Vicky Krieps has a long list of credits, but her new film, “Phantom Thread,” just might be the one to make her a household name. She plays the protégé and lover of a renowned London fashion designer (Daniel Day-Lewis) in Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest project. Before booking the role Krieps acted on stage and in primarily European films like “Hanna,” “Two Lives,” “Before the Winter Chill,” and “The Young Karl Marx.”
We recently spoke to Krieps about how she interprets her “Phantom Thread” character, what it’s like to be a breakout star, and the strength of modern women.
“Phantom Thread” is currently playing in limited release. It opens nationwide January 19.
W&H: You have had such an amazing career. What does it feel like with all the buzz around your performance in “Phantom Thread”?
VK: It is very overwhelming because many people say, “Oh, you have done so many movies.” But either they were very small roles or I just came to the set almost like a carpenter or something. A carpenter comes, fixes a chair, and goes again. I would come for two days of shooting and it was always very simple. You don’t really have a feeling of being part of a movie. Also the other movies I did were independent, European films which had very small audiences, and they were never part of the awards season or anything like that. So I actually don’t know any of this at all. It’s the first time I’ve experienced it and it’s very overwhelming.
W&H: What was it like being at the Golden Globes?
VK: I was in a tent outside so I was not in the actual ceremony. It was a viewing party organized by Focus Features. In the course of the evening, I did meet people I admire very much and it was completely insane to me that they had seen my movie, and liked it. It was almost like someone gives you a huge gift and suddenly you sit there on the chair and have a huge package in front of you, and you say, “Thank you but it’s too big to hold in my hands.”
I’m happy I saw the program on the screen. I think if I would have been in the room, I would have fainted or something. I think I had a nice position there because I felt like an observer.
W&H: Who in particular that night did you meet who stands out in your memory?
VK: I met Isabelle Huppert, who’s one of my heroes. I met Gary Oldman. I spoke to the director of “Call Me By Your Name” [Luca Guadagnino], which was quite special because I really loved his movie.
W&H: For me, “Phantom Thread” is very much a women’s film. Alma is in complete control of the situation. She’s a feminist during a time when women were very much in the background. What was it about your character, and this story, that first appealed to you?
VK: Of all the things that appealed to me, it was that it was someone, especially a woman, completely in this world. She is a waitress and she only knows how to work and cater to someone else, like you would do in those days. Being this person, she becomes so strong, but not by pushing the boundaries because she wants to push them. She’s not a character who’s fighting to be strong as a woman.
The bottom line and this is the truth — all women are strong. We always have been strong since we have existed. Women are fucking strong … As an emancipated woman myself [I grew up with a mother who was very aware of this], I found it was something I hadn’t read before. “Phantom Thread” is about a woman who didn’t need the story about a woman becoming strong. Alma exists between all of these ideas. She’s submissive but without being cranky about it and at the same time, she’s very strong but doesn’t need the approval of her strength on the outside. She doesn’t need the approval to be the winner.
In the end, when she cooks, it’s still for him. People see it as a power struggle but I do think that they end up together and it’s a very much a dance as it is a duel, and a duet as it is a duel. She’s still doing it to help Reynolds [Day-Lewis], to help him become who he really is, to become real and wake up. It’s still coming from this place of love which women are capable of. Only women are capable of this. It’s really unrequited love, loving from the place where love exists. It’s not something where you trade power.
W&H: How did you feel about Alma’s evolution — she got darker and darker — and how did you channel her energy as the film went on and the circumstances got more and more unusual?
VK: [The energy] comes from the same place but it’s different. For me, the waitress is also very strong. These women get up every morning and go to work and they work 16 hours and then they go home and cook for their husband and then they put the children to bed. You have to be very strong to be a waitress. So I felt her with this kind of strength.
Alma grew up in the war. She lost her mother and had to help her father and siblings and they moved to England. She had to build up her new existence and became a waitress. You keep on doing, keep on working. This is an incredible amount of strength people need for this and it’s channeled differently and you see it. I channeled her strength in the end from the same place, but only she is starting to realize her strength exists by being in the world where people exist more by their financial status or status in general. Especially women. They exist because they marry someone or because they’re beautiful or seen in a certain way.
She realizes that’s not what she wants or needs. By this, she realizes her own personal strength, which is very individual. It’s her own treasure chest of her own power. That’s where she gets the strength to go and poison Reynolds. She does it to help him but it could have gone wrong. She’s very brave in a way. I would be shit scared if I killed someone.
W&H: Your character, Alma and Cyril, played by Leslie Manville, are the female driving force behind this film — two women who are very different from each other, yet they like each other very much. I couldn’t tell if they were dancing around each other or friends half the time. What was it like to build that relationship on the screen?
VK: That was super interesting. We didn’t meet so much because Cryil was Cyril and Alma was Alma. They had their own scenes with Reynolds. Then we had these scenes together and it was so nice because suddenly we [formed] a connection throughout shooting. I would see her and we would exchange looks. It was not something Paul [Thomas Anderson] was giving us as a direction. He really leaves it up to you, and Leslie [is] such a great actress. She’s an incredibly talented and strong woman, so it was something that was easy to pick up and hold onto. I was able to see her and allow this connection between us and it made me think about things differently.
It’s women who have to connect. They have to support each other. They have to stick together. It’s them who can change it by being a team. As long as they don’t team up, it’s never going to be strong enough to really make a difference.
W&H: What is the message you hope people will take from away from this film?
VK: That you should believe in yourself and follow your heart and in the end, and I know it sounds cheesy, but love is the answer because it will connect people of different genders, different ages. It goes beyond borders and time and makes you understand if you look at your neighbors with love.
