StarringAdrien Brody,Felicity Jones, andGuy Pearce,The Brutalistis a frontrunnerfor a Best Picture nomination.
COLLIDER: Is it every day that someone brings upFace/Off, or is it every other day?
I don’t know if that’s because it had a streaming run on Netflix or something.
Image by Federico
I have no idea, but it’s somewhere.
Its suddenly been playing again.
But it was a hit from the start, to be honest.
Image via HBO
I think, basically, that’s the only hit movie I’ve ever been in.
I’m trying to think about your resume.
That can’t be true.
But you mean a mega-hit, something that a ton of people saw.
NIVOLA: Yeah, but even beyond that.
I won a couple of awards for it, but the movie wasn’t a smash.
Image via HBO
I guessAmerican Hustlewas a pretty big one.
But most of the bigger movies I’ve been in have kind of not worked.
NIVOLA: No, I have a great career, and it’s taking on a new dimension now.
Image via A24
I see what you’re saying.
I just had no idea.
I didn’t even go to the premiere.
Image via A24
I just didn’t understand the significance of it at all.
The faces may be off, but the scripts are in.
Yeah, you never know.
Photo via CAA
That’s for most people, most movie stars.
There are always these conversations about your choices and everything.
It’s just a whole bunch of B.S.
Image via Netflix
You’ve done a lot of roles in your career.
It was just such joy because it was the first time I’d ever been on the road.
I was living alone in a hotel in Seattle, and my dreams were coming true.
Image by Zanda Rice
I could live in that moment of my life, definitely, for another 24 hours.
No one else is exempt.
You’ve heard the buzz.
You know how good it is.
NIVOLA: I thought Brady [Corbet] was a special guy when I met him.
The director is the first priority.
Image via Sony Pictures Releasing
It’s not that I never turn down work.
I turn down a shitload of work and spend time not working.
The main criterion for me, especially in the past 10 years, has been the director.
Image Via Sony
I knew that was going to be the case.
Did I know that it was going to end up being a frontrunner for Best Picture?
I didn’t know that until it was, really.
When visionary architect László Toth and his wife Erzsébet flee post-war Europe in 1947 to rebuild their legacy and witness the birth of modern America, their lives are changed forever by a mysterious, wealthy client.
It was looking like they weren’t even going to fly us out to the Venice International Film Festival.
Brady had booked an Airbnb on his own.
That all changed within 24 hours of its screening at Venice.
NIVOLA: I had a front-row seat to this extraordinary about-face.
That was the first little indication that something was brewing.
Then, the following day after the premiere, that was when the phone started ringing.
There’s not a lot of special effects.
you could see how he managed to do it.
But what was it actually like on set?
NIVOLA: The main thing that made it all possible was Brady and Lol Crawley’s shot selection.
Every scene’s different, but the unifying theme is that there was no waste of film.
How The Warriors Cinematographer Helped Inform This Character
Everything kind of flowed from that.
I’m always fascinated by how actors prepare for a role.
NIVOLA: He offered me this role three years before we shot it, during COVID.
There’s something tragic about him, really.
There’s something pathetic and sad about his desperate attempt at assimilation.
So, a lot of it started with trying to find a model for that.
I really started working on it off of him, and that was the beginning of it.
Then, everything kind of flowed from that.
I think their families were probably very close.
On the other hand, he was family.
All these things were things that I had just created in my imagination.
I think Adrien had his own sort of understanding of that relationship.
We never really discussed it, and I never really discussed it much with Brady.
It was just all instinctive stuff that came from the emotional reality that was in my head.
It’s in your performance and in the way Brady shot it.
NIVOLA: I think all three of us really were on the same page in an unspoken way.
How Does Filming in VistaVision Affect a Scene?
It created this heightened feeling.
Brady shot this using the VistaVision film stock.
What was that like?
What is it like when the filmmaker is shooting on VistaVision?
Does that change anything with your performance?
Does it change the energy on set?
We could barely even hear each other talk over the sound of the camera.
It definitely is different than filming on regular 35.
I know people who have worked with the IMAX cameras.
That sound of an over-cranked camera is very similar to the sound of the VistaVision.
I’m not trying to disparage Joel, it’s just two completely different performances.
Sometimes you get lucky with certain things, and sometimes you don’t.
NIVOLA: It’s generally just total nonsense.
This movie is not being sold on any of the actors' names in it.
The movie is being sold on the brilliance of the filmmaking and the brilliance of the performances.
That’s not the reason that this movie is, to whatever extent it is, already a success.
That’s usually the case with independent films.
What was it about the material that said, I want to do this?
He is somebody who I’ve known most of my life.
We shared a dressing room a couple of times, as well.
He would make his way through these huge tomes over the course of the run.
Then our kids went to the same school here in Brooklyn Heights.
Anyway, I’m hearing great things about it.
‘Downton Abbey 3’ will be released on September 12, 2025.
Downton Abbeyis very popular.
But perhaps I’m wrong.
NIVOLA: It’s not heavily improvised or anything like that.
It’s a group of people who’ve known each other and worked together for so many years.
There were all these kinds of crossovers, so I felt part of that group.
I think people were feeling nostalgic and sentimental about it.
I don’t I don’t need to watch six seasons and two movies?
NIVOLA: No, I watched a lot of it.
I really had a good sense of who all the different characters were in everything.
But no, I had already seen a lot of it, but I definitely did a refresher course.
I got the flow chart for the different family members.
What Was the Hold-Up on Kraven the Hunter?
I definitely have to touch onKraven the Hunterfor a second.
From when you signed on to what people ended up seeing, is it pretty much the same script?
Did you end up doing a lot of reshoots?
Was it a lot of changes?
NIVOLA: I don’t remember that much changing in the script.
But the process for me, I had a blast.
It was a great character.
I had a great time.
J.C. really let me run wild with the role, and so it was a joy to film.
You’re not alone.
Do you already know what you might be doing next year, or is it still too early?
NIVOLA: There are a few things.
The Brutalistis in theaters now.
