Mexican actor Melissa Barrera assumed the film Carmen was going to be an adaptation of Georges Bizet’s opera of the identical identify.
And the star of the previous two Scream motion pictures, and the big-screen adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In the Heights musical, was right here for it.
Not least as a result of celebrated French dancer Benjamin Millepied would direct this alleged adaptation.
His work choreographing the ballet sequences in Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan gained him appreciable acclaim, and it additionally gained him the hand in marriage of the movie’s star, Oscar-winner Natalie Portman.
“I was like, ‘Oh, this (Carmen adaptation) is gonna be something unique and special, and I am dying to be a part of it’,” Barrera admits on a Zoom name with Today.
“It was a no-brainer for me, I hadn’t even read the script.”
Then one thing unusual occurred.
Barrera was first connected to play the titular tragic character in 2018, however capturing didn’t start till 2021, and, by then, the plot of Millepied’s movie had advanced to turn into nothing like Bizet’s opera.
“Carmen is so powerful and sensual that she ends up getting killed by the men who claim to love her, that’s the tragedy,” Barrera explains.
“And Ben was like, ‘I don’t like that, I want to reimagine it’, and so he opted for keeping the essence of the character but completely changing the story, making her a character that can actually be loved and can actually win.”
The finish result’s a Carmen with the identical searing sensuality, however a narrative that doesn’t encourage the viewers to imagine she’s asking for any hassle that befalls her.
It reimagines Carmen as a younger Mexican girl, who escapes a murderous drug cartel by fleeing illegally throughout the US border.
This is how she crosses paths with Aidan, a returned Marine, performed by so-hot-right-now Paul Mescal, who falls for the mysterious Carmen and ditches his obligation to go on the run along with her.
Think Queen & Slim crossed with Birds of Passage and also you’ll land near what Millepied is aiming for.
Shot round Broken Hill in New South Wales — Portman was in Sydney making Thor: Love and Thunder on the Time — Carmen’s actual power is the riveting chemistry between Barrera and Mescal.
Indeed, such is the movie’s reliance on this chemistry that it’s superb to assume Mescal was a late inclusion, and Jamie Dornan was initially connected to the position.
Barrera couldn’t be happier with how issues turned out.
“Paul is just the sweetest guy; the most hardworking and best scene partner,” the 33-year-old says.
“Sometimes I would be feeling the pressure, and he was always there to tell me that I was doing good — he’s so supportive and sweet.”
Barrera is worked up to see what the Oscar-nominated Mescal will do in Ridley Scott’s Gladiator 2, however is much more obsessed with the way forward for one other appearing buddy — Scream castmate and Wednesday star Jenna Ortega.
“She’s the best,” Barrera says. “She’s so funny and so smart, like, wiser than all of us.
“We became like real sisters (on Scream) and to this day we’re texting, and I’m always asking how she’s doing, especially right now, you know, because her life changed (with Wednesday’s success).
“But if anyone’s smart enough to know how to navigate it, it’s her, and I think she’s gonna do amazing things … so I’m happy that I got to do two movies with her and maybe more.”
If Barrera continues to supply performances like she does in Carmen, her co-stars will probably be simply as completely satisfied to do motion pictures along with her.
Carmen is in cinemas on Thursday.
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
