Hey Lilyians! You guessed, there’s a new photoshoot out – Lily is on the cover of the Winter 2020/2021 issue of ContentMode and we bring you not only the two covers out, but also outtakes from the session. Below you’ll also find an interview, in which Lily speaks about her relationship with Netflix, Emily in Paris and Mank.
Interview by Allie King
“Art is healing.” Lily Collins has a history of prioritizing healing in both her writing and acting. Now, as the world struggles together, this has proved to be what we’ve all been wanting and needing. In hopes to escape from the reality of 2020, people are turning to their streaming services for comfort and solace. If this is you, you have probably had Lily Collins on your screen at least once this year. Collins, with a long list of iconic roles, has enriched our screens time and time again this year: First by allowing us to laugh with her role as Emily in “Emily in Paris,” and now by being the supportive sidekick we all need, as Rita Alexander, in “Mank.” Both are now streaming on Netflix.Allie King: This year has been hectic for everyone but overall it seems like you’ve had a good year. I wanted to congratulate you on your recent engagement.
Lily Collins: Thank you!
Allie King: Also, you have had a lot of big projects come out this year. In my reading, everyone was considering you a household name. I have been a fan of yours for years, but that is a big title and a lot of new viewers are getting to know you. How have you been able to balance the pandemic with your work this year?
Lily Collins: Thank you. That’s very nice of you and I appreciate that. It has been interesting. First of all, I’m never in one place for this amount of time, so there’s real joy in staying put. I’ve used this quarantine as a really important time for self-reflection, introspection, and educating myself. When we are stripped away of all distraction, and we are left within our walls — the same walls for months and months — you are forced to look at these metaphorical mirrors.
I have been saying that doing these junkets and press from home has been as equally lonely — because you are not interacting with the people that you normally would be, whether it’s your team, the interviewer, or your co-stars — as it is kind of invasive — because you are doing it from your home. There is no separation. But it has been so wonderful to be able to share everything that we did together with people.
I am super grateful that Emily [in Paris] hit at a time when people need to laugh and smile the most. Someone told me recently that it reminded them of what fun used to feel like. And that is such a weird statement in a sense. To have to be reminded of that is a very strange thing. But to be a part of someone’s remembering is a huge gift. Then you have Mank on top of it, which has such deep-set nostalgia apart of it, at a time that I have been seeking and clinging to anything that feels like history and the world that we once knew.
Allie King: I wanted to talk about your relationship with Netflix. You have always worked with them, long before Mank. It seems like you have a very good relationship with them. How has your experience been, being one of the ones who embraced the streaming service, dating back to To The Bone before streaming was as popular as it is now?
Lily Collins: Yeah, I worked with Netflix in a couple of different ways. What I love is … To The Bone, which is a subject matter that a lot of different places would shy away from — The fact that they saw the subject matter and acquired it, proved to me that they are seeking out those kinds of movies to promote conversations around important and sometimes tough subject matter. I deeply respect that. The same for Extremely Wicked.
I do love working with them and I think that their scope of different types of projects is so vast, and they don’t shy away from the more difficult subject matter. They also provide resources to people watching things about mental health. They allow you to watch something and then they guide you from there, if you know someone who needs help or if you need help. I love the follow through on that.
Allie King: Taking it back to To The Bone, on the cusp of being a millennial and Gen Z, that was the first time I was faced with that specific conversation. So I remember it very vividly. A lot of your work, including Mank, is telling very different, but important stories. Is that something that you look for in a script? How do you go about picking the projects you want to work on?
Lily Collins: Well, thank you again. That was one of those moments when your life and your art can coincide in a way that is meant to be. Both experiences — writing [Unfiltered: No Shame, No Regrets, Just Me.], as well as working on the movie — helped better the other, in terms of creativity. It helped better me and helped me heal.
I was thinking about the reaction to Emily. I was struck by the thought that art is healing. What I want to continue doing is telling stories in front of or behind the camera. Emily was the first experience that I had in producing. I have always wanted to produce more, and write. Maybe one day direct. So whether I am in front of the camera or behind, [I want] to tell stories that, in some way, provide a sense of healing and connection with people.
Then you look at something like Emily in Paris, which has made people laugh and smile at a time when it has been really hard to laugh and smile. That is healing in itself. Mank is this kind of nostalgia that we have all wanted to immerse ourselves in. I want to continue seeking out characters and stories that allow a sense of growth, whether it is for an audience member or myself. And allow me or an audience member to heal in a way that maybe you weren’t expecting. I think healing is why we all connect through art: whether it is music, physical creative art, or acting.
