Robert Kojder chats with Sentimental Value stars Stellan Skarsgård and Elle Fanning…
In Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value, a beautifully moving portrait of strained family connections and therapeutic art, Stellan Skarsgård and Elle Fanning respectively portray a once-great filmmaker and Hollywood star whom the former has coaxed into leading a deeply personal project about a family tragedy that occurred years ago. Gustav’s hand is forced into recruiting Rachel after his estranged daughter rejects his proposition to play the role of his now deceased mother. The thorny situation sets in motion a whirlwind of drama that is unexpectedly complex in the hands of Trier, who is also responsible for recent exceptional films such as The Worst Person in the World.
These are also two decorated actors with families in the industry (Stellan has notable children, Bill and Alexander, who routinely star in ambitious projects, whereas Elle’s sister, Dakota, is also an actor), not only an honor to interview but also tantalizing to explore themes of family and art. Enjoy the interview below:
It’s nice to meet both of you. You’re both incredible actors, and I love the movie!
Elle Fanning and Stellan Skarsgård: Thank you very much!
You’re welcome. Stellan, you obviously have a whole family of actors now, and Elle, you’ve been acting since you were a child. Can both of you talk about how that informs or alters how you play these roles?
EF: Yeah, there are definitely a lot of layers and meta things happening, specifically for my character of being the American actress coming to Oslo and working with a foreign filmmaker. You do see the similarities. I’ve worked in this business since I was a kid, and so it’s a deep part of me, and I love what Joachim Trier has said with this film. It’s not that art doesn’t necessarily heal everything, but sometimes it’s easier to speak through art and your work, and to work through your own inner problems or the turmoils in your life. It’s easier that way than just saying it outright or out to your loved ones. So that was kind of the theme that I was thinking a lot about when we were filming.
SS: Yeah, of course it is! It is. If you’re an artist, you can be a painter, you can be a musician, you can be a writer… your job is more than a job. It’s a part of you, and it’s you; it creates you as you create it. So it’s very hard for you to give it up or reduce your pressure at work, and to sort of make it work with your personal life. It is hard, but you can’t reduce yourself by abandoning your art because that means that you’re not you anymore.
The structure of a family home and the memories it reflects are important to the film. How did that cause both of you to reflect on your own memories of childhood?
EF: Actually, it made me think a lot about my memories of childhood. Joachim Trier, our brilliant director, is very emotional. He’s a great collaborator. We had many rehearsal sessions, and we shared personal experiences. Particularly, I think the sister dynamic in the film really struck me when I read the script and watched the film, because I wasn’t there for those scenes. But it made me reflect a lot on my sister [Dakota Fanning, also an actor] and our relationship. So I felt like my family was oddly with me on set while I was filming because the film is so much about your family history and the traumas that are passed down. For my character, I think she has her own family traumas we don’t dive into, but she’s caught up in this drama in a way she didn’t ask to be, and it starts to infiltrate her as well.
SS: Well, I didn’t wanna think about it in a way. I wanted to see it as a role, and I play it, and it has nothing to do with my life. And it doesn’t in some ways, but during the shoot, actually, I found myself, just like you said [to Elle], I had my family with me there on the set in a way. You constantly stumble across things that trigger memories of your family. And I have mostly happy family memories, so I felt good.
Thank you so much for your time! And Elle, I love that you worked with Hideo Kojima for Death Stranding 2: On the Beach; he’s one of my favorite storytellers.
EF: Yeah!. He’s so cool!
SEE ALSO: Read our ★ ★ ★ ★ review of Sentimental Value here
Many thanks to Stellan Skarsgård and Elle Fanning for taking the time for this interview.
Robert Kojder
