A few days before its release, the actors spoke about this film that focuses on the 1920s and will deal with the excesses, ambition and decadence of several stars of the time
“A story of enormous ambition and scandalous excesses, it traces the rise and fall of multiple characters during an era of decadence and unbridled depravity in the early days of Hollywood,” says part of the review that already saw Babylon before its arrival in theaters on January 19.
In this film, written and directed by Damien Chazelle (winner of the 2017 Oscar for La La Land), the story will focus on the 1920s and will deal closely with the transition from silent film to sound films. However, it will not only attract attention for its plot but also for the leading duo. While Margot Robbie plays the self-destructive silent film star Nellie LaRoy, Brad Pitt - the eternal Hollywood seducer - takes on the role of Jack Conrad, another icon of the era inspired by John Gilbert and Douglas Fairbanks. Two artists who are going through a rough patch in their professional careers.
And although the actors have taken on all kinds of characters throughout their careers, both agree that it has been quite intimidating to film certain scenes. The first to speak about it was Robbie, who in a chat with her colleague Carey Mulligan for Variety's Actors on Actors series, told what her first reaction was when she received the proposal: "When I read the script, I thought: 'This is like if La Dolce Vita and The Wolf of Wall Street had a baby, and I love it!'" she confessed, laughing, who finally got the role after Emma Stone refused to play it due to scheduling issues.
And even though the proposal was super tempting, the actress immediately made reference to the obscene nature of the film, something that initially made her blush. While Carey described the opening scene as “a hugely debauched, crazy, wild party,” where people are practically naked, the actress agreed and admitted: “It’s more or less an orgy of a party (...) I was like: ‘Can we show that? Are we allowed to show that? ’”
“There were so many scenes where I was like: ‘I have no idea how I’m going to do that. ’ Also, I was wondering: ‘Are we going to get away with it? ’” added the actress who finally dared to take on the challenge. When Carey revealed that she had seen the film with her mother, Margot joked: “Everyone should see Babylon with their parents. It won’t be awkward at all.”
To film this sequence, the protagonist confessed that, in addition to the requested dancers, there were many friends of hers, since “it was important to have a party atmosphere throughout the film.” “Base camp was a little party going on. I was like, ‘I need it for Nellie, I need her to never have a quiet minute, to never get better,’” he warned.
But Margot wasn’t the only one to share her shyness about certain sequences that will be seen on the big screen. Her co-star, Brad Pitt, also confessed that the amount of nudity on the set was “shocking”; even for him who has been in this for years and has played all kinds of characters. “There is so much energy in this. I am surprised how much Chazelle (the director) was able to fit in and not improvise, but fit in with grace. This opening party scene is amazing, of epic proportions,” said the actor in an interview given to Total Film.
After assuring that viewers will recognize actors and performers with whom they are familiar, Pitt added: “And when they see someone new, they will experience it for the first time as we do in the film.” Before its release, the film already has 5 Golden Globe nominations and 9 Critics’ Choice Awards nominations.
