Zach Woods shared a glimpse into working with the pregnant Aubrey Plaza in his film The Accompanist during a conversation with E! News at Tribeca Film Festival.
Why Working With Pregnant Aubrey Plaza Was Like Pouring “Kerosene” on Zach Woods’ Ego
Zach Woods‘ most recent project had him spinning.
Nearly four years after the actor and Aubrey Plaza costarred in Spin Me Round—directed by Plaza’s late husband Jeff Baena—Woods detailed reuniting with the pregnant actress on his feature-film directorial debut.
“It was like you poured kerosene on my ego,” Woods told E! News in an exclusive interview at the world premiere of his film The Accompanist at Tribeca Film Festival June 4. “Just the sheer power. I felt like I had dominion over her, not just her work, but her entire life.”
“I’ve known Aubrey since I was a teenager,” Woods—who befriended the actress in 2003—explained. “I’ve always been crazy about her. She’s so powerful and soft and hard and funny and vulnerable all at the same time. It’s an astounding performance.”
In the film, Plaza plays new child welfare social worker Sarah who places 9-year-old Emily (Everly Carganilla) with witchy foster mom Sylvia (Susan Sarandon) after the child’s grandpa’s dementia worsens.
For the 41-year-old, building this world around Plaza—also a producer on the film—and Sarandon gave him a close-up of what it takes to shine onscreen.
“People often think actors want to be emotional,” he explained. “But I think, really good actors, they don’t. It’s like getting in a cold plunge. They don’t want to do it because they’re not sentimental and they’re not obsessed with themselves, but they’re willing to do it on behalf of the story and on behalf of their characters.”
“So, watching them kind of resist going there, and then be like, ‘Fine, I’ll do it,’ and delivering the most virtuous,” he continued, “beautiful performance, I was like, ‘Oh, right. The good ones don’t want to get emotional, but they do it anyway.'”
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It was especially rewarding for Woods to have Plaza—who is expecting her first baby with Christopher Abbott—and Sarandon in a film he felt so passionate about making.
“You know when you’re walking someplace beautiful and you see something you think is beautiful, you want to point it out to the people you’re with and be like, ‘Isn’t that beautiful?'” he told E!. “I feel that way about the people who are in this movie. I want to be like, ‘Aren’t they beautiful?'”
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