Amy Adams talks about her role as mother in new horror-comedy film

Amy Adams, who has given us memorable roles from a Disney Princess character in "Enchanted" to an innocent nun in "Doubt" to an aggressive girlfriend-barmaid of a boxer in "The Fighter," now portrays a stay-at-home mom who suddenly finds herself transforming into a dog at night.

Directed and written by Marielle Heller, "Nightbitch" is based on the 2021 novel by Rachel Yoder.

Asked how she transformed after 17 years from a Disney Princess to become a "Nightbitch," Adams jokingly replied, "It feels like a natural progression, doesn't it?"

Reflecting on it, the charming and down-to-earth actress said, "There was one of those conversations with myself that I was talking about. I've just been fortunate to be given a lot of opportunities to dive into different aspects of my character and different aspects of myself. As I've grown and changed and lived life, I've been fortunate to have things present themselves at different times when I could process my personal experience inside of the roles that I'm taking and dive into some of these transitional periods of my life. So, I've been fortunate to get to have that experience."

Adams, who is married to actor-painter Darren Le Gallo with whom she has a daughter Aviana, 14, talked to us in a press conference in Los Angeles and explained why this is a passion project for her, what she learned from her journey making the film, how she prepared for her role and how she relates to it.

You are also the producer in this movie. Why is this a passion project for you?

I first got the transcript of the book before it had been published.  And I just thought Rachel had such a unique narrative, you know? And there was something I deeply identified about the idea of loss of identity and transformation and using motherhood as an allegory for those things. It was just something I deeply identified with. And when thinking about how to bring it to life and because it was so specific in tone and it was going to require a lot of unique visual talents, I knew that going to Mari (Heller), who at the time had just had a baby.

And we were in isolation, and she had a toddler and a baby and was living in a cabin with her husband working. I thought she would definitely have a unique and personal perspective on this story. And yeah, there was like a collection of things. We worked on it. I don't know. She wrote it pretty quickly and then I think we made it about a year and a half after talking but had many conversations along the way. So, by the time we got to set, we already had a real shorthand and understanding of what she was trying to communicate and how she was going to approach the material.

How did you prepare for your role?

Yeah, there was a lot. It was really interesting preparatory process because there was no way to predict a lot of times what was going to be going on because I knew we would be working with three-year-olds. So, it was really important that I had a really clear understanding of what needed to happen in any given moment to allow that I could be very free and, like, live in a sense of play with the children.

Also, Mari's unique way of storytelling of breaking the fourth wall at times. There was just such a wonderful sense of release and freedom in approaching the film in the way she did. So, it really allowed, as long as I did my preparation, as far as learning everything, understanding where she's coming from. The book was such a great reference for that, as well, so I had a lot of people to bounce ideas off of.

Talk about the gender roles in this movie like that scene where the husband is asking his wife how to come there is no more milk? Can you talk about your reflection on that?

Oh, yeah. I know that conversation.

One of the things I loved so much about the book, and very much so about Mari's script was how accurately depicted relationship conflict was. That was something I hadn't played before in this uniquely organic or realistic way. It was just the littlest details. When the husband talks about making the coffee, right?

That was the perfect one that I didn't catch again until this last time that I watched it. The reason it resonated with me this time is because my husband, over the summer, had a slight misunderstanding over the coffee maker. Because I had made coffee the previous day. We were in a new location. I was working. He was like, well, how does it work? And I'm like, how does it work? If I figured it out, you could figure it out. So, there was something about that, this exchange and communication, that felt so authentic to me.

As far as traditional or non-traditional, my relationship with my husband, we switch roles from time to time. He's really great about carrying that, but he still can't figure out the coffee machine by himself. But he's great.

Probably one of the more insightful aspects of the film to me, the trajectory, is when she first goes to the library with her son and is almost dismissive of the other women because they're just house mothers. That they don't have the career. Whereas we're hearing her internal thoughts. As the story goes on, without giving away too much, you're awakened to wait a minute, these people are superheroes in a way. That is what the mother has to do. Can you talk a little bit about that aspect of the movie and how much you hope that is a discussion, that people realize that what a mother has to do is tremendous work?

Yeah, absolutely. I think what's interesting about the way that the film approaches identity is this idea of excluding ourselves from the community can be so isolating.

This is where the character finds herself, as she no longer identifies with the friends she used to have. Yet, she hasn't found a new group of people with which she identifies herself. Part of that is not wanting to release an idea of herself, right? Like, not wanting to let go of this person she believed herself to be. Once she embraces the joy, the play, the feral nature of motherhood, and really sees it as something she can.

