‘Kinds of Kindness’ Willem Dafoe Reveals What It Was Really Like on Set

After a huge awards season with Poor Things, the release of Kinds of Kindness this week, and the announcement of his next feature, Bugonia, filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos is keeping busy. This means the actors he likes to work with — Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Willem Dafoe — are also reading scripts, hitting rehearsals, and heading back into production soon. So, what is the set of a Lanthimos movie really like? The Academy Award-nominated director is a visionary who creates topsy-turvy realities that blur the everyday with whimsy or, in the case of Kinds of Kindness, “very dark, heavy themes” and black humor. During this interview with Collider’s Steve Weintraub, Plemons and Dafoe give us a peek behind the scenes.

Kinds of Kindness is an anthology of “strange sociological horror,” according to our own Chase Hutchinson. It tells three contained stories that feature Stone, Plemons, Dafoe, Joe Alwyn, Hong Chau, Mamoudou Athie, and Margaret Qualley as a revolving cast of different characters, all struggling with themes of control, connection, and power. Considering it’s an anthology that delivers such heavy thematic elements based on Lanthimos’ unusual and “precise vision,” even Plemons (who earned Best Actor for Kinds of Kindness at Cannes) assumed the filmmaker’s collaboration would be rigid.

In this interview, Plemons and Dafoe discuss their experiences working with Lanthimos. They share insights into the unique process on set and their own expectations going into the project. The duo also offer their personal recommendations for those interested in exploring more of Yorgos Lanthimos’ work. You can watch the full conversation in the video above or read the transcript below.

What’s It Really Like on the Set of a Yorgos Lanthimos Film?

COLLIDER: For fans of Yorgos, what do you think would surprise his fans to learn about the making of one of his films?

JESSE PLEMONS: With the experience of watching one of his movies, you would assume, probably — I think maybe I did — that these are very dark, heavy themes with some very dark comedy mixed in, but the atmosphere and the feeling making it is not heavy in that way. Sure, there are scenes that are heavier, and days and all of that, but in general, there really is a sense of community and play. [The experience] doesn’t necessarily mirror the movie in that way.

WILLEM DAFOE: One thing that strikes me is his deep curiosity. Even though he makes a world, his vision is very precise, and he makes a world that’s very specific. As you’re working on the thing, you feel like he’s making it up as he goes along, which isn’t true. But the sense is, he’s open, he sets you up, and then he watches what happens, and that kind of directs him even to the next step. So, I guess that’s some sort of definition of play. He’s very clear, he’s very specific, but at the same time very loose. So, I guess that that would be surprising because someone with such a specific vision, you’d assume that they get there and then they just direct people to execute, execute, execute. It’s not like that. He sets it up, he watches it, and I feel like what he sees, then he reacts to just like an actor and then you go to the next step from that. So, it’s quite organic.

It’s so fascinating how everyone works differently, but it still achieves these amazing goals.

Yorgos Lanthimos Recs From Jesse Plemons and Willem Dafoe

Yorgos has made some awesome movies. Besides this one, do you have a favorite?

PLEMONS: Dogtooth is the first one that always comes to mind because that was my introduction to him. It’s one of those movies where just saying the title of it brings back some of the feelings of watching the movie. It just so blew my mind when I watched it. I could list so many more, but that’s the first one that comes to mind.

DAFOE: In my downtime, when I was working on the movie and when I was in New Orleans where we were shooting and I had some time off, I watched all of his stuff over again because I had known almost everything, even the shorts and all that. A favorite doesn’t emerge, but one thing is interesting: I had a new appreciation for certain movies. I remember The Killing of a Sacred Deer this time around really popped for me. I think that’s one of his strongest films.

For even more from the cast of Kinds of Kindness, check out our interview with Emma Stone and Dafoe below:

Kinds of Kindness is playing in theaters now. Click below for showtimes.

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