Unless you’ve been lucky enough to attend a number of select film festivals over the past few months, it’s highly unlikely you’ve seen Joachim Trier‘s fantastic “The Worst Person In The World” yet. And chances are you won’t see it anytime soon as NEON, its U.S. distributor, has also decided to release it in theaters this February. That’s unfortunate as it’s the sort of film that could use theatrical buzz as awards season heats up. And it’s even more disappointing for one of the most deserving and biggest underdogs in the Best Actress race, Renate Reinsve.
The winner of the Best Actress prize at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, Reinsve gives a breakout performance in Trier’s unconventional but moving romantic comedy. As Julie, Reinsve portrays a twentysomething Oslo woman trying to find herself while primarily dating a significantly older man (Anders Danielsen Lie, another performance that deserves real accolades). The 33-year-old actress has been working steadily for over a decade and previously had one line in Trier’s own breakthrough 2011 film, “Oslo, August 31.” She would have never imagined their collaboration a decade later would find her called to the stage to take the top acting honor at, arguably, the world’s most prestigious film festival.
“I kind of just collapsed into my lap. And I was thinking, ‘I have to get up,’ like ‘People, you have to get up,'” Reinsve recalls. “And I said out loud, ‘Shit!’ I didn’t think anyone would hear it, but because it was far away from the microphone, but the microphone picked it up. So, my friends were like; we heard you say, ‘Shit’ very loud. And I was just overwhelmed. I was shaking and crying. It was like the biggest thing; it was so huge for me. And I never, ever thought that would ever happen, of course. So, I’m still like in my old house walking past the award. I’m passing it; it just kicks me in the stomach. It still brings me back to the amazing situation.”
In another timeline, Reinsve would be receiving the social media campaigning that fans are bestowing on Kristen Stewart and Lady Gaga for their performances this year (without any of Gaga’s fans even seeing “House of Gucci” yet). But “Worst” is not getting the attention it deserves despite critical acclaim and increasing members of the media touting it as one of their favorite movies of the year. There are some guild screening invites going out, but for a film that should be pushing for numerous Oscar categories, it’s absolutely getting left behind. And at this point, too many of you reading this will just see it on a plane.
Ah, the movie and awards industry in 2021.
In the meantime, perhaps this conversation with Reinsve will convince you to search it out somewhere. Or if you’re an AMPAS member to consider watching it for International Film Oscar consideration or other categories (it will be on their screening site at least). And maybe you’ll remember Reinsve when you inevitably see her cast in an English-language picture in the next year or so.
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The Playlist: I saw the film at Cannes. It has been one of my favorite films of the year ever since.
Renate Reinsve: Oh, really?
On the day of the awards, the festival usually asks potential winners to return if they’ve left town to attend the ceremony. Did you have any hint that you were going to win?
No, we didn’t know anything, but we had to take a plane that morning because I was back in Norway. If we were called back, we needed to take that plane just in case. But we almost didn’t get on the plane because we were like, “Come on, we’re not going to win anything.” And then we came back, and at the airport, they started inviting films back. So, we were sitting there for like one and a half hours, chain-smoking cigarettes, being very nervous. And then they said our film was invited back for the ceremony, but we didn’t know what . It was just like rumors here and there. So, I was very quiet and frozen the whole day until they called my name in the ceremony.
Do you remember what your reaction was?
I kind of just collapsed into my lap. And I was thinking, “I have to get up,” like “People, you have to get up.” And I said out loud, “shit!” I didn’t think anyone would hear it, but because it was far away from the microphone, the microphone picked it up. So, my friends were like; we heard you say, “Shit,” very loud. And I was just overwhelmed. I was shaking and crying. It was like the biggest thing; it was so huge for me. And I never ever, ever thought that would ever happen, of course. So, I’m still like in my old house walking past the award. I’m passing it; it just kicks me in the stomach. It still brings me back to the amazing situation.
Well, you totally deserved it. So, congratulations.
Thank you.
I know that the first professional credit you have was working on Joachim’s film “Oslo, August 31.” And you only had one line in the movie?