I can't say anything because I really wanted to say sink her teeth into, and then that's what I've said. But she starts to really feel more validated in that experience. As she comments a lot and it's in the book, as well, talking about the lack of support for mothers in the community. If we validated the idea of parenthood as a very important job and how we raise our children and the resources we provide for our children as a community, that's going to elevate humanity, right?

That's what I believe, and I hope that conversation happens.

And even acknowledging the skillset of a mother. That's what I thought was fascinating.

Yeah. What's great about having community is each person brings their own special skillset, right? It gets developed over time. Like, I have become as a human, more patient because I learned the skill through parenting, you know? I can bring that to a community of other parents when we talk about our experience with parenting.

That's what's great about community, is it is a really difficult job to raise children. What I loved so much about the film is the idea of community and how important that is because each person inside of the community becomes a contributing factor to this child's wellbeing, this child's future.

The film is a realistic portrayal of motherhood. So, from your experience as a mother, what similarities do you find with you?

Some of the things that I identify deeply with, but I have a different perspective on now because she's 14, is this idea of monotony, which I think Mari communicates so well at the beginning of the film, this montage of monotony.

But what I've learned, and so it was great to get to go back and have the character discover this, as well, is that the monotony becomes the memory and the thing that you take with you. What I wouldn't give to sing my child the lullaby tonight for the fifth time. Which I joked earlier, I was gonna try and see what happened. So, for me, it's the idea. There's also this reformation of identity that I had to go through.

At different stages of life, everybody goes through. It's not specific to parenting. It can happen in several stages of life, and for women, especially.  We go through whether it's puberty, motherhood, menopause. There's just a lot of transformation, a lot of identity shifts. I keep harping on about community.

I love the sort of duality of the film that shows the struggle, but also shows the deep love and the joy.

Oh. I know, yeah. It is. And even in the joy, it's so heartbreaking, because I started crying earlier when they were asking me about it. I was like, she won't even let me read me a story anymore. No, she would. But yeah. It was great to go back and work with these toddlers and relive that moment, but it made me miss it a lot.

Photo courtesy of Searchlight Pictures

You talked a lot about identity, but I would like to talk about empowerment. I found myself very empowered watching this film. Because I do feel women still carry more burden than their male counterparts in this world. We always have to prove more, be better and put in the extra 10 percent. So, how much did this role empower you, and did it empower you differently as a woman versus as a mother?

Thank you for sharing that this film made you feel empowered. I love to speak about this film as an allegory because it is such an allegory for identity and transformation and empowerment. And I do think in speaking about my own child, she has benefitted so much from a community around her of people who are parents and who are not parents, be they teachers, aunts and uncles, friends. There is such an important factor that people play in children's lives, even if they are not parents themselves.

Yeah, I did feel really empowered. There was something really wonderful about taking on the challenge of saying the quiet thing out loud. Mari talks about that a lot. Sort of voicing this deep fear of invisibility and insignificance. There was something really empowering about that. And in playing this role and working with the kids, working with you, Mari's tone and the different things, I was really empowered because I let go of judgement of myself.

I never thought about the performance or how I looked. I was just able to be present, and that was very empowering.

Two years ago, there was a movie that won the Academy Award from Mexico called Huesera: The Bone Woman, and it was like this, but in a horror way, like an invader inside of a woman who has to face that she's going to become a mother. We feel like you are changing from inside out. Do you feel women will use this as an example to talk about? And also, bring the men to take part and talk about it?

Yeah, in taking on a film like this, I really do hope that it starts conversations, even just among audience members. Or I've heard a lot of people who have seen the film and, from all different walks of life, different ages, some parents, some not, and the conversations that it has brought up is really interesting to me, about women, women's bodies, women's bodily functions, women desire, female rage, frustration.

And this ever-moving bar of expectation that's really hard to meet because it just keeps moving. So, I hope it just keeps us talking about it so we can effect meaningful change in the way that we support women and families, really, to help them. Help them provide for their children and really give a platform to elevate our future.

It's interesting because definitely this movie can be read many different levels. I wonder if you can elaborate on that, it's a sense of how actually, even against the social norms. And the community as it's structured now, you're almost saying that you go back to a primordial instinct in order to find a better relationship with the next generation. And also, with your partner. You know, it's not surprising that sexual desire rises when she's more animal. I think you have the same curiosity, you know, if you can elaborate on that animal aspect that somehow establishes the balance in our lives.

