Below I’ve decided to add a couple new interviews Mary has done lately promoting ‘A Gentleman in Moscow’ and the Netflix anime series ‘Scott Pilgrim Takes Off’. First up is an in-person interview she did with Ewan in Los Angeles for the Los Angeles time. The event took place at the end of April and a few photos from that event can be seen here.
Secondly, Mary also did a lengthy interview with the SAG-AFTRA foundation discussing her work on the animated Netflix series, Scott Pilgrim Takes Off as well as working on AGIM. This was one of my favorite interviews with her! She’s so humble and I just loved watching this as a whole. Very lovely.
Mary also did an interview with Town & Country Magazine talking about playing Anna Urbanova in the series. Be sure to click the link above to read it in full:
What made playing Anna something you wanted to do?
It was such an amazing opportunity. Every aspect of it just sang with potential to be the best thing possible, beginning with the novel, which I had read already, and knowing that Ewan was attached to play the Count. I knew that that was going to be something magical. It felt like a real no brainer to want to be involved on top of the opportunity to play an incredibly fabulous character. Also, I got to be with my husband for six months and work on something that excited us both. There’s nothing better than that.
To create the character, did you use materials beyond the script or the book that inspired it?
The book, of course, was an amazing starting place; Amor Toles wrote such incredibly wonderful characters. In addition to that, I wanted to have something that I could hang my hat on in terms of the history of real actresses at that time, and the real Russian women of that day who were in her position. It’s a bit difficult to find a lot of information, but I did find a few. One was named Alla Nazimova, and I felt she resembled Anna the most—she was also the most fascinating to learn about. She had an incredible backstory that was quite heartbreaking, and I held onto that for Anna.
Is there anything about the production—which has these incredible sets and costumes—that you hope audiences notice? Any kind of Easter eggs we should be looking for?
There are subtleties, especially in the wardrobe, hair, and makeup. Obviously, we go through different eras, which is fun to see, but for Anna, I thought it was so lovely to have not only the evolution in terms of time but also of her as a person. She becomes so much softer, and we see her wearing knits and flat shoes; she’s letting herself get softer, and the clothes reflect that in a beautiful way.