ACT OF CREATION

WHILE TEAMING UP ON THE FAVOURITE, STAR EMMA STONE AND DIRECTOR YORGOS LANTHIMOS FORGED AN ELECTRIC CREATIVE PARTNERSHIP THAT SHOWS NO SIGNS OF SLOWING DOWN. WITH ECCENTRIC FEMINIST FRANKENSTEIN FABLE POOR THINGS UP NEXT, THE DUO TALK TO TOTAL FILM ABOUT THEIR 'ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME CONNECTION'.

- MATT MAYTUM

Yorgos Lanthimos might be a world-renowned director but his blocking and cinematography could use a little work. Well, when it comes to video conference calls, that is. It’s June 2023 (before the actors’ strike has been called), and Total Film is logged into a three-way chat with Lanthimos and Emma Stone. Stone’s barely begun her first answer when her attention is pulled elsewhere. ‘Oh no, is it doing the tracking? Did you not turn that off?’ she asks, as Lanthimos shifts in his seat and the webcam automatically pans and zooms to follow him. ‘I haven’t figured out how to turn that off,’ he smirks, much to Stone’s amusement.

The out-of-control webcam seems all the more incongruous trained on a director known for having such a distinct vision (Dogtooth, The Lobster, The Killing of a Sacred Deer). We’ve all dialled in today – Lanthimos from Greece, Stone from New York City, TF from London – to discuss their increasingly fruitful creative partnership, which began with 2018’s The Favourite and has snowballed since.

Though before we can dig too deeply into their partnership, that camera’s causing more chaos. ‘God, almighty,’ cackles Stone, distracted again. ‘Stand up. See what happens.’ Lanthimos obliges and the camera follows him up. ‘We should do an entire film with that,’ suggests Stone, dressed in a casual black shirt, blonde hair tucked behind her ears. ‘No one has to operate and you are always followed.’