Rumours skewers the world’s most powerful political leaders as feckless incompetents in a dark and hilarious satire of the G7 (Group of Seven) — a political organization consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the non-enumerated European Union. The premise from Canadian directors Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, and Galen Johnson have the G7 meeting in pastoral Germany for their annual summit. The all-star cast, led by Cate Blanchett and Alicia Vikander, are so preoccupied with drafting a toothless “provisional statement” that they fail not notice they’re all alone with the apocalypse imminent.
MovieWeb recently interviewed co-stars Nikki Amuka-Bird, who plays the UK prime minister, Roy Dupuis, the hunky Canadian prime minister in love with his UK counterpart, and Rolando Ravello, the sweet but simple Italian prime minister who follows the sleepy American president like a faithful puppy. The veteran actors were given great leeway in crafting their unique performances. Amuka-Bird appreciated the creative freedom and ability to work in such a venerated ensemble:
“When I first spoke to Guy [Maddin], I wanted to know what ideas he had about it. He was like, ‘No, you’ve got complete free rein. You can decide what party. You can decide if she’s conservative, if she’s labor.’ It was really fun to then just look into the idea of leadership as a more general term. What kind of personality type might she be? What would drive someone to want to take that position? That’s kind of the angle I approached it.”
“And then I just really delved into the script in terms of my character’s fanatical need to get the job done, even with the world going down in flames,” adds Amuka-Bird. “I felt like, okay, this is the key to who she is. And then, of course, playing opposite and bouncing off the other actors just really gave you a sense of your place in the dynamic of the ensemble.
Rumours’ Brilliant Ensemble
Bleecker Street
Dupuis used “archive video” of previous G7 meetings in crafting his character’s “body language” and “how they shake hands”, but also credits the script “as being so well written, it just holds you.” He had to “be true to the [script’s] emotions, because my character a little bit emotional. ” The man-bun wearing, chiseled Canadian goes on an emotional roller coaster as he romances both the UK leader and Blanchett’s German chancellor. Ravello, who nearly steals the show with sweetness, had nothing but praise for his esteemed colleagues, “It was a great experience to work in a movie like this and to work with these actors. For me, it was a present.”
Related: Rumours Review | A Wacky Evisceration of Political Ineptitude
Our conversation then turned to the process of working with three directors at once. There was little confusion or uncertainty on set as the filmmakers were unified in their approach and willing to listen to their actors’ opinions. Dupuis explains:
“In theory, the idea of three directors is quite intimidating, and in practice, it was so seamless. It felt like one director, actually, most of the time. They understand each other very well. They weren’t necessarily used to giving as much direction to actors in their previous work. They were developing this sense of how to really speak to actors. We were all collaborating together.”
“They were incredibly sensitive with us,” adds Dupuis, “because it’s hard stuff. We were all out there in the woods in the cold at night. They were just endlessly patient and kind to each other and to us as well.”
G7 Incompetence
Rumours has a truly bonkers narrative loaded with elaborate dialogue and interactions. The ensemble banters back and forth about previous G7 meetings and how good their provisional statements were. Amuka-Bird downplays any difficulties because everyone was on the same page, “It was simple. We had one week of rehearsal before the movie, and the three directors had the same way of thinking. We improvised a lot, so it was fun.” She adds that the cast developed a strong bond on set:
“It’s an ensemble piece. We spent a lot of time together. We were on set most days, all of us, all the time. Even in between takes, we’re out in the woods, in this tent, kind of freezing. There was a lot of bonding time to really become a team and a little family. It made it easier just to play those scenes, feel a kind of shorthand with each other, and feel free to take risks. It was a very unique experience in that way.”
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For various reasons, these films had two or more captains at the helm — with some surprisingly great results.
Dupuis agrees: “I would say great actors just make you better. The casting was so well done. The scenes are really well-written. In a certain way, the text itself directs itself. It’s almost like a theater play. It also helped that nobody had ever done anything like this before, so there was no right or wrong. It was just like, give it a go, you know? That’s a very galvanizing experience for us as a group of people. We just had to jump in at the deep end together.”
The cast members collectively praise Rumours as a “bold genre mash up” of “political satire, comedy, and horror” that summarizes the “fears that we’re experiencing at the moment.” We need “a shared humanity” to handle the “economic, environmental, and mental crisis” affecting everyone. Ravello ends our conversation on a sobering final thought that encapsulates the film’s message, “This movie is an occasion to laugh and to think. The world, at this moment, is not a good world. I hope that we can take care of each other. I think that is the only way.”
Rumours is currently in limited theatrical release from Bleecker Street.
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