Yeah.
Did you stay friends? Or was that just a coincidence and you auditioned with a number of other actresses for this role?
No, I remember him saying like, “Wow, you have to do a lead [role].”And that was my first experience ever. And it was just that one line. I didn’t really believe it, I was like, how can he say that? And we stayed in touch, but like very randomly. Oslo is very small. But we would always get into conversations about existentialism, and life, and love. And we were very aligned on the chaos of love, and the messiness of our relationships, and ask a lot of the same questions. So, I’ve done a lot of theater in Norway, and had big parts there. So, he knew that I could do it, I guess. But I think the combination of those two things is why he wrote this for me.
I haven’t had the chance to speak to him yet. Did he tell you if Julie is based on anyone he knows?
Oh yeah. It’s all fiction, but it’s of course, like every other script, it’s taken from someplace. So, he and Eskil are wondering, and asking questions about these situations. Having imaginative situations to like ponder upon what love is, and how to decide anything in life.
The film includes these great vignette moments that take your character out of reality. Whether Julie is on shrooms or the moment where she turns the light switch off and everything has come to a complete stop around her. I wanted to ask about particularly the one where you’re running through the city, and everyone is just standing still. How hard was that to pull off?
I had a very big operation. I love that he wants to do it old school. He loves cinema. He wanted to do it without the CGI, and everything. So, he would close off the most busy street in Norway and put up extras who had trained to stand still in a specific way. And I would run through, and we had to do two shots, and then start the traffic again. But we all felt like this was an epic scene that we were in. It was so much fun. It felt so unreal.
When you read the script for the first time, and I don’t want to necessarily spoil it for people who haven’t watched it yet, but were you surprised at the ending?
No, I felt it was a very right ending. But yeah, you’re right, you’re spoiling it, aren’t you?
Well, not necessarily. I can edit it. [Note: It’s not spoiled]
I think the ending is very, very right. That transition she goes through is very powerful. She kind of settles in herself, and I like that ending.
In terms of working on set, how was Joachim as a director?
So, the thing is that he puts a lot of resources into the film. Unlike any other film I’ve worked on. Like the art of it. And the conversations, and how to make the scenes be alive. So, it’s a lot of rehearsal, and a lot of planning or like searching for what the scene is about. And it’s a lot of very specific work on the scenes. So, that on the day when we’re on set, we can be really, really free, and we can try different variations. But that’s a very thorough work before that.
That’s fantastic. Was there one particular scene, or any moment in the film that when you read the script you were most concerned about as potentially being more challenging than others?
It’s a lot of scenes. The thing I was most scared of in doing the role was not getting the nuances. Because the scenes are so rich, and the character is so complex that I can’t really say who she is or what she is. She is where she is in those situations, in the dynamic with the other person. So, I read the script a hundred times just to be sure I had all the nuances of every scene, and the emotions she goes through. I feel like that work of being very thorough, and that made it possible to also be very free, and that her emotions change very swiftly because she’s [going through] a lot in every scene. So, that was the overall most challenging thing.
When you finally saw the finished movie what surprised you the most?
That it was so warm and so funny. I think I’ve seen Joachim’s films before, and they are more going towards the, I don’t know, darker themes. This is also going through the dark themes but in a much lighter, more funny way. I laughed much more than I thought I would.
It’s so good in that respect. My last question for you before I let you go, I know that Cannes just was a couple of months ago, and this might be naive to ask at this point, but do you feel like the spotlight on the film has changed your career? Do you feel like you’re getting opportunities already that you may not have had before?
Well, the thing is that it’s not many people have seen the film yet, so that’s a lot of rumors, and talk and the people who are seeing it has very strong reactions. And that’s amazing to see how people connect to the material as much as we did. It’s of course amazing. And that’s why I want to be in this, to be in those stories together. I talk of course to a lot of people that are so good at what they do now. And also across Norway, like everywhere, like producers and casters, and directors. I’m very privileged to have conversations with them. And we’ll see when the film is out, what will happen. I don’t know.
“The Worst Person in the World” opens on Feb. 4.
