{"id":226462,"date":"2025-10-15T12:21:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T12:21:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/226462\/"},"modified":"2025-10-15T12:21:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T12:21:08","slug":"julia-roberts-and-luca-guadagnino-on-after-the-hunt-and-ambiguity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/226462\/","title":{"rendered":"Julia Roberts and Luca Guadagnino on \u2018After the Hunt\u2019 and Ambiguity"},"content":{"rendered":"

Julia Roberts is used to press-tour pleasantries. What has surprised her during the weeks spent promoting her new drama, \u201cAfter the Hunt<\/a>,\u201d is how eager journalists and audiences have been to debate what the film is really about.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis movie has brought out a lot of really interesting questions and conversations in a way that is terribly pleasing,\u201d she said. \u201cMy castmates and I were talking about how this is the only press junket we can remember where we\u2019re not just like, \u2018OK, here\u2019s that question for the 24th time.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Directed by Luca Guadagnino, \u201cAfter the Hunt\u201d stars Roberts as Alma, a Yale philosophy professor who is revered by a coterie of confidants that includes her colleagues Hank (Andrew Garfield) and Kim (Chlo\u00eb Sevigny), her student prot\u00e9g\u00e9e, Maggie (Ayo Edebiri), and her husband, Frederik (Michael Stuhlbarg). But after Maggie accuses Hank of sexual assault, this tight-knit circle begins to unravel as Alma wrestles with the question of where her loyalty really lies.<\/p>\n

Though the movie brushes against hot-button topics like cancel culture and #MeToo, Guadagnino (\u201cChallengers,\u201d \u201cCall Me by Your Name\u201d) never wanted \u201cAfter the Hunt\u201d to be received as a polemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy idea was of an ambiguous movie that lets the audience think for themselves and make up their own minds,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

One thing, however, is perfectly clear: Roberts and Guadagnino have formed a strong bond. When I met them over soft drinks at a Los Angeles hotel, the 57-year-old actress beamed at her director, 54, and spoke about how that affection extended to castmates like Edebiri, whom she recently hosted at her home for an early birthday celebration.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody was so endlessly enthusiastic about being with Luca and making this movie and it\u2019s just such a great feeling,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cI don\u2019t care if people believe us or not. It\u2019s just so true how much we really enjoy one another\u2019s company and points of view.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her director concurred. \u201cFor me, she\u2019s the embodiment of cinema,\u201d Guadagnino said of Roberts, hinting that their collaboration could continue: \u201cThere is no wrapping. We have life ahead of us and life together, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here are edited excerpts from the conversation.<\/p>\n

Julia, what has been most satisfying about the conversations people have had after watching this movie?<\/p>\n

JULIA ROBERTS I think people don\u2019t realize how much they miss talking. For some reason, I was thinking this morning about when my kids were young and we showed them \u201cStand by Me,\u201d and our daughter said to me, \u201cI\u2019m going to give you my phone.\u201d And I said, \u201cOK. What do you want me to do with it?\u201d<\/p>\n

She said: \u201cYou just keep it. I don\u2019t want it. Seeing that movie, I just thought if those boys had phones, they wouldn\u2019t be talking to each other like that. They wouldn\u2019t have gone looking for that body, they wouldn\u2019t sit around the fire and share these stories.\u201d She could see how it was getting in the way of things. All that\u2019s to say, we love talking to each other and sometimes we forget how important it is.<\/p>\n

When you\u2019re reading the script for a movie like \u201cAfter the Hunt,\u201d are you already picturing yourself in it?<\/p>\n

ROBERTS I guess I do in some way. But sometimes, I\u2019m also busy casting the other parts as I\u2019m reading, just so it feels like watching a movie. Sometimes, I\u2019m cursed with the feeling that I have to finish a script. I know people who can read 30 pages and be like, no.<\/p>\n

LUCA GUADAGNINO Oh, you read all of it?<\/p>\n

ROBERTS Somebody wrote it all down, and they probably cried some tears! And I just think: \u201cWho knows? Something might happen on Page 52.\u201d<\/p>\n

GUADAGNINO Statistically, if it hasn\u2019t happened by Page 20, it doesn\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n

Julia, is there anything that intimidated you about taking on this character?<\/p>\n