I can start with my experience in making the film, it was one thing, because I was able to tap in. Naturally, my animalistic instinct is a little more golden retriever. I just want a snack and cuddle and play fetch. But I'm definitely very protective, and I definitely have that side. That's when mine comes out, is when I feel like I need to protect somebody or if I see something unjust, I get very, like, [makes noise] and I can feel that. So, I was able to tap into that.

The idea of tapping into an animal instinct it's not just in parenting, but it's to bring us closer to ourselves. And how I see it is it just removes all of the expectations and the Instagram filters and the perfect veneer of perfection, that there's only one way to do something. It's like getting back to a basic understanding of identifying your needs, your partner's needs, and your child's needs in an organic way, instead of trying to meet the needs of the pressure of the world around you.

It was intense. It was an intense experience. But in a way, it was cathartic. There was a real catharsis and being that character.

The editing of the film is quite different from the ending of the book. In terms of Nightbitch's art performance piece. How did you, producer and star, work with Marielle to find a unique ending that worked for the film, but also, while staying true to Nightbitch's artistic expression?

Yeah, I think that what she and I both resonated in the book, and Mari can probably answer this better than I can.

But in talking to her about it, she and I are both very pragmatic people, but also believe that our experience of motherhood is one of optimism and great hope. We look for that. That's where we wanted to leave the movie, inside of this. We didn't want to leave the movie with a negative comment because our experience and what we believe about parenthood is very positive. We wanted to uplift the experience.

I absolutely loved when Mari gave me the script and I read when she's having another baby and she's making the choice to do it all over again.  That, to me, was like the ultimate vision of hope. And yeah, and love, really. That was an intense scene.

Can you walk us through working with these little talented actors, with the babies? Any, like, funny memories you got from the set?

Oh, aren't they great? Oh my gosh, there are so many funny memories. I was at a Q and A with Scoot, so these are his words, but not mine.  [laughs] because I think I'm kind of experiencing working with them almost like you do childbirth, which is, it was great. I don't remember it being hard at all. And Scoot's like, what are you talking about? It was like working with, I think his quote, I don't want to speak for him, but he said it was like "working with very demanding people that you had to give what they wanted all the time." [laughs]

But they were wonderful. They were so bright. When we were shooting the scene in the grocery store that is now the opening scene, they were in a particular kind of rambunctious mood, and we needed them to be really still because we were doing this long single-take monologue. And I asked the parent, I was like, "Okay, what can we bribe them with." There were a lot of bribes. A lot of stickers and coloring books. But I was like, I got to give them something special.

So, I was like, "Hey guys, are you okay with them having Fruit Loops?" And since we were in a grocery store, I bought a box of Fruit Loops, and I put the Fruit Loops in my pocket. And at the end of the scene, I'd be like, "You have earned a Fruit Loop," which they were very happy with that. Until they realized where I kept the Fruit Loops, and then I spent the rest of the day trying to hide Fruit Loops in different pockets, because they were like, constantly. But it was so realistic to the experience of parenting for me, where you could be trying to do one thing and have a very specific intention, and that three-year-old is gonna have a totally different idea of how the day is going to go.

But it also got me back to this wonderful space in my acting where I was focused on play and being present. They were wonderful. But like the paint scene, I was like, I don't know how you guys are going to edit it, because once that paint was out of those tubes, it was just, it was on. They each had different personalities, which was so fun to watch, as well. Because one of them would be the one who was quieter, and you could get to do the sleep scenes and want to cuddle. Then the other one was the one that's like, oh, watch this.

You think that's something, now I'm going to squeeze the paint like I'm going to the bathroom out of my diaper. So, they were wonderful, and it took, though, like a, I know I keep using the word community, it took all of us to make it happen. At any given time, we had prop department, we had the first AD, sometimes Mari's having a whole conversation with him down here while I'm doing a scene up here, because it just became this real collaborative environment. I loved working with him.

Photo courtesy of Searchlight Pictures

Well, one of the reasons that we went to Mari right away is because of her talent with tone.

But I think I just always approached it as I watched the film back and I was surprised that it was funny, because the whole thing to me was just so grounded in truth. That was so important to Mari and to me that we grounded it in as much authenticity as we possibly could. So, that was really helpful. And that this was such a personal story to Mari as well, who could have deep understanding of the truth of any given moment and how we wanted to convey that.

Just really trying to ground it as much as possible, so the throughline of truth and authenticity would pull through all the different tonal shifts.

You talked about the struggles and joys of parenting a toddler. But the fact that your daughter is 14 now, and there is a community of people around her, so how do you, as a parent, as a community, help teenagers today to avoid the isolation that your character experienced because they are so into social media?

