gone through up until that point, and the intensity of what that shoot required from everyone, helped and informed the monologue that that came that day.”
Working alongside West and co-writing “Pearl” “became truly one of the most creatively fulfilling experiences of my life,” Goth added.
IndieWire’s Kate Erbland praised Goth’s “dedication” to playing Pearl in the prequel film, writing that Goth is “doubtless an extraordinary performer.”
The “X” trilogy rounds out with the upcoming installment “MaXXXine,” picking up with Goth’s final girl from the first feature. Director West previously told IndieWire’s Eric Kohn that the third film will be “about how home video has affected people” in the 1980s.
“I’m very proud of these,” West stated. “They’re super different and very out-of-nowhere. You won’t need to see one to see the other, but they do complement each other.”
He added, “I’m trying to build a world out of all this, like people do these days. You can’t make a slasher movie without a bunch of sequels.”
West continued that the driving force behind the “X” trilogy is to involve viewers in the filmmaking process and history of cinema as a whole, much like Goth’s guerrilla-style film school experience.
“I wanted to do something where all of the crafts of the movie were very apparent charms of the movie. So part of the reason they’re making movies in this movie is to get the audience to have a crash course on the clumsiness of what it’s like to make a movie,” West explained. “And then hopefully they’ll think about what I’m doing in the movie-movie, and they’ll be a little bit of appreciative of what it’s like to make the movie for the people and for me.”
West noted that Goth was the first person he met with for the dual roles of Pearl and Maxine.
“She just had a real grasp of what the movie was. She had supreme confidence,” West said. “I could sense her ambition and drive. I liked that confidence. It meant to me that she was going to totally own the characters and would make it fun to play them off each other.”
Related News & Content
-
How to optimize ‘select found_rows()’ query? Several ‘high load average’ alerts daily
How to optimize 'select found_rows()' query? Several 'high load average' alerts daily,I have 5,000 regular posts, 6,000 posts in one post type and 2,000 posts in another post type. Needless to say, that has made the wp_posts table quite large. Not to mention, I have custom taxonomie... -
How to Use JSON With AJAX?
How to Use JSON With AJAX?,I've defined a PHP callback function to handle the communication between server-side and client-side: function json_render_modal_body() { check_ajax_referer( THEME_PREFIX . '-modals', 'nonce'... -
Filtering context for render_block function
Filtering context for render_block function,I am trying to use render_block within a function called from the WP admin via AJAX The render_block returns null/empty however if I run my function using the wp hook returns the rendered HTML for ... -
How do I hide submenus from the top menu bar?
How do I hide submenus from the top menu bar?,My website is wiki-style and has a lot of pages that should only be reached through links on other pages. Having these all accessible from the top menu bar under their respective headings leads you... -
Register users without confirmation
Register users without confirmation,I'm looking to register users without requiring confirmation of their emails (and even better, no password when they register). Basically, I want them to subscribe their mails using wp registration -
How to use AJAX in wordpress front end?
How to use AJAX in wordpress front end?,I have two inputs in an HTML Widget block on a post. What I need to do: send the inputs (from the html widget) value to AJAX, construct and execute a query, render a table with the results back on ... -
Display posts from Custom Post Type, group by term, arrange term groups and arrange items within groups by menu order
Display posts from Custom Post Type, group by term, arrange term groups and arrange items within groups by menu order,I have a Custom Post Type 'my_cpt' and a custom taxonomy 'types' which has several terms, all of which have posts. I want to do is be able to control both the order of the groups (terms from my cus... -
How do I know if the custom theme is a child theme or a full-custom theme?
How do I know if the custom theme is a child theme or a full-custom theme?,Inherited a custom built WordPress site. How do I know if the theme it uses is a child theme or a full-custom theme? I would like to delete the unused themes for security and to free up space, but ... -
getEntityRecords/useEntityRecords: How to use CPT metadata?
getEntityRecords/useEntityRecords: How to use CPT metadata?,I use getEntityRecords as described in the official data API tutorial (https://learn.wordpress.org/lesson/retrieving-wordpress-data-records/). I.e.: const [searchTerm, setSearchTerm] = useState... -
Carol Kirkwood stuns in figure-hugging dress amid BBC Breakfast technical chaos
Carol Kirkwood stuns in figure-hugging dress amid BBC Breakfast technical chaos,CAROL Kirkwood stunned in a figure-hugging dress amid a technical blunder. BBC Breakfast was flung into chaos this morning after a string of sound issues. However Carol, 61, was all smiles as she p… -
Families ‘to sue prison’ where loud inmates ‘terrorise kids’ with screaming
Families 'to sue prison' where loud inmates 'terrorise kids' with screaming,Residents living next door to a new prison who say their kids have to sleep wearing headphones and some leave during weekends due to the racket are threatening to sue the prison service -
Doctor Strange’s Secret Wars Role May Be More Important Than You Thought – Looper
Doctor Strange's Secret Wars Role May Be More Important Than You Thought - Looper,According to entertainment leaker Alex Perez, Doctor Strange will find himself confronting his inner struggles as he headlines "Avengers: Secret Wars." -
Blondshell and Bully Team Up For New Single “Docket”
Blondshell and Bully Team Up For New Single “Docket”,Blondshell has teamed up with Alicia Bognanno of Bully for the newly released single "Docket." Listen to the track here. -
I’m a clown for not trying Korean beauty secret for glowy skin sooner – don’t worry, I’m not putting cheese on my face
I’m a clown for not trying Korean beauty secret for glowy skin sooner – don’t worry, I’m not putting cheese on my face,A BEAUTY influencer has regrets about not trying out Korean beauty advice for glowy skin sooner. Although the trick can look a little strange at first, she assured viewers that she was not putting … -
‘We are at risk’ – health expert in urgent warning for Irish people over Easter
‘We are at risk’ - health expert in urgent warning for Irish people over Easter,AN URGENT warning has been released to those jetting off over the Easter break. With measles already on the rise, there is an increased risk of a more widespread outbreak in the coming weeks. Trave… -
Black Holes Are Even Weirder Than You Imagined
Black Holes Are Even Weirder Than You Imagined,It’s now thought that they could illuminate fundamental questions in physics, settle questions about Einstein’s theories, and even help explain the universe. -
The odd history of on-hold music
The odd history of on-hold music,We've all been put on hold when we've tried to reach someone. Have you ever thought about the music that plays while you wait? -
‘What Jennifer Did’: Netflix doc explores shocking Ont. murder-for-hire case
'What Jennifer Did': Netflix doc explores shocking Ont. murder-for-hire case,Most of Jennifer Pan's entire life was made up of lies. When her parents began to catch on, she decided to bring in hired hitmen. -
Martin Scorsese to Spearhead Doc Series on Christian Saints for Fox Nation
Martin Scorsese to Spearhead Doc Series on Christian Saints for Fox Nation,Martin Scorsese signed a deal with Fox Nation to host and executive produce an eight-episode docudrama titled 'Martin Scorsese Presents: The Saints.' -
Man Accusing CPAC Chair Matt Schlapp of Sexual Assault Was Paid $480,000: Report
Man Accusing CPAC Chair Matt Schlapp of Sexual Assault Was Paid $480,000: Report,The GOP strategist who accused Matt Schlapp of sexual assault last year reportedly received a hefty financial settlement to drop his lawsuit against the CPAC chairman.
