Warning: This post contains spoilers forEternals.
What do you do afterwinning an Oscarfor your intimate road trip drama?
“We thought, here’s a filmmaker who is equal parts cinematic visionary and genre nerd.
Richard Madden and Chloé Zhao on the set of ‘Eternals’.Sophie Mutevelian/Marvel Studios
She can outtalk any of us when it comes to manga andStar Warsand Marvel comics.
It’s quite an astounding combination.
And this movie, I think, represents all of the immense multitudes of Chloe.”
Gemma Chan and Chloé Zhao on the set of ‘Eternals’.Sophie Mutevelian/Marvel Studios
(Mild spoilers ahead!)
Was there anything about this process that surprised you?
CHLOE ZHAO:Yeah, I came into the process as a filmmaker, but also a fan.
So one thing that surprised me was how small the team was.
That was really great.
Tell me a little bit about how you wanted to use those as inspiration.
So, how do we capture that scale?
And how do we blend that seamlessly into a film?
For me, it was actually bringing the camera and taking a step back.
We’re not going to tell you the story with the flashiest camera moves.
So the camera is just slowly drifting.
You make room for those little moments of serendipity.
They get to do their own math.
They get to make their own decisions about what the relationship is between Sersi and the world around her.
That actually tells a bigger story about Sersi’s relationship with humanity than anything she would say.
Well, we have a few scenes that I really miss.
Again, it’s a huge cast, and we have to think about pacing.
So some things had to go, but they will make it to the deleted scenes.
There are two in particular I love so much.
This is a much more bittersweet, intimate ending that sort of departs from the norm.
How did you want to approach that third act?
You know how after many years a genre will enter a revisionist period?
I do believe we’re kind of navigating that edge a bit now.
We’re trying to think: How can we challenge the genre itself?
But that’s not how life is.
You’re not necessarily cheering.
That’s a scary place for us as filmmakers and studios to take that risk.
It’s much easier to just make it black and white.
I would say that was the goal from the very beginning.
Lately I’ve been thinking about the phrase “lead with love,” which is what Sersi does.
What was it about her journey that most interested you?
I think there was a time in our society, almost as if we’ve lost our mother.
We’re trying to regain that now today.
Again, we’re trying to challenge the genre itself.
She doesn’t have to punch anybody.
She doesn’t have to put a man down.
She doesn’t even necessarily have to stand completely on the good side or the evil side.
She can fall in love.
She can be blinded by love.
I think these are human traits, and these are traits that are incredibly brave and strong.
And even her power everything she changes is elemental.
It’s almost like she never kills anything.
Even when she changes a rock into some birds, she keeps it going.
Were you thinking about how this story fits into the next 10 Marvel movies?
I talked to Kevin and Nate every day, but not about that.
You have those ends secured, and we get to do everything in the middle.
How far ahead were you thinking?
Do you already have plans for a sequel?
We really set out to make this movie.
I also wanted to ask about casting: You’re perhaps best known for working with nonprofessional actors.
What was the biggest difference about working with this starry cast?
I don’t think I changed that much.
I tried to rewrite in a way that they could have space to actually access themselves.
Was there anything about these actors that really surprised you as you got to know them?
For example, Lauren Ridloff and Barry Keoghan.
Makkari and Druig were friends in the script.
There was nothing more than that.
And I met the two of them, and right away, they were flirting.
I was watching, like, “What?”
As they kept going, I let them improvise, and I was sitting on the ground watching them.
I go, “Excuse me, what is happening right now?”
They’re like, “What do you mean?”
I was like, “That is going in the film.”
[Laughs]
Salma had this [moment].
She’s a mother, and I don’t have children.
I was like, “Oh yeah!”
And Brian [Tyree Henry], too.
Really, my whole cast.
Yeah, tell me a little bit about how you wanted to approach Phastos' story.
He’s married, and he has a family.
Why was it important to you to tell that story?
I give a lot of credit to Marvel Studios.
Really, Phastos is looking for the bigger picture [throughout] his entire life.
He’s a workaholic.
This film also features the first same-sex kiss in a Marvel movie.
What kind of conversations did you have with Marvel about that?
It was in the script.
[Of the] one human family we have in the film, they have to kiss goodbye.
That juxtaposition actually says a lot about our relationship with ourselves and our cosmos and our planet.
We watched [Terrence Malick’s]The Tree of Lifetogether many times.
We just have a different family.
