we had the pleasure of speaking with Vanessa Kirby about her experience shooting the film, especially when it came to shooting the harrowing birth scene in one take. In addition to preparing for release and a potential awards season with this film, Kirby has also been busy shooting Mission: Impossible 7.
As excited as we are to see the latest installment in the franchise and learn more about the film’s plot, we took the opportunity to focus on her experience working during the pandemic. Since COVID-19 will change the production process for months – if not longer – we asked Kirby about his experience shooting a film while adhering to the new protocols. Here’s what he had to say:
The public got a taste of how strict the process is on M:I 7 when an audio recording leaked of Tom Cruise berating crew members for not following the new COVID-19 guidelines. In Kirby’s case, he had someone close to him to show him the way before he had to get used to this new film process: his sister:
“My sister is also a member of the film crew. She’s an AD. She was on the first movie that was remade, Jurassic World, back in July, I think, so I got to see her do it, and it was such a wonderful time because the industry had to close and the theaters closed; to see movies being remade and people being able to work was a really beautiful thing.”
While Kirby expressed that sentiment in a much more understated way, it’s also what Cruise meant during his on-set outburst when he told crew members:
“We’re the gold standard. They’re in Hollywood right now making movies because of us. Because they believe in us and what we do. I’m on the phone at night with all the damn studios, the insurance companies, the producers, and they’re looking at us and using us to make their movies.”
I can’t even begin to imagine the challenges of getting such a large production safely off the ground right now. So if films like Jurassic World: Dominion and Mission: Impossible 7 are creating jobs and showing others a possible path forward, then I have to agree with Kirby’s statement in that regard; seeing filmmakers get back to work is a beautiful thing and a much-needed sign of hope for the future of filmmaking.
Jurassic World: Dominion has made it to the finish line of principal photography in November 2020. Mission: Impossible 7 is still in the works, but Paramount still has a November 19, 2021 release date on the calendar for the film. While we wait for these films, be sure to check out Kirby’s phenomenal work in Pieces of a Woman, streaming now on Netflix.