While most of the industry was shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic, first-time Emmy nominee Zendaya and Tenet star John David Washington made a movie with Euphoria creator Sam Levinson. Malcolm & Marie was filmed between mid-June and early-July, according to Deadline, and the shoot was reportedly “compliant with WGA, DGA, and SAG-AFTRA approvals and COVID-19 safety protocols.” Little is known about the film (it’s supposedly thematically similar to last year’s Marriage Story), but in an interview with InStyle, Zendaya discussed what the secret shoot was like.
“It was an incredible experience. I’d been talking to Sam often during the quarantine. Sometimes he’d just call to shoot the sh*t and chat about life. And eventually I said to him, ‘I need to do something creative.’ So we bounced ideas back and forth, and then he started writing,” Zendaya said. Levinson reached out to Washington, free from his obligations of doing press for Tenet, “we fronted our own money and put it together ourselves. Our crew was a very small group of people who are also from Euphoria“:
“The number one thing was safety. Everyone had to quarantine and get tested in order to shoot in isolation. We created our own little bubble and made sure that once we were in, we couldn’t leave. We were able to workshop and rehearse together — it was very much like a play. I did my own hair and makeup and dressed in my own clothes. And then we shot in black and white on film, so we’ll see how it turns out. I think we were able to create something really special. And I’m grateful that we learned how to do it on our own.”
Malcolm & Marie doesn’t have a release date, but you know what does have a release date? Dune (December 18), which Zendaya has a small role in. She was surprised to herself in the trailer, and after watching it, she called co-star Timothée Chalamet and excitedly told him, “Dude! You should be proud.” That “insane charisma” is infectious.
(Via InStyle)