Elisabeth Moss has long been a fan of Kate Hudson‘s work. So playing opposite her in the Toronto-premiering genre bender Shell, directed by Max Minghella, was a treat for her, she told THR.
But the female stars of the genre movie that tackles such issues as age and the importance of looks had a different focus and role to bring the story of a down-on-her-luck actress, portrayed by Moss, and the flamboyant CEO of a wellness and beauty company, played by Hudson, to life.
“One of the things that Max and I talked about a lot was that my character and my job was to really ground the film as much as possible,” Moss explained. “That’s the difference … between Kate’s role and mine. She sort of takes one end of the spectrum, and then my job was to give a sense of it just being as grounded as possible in all the themes and really taking you through the journey, and not letting the movie overtake the groundedness of the story.”
The movie is a self-aware drama that is also designed to provide an entertaining ride that plays with movie tropes and mixes the joys of thrillers, horror, and comedy. “It’s a certain tone that’s really difficult to describe,” Moss told THR. “It’s a drama, but there’s something painfully funny about it at times.” Plus, it has “a bigger thriller element.”
The vibe reminded the star of popular movies of the past. “There’s an element of those great ’90s [films], like Death Becomes Her, that kind of particular type of comedy,” she said. “The tone of it was something that I’ve never really gotten to do a lot. So I really embraced [it].”
One painful-to-watch scene in Shell sees Moss’ character going into a film audition after having to sit in a waiting room surrounded by younger pretty people. “I’ve been to a million auditions in my life. I’ve been doing this since I was six years old,” the star recalls, quipping: “I’m very bad at math. I’m 42, so a long time. I sat in a lot of waiting rooms, and I had the experience of looking around and going, ‘oh my god, there’s no way I’m going to get this part.’ I’ve definitely had that experience over and over and over again.”
Luckily for her fans, Moss got to bring her talents to such hits as Mad Men and The Handmaid’s Tale, among many others. “It was the year that I auditioned for Mad Men. And I remember there was another pilot that was casting at the time, and everyone was talking about it,” she told THR. “There were two pilots in New York, and everyone was talking about them. I was like, ‘Oh my God, you got to get one of these two.’ And I remember one of them which we’re not going to name was kind of a cooler one. And I walked into that reading room, and everyone was just gorgeous. It was like everyone was a model. I was 23 at the time, and I still was like, ‘There’s no way’.”
In comparison, when she went and auditioned for Mad Men, “I just felt like I knew that character, I knew that role, I knew who Peggy was, and I felt so good,” Moss recalled. “I felt so good about myself in that audition. And I didn’t get this other show, but I got Mad Men, and here we are.”
Her takeaway and how that affected her work on Shell: “It’s a very good lesson in [how] your path can sometimes not be what was prescribed for you and expected of you,” Moss said. “So it was fun to take all of that experience into this film. I’ve lived and breathed that experience. But most of us have the experience of feeling maybe a little bit like you don’t live up to some sort of ideal that you’re supposed to. And to be able to tap into that and represent that for an audience was [something] I really loved. It was something that I embraced. After so many years of making sure that you look great, making sure that you’re doing this, and making sure you’re doing that, it was fun to be like, ‘I’m going to actually represent most everyone.”
Moss also shared that she enjoys genre fare in general. “I love horror, I love sci-fi, I love action,” she told THR. “It’s definitely my wheelhouse.”
Asked about the recent crop of body horror films, including Cannes hit The Substance with Demi Moore, and what may be driving that, the star offered: “It always goes that way, doesn’t it? Isn’t there always a year where it gets into the zeitgeist and people focus on similar things that year? Think of Armageddon and Deep Impact [in 1998]. Or Antz and A Bug’s Life [also in 1998]. People seem to get on the same page at the same time. I think it’s great. We haven’t seen movies like this in a while, and they’re still unique. It’s awesome to bring back a genre that hasn’t been done in a while and look at it through a new, modern lens.”
