Interview by Elisa Leonelli
December 13, 2024
Amy Adams was nominated by the international journalists voting for the Golden Globes as Best Actress for her courageous performance in the movie Nightbitch, written and directed by Marielle Heller from Rachel Yoder’s 2021 novel.
What themes of this film interested you so much that you wanted to co-produce it as well as star in it?
I got the galleys of the book before it was published, and I deeply identified with this allegorical idea of identity loss and transformation after motherhood. I knew that it took a particular visual talent to make this film, so I brought it to Mari, who had just given birth to a child and lived alone with her 5-year-old son, while her husband was away on business, during the lockdown for the COVID-19 pandemic, so she had a very personal perspective on this issue.
Amy Adams-Nightbitch © Searchlight
Will you explain how this new mother felt isolated, after she had paused her career as an artist to take care of her newborn son, who is now two years old, while her husband (Scoot McNairy), although understanding, was often away from home for his work?
This mother no longer identifies with the friends she had before and has not yet managed to create a group of new friendships, and when she comes to accept the joy and feral nature of motherhood, she feels validated by this experience. Playing this role has given me the opportunity to express the feeling of invisibility and insignificance that new mothers experience daily, engaged in monotonous and repetitive tasks. I realized that leveraging our animal instincts helps us to get closer to ourselves, without paying attention to the expectations of perfection and the pressures of the world around us.
Did something similar happen to you when your baby, Aviana, was born in 2010?
No, because I didn’t give up on my career, I had a husband who supported me and helped me, and around us there was a community of other parents, aunts and uncles, relatives, friends and teachers; so I managed to keep my perspective and feel rooted. My family has benefited from these supports, which should be available to everyone in our society.
Amy Adams-Nightbitch (c) Searchlight
What do you intend to communicate to the public with this film about a woman who imagines that she is physically turning into a bitch wandering around in the night with a pack of dogs?
I’ve heard the reactions of many people of all kinds with different viewpoints, whether they were parents or not, and we’ve had interesting conversations about women’s sexual desires, frustrations and anger. Mari and I are pragmatic types and we didn’t want to leave the audience with a negative impression, because we believe that motherhood is a positive experience that generates optimism and hope. But we need to make significant changes to help families provide for their children and improve our future.
Nightbitch, released in US cinemas December 6, arrives in Italy on Disney+ January 24.
Written for Voila Magazine, Facebook, Instagram. Read here original Italian text.