Allie King: Of course! Also, you guys have been renewed for Season 2 of Emily in Paris. Congratulations on that! What are you looking forward to most?
Lily Collins: We ended Season 1 with Mindy and Emily living together, so God knows what mayhem and adventures are going to ensue from inviting her into that apartment complex, with the life going on downstairs and our apartment. I am excited to get to know Savior better and mix the two worlds. I think there could be a lot of hilarious moments that ensue from that. Now that Emily is not a local — and not getting used to the shock of being there — I think there is more depth to get in to. And leaning into a lot of the comedy.
Allie King: Now taking it back to Mank … It is unlike any film that I have seen recently. I was not expecting at all for it to be the style that it was when I turned it on. I enjoyed it. How was it on set, embracing the Old Hollywood vibe? What kind of mindset and preparation went into the creation of this film?
Lily Collins: Well, I love Old Hollywood. I love a period drama. I love anything in black and white. I think it is so romantic, beautiful, and historical. I was kind of doing — at the beginning — both at the same time: Emilyand Mank. I had to fly back from Paris twice, for 24 hours, to LA. So, I was going from this bright and bold world of Emily, into this more stoic, still, powerful, black-and-white world for Rita [Alexander]. It was weird at first to jump back and forth. But honestly, any world that [David] Fincher creates, is a world that I would be so silly not to immerse myself in.
Working with him, as well as Gary … It’s a dream. Gary — as stunning of a human being as he is — is such an infectious, incredible actor. So I am sitting across from him in these scenes and there were moments that I had to remind myself to respond because I was so immersed in watching Gary. He’s just such a great story-teller. There were a couple of days when he would come to work but not be on camera for a long time, if not for the whole day. But he would come, be in costume, and be there 100% present for you on the other end of the camera. As an actor, to know that you are gonna have that support from your co-star, even when they are not on screen … It seems like a thing that would be a given for an actor to have, but it is not always the case.
And you know, with black and white, there’s just like an alternate universe you are creating. I mean I had never shot like that before so it was really fun.
Allie King: That kind of showed through as I was watching: the relationship between your all’s characters, and the chemistry you all had. It was so impressive to see it thrown back to Old Hollywood style. Also, Citizen Kane is arguably the best film of all time. Did that inflict any pressure on the cast when filming this movie?
Lily Collins: I don’t think so. I felt like I knew a lot about the story, and then I realized I didn’t know anything about this specific story. I didn’t even know who Mank was. I played a real woman, Rita. But there is very little knowledge on Rita, so I had to rely on what I could find or see in photos — and then be equally imaginative of what a woman of that time would be like in England and America. Citizen Kane helped provide context in that regard. But I think because it’s a story behind the story, that provided a little less stress. Because you are creating part of the story that people don’t know about.
Allie King: What was your favorite part about playing Rita? What drew you to her role in the script?
Lily Collins: I love the relationship between Rita and Mank. I admire the fact that it is a relationship that is not at all based on romance. It is truly a comradery that they have based on respect and admiration. She cares so much and believes in Mank that she felt empowered to use her voice at a time that I don’t think many women in that position would have. She holds him accountable for his actions in a way that was unique for her and aided his journey and recovery. If Rita hadn’t been there to help him through this, I don’t know that he would have actually finished it in the way that he did. And he provided her with a sense of comradery, friendship, and strength at a time that she was terrified that she lost her husband forever.
I also loved that, in Rita, there is this fine line between being a very stoic professional — who has been hired for a job and she doesn’t want to show any awe or gossip of that world — while at the same time being a young woman who desperately also wants to know what is going on.
Allie King: When I was watching it, I noted how Mank and Rita’s relationship was my favorite in the movie because it was so unexpected. I think you all did an incredible job with that. What was the hardest part of playing Rita?
Lily Collins: I think part of what was so fun, is her having that balance of being professional and being intrigued by what was happening. Also, Mank is such a complicated human. He has his insecurities, shadows, and addictions. I didn’t want Rita to come across as condescending or dismissive or overly harsh. For me, Rita was an opportunity to lend a helping hand to Mank and to provide a moral compass and light to his storyline, but to also allow him to figure out what he needed to do.