‘Love Lies Bleeding’ Premiere Leaves Sundance Crowd Cheering, Squirming During Kristen Stewart and Katy O’Brian’s Gory Love Story
21.01.2024 - 12:19
/ variety.com
Kristen Stewart falls for a bodybuilder in “Love Lies Bleeding,” an electric (and violent) romance thriller that premiered Saturday night at Sundance Film Festival. Rose Glass (“Saint Maud”) directed the movie, which co-stars Katy O’Brian, Ed Harris, Dave Franco, Jena Malone and Anna Baryshnikov. O’Brian is no stranger to the world of bodybuilding, having done competitions in the past, so she didn’t struggle with the physical aspect of playing Jackie.
She found it more difficult to get into the mental headspace. “This role scared me. It was something I’d never done before.
It was an intense part,” she told Variety On The Carpet presented by DIRECTV. “I worked with an acting coach, and we broke down the character.” Jena Malone, who plays the sibling of Stewart’s character, detailed how they formed their sisterly bond. “We tackled each other a lot.
It was very tactile,” she said. “We have a kindred spirit.” Dave Franco, who has played degenerate characters in comedies like “Neighbors” and “21 Jump Street,” says JJ — who is married to Malone’s Beth — is the worst of them all. “He’s a very bad person.
He’s a degenerate,” Franco said. “You should not sympathize with this guy.” Glass, who wrote and directed the film, said she wanted to send up the idea of a “strong female character.” “It’s a very oversimplified, slightly hollow term,” she told Variety. To subvert that particular trope, she started with having “this very literally strong woman, and then find ways of peeling that apart.