When Elizabeth Debicki arrived on the set of the movie “Wicker,” the first thing she saw was Alexander Skarsgård wading through the water, full-frontal. But it wasn’t really Skarsgård; he was “naked as a mat.”
“I turned the corner and said, ‘Hi Alex!’ I said. and I turned bright red because my brain couldn’t compute what it was seeing,” Debicki says Diversity“I was like, ‘Oh my God! Welcome to Budapest, I guess,'” sitting next to Skarsgård and co-star Olivia Colman in a hotel suite at the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles.
Directed by married filmmakers Eleanor Wilson and Alex Huston Fischer, “Wicker” is about the relationship between an outcast fisherwoman (Colman) and her fantastic husband (Skarsgård), whom the local basket weaver (Peter Dinklage) handcrafts for her. When the straw husband proves to be a better man and partner than the other married men in the village, jealousy erupts and the unlikely couple is forced to figure out how to preserve their simple life amid chaos and insults. (And yes, Straw-Skarsgård makes a full-screen appearance in Black Bear, which is in theaters now.)
While Debicki needed some time to grapple with the image of a naked wicker man, Colman’s reaction reflected her character’s love at first sight.
“It was amazing because we’d all been looking at the pictures for about 18 months and then to see it live was amazing,” Colman said. “HE [feeling] ‘Oh my God, this will work!’
The Oscar winner was the first to see Skarsgård in a wicker suit and prosthetic makeup. The prototype was molded to Skarsgård’s specifications, but when Weta Workshop artists tried it on someone else in New Zealand, it almost worked, but not quite.
“If it doesn’t quite work, it’s like a horror movie because it looks like you cut someone’s face and pasted it on your own, which wasn’t the tone we wanted here,” Skarsgård explains. “So, there was a lot of anticipation and excitement and a lot of nerves because it was like, ‘Damn! If it doesn’t work, then we’re kind of screwed.'”
Fortunately, Colman’s enthusiastic response allayed any of Skarsgård’s fears. “It was an incredible day that I’ll never forget. Wearing it helped me find the physicality of the character, then stepping out of the trailer and seeing Olivia out and about.” [gasps]” she recalls: “You can see how intricate the work is and how beautiful it is, and how when it’s pasted on my face it actually moves with my movements. “It’s even better than we imagined.”
The cast’s multi-layered response is exactly what moviegoers can expect when watching “Wicker.” The movie is meant to warm your heart and make you laugh, but it’s also guaranteed to make you cringe. Viewers got their first look at the film in a steamy three-minute trailer full of sexual innuendos and harsh jokes. Since then, marketing for the movie Black Bear has taken on a life of its own, with fun promotional items like hand-woven nipples, a popcorn bucket shaped like the torso of a wicker man, and splinter removal kits.
But the film itself dares to go much deeper. “This isn’t just a joke or a sex comedy,” says Skarsgård. “They’ve done a great job with this, and I hope and think and believe that people will go on this journey and be excited by all the ups and downs.”
In an era when box office is unpredictable, the cast of “Wicker” isn’t worried about moviegoers embracing the film’s meteoric rise. The stars believe that the originality of the fanciful romance is enough to attract moviegoers to the theater, as post-trailer buzz suggests. “Wicker” ranked fifth with $5.75 million from 1,471 locations, marking a “strong start” for the low-budget indie. DiversityRebecca Rubin’s. (Black Bear acquired the film for $2.5 million after it generated buzz at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year.)
The movie is a lot of fun, but there are also a lot of serious moments and a good balance of raw emotional scenes. I didn’t expect it to be such an emotional love story. How did you strike this balance?
Colman: It was all in the hands of El and Al [Eleanor Wilson and Alex Huston Fischer’s] nice scenario. They just got the tone. So you just had to follow it and you really can’t go wrong. It can be difficult to go from a very silly situation to a truly heartbreaking one, but it worked out better because everything was done realistically.
In the saddest moments of my life, I found myself laughing absolutely hysterically, which is a very human thing, pain and recovery, all of that. And El and Al did it. It made our journey and our work easier.
What message do you want viewers to take away from this about marriage and romance?
Colman: Think wisely. I hope the love you choose does not diminish your life.
– Debicki: It’s a beautiful examination of the idea that loving someone is actually looking in your own mirror. You know that’s what’s so scary. But I always hear Olivia say, “So what does she know about love?” I think about the sentence he said. And the basket maker says, “Well, I guess he learned that from you.” That’s what we do in life. We are constantly learning from each other. It is also a very good examination of the institution of marriage.
And a lot of this movie looks at what the patriarchy does to women, the messages that women need to compete. There’s a kind of scarcity complex where you have to do it this way, and she’s rethinking the system and creating it authentically in her own image, and that’s how she thrives, and that’s a really beautiful conversation for women.
Elizabeth Debicki on the set of “Wicker” with directors Eleanor Wilson and Alex Huston Fischer.
What do you think it says about audiences being willing to come out and support a straw man and wife?
Colman: I think people are excited about something that’s original and different. I think audiences are kind of underrated, like, “Oh, they liked this movie. We’re going to make five more movies like this,” and there’s room for that. But there is also room for something completely original and different. And El and Al had control of it.
Skarsgård: The truth is, they had complete creative control, and without a lot of chefs in the kitchen or a lot of nervous financiers saying, “Well, are we sure this is going to work?” It was truly exciting to be a part of this journey. It’s like we’re doing something pretty unique here. There is freedom in this.
– Debicki: We are going through a very difficult time for women. If you look at women and patriarchal systems in this country, women have had the right to choose what they do with their bodies, how they live their lives, and have generally paid the price for inequality since the beginning of time. I mean, women are rightfully questioning things, and this movie is refreshing because it looks at these issues in a really accessible and entertaining way, but there are some serious conversations in this movie. I think it’s important to talk about this.
People have a lot of fun with their promotions and the products they make. What fun products have you attended or seen lately?
Skarsgård: We have a splinter removal kit. And those 3D printed wicker trunks. These are popcorn buckets, and then you fill them with popcorn like a wicker basket.
What about all those straw puns? When did we reach the end?
Skarsgård: There is a good one.
Colman: 50 Shades of Straw.
Skarsgård: This was so fun to watch. We all loved the movie and were very excited when the trailer came out, but you would never expect a reaction like this. I’ve never watched a movie that got this much reaction. It’s been really exciting, and now we’re excited to share the entire film with the world, beyond just those three minutes.