While fans just saw Vanessa Kirby in The Fantastic Four: First Steps as Sue Storm, her next movie, Night Always Comes, was also released on Netflix, offering a darker role for the star. The film follows Kirby's Lynette, a struggling woman trying to secure a down payment for a house to keep her family afloat. To get the money she needs, she has to partake in increasingly dangerous activities throughout one night.
The Direct spoke with Night Always Comes director Benjamin Caron about why Vanessa Kirby was perfect for his new film. "I think Vanessa is the complete actor," he noted, adding how "she is unafraid to go to places that explore the sort of humanity of these characters." He explained how Kirby "brings a fierce, wild energy, a sort of unpredictability, but at its very core, a sort of deeply human, messy, complex character, which I don't think we see enough of on screen."
Kirby's Lynette has a dark backstory in the film, one that Caron describes as "everything" to what is guiding her every choice in the movie. He said that "she has sadly gone through abuse, a series of abuse and exploitation, and that this has created in this character, a cycle of self-sabotage."
Night Always Comes is streaming on Netflix. Read the full interview below.
Director Benjamin Caron Explains Why Vanessa Kirby Is the Perfect Fit for Night Always Comes
"Vanessa Is the Complete Actor."
- The Direct: "Working with the great Vanessa Kirby, in your words, what makes her perfect for this film?"
Benjamin Caron: I think Vanessa is the complete actor. I think she is unafraid to go to places that explore the sort of humanity of these characters. I think she brings a fierce, wild energy, a sort of unpredictability, but at its very core, a sort of deeply human, messy, complex character, which I don't think we see enough of on screen.
- The Direct: "Lynn has such a dark backstory in this movie. How would you say that where she comes from in that backstory is fueling every decision she makes in this film?"
Benjamin Caron: I think her backstory is everything... What I think is interesting about the film is that you don't know what that backstory is until quite late in the film.
I think that the choices that she makes, I think you begin to understand why she maybe ticks the way that she does, because she has sadly gone through abuse, a series of abuse and exploitation, and that this has created in this character, a cycle of self-sabotage.
What I love about the film is that you you think, and she thinks, is that, in some way, this home is going to fix this feeling that she has of trying to find safety for for her family, and only by the end of the movie do you and does she realize that actually the one thing she needs to do is take care of herself.
- The Direct: "Were there any real-life stories that influenced the events that you brought to the screen, or purely fictional?"
Benjamin Caron: I know that Vanessa spent a lot of time meeting sort of women's groups in Portland and trying to understand what it was like to be on the edge, and to try and feel like she's honestly representing them. I guess I for me personally...
I remember many, many, many years ago, when I had a similar situation where I had a young family and we were renting, I was still in my, I think, in my late 30s and the 40s, and I was renting, and I had this idea in my head, I really needed to own a house for sort of security for my family. And it was like, I almost forgot, A, to look after myself, and also to look after my family in this quest to find the safety.
And I really remember a moment where I actually made a decision to go, you know, what I need to take care of me and my family first, and let go of this sort of desire to own something. If I look after that first, then actually, that's what really matters.
Fleshing Out the Relationships in Night Always Comes
There Are Several Key Dynamics at Play in the Film
- The Direct: "How did you approach bringing Lynn and Kenny's integral relationship to life in a believable and, you know, respectful way, so that it would truly become the heart of this film?"
Benjamin Caron: Well, I was a huge fan of 'Peanut Butter Falcon,' and I remember seeing Zach [Gottsagen], and Vanessa too, and we sort of talked about how much warmth and wonder that he brought to the screen.
So, when we read this script, and we were discussing who would be the right actor to inhabit, Kenny, Zach was just the first person, the only person that we contemplated, coming on board, and Zach brings so much honesty that [Kenny is] almost the most honest character of the entire film.
And I think the film needs those Joy beats. It needs that heart and that warmth, and that's what, for me, Kenny brings in, just in spades in this film.
- The Direct: "Another important relationship in the movie is with Lynn and her mother, [Doreen, played by Jennifer Jason Leigh], who get along very differently. So how did you approach that dynamic?"
Benjamin Caron: Well, again, I mean, again, Jennifer Jason Lee was the first person that we thought of, and we offered it to her and we spoke to her, and she said yes straight away. So we were really lucky. It was a shared love of Jennifer's work. I think she understood that what we were trying to do, Vanessa and I were trying to do was sort of bring another portrayal of a unique mother and daughter relationship, that this was something that is just as much about what you don't see as what you do see. I think Jennifer is such a just a brilliant actor that having those two of them on screen together was was such a joy to watch.
And that final scene, for me, is like one of the one of the best scenes between Lynette and Doreen, where it's like, it's a sort of a really complicated, unexpected breakup scene where, you know, Doreen is basically, sort of saying, I can't help you, there's nothing I can do. And in that moment, it's sort of Lynette begins to realize that the only way she can escape this is to actually leave this household.
- The Direct: "Also in the film is Eli Roth, who actually doesn't do a lot of acting these days. So what was the process in getting him involved in this series or in this show?"
Benjamin Caron: I don't think there are that many actors who are willing to go to those places, and so in many ways. And again, this is the brilliance of Carmen Cuba, our casting director. She suggested Eli straight away. We were like, Okay, I know Eli. I know his work. I know what he's done as an actor and also as a director.
I know he's not afraid to be fearless and take his ego out of the situation and put the character first. And I think Eli brilliantly was unashamedly did that, even though it's a kind of uncomfortable, sort of not likable character. He brilliantly doesn't care about that.
Why Benjamin Caron Wanted To Keep Track of the Time Through Title Cards
He Was Looking to Constantly Remind Audiences of "That Ticking Clock."
- The Direct: "One of the stylistic choices that you make throughout the movie is those title cards. Can you talk about why you chose to keep putting up those time cards as the night went on?"
Benjamin Caron: Well, I remember right at the very beginning when I talked about the pulse, the rhythm of this film, we were sort of trying to explore: how can we remind the audience, in terms of that ticking clock, [about] the sort of ticking bomb?
And I really wanted to stay away from expositional moments of this is the time, or sort of inserts of clocks or time, and so I just avoided shooting that. And in the back of my mind, I knew that I was interested in playing with the sort of hard cuts to that ticking time, and using those also as sort of interesting sound design moments that kind of will ratchet up the tension...
Because it's important to take the audience on that Odyssey, and understand the time pressure they're on. So it was something that we, I had in the back of my mind, and literally, on the very first day in the edit with my editor, Yan Miles, who [I've] worked [with] for many, many years, we sort of started to play with that, and it became sort of defining motif in the film.
- The Direct: "This is a dark film, and it's got a lot of messages within it. Why is now the perfect time, with where society is, for audiences to experience a story like this?"
Benjamin Caron: Well, I think it reflects, you know, when you, whether you read the news, whether you go out in the streets, whether it could be in Los Angeles or Portland or San Francisco, or here in London, I think it very much reflects the world that we're seeing that is happening right now. And so I think it feels timely. And for me as a filmmaker, it was trying to understand a little bit about these millions of people and how they are in these situations, and who gets to feel safe and at what cost?
Fans of Vanessa Kirby should be excited to learn that she's expected to return in not only Avengers: Doomsday but also a sequel to The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
