Elizabeth Debicki says she was delighted to discover how director Ti West and Mia Goth’s MaXXXine and their X and Pearl films are about much more than horror.
Debicki’s character—film director Elizabeth Bender—is introduced early in MaXXXine, which is new in theaters Friday. During one of their initial scenes together, Elizabeth tells Maxine Minx (Goth) that Hollywood is prejudiced against artists.
In many ways, Elizabeth is a reflection of West’s tenacity to get the X trilogy made in the first place. After all, it’s not easy for West—or any filmmaker, for that matter—to see his vision through in Hollywood unfettered. But that’s exactly what he’s accomplished with his X movie trilogy and Debicki is proud that she’s a part of it in parallel universe sort of way.
“I didn’t think about this while making the film but retrospectively, I can see that there is some Ti in Liz Bender—certainly not in the aggressive way she [operates] but definitely in the truth of how hard it is to get things made and how difficult it is to push against a system,” Debicki told me in a recent Zoom conversation.
Even more amazing, Debicki said, is how West’s script is so crystal clear in its vision that the translation of it from page to screen is nearly seamless.
“To be honest, when I read the script—and honestly, I’ve read a lot of things in the last year and a half—I found it was one of the most entertaining things that landed in my inbox. It really entertained me,” Debicki said.
“It’s one of those rare films where almost 99% percent on the page in the script is what made it on the screen,” Debicki added. “It’s almost a mirror of the page and that’s a testament to Ti and his team’s storytelling commitment and how talented the departments are that made this movie.”
Set in 1985, MaXXXine finds Goth reprising her killer role as adult film star Maxine Minx. After toiling in porn and performing in peep shows in Hollywood to stay afloat, Maxine finally catches her first big break in Tinseltown when she’s cast by Liz in her first mainstream role in the gothic horror thriller The Puritan II.
Even though Maxine is all abuzz about her big break, her excitement is tempered by the terror the serial killer the Night Stalker has instilled in LA.
Worse yet, when the most recent victims in a string of brutal murders happen to be people Maxine knows, she falls under the suspicion of a pair of LA detectives Williams and Torres (Michelle Monaghan and Bobby Cannavale). Meanwhile, private detective John Labat (Kevin Bacon) taunts Maxine because he claims to know about her murderous past.
MaXXXine also stars Giancarlo Esposito as Maxine’s attorney/manager Teddy Night, while Lily Collins plays Puritan lead and horror film starlet Molly Bennett. The film also stars Moses Sumney and Halsey as Maxine’s friends Leon and Tabby.
Debecki Was Pleasantly Surprised When West Called Her To Be In The Movie
For Elizabeth Debicki, one of the most exciting aspects of joining MaXXXine was that the offer to be a part of the film seemed to come out of nowhere.
Debicki, of course, has starred in several high profile projects over the past decade. In addition to her big screen work in such films as The Great Gatsby, Tenet and the last two Guardians of the Galaxy movies, she also has won acclaim for her work as Princess Diana in the last two seasons of the Netflix hit The Crown.
Still, for as many genres as Debicki has examined, she’s still trying to figure out why Ti West wanted her to play a horror movie director in MaXXXine.
“I have no idea why this came my way, except that when I read the script it felt symbiotic and I felt really connected to the role,” Debicki explained.
So, instead of analyzing why she was cast in MaXXXine, Debecki said she concentrated instead on being happy that West called her to play Liz to begin with.
“It’s a really interesting ride being an actor. It’s not really my job to see myself in certain ways, it’s my job to become the thing that people need me to become,” Debicki said. “So, part of the joy of the job is when I get a phone call where someone says, ‘I really think you should play the part and will you read the script?’ and you think, ‘Huh? It’s really interesting how you see me and it’s accurate.’ There’s definitely some Liz Bender in me.”
One of the big benefits for Debicki playing a horror film director in MaXXXine is that it allowed her the opportunity to flex some different creative muscles after the heavy lifting it took to help tell the heart-wrenching story of Princess Diana before her untimely death in 1997.
“I shot this quite soon after wrapping on The Crown and I found it to be a very medicinal palate cleanser,” Debicki said.
In addition to working with West, one of the most satisfying parts of Debicki’s work on MaXXXine was seeing Mia Goth in her element as Maxine Minx.
In one of the film’s early scenes, Maxine auditions for The Puritan II in front of Liz Bender and a pair of her producers. In the stunning sequence, Maxine’s soliloquy is so riveting that it feels like she’s opened up her soul for everyone to see.
“It’s an amazing performance. Mia’s very brave. She’s really unusual in so many ways and I loved working with her and I really loved watching her work as well,” Debicki said in admiration. “I can’t say that I’ve ever worked with anybody like her. There’s something that’s extremely raw about the way she works as an actor and it was really a privilege to watch her do that piece in that scene.”
Watching Goth reminded Debicki of what she loves actors and watching them do great work.
“More than half of the pleasure for me as an actor is watching the other person and what they do and working off them,” Debecki enthused. “So, it was glorious for me.”
Debicki Hadn’t Seen X Or Pearl Prior To Her Casting in ‘MaXXXine’
Elizabeth Debicki admitted that she hadn’t seen either X or Pearl before she was offered the opportunity to play Elizabeth Bender in MaXXXine. In short, Debicki isn’t big on horror and she avoided the movies because friends told her how scary they were.
“I was glad that this role forced my hand a little bit because I was delighted by what I found in the movies,” the Australian actor said. “I think we can have preconceived ideas about films and one of my favorite things to do in life is to watch a film that I know absolutely nothing about. That’s what it was like going into X and Pearl. I had a little bit of a sense—I think I read some reviews and write-ups about them and Mia’s work in them—but I hadn’t seen them.”
Debecki said when she finally sat down to watch the acclaimed horror films, she was pleasantly surprised by what she was seeing.
“They’re radical films that do something really interesting in the genre,” Debecki said. “I was delighted by what I found because it’s such performance-driven horror. It’s incredibly intelligent about how they use the tropes of the genre but they’re not films about scaring people. They’re films about a woman and how her inner psychological blueprint is being explored all of the time.
“I love films like that. I love films about women. I seek them out,” Debicki added. “So, I’m so glad my role in MaXXXine prompted me to watch X and Pearl. I was completely mesmerized by both of them. They’re so unusual and really enjoyable and I didn’t think that I’d feel that way.”
MaXXXine is new in theaters on Friday.
This interview was edited for clarity.
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