He almost missed out on the role of a lifetime: How Scorsese star got ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’

He almost missed out on the role of a lifetime: How Scorsese star got ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’

It’s a Flower Moon Killers announcement: Lily Gladstone is the lead actress in Martin Scorsese’s new film. A must-see event at the 76th Cannes Film Festival, this 3-hour-and-26-hour Western is finally hitting theaters.

Looking back at a dark part of American history – the series of murders of members of the Osage Indian tribe in Osage County, Oklahoma in the 1920s – and based on David Grann’s book of the same name, published in 2017, Killers of. Flower Moon brings together an exceptional cast.

The 80-year-old filmmaker reunites with two of his favorite actors – Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio – who he joins with Jesse Plemons, Brendan Fraser, John Lithgow, Tantu Cardinal, Pat Healy, Scott Shepherd, Sturgill Simpson, Gary Basaraba and Steve Eastin.

But it’s actress Lily Gladstone who stands out in this film, in which members of the Osage tribe fight to see justice served and the FBI to lead an investigation into gruesome murders on their rich oil fields.

Lily Gladstone’s performance has been praised by critics since the film’s preview at the Cannes Film Festival. Which suggests a bright future for her and a turning point in her career, like Margot Robbie before her, who also exploded thanks to Martin Scorsese and his film The Wolf of Wall Street.

Lily Gladstone hardly played in the new Scorsese

In Killers of the Flower Moon, Lily Gladstone plays Molly Burkhart, a Native American from the Osage community who will fight for her tribe, the victim of a series of gruesome murders. And the role could earn her an Oscar nomination, given that Paramount and Apple have decided to nominate Lily Gladstone for Best Actress at the next ceremony.

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If the cast is well chosen, it will be a historic nomination. Born in Browning, Montana, Lily Gladstone has Native American ancestry including the Nimipuu and Pikunis tribes and lived on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. She would then be the first Indian-American actress to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress.

However, the actor almost missed out on the role of a lifetime. First, because of the rewriting of the film’s script, as Lily Gladstone confided to Kelly Reichardt, who directed her in Certain Women and the First Cow, during a mixed interview magazine interview (Made before the SAG-AFTRA strike).

The script for Killers of Flower Moon was changed so much that the scene given to Lily Gladstone was significantly reduced: “I had three pages of fairly verbose dialogue before rewriting. But the scenes were so difficult for me that when COVID shut everything down and the project was put on hold, I assumed I would skip the audition. About a year later, I got asked to Zoom with Martin Scorsese..

And that request changed everything. in the given interview The Hollywood ReporterThe actor explained that he considered leaving acting in 2020 – during the pandemic – to apply for a seasonal job at the Department of Agriculture, which controlled the killing horns that were ravaging the entire country at the time:

“You do some soul searching and wonder if acting is really a sustainable business. So I took out my credit card and signed up for a data analytics course.”

Lily Gladstone and Martin Scorsese

But as he was about to enter his credit card code, he received an email from Martin Scorsese’s team asking him to join a Zoom meeting. The director noticed her in the films of Kelly Reichardt and was very eager to offer her the role of Ernest’s (Leonardo DiCaprio) wife in the film “Killers of the Flower Moon”.

A happy coincidence that prevented Lily Gladstone from ending her career and landing the role of a lifetime, guaranteeing her a nomination at the next Oscar ceremony. And the actor worked hard to build that character and respect the Osage community in Killers of Flower Moon.

A rewrite of the script – which shifted the main point of view to the rebellion of the Osage community, rather than the FBI, to avoid the pitfalls of the film. white savior (the “white savior” figure) – made it possible to center the character of Molly, her relationship with Ernest, her position as a “matriarch” and heroine for the Osage community.

During the filming of Killers of the Flower Moon, which lasted six months, Lily Gladstone gave her body and soul to her role, for which she especially lost a dozen kilos. As Leonardo DiCaprio explained in an interview, the actor was like a guide or compass for the whole team, including Martin Scorsese. Vogue : “Lily is absolutely stunning in this film. It has a whole movie and a story.”

The actor returned to this conversation on Zoom that changed everything: “Marty knew instinctively that Lily was the one. I’ve never seen her date anyone and I didn’t want to wait another minute right away.”

In addition to her genuine performance, Lily Gladstone was an authentic source of knowledge for Martin Scorsese, who himself sought her feedback and comments on the script and welcomed the voices of the Osage community.

“It was clear that I didn’t just have a role as a collaborator. I was expected to step in and put a lot on the table.”he explained Vulture. “That’s what justice is: not just opening the door for victims, but giving them a seat at the decision-making table.”

With this important role in Killers of the Flower Moon, Lily Gladstone has given her career a boost and she knows that her life will never be the same. It’s up to you to form your own opinion on the performance of the actor we’ve been hearing about for so long.

The movie “Killers of the Flower Moon” is in cinemas.


Source: Allocine

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