Colin Farrell and Jamie Lee Curtis’ recent Variety Actors on Actors interview ended up being probably the loveliest and most fruitful conversation. On the surface, the two films they’re promoting – The Banshees of Inisherin and Everything Everywhere All at Once – don’t appear to have much in common. But they both find the sublime in the ridiculous, and they both feature significant scenes involving fingers.
Curtis says that she didn’t initially understand the Daniels’ comedy movie script, which is hardly surprising, given how complex it is – and the fact that it involved an emotional and romantic scene involving hot dog fingers.
Curtis says; “What surprised me was when we did the hot dog universe, because both of our movies involve fingers and hands. But when Michelle and I met, and the Daniels talked about the hot dog universe, I didn’t understand. I didn’t understand the movie. And I was trying to figure it out.”
Curtis continues; “And then we went into the set and what happened, which was so beautiful, was Michelle and I just found this gorgeous emotional place with each other.” Farrell chimes in with; “Fluidity.” And Curtis continues; “It was just a beautiful dance with her. And that’s that level of finding reality within a universe that looks so bizarre, and yet it’s not bizarre at all. At the end, you believe everything about it.”
Farrell says; “Because it gives shape and form to the ridiculous. And the ridiculous is something we all contend with. Life is very ridiculous. I don’t know why or how I’m on the right side, so far, of wrong. The world is so unfair and imperfect. I don’t know why we’ve gotten to where we are. But some of the ridiculousness in the world is joyful.”
And Curtis concludes with; “By the way, if you’re going to write a book, that’s the title. The Right Side of Wrong.”
Both Farrell and Curtis are hoping to be Oscar hopefuls in 2023, along with the stars of many other drama movies.