Vanity Fair: How did you end up in this role?
Samantha Morton: They called me and said, “So, Christopher Nolan would like to meet you.” And I cried a little bit because it was like, “Really? I?” I didn’t know anything about the project. I was just blown away to meet him and (producer) Emma (Thomas) and be in their space. And then I read the script and fell in love with the role and then hoped that my interpretation would be enough for him to want me to play the role.
Circe is a very iconic character. What approach did you suggest to him?
First of all, I didn’t know what I was going to read. Odyssey. I didn’t read the book at school. I didn’t study the classics. So for me it was just a character in the script and my interpretation of that character was what it was. Once I was given the role, I dove a little deeper into Circe and found her quite extraordinary. I pulled away very, very quickly because I didn’t want to be burdened with that responsibility. It’s there, but forget about it because I’m here to make this movie.
If you approach her as a character, how do you relate to her?
I don’t overanalyze. I never subject my characters to psychotherapy. But the one thing I got out of it and what I discovered while playing her was that she seemed so familiar to me. She felt so modern. She felt like my mother. She felt like my sister. She felt like my daughter. She felt like my friends. She felt like she could be someone’s mother, sister, daughter, grandmother, lover, great-aunt. She just really, really felt every woman and all women, and that she carried the pain of all women throughout history.
Can you tell me a little about the location where you filmed your scenes? I’m guessing they built Circe’s house from scratch.
I arrived on set and thought, “Where did you find this place? It’s incredible.” And they were like, “No, it’s a set.” I was shocked. I’ve been on a lot of movie sets and it says a lot if I thought it was a real building. And I was wearing glasses, so I’m not stupid. Scotland is a special place for me because my adoptive parents live in Scotland. I think the environment I was in also contributed to this, I felt at home. I felt that the ground beneath my feet was so familiar and that my ancestors had been there.
It’s interesting because this character completely owns his space.
I thought about women in history who were criticized: midwives, herbalists, mothers or wise women. And for me, that connection to the land and its respect for nature all ties so beautifully to the fact that I’m so aware of my surroundings.