The Testament of Stacy Martin: Mona Fastvold and Brady Corbet’s Go-To Star on Female Leaders, Northern Accents — and the Power of Ann Lee

The half-English, half-French actress starred in Brady Corbet’s first feature film, The Childhood of a Leader, a decade ago. The coming-of-age psychological drama was co-written with his partner, Mona Fastvold, who has co-authored each of Corbet’s three movies. The latest of which, you might recall, was the Oscar-winning historical epic The Brutalist.

Martin, too, had a key role in The Brutalist: She played Maggie Van Buren, daughter of Guy Pearce’s wealthy, snobbish businessman. It makes her a regular fixture on the call sheet of independent cinema’s hottest new power couple — from Childhood of a Leader to Vox Lux and the Adrien Brody-starring architectural drama, Martin’s been privy to the inner workings of Corbet’s “going to war” mentality and Fastvold’s more “nurturing” approach for some years now.

“They’re very complimentary,…