ROBERTS Oh, everything. You have to humanize it to portray it. And then going into the classroom, where she\u2019s imparting her brilliance on these young minds, it was so intimidating doing those scenes. God, all these eyes just looking at me! But at the same time, there\u2019s something thrilling about really pretending to be that person who knows more than anybody else in the room.<\/p>\n

And this is a story full of characters who think they know the most.<\/p>\n

ROBERTS It\u2019s a big smarty-pants-off.<\/p>\n

When you first read it, did you know how you wanted to portray Alma?<\/p>\n

ROBERTS I have instincts, but I don\u2019t have any answers. I collaborate with Luca.<\/p>\n

GUADAGNINO And yet, you had this major instinct that she had to be blond. Why, do you think?<\/p>\n

ROBERTS Cold. Austere. I think any character you play, the more visual assistance you have for it, the better \u2014 the clothes, the shoes, the makeup, the hair. Gena Rowlands<\/a>, her look was our inspiration. It\u2019s not really a normal thing to have a woman who has a shape of hair like that. There were so many little details that contributed to what I was trying to say that then I didn\u2019t have to say anything \u2014 I just had to enter the room.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s it like to embody that formidable persona?<\/p>\n

ROBERTS What I appreciate about Alma is that she can be cold and rigid, but she also is deeply hurt and carries a lot of pain. And I think casting Michael Stuhlbarg as Frederik was kind of finding the right hair color, because their relationship is so critical and so important. It\u2019s two imperfect people being completely devoted to each other. It\u2019s like the saying, \u201cIf you want an interesting relationship, stay in one.\u201d<\/p>\n

GUADAGNINO I love that.<\/p>\n

What was your own college experience like, Luca?<\/p>\n

GUADAGNINO In Palermo, I was alone more than anything else, and I didn\u2019t like being there. I think I stopped being lonely the moment I started to meet artists I admired, people that were very creative in a way of being and very singular.<\/p>\n

ROBERTS At 17, you knew you wanted to be an artist.<\/p>\n

GUADAGNINO Yeah. I knew that when I was 6 or 7, actually. I did a play at 16 at high school that caused me to repeat the year. They got a scandalous play.<\/p>\n

What was so scandalous about it?<\/p>\n

GUADAGNINO I took two texts by the great Ionesco and made them into a sort of variety show. There was this park where I used to hang out, and I became friends of a group of amazing trans people. This was 1987 and they were so wonderfully performative, and I was so inspired by that, that I invited them to perform in the play.<\/p>\n

But they weren\u2019t part of the school, and that was enormously scandalous. When people saw it, they were speechless. So when I did \u201cThe Protagonists\u201d<\/a> 13 years later and presented it [at the Venice Film Festival] and there were a lot of walkouts, I was already a veteran of that. I didn\u2019t give a [expletive].<\/p>\n

So even at a young age, you were eager to tweak academic institutions.<\/p>\n

GUADAGNINO I was going to grab the opportunity to make what I wanted. I started the year convincing the headmaster to let me direct the play instead of a professor. I don\u2019t know how; clearly, I\u2019m good at convincing financiers. With [\u201cAfter the Hunt\u201d], we said to them, \u201cWe want to build everything in London,\u201d and they said, \u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n

ROBERTS Only Luca can get people to go, \u201cIt sounds like a great idea!\u201d<\/p>\n

Is it true that you planned to age Chlo\u00eb Sevigny up to be sort of a Fran Lebowitz character?<\/p>\n

GUADAGNINO Not like Fran Lebowitz, but I wanted the character to be much older. We tested that with makeup. It was very successful.<\/p>\n

ROBERTS It looked amazing.<\/p>\n

GUADAGNINO But to convince me that I\u2019m wrong takes one word sometimes. Chlo\u00eb said, \u201cAre you sure? I think I look like a crocodile.\u201d And that was it. Say no more.<\/p>\n

The characters can be vicious to one another and yet, it\u2019s somehow cathartic to watch their confrontations.<\/p>\n

GUADAGNINO Because it\u2019s entertainment. It\u2019s cinema.<\/p>\n

ROBERTS Especially when what they\u2019re saying aligns with what you\u2019re thinking.<\/p>\n

