Zoë Kravitz reveals the inspiration behind her provocative thriller Blink Twice

Zoë Kravitz shed light on what inspired her to start writing her psychological thriller, Blink Twice, which examines the power dynamics between men and women.

While gracing the cover of W Magazine's Fall Fashion Issue, the 35-year-old actress explained that she felt compelled to tell this story following the Me Too movement, which exposed the dark side to Hollywood. 

'In the summer of 2017, I had come to a place of frustration with society and culture power dynamics,' the Big Little Lies star revealed. 'I went home one day after talking to a friend, and I wrote down the original title of the film: P**sy Island.'

She continued: 'Then—when was it? October, I think, when everything happened with Har— [Harvey Weinstein], actually, I don’t want to say his name. I don’t want to give him any power.' 

This resulted in her penning a 'short, stream-of-consciousness story' that eventually became a script, which she co-wrote with E.T. Feigenbaum.

'This was something that needed to come out,' Kravitz explained. 'I wanted this thriller to be bright and beautiful—so beautiful that it was almost oppressive. I was interested in a world that is seductive and vibrant and then turns into something terrifying.' 

She continued: 'The sun, if you’re in it too long, burns you. If you eat too much, you feel sick. The thing that you think you want can be the thing that destroys you.' 

As for taking on the role of director, the daughter of Lenny Kravitz and Lisa Bonet said her friends and family weren't too surprised. 

'Everyone said, "You are a control freak, and you’re super bossy—directing is perfect for you,"' she recalled. 

From an early age, the High Fidelity alum was a natural-born performer. 

'The first movie I fell in love with was Grease,' she recalled. 'I drove everyone crazy with the songs, with leather jackets, talking about Danny Zuko. I would put on shows in my grandmother’s or my mom’s house. I’d perform songs with my cousins.' 

Zoë noted she would 'put on shows in my grandmother’s or my mom’s house' and perform with her cousins.  

'I would cut up little tickets—I’d make the family pay me money!' she mused. 'I was like, ‘It’s one dollar to get in.’ They’d say, ‘We live here; this is crazy,’ but they’d give me the dollar."' 

While looking back at shooting Blink Twice at a resort in Mexico in just 26 days, the star admits she and the rest of the cast and crew 'were like this weird, culty summer camp group.'

'I bought 10 pairs of Patagonia shorts in different colors. I wore dresses sometimes, and I was really into loafers with socks. And hats. My ’fits were pretty cool. I didn’t think about it a lot, but when I looked back, I was like, "These are pretty cool."' she noted. 

When speaking about her style, Zoë stressed that she feels 'comfortable shoes are necessary in life.'

Last month, her fiancée, Channing Tatum, praised Zoë on her directorial debut and revealed she's 'such a nerd for movies.'

Channing said on a typical day off they watch three or four movies a day, adding: 'Like we just love it.' 

He also revealed Zoë had been working on the script for seven years. 

He continued: 'I think she started writing this seven years ago while she was in London on a movie because she had a lot of downtime on the film.

'And it was called P**** Island. The original draft. And I think those were her first two words on the cover page. She didn't even know exactly what it was going to be about but she knew it was going to be called that.'

Channing went on: 'I just am so in awe of her process because even the first script that I got that I read, I knew that it was, like, wildly bold and taking some of the biggest swings that I've ever even seen.' 

He said her passion for the project was so strong that she can't stop working on it. 

He added: 'I'm like, the movie's done. ...It's going to come out. And after the movie's going to come out this weekend, you know, it's not going to be here in our space anymore. And she just, ...she's just dogged and relentless and I'm so proud of her.'

Blink Twice, which was released in theaters last week, took home $7.3 million at the box office.