Oscar-nominated German director Werner Herzog set down in Venice Film Festival on Thursday with Golden Lion contender Bucking Fastard, in the company of its stars Kate and Rooney Mara and supporting cast members Domhnall Gleeson and Orlando Bloom.
The Maras play Jean and Joan Holbrooke, two real-life sisters who were so close that they spoke in unison, loved the same man, had the same dreams and made the same slips of the tongue.
Gleeson plays a man who attempts to help them to adapt to modern life after they become a tabloid sensation, while Bloom plays a rowdy ex-lover.
Herzog revealed that Lord of the Rings star Bloom had been upset with him after he captured his main scene in just one take.
“What a pleasure to work with him. He was actually upset because we worked so fast. I did one take of a very long, long thing in the witness stand, and it was that,” said Herzog, addressing Bloom at the press conference.
“It was my largest scene in the movie, and we did one take and you said, ‘Great, we got it’,” replied Bloom, explaining his disquiet.
Herzog continued that he had understood Bloom’s upset and as a result brought him back to do three more takes.
“I do understand you, and I apologize that I was too fast maybe, but it’s the spirit of the film, like open heart surgery, going to the essentials right away. One camera, one take, that’s it. Or maybe two or three takes, with the sister’s highly, highly technically complex.. to speak in unison. Two takes, maybe three takes, and that was that.”
Later on in the press conference, Herzog heaped praise on Bloom saying he had been a joy to work with, adding that he had wanted to put the actor in an unexpected role.
“I was so much looking forward to work with you, and it came with such natural ease,” said Herzog. “I wanted you to step far out of what you are known for, the heartthrob of teenies. Now you are the ‘Bucking Fastard’. You had to shoulder the title.”
Bloom said shooting with Herzog had been liberating and magical.
“Werner really creates this sort of sacred space, almost for magic to happen… He has such drive and passion and almost obsession towards making films. And we’ve seen that in everything that he’s done,” said the actor.
“My Best Fiend was a movie I watched with such passion to see the creative process in its finest form,” he continued, referring to the Herzog’s 1990 documentary about his tumultuous friend with Klaus Kinski. “When Werner claps the clapperboard, there’s just a feeling of freedom and because it’s such a small and unique experience, it creates a magical moment. That is what we dream of.”
The film is based on the true story of two inseparable sisters living on the fringes of society, whom Herzog first met more than 40 years ago.
He said the long gestated project had hit a wall as he grappled with how to capture the two sisters who spoke as one on the big screen. He credited UK producer Jeremy Thomas with coming of the idea of casting Kate and Rooney Mara.
“It was dormant for decades, and then when it became clear that I would have actresses who were sisters, it was clear it had to be done. The screenplay came very easily. I wrote it in five days, and it’s a complete invention.”
The Maras said that the process of playing the inseparable sisters had come together easily once they were on set because of their strong relationship in real life.
“At first it was very daunting the idea that we were going to be kind of playing this same person, but I think we found pretty quickly that having a lifetime together and all this history and you know, a childhood of playing together, there was just an unspoken world between us that we didn’t have to work very hard to create at all,” said Rooney Mara.
“Once we found our flow together… you know, I’ve never laughed so much. We had so much fun and yeah, it was a very once in a lifetime, very unique experience.”
Venice regular Herzog was at the festival last year to receive its Golden Lion Life Achievement Award from Francis Coppola, who has been his friend since he time spent in L.A. in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Ahead of tonight’s world premiere, Herzog expressed regrets that another old friend from L.A., David Lynch, who died in January 2025, would not be in the audience.
“We had a deep, deep understanding of each other’s work, although we were quite different… I had the feeling I wish he could be my first audience… I wish we could turn the wheel of time back and invite him tonight. But it doesn’t happen like this,” said Herzog.
English (US) ·