Helen Mirren and Alden Ehrenreich Discuss A Talent for Murder

Dame Helen Mirren loves knives.

That detail stood out during an interview with the Academy Award winner for her new film A Talent for Murder. She stars in the movie alongside Alden Ehrenreich, known for his work in Weapons and Solo: A Star Wars Story.

Directed by Anton Corbijn, the film adapts the 2014 Joanna Murray-Smith play Switzerland. The story fictionalizes the life of author Patricia Highsmith. Highsmith died in 1995 and is best remembered for creating the con-man serial killer character Tom Ripley from The Talented Mr. Ripley and four additional novels. In real life, Highsmith was a mysterious and controversial figure. The film portrays a fictionalized version of the author who meets a young man named Edward Ridgeway from a New York publishing house. Ridgeway, played by Ehrenreich, attempts to convince her to write a sixth Ripley book. Ehrenreich also plays Tom Ripley as the film shifts between the narrative of Highsmith and the publisher alongside the Ripley story they shape.

Highsmith is portrayed as eccentric in the film, matching her real-life reputation, which includes a fondness for knives and guns. Ridgeway gifts her a knife early in the story, and Highsmith uses it at various points throughout the film. During an interview with Polygon, the first question addressed how comfortable Mirren felt handling the weapon.

“I loved it,” Mirren laughed. “The knives, the gun, there’s nothing like a good prop, you know. We actors, we love our props.”

Alden Ehrenreich then chimed in and asked Helen Mirren, “Don’t you have knives? Don’t you also collect them?”

“I do love knives. Yes, I do. I don’t exactly collect them,” answered Mirren. “I went to school in a convent in England and I used to take the bus. Opposite the bus stop, there was this knife shop — you know, those shops that have knives and scissors and things. I used to just love standing there, looking at all these beautiful knives. I do find knives very beautiful — the handle, the balance, the steel — I am fascinated with knives.”

Why Helen Mirren wanted to play Patricia Highsmith

Using a knife on screen did not drive her decision to take the role in A Talent for Murder.

“What was motivating for me was a great script, honestly — a great page-turning script and the interest of playing a character like Patricia Highsmith” said Mirren.

Regarding her preparation, Mirren watched available interviews with the reclusive Highsmith, noting that very little footage exists.

“Thank God for YouTube. YouTube is an amazing resource for actors preparing almost anything. There were little tiny bits of a protracted interview that she did for British television, but she was on her best behavior. And there’s another little, fascinating clip of her later in her life — around the time that I play her — and that was invaluable.”

How Alden Ehrenreich prepared to play Tom Ripley

The character of Tom Ripley has been portrayed by several actors across previous adaptations of Highsmith’s work. Matt Damon’s performance in the 1999 film The Talented Mr. Ripley remains the most famous in recent history, while Dennis Hopper and John Malkovich also played the role. Alden Ehrenreich explained whether he revisited past portrayals.

“The only one I went and watched again was Purple Noon,” said Ehrenreich, pointing to the 1960 film which contained the first onscreen portrayal of Tom Ripley, as played by Alain Delon. “When I was researching this, that was the one that Highsmith really loved, so I wanted to see, ‘Okay well if, if the Alain Delon version was sort of what she had in her head, and the version of Ripley I’m playing in this is certainly through Highsmith’s imagination,’ so I was curious about seeing that.”

“And he’s just so good-looking,” Ehrenreich said of Alain Delon.

Helen Mirren agreed: “So beautiful. He’s so gorgeous, yes.”

A Talent for Murder is in theaters now.

Source: Polygon