Spoilers below.
Shelby Van Pelt’s bestselling book Remarkably Bright Creatures was destined to become a movie. The real question was whether the friendship between Tova, a widow working as a cleaner, and Marcellus, a very chatty octopus, could come across as beautifully on-screen as it did on the page. But then Sally Field was quickly cast as Tova, followed by Lewis Pullman, who played her young friend Cameron, and the picture became clear. Field spoke with ELLE about discovering the book, working with her son, who produced the film, and the behind-the-scenes secrets she’s not willing to reveal.
Had you read the book before signing on for the movie?
It was brought to me in galleys before it had been published by a new production company called Night Owl, by Bryan Unkeless and Peter Craig. And oddly enough, the Peter Craig part of the production company is my oldest son. It’s their first project. I read the first two chapters and said, “Yes, yes, I want to do this.” Then I continued to read, and it’s such a magical and moving story about people and an homage to sea creatures, in this case, a Giant Pacific octopus.
What was it like to work with your son?
Unfortunately, he just produced it, so I didn’t get to see him as much as I would’ve liked. I was still able to use him a lot and call him and say, “How about this? Do you like…” Talking about changing when I felt something, a monologue or something needed to be fine-tuned. He was a good sounding board before I would then bring it to [director] Olivia [Newman] or whoever else. Whenever he was there on the set visiting, it was wonderful. Also, the story is a lot about a mother and her son, and all of it fit together.
Sally Field as Tova and Lewis Pullman as Cameron in Remarkably Bright Creatures.
I’d love to hear about the logistics of acting with Marcellus. I assume he was added in later.
Well, Lewis Pullman and I have talked about it. I’m hesitant to spoil anything by saying exactly what it was. It’s all magic. But whether there’s a total octopus there all the time or none whatsoever, all of acting is imagining. In that way, it’s nothing new.
It’s an interesting role because it starts out very solitary but then shifts when Tova becomes close with Cameron. What was it like to work with Lewis?
I was lucky enough to get to read with him. I read with several other actors for the role of Cameron, and then he walked in, and it was it. I didn’t say it, but looked at Livy, the director, like, “Okay, this is him.” Lewis and I just launched into improvisation and playing together. I simply adored working with him. He made everything work for me and made it just joyful. Even if the scenes weren’t joyful, it was just so gratifying to be with him. I don’t think there are a lot of them like Lewis. He has so much more that he hasn’t tapped into yet that he will at one point in his career. He’s really funny, but also a very serious actor and a very dramatic actor. He’s also musical. He’s hugely talented.
The coastal Vancouver setting looks so beautiful in the movie. Is that an area you had a connection to before? It’s such an important part of the book.
It’s one of the characters of the story, really. I love New York a lot, but I think the city that really has my heart is Vancouver. I wish Canada would adopt me. I’ll do anything. Vancouver’s a magnificent spot in the world. For anyone who hasn’t been there, it just is spectacular. Everything was quite lovely.
Sally Field as Tova with Marcellus.
Do you feel like you have any similarities to Tova in your personality?
An actress’s task is always to find the places in the character that link up with pieces that are in yourself, even if they might be pieces that you have a hard time revealing or bringing to the surface. That’s the task of an actor. I don’t know what they were, but somewhere we linked.
When you were reading the book, could you already see the role and how you would approach Marcellus?
No, no. You can’t plan that far in advance. You can’t come in with a predisposed plan of what you’re going to do when you get there. You have to have all the history that the actor has all the way up to the moment you enter that scene and then let it play itself. Let the pieces fall where they may. So I had no preconceived idea of how I was going to see anything or do anything. Once we got to the actual screenplay, which was hard to get to because it’s a delicate little piece of lace, this magical book, then it was just really being the character every day as much as I could with all of the things that were going on with her life and her brain.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
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