Julia, when you\u2019re watching the movie, are you ever the one gasping at what your character says?<\/p>\n

ROBERTS Playing it feels correct. Watching it feels brutal. But it\u2019s also fun because I can almost feel Luca somewhere in the room smiling.<\/p>\n

But when you have that camaraderie behind the scenes, does it give you more permission to be vicious when you need to be?<\/p>\n

ROBERTS Oh, yes sir. In fact, I think that being together at my house had that big of an impact on our ability to be very committed to what we were doing because we were safe. We knew who we were as opposed to rehearsing for a week, and two days later, getting shoved up against a wall or slapped in the face.<\/p>\n

The film\u2019s tagline is \u201cNot everything is supposed to make you feel comfortable.\u201d Do you feel the younger generation is too comfortable, or in need of a prod?<\/p>\n

GUADAGNINO I don\u2019t like generalizations. I do believe the needs of Maggie are not met in the gaze of Alma, and that triggers this tug of war between the two women. More than they are representing some generations, they are completely encapsulated in a world where they want to be the most powerful person. I would not think, generally speaking, it\u2019s a Gen Z representation. I like to think about this movie the way you think of a movie by George Cukor or Mike Nichols. It\u2019s more like cinema.<\/p>\n

If people call you a provocateur, do you embrace that?<\/p>\n

GUADAGNINO No. I\u2019m kind and nice and a great chef.<\/p>\n

Provocateurs can be great chefs.<\/p>\n

GUADAGNINO I don\u2019t want to be considered someone who does something for the sake of it.<\/p>\n

ROBERTS Just for the reaction.<\/p>\n

GUADAGNINO Right, that\u2019s something that I don\u2019t like. I am so lucky that I can do things in a very distinct, profound way with artists like Julia. I think sometimes you do something that is intense and people are going to be reflective on that intensity. But, no, I don\u2019t think I\u2019m a provocateur.<\/p>\n

So when the opening credits employ the same font and format Woody Allen used, that\u2019s not a provocation? Not even a little bit?<\/p>\n

GUADAGNINO It\u2019s beautiful. It\u2019s so graphically arresting, and it is a canon of the history of cinema.<\/p>\n

Sure, but given how the movie touches on cancel culture \u2026<\/p>\n

GUADAGNINO I thought that was the best way to create the titles for this movie. The next one [in \u201cArtificial,\u201d starring Garfield as OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman] is going to be a homage to Pablo Ferro\u2019s title credits for \u201cPhiladelphia\u201d<\/a> by Jonathan Demme. Every movie is different, but I think I\u2019m a film historian, and I love cinema. I\u2019m not salacious.<\/p>\n

ROBERTS You\u2019re a cin\u00e9aste.<\/p>\n

GUADAGNINO But I did have to make a phone call and say, \u201cJulia, do you mind if we put you in alphabetical order?\u201d She said, \u201cOf course.\u201d<\/p>\n

ROBERTS I love alphabetical order. I think it speaks to the collaboration.<\/p>\n

The movie begins in 2019 and ends as Trump is taking office, though you finished filming before his election.<\/p>\n

GUADAGNINO When we wrapped, we knew we were going to add this moment of 2025. So we were ahead of it.<\/p>\n

Did you have a sense as you were shooting of what January 2025 was going to look like?<\/p>\n

GUADAGNINO 85 percent. I was sure the Republicans were going to become the new government, and I knew the title \u2014 \u201cAfter the Hunt\u201d \u2014 had to apply to that moment. The movie coagulates in that final two scenes completely.<\/p>\n

College campuses have become a battleground for this administration. What do you think they would make of this movie?<\/p>\n

GUADAGNINO It would be interesting. Maybe it\u2019s too elaborate, the philosophical concepts that Julia speaks. They would not understand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Julia Roberts is used to press-tour pleasantries. What has surprised her during the weeks spent promoting her new…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":226463,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[126892,88,126893,126890,75313,126891,206,36408],"class_list":["post-226462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-after-the-hunt-movie","tag-entertainment","tag-filmrelated","tag-guadagnino","tag-julia","tag-luca","tag-movies","tag-roberts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226462","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=226462"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226462\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/226463"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=226462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=226462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=226462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}