Amy Adams is the star of brand new dark comedy, Nightbitch. She talks about not wanting to embarrass her daughter, her love of dogs and what she learnt about herself after the film. Report by Jonesl. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
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00:00I promised I wouldn't say embarrassing things about her. I was catching myself before I
00:03say anything. I do like a meatloaf, but that was a lot of meatloaf.
00:08Wow. It was brilliantly bonkers. Didn't know what to expect. Came out loving dogs even
00:13more than I loved them before.
00:14Oh, good.
00:15How were you after filming this? Were you just exhausted? Because this looked like it
00:18took everything.
00:19I was very exhausted, yes. Thank you for asking. I felt like I'd- Yeah, but it was very cathartic
00:24at the same time, sort of working through this sort of female rage and this sort of
00:32loss of identity, kind of working through all of those things. It was cathartic.
00:36What's the reaction been like from women who have children? Are they thanking you for just
00:41letting everyone know? Just kind of a reality?
00:43Yeah, there's been a lot of people who feel really seen on a lot of different spectrums.
00:49People who talk to me about their experience with their postpartum mental health. Women
00:55who just find joy in remembering that time or great relief that they're out of it. And
01:01then the most unexpected is people coming up to me and saying, it makes me think of
01:04my mom. And that, of course, as a mom, that really touches me.
01:09Yeah, that definitely makes me feel emotional. In regards to being a mom of a 14-year-old,
01:15are you going to let her see it?
01:17Eventually. Right now, it's pretty much okay, but there's just a couple scenes where, yeah,
01:23no.
01:24Pretty cool to be like, my mom turns into a dog.
01:27Yeah, I mean, I promised I wouldn't say embarrassing things about her, so I'm just catching myself
01:33before I say anything.
01:35But I love how real you are as a woman. That chin hair, I was rejoicing.
01:40That is mine. That was mine.
01:42And it was a cracker.
01:44It was a good one, yeah. I can really- It's so attractive, right? But that's like part
01:50of life, right? We grow hair.
01:53Was it very different from what you've done in the past? Did it feel weird that you were
01:57kind of being so different, perhaps, from what you would have been on set in your past
02:00films?
02:01No, it felt really freeing. Like, I didn't judge it, and I think that was what was wonderful
02:06for me about this role is that she's going through this experience of sort of divorcing
02:12herself from deep judgment of herself, giving herself permission to just be, and I kind
02:18of took that on, and it was really freeing.
02:20I loved it. The ingrowing hair and the period blood in the shower was just rejoicing the
02:27fact that it looked so real.
02:29It happens, right?
02:30And it was just so- Honestly, I couldn't believe how good it looked. It really did look so
02:35normal, and men in the cinema were gasping, and all the women are going, oh my god, that
02:40looks really good.
02:41Yeah, there have been conversations around that that have been really interesting, but
02:45I'm glad the conversations are happening because it is so normal for women to have that experience
02:51that I don't know why it feels so taboo to talk about or to see.
02:55And I love the way that you insist on joy. I think we need to encourage that more.
03:00Absolutely. Absolutely. It is a fight sometimes.
03:05And have you found that you've taken this into your real life? You've learnt things
03:09from the book, from the script, from the character?
03:11Yeah, absolutely. And the experience of making this and the perspective that I've had now
03:18that it's two years since we made it, and I definitely find myself to be a calmer, more
03:24present, focusing on gratitude but doing it in a way that isn't dismissing struggle.
03:31You know, that they can both exist at the same time.
03:34Yeah, and how incredible that you're releasing this film, you have a daughter, and she's
03:37got that to look at as a measurement for her happiness in her life, and it's really...
03:42I hope she takes that. I hope she gets to that point in her life where she isn't just
03:47like cringing at her mom, you know? That'll be great.
03:50But you've done some cool things up until now that she definitely won't have cringed
03:53at, right?
03:54Yeah, I'm trying to think. She really liked Arrival. I finally let her see that about
03:58a year ago. Not because there was anything complicated, but more I just never wanted
04:03her to see me parent somebody else on screen. I thought I didn't want her to think that
04:07my parenting her was performative in any way, so I was always careful to let her watch that.
04:12She must have loved Enchanted. Come on now.
04:14Oh, yeah. When she was younger, she did. But she was... I think it was always weird for
04:19her to get lost in the fantasy when it was me. So, you know, she'd be like, you're acting
04:24silly, mom.
04:25And just finally, how fun was it to be a pooch? I mean, the scene when you're eating with
04:28your mouth, you're running all over the floors.
04:31Oh, that was fun. Except, I mean, it looks like fun, except you have to do it so many
04:34times, and that's a lot of meatloaf. I do like a meatloaf, but that was a lot of meatloaf.
04:39Yeah.
04:40And you found love for dogs, or you found respect for dogs?
04:43I always have loved dogs and had respect for dogs. It deepened. I mean, the problem is
04:47when you're on set with that many dogs and they're all so cute, all I want to do is lay
04:51down and be in a real dog pile, you know? That's all I want, and it's everything I can
04:56do to not sort of get them off their game, because I can't distract them from their work.
05:01Maybe next move is a dog kennel. You could open one of those. A dog sanctuary.
05:04Exactly. I'd love that.
05:06Amy, thank you so much. I loved it, and I really hope it does incredibly well.
05:09Thank you. I appreciate it.