Tom Bateman and Nina Hoss Discuss Their Experience Working on Nia DaCosta’s ‘Hedda’
FilmSpeak has the chance of discussing with actors Tom Bateman and Nina Hoss about working with Nia DaCosta, who brings a singular vision of Henrik Ibsen’s 'Hedda Gabler to light.
As Nia DaCosta’s ‘Hedda’ makes its debut on Prime Video, FilmSpeak had the opportunity to unpack the film, albeit in a very brief conversation, with actors Tom Bateman and Nina Hoss, who respectively portray Hedda Gabler’s husband, George Tesmond, and her lover, Eileen Lovborg.
There were many significant changes that occurred from Henrik Ibsen’s original play and DaCosta’s screenplay, such as gender-swapping Eilert to Eileen Lovborg. However, Hoss explains that changing the plot to one party evening shifted many of the dynamics from Ibsen’s play inside DaCosta’s singular vision:
“Putting the whole plot into this one party evening changes everything, because you see every character finding their own within that evening, holding up the persona that society might expect of you, and, within that, trying to play your private game, in the corners, and trying to make it work. We were all hustling in there as characters, which you don't have in the play. What it did to Eileen and what Eileen does to the whole play was stunning, and I never would have thought of it. I was amazed and mesmerized to be able to plunge into that. The entire dynamic of the play changed because of where Nia placed us all. It made it very sensual, in a way. And I never felt that Ibsen was sensual. Ibsen, to me, is always controlled and cold, and underneath there is the fire. But with this, you see the fire out. That was amazing to experience with the material.”
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For Tom Bateman, “in the play, so much happens off stage. Characters come in and inform the other characters, and thus the audience, of what has taken place over this crazy night. I love that Nia chose just to show all of that and add to it this sort of anarchy that starts this very tight and buttoned evening. Everything's looking very pristine and controlled at this dinner party. As the wheels start to come off the bus and people start going a bit crazy, the audience gets to be a part of it, and all the characters are subjected to it; instead of just hearing about these little bits of news, we all go through the whole night. We all get drunk. We all go a bit crazy over this one night. I just loved what it did to the temperature of the piece. It turned everything up, made it very dangerous and dramatic.”