Jessie Buckley has said she “loved” giving the Bride of Frankenstein a voice as her new film The Bride! received its world premiere in London on Thursday night.
The 36-year-old stars alongside Christian Bale in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s horror film, which follows Frankenstein’s Monster (Bale) as he travels back to 1930s Chicago to ask scientist Dr Euphronious (Annette Bening) to create a companion by reviving a murdered young woman, The Bride (Buckley).
Watch: The trailer for The Bride!
The upcoming film is inspired by the 1935 original The Bride of Frankenstein, which starred Elsa Lanchester.
The character was largely silent in the original film.
Speaking at The Bride!’s world premiere in London, Buckley told the Press Association: “Elsa Lanchester is on screen for about three minutes in the 1935 version, and she makes such an impact.
“Still people dress up at Halloween as her, but she doesn’t say anything.
“She’s on the precipice of it; she wants to say something. And I think that was Maggie’s first curiosity – ‘What if this woman has something to say?’
Jessie Buckley and co-star Christian Bale at the world premiere
“To be able to give voice to that ‘What if?’ and to really find all the colours of that curiosity and self-discovery and voice, and let the things that maybe have been silenced or we didn’t give ourselves permission to say at the time.
“You can only imagine, I loved it.”
Last Sunday, Buckley won the Leading Actress BAFTA Award for her portrayal of Agnes in Chloé Zhao’s film adaptation of author Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet.
The Bride! was written and directed by Gyllenhaal, who emphasised the need for new voices to take the reins behind the camera in order for new stories to be told.
Jessie Buckley and Maggie Gyllenhaal in London’s Leicester Square on Thursday night
She told PA: “Someone told me recently that only 7% of the movies made last year were made by women, but so many of the movies we are talking about this year are those 7%.
“I think that people are interested in a new voice and a new perspective and a new language, and when you let different people behind the camera, you will get something new.
“Everyone says they want something new, well, then different people have to make the movies.”
“You can only imagine, I loved it” – Jessie Buckley’s new film, The Bride!, opens in cinemas on Friday, 6 March
Gyllenhaal was behind the film adaptation of Elena Ferrante’s The Lost Daughter, which also starred Buckley along with Olivia Colman, Dakota Johnson, and Paul Mescal.
The Bride!, which also stars Peter Sarsgaard, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Penélope Cruz, will be released in cinemas from 6 March.
Buckley and director Gyllenhaal are among Patrick Kielty’s guests on Friday’s Late Late Show.
Source: Press Association