I know. It's such a good question. Such an important question and one that I'm grappling with every day. I wish I had the answer to that. As for me, I just really try to stay open and stay present for conversation. I promised her I wouldn't talk too much about her now, how she is. I'll talk about her past.

But I will say, just being available for myself. I don't think I have the answers to the bigger issues at large, but for myself, I just try to stay available to her so that when she is in those moments where she wants to talk and share, that I'm present for them, present and available. But that's just, I wish I had that answer. I know it's the real thing. There's a lot more personal stories, but they're not mine so I don't share them. It's a very good question and a very important issue.

I had a very process-oriented, actorly question for you. You mentioned early on breaking the fourth wall and I'm fascinated by and interested in your approach to the monologues in the film. They take place in different companies. There's dinner with friends. There's the one that opens the film where maybe it's an acquaintance. You have one with your son. So, I'm interested in the preparation for the film, did you approach those as you might have approached monologues in the past, or was there may be like a thin sheen of detachment because your character is vocalizing things that she's only maybe realizing or articulating for the first time?

I treated them less like soliloquies or like monologues in a traditional sense and wanted to treat them like conversations she was having with herself. As much as I hate to admit it, that's something that's very familiar to me. That's something that's familiar to a lot of people. We have very active conversations with ourselves, evaluating situations, asking ourselves questions, and trying to come up with answers. So, it was tapping into that and allowing for that to be okay.

Just to have those conversations and at first, it was a little strange. I was a little, especially because Mari wanted to do them in single takes. I wasn't sure how she was going to approach that. I remember finding out in the grocery store with the shift, with a couple of the tonal shifts or the playing with what's in her head and what she's actually saying. Mari would do that without cutting, so I'd have to work out that shift.

But it ended up being fun and a great challenge, and one that was fun to take on. I had just finished doing a play in London, and that was helpful because working on the play, gave me a toolset that I hadn't had before about approaching dialogue. I was grateful to have had that experience and to have given me a different way of working in this experience.

I was wondering, for you, this film can create or can make a debate about what is feminism today or if this character of yours can be something that feminists can talk about. If this film can create a debate about the big questions of feminism today, if the feminist community can tackle this film and create a debate?

I would like to think that this film doesn't belong to just one community of people. Because there's gonna be a lot of people with different points of view coming in, and I am hoping what it does is start a conversation not only about the importance of the job of parenthood, but also the way that we as, I'm speaking from the perspective of someone from the United States, but how we as a country can support our children and how we as a country can move them forward.

But hopefully anytime you can do a piece of art that you hope will get people talking about bigger issues, you hope that that can move things forward.

You mentioned social media, and I was just wondering, obviously taking care of small children is really hard and sometimes very tedious work, but do you also think that maybe some of the things that make parenting in our day and age a little more challenging is the insane pressure that parents put on themselves to portray themselves as perfect parents because of social media? That there's more of a need to ace parenting right now than maybe future generations didn't have to deal with?

I suppose in a performative way, but I can speak from previous generations. I know people struggled with outward perceptions of how they were supposed to present a family. The social media thing is such a bigger question than I feel like I can even dive into, but I've definitely, I don't really participate actively on social media. It doesn't mean I haven't looked. And I feel like oh, if I didn't do X, Y, or Z, or like, oh, I gave my daughter hot dogs.

I'm like what have I done? There's a lot of pressure. They were organic, but they were hot dogs. But you know what I mean? It's just like a lot of information, so I think it's natural to get into a comparison mindset. That can be challenging. But that's not just for parents. We were talking about that for children as well. For all of us. But I think inside of parenting, it can be a little daunting. And I know that I have felt like I don't have my fall porch is very disappointing.

And I'm like, wait a second, do I care about a fall porch or am I just being told that I have to have some comparative presentation?

There was a scene with a city friend where there was this lady saying, I think I'm a better mom because I'm working. That hit me too close because it was something that I grappled with because our children could say the most honest things about us, and it really hit home, right? I was wondering if you yourself feel that guilt and how you deal with that?

Sure. I've missed things. For me, it's changed how I look at work. But it's been a little bit of a journey to that. But again, the idea of comparison is that we all experience motherhood the same, and we really don't, right?

And so, that's one of the things that's highlighted in this movie is we see her pack, who have embraced motherhood as like the ultimate project, right? They're like, we're gonna kick this thing's ass. But everybody experiences parenthood differently. Everybody has different circumstances than where they come from, that they're in, and that's what we need to leave space for, is that everybody's experience looks different. This is one woman's experience, and people can see themselves in it. And understanding that the journey on this earth through parenting looks different to everybody.

—MGP, GMA Integrated News