- And I knew I was kind of coming in with this,
like, take that--
on the character that you could-- and a performance
you probably see from space.
[ELECTRONIC WHOOSHES]
You know, this is the first time
you guys have reunited on film since "Devil Wears Prada."
So what was it like for both of you coming back together?
Stanley, if you want to start.
It was fun.
It was really fun.
You know, we were just saying in another interview
that it's nice to be with somebody that you know
when you're going into a film.
Because going into a film, it's like, you start a new film,
and it's like the first day of school all the time.
No matter how many films you've done.
So to know that you're going to be working with someone
that you love, who's so talented, you just--
it helps you relax right away.
It was just-- it was just a fun, fun experience.
And, as Annie will tell you, not all films are fun.
[LAUGHS]
I will tell them.
I will-- I will smile and say lots of vague things.
Yeah, that's right.
[LAUGHS]
Um-- it was just so wonderful to walk onto set knowing that
there was one connection that had been made--
a relationship that was over a decade old, and that--
and just knowing that--
sorry, Stanley, cover your ears again--
that I was going to be working with an actor
that was Stanley's caliber.
So I knew the scenes would have pace,
and they would be light and fleet and funny.
And I just know from experience what an--
what a great scene partner he can be,
particularly in a setup like this.
And so I was just very excited to get to work with him.
And I was just really excited to reconnect and find
out what was up with your life.
Yeah, it was really nice.
It was really, really nice.
Welcome.
What would you do if there were mice running
on all around this hotel?
I will call the exterminator.
You see, girls?
He would exterminate those brats!
Uh-- rats.
We would exterminate the rats.
Anne, was there one piece of advice
that you maybe got on "Prada" that you've carried forward
this far in your career, that Stanley gave you at the time,
that you're still sort of hanging onto or using?
I never gave her any advice.
No!
Sorry!
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
She knew exactly what she was doing.
Well, that-- that's a step too far.
But-- because it happens to not be true.
I just-- I just remember watching you, Meryl, and Emily,
and just going, figure out how to be loose like that.
Figure out how to be that specific and that funny
and that connected and precise, but also
completely loose and playful.
I mean, the three of you were just on this level.
And I just remember thinking, I want
to figure out how to get there.
Well, that's very nice.
That's very nice.
But I have to say, and I've said this--
I said this in interviews when we did that--
when we did that film, too--
that you had the hardest role in the film,
because you were completely reactive.
And, yet, you are carrying the film.
It's the hardest thing to do, and you did it brilliantly.
There aren't many people who could do that.
I'm just going to give virtual hugs.
That made me feel really good, so I'm just going
to sit here in that feeling.
Thank you.
Stanley, for you, what has it been like since Anne was so
early in her career on "Prada," watching her evolve to now,
where she's playing such a wacky, amazing character,
like in "The Witches."
I mean, to go from something reactive,
like Andy, to now being like a Meryl-like part.
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
I think it's great.
It's great to-- you know, when you see somebody who's good,
and they have that kind of range, that's what you--
that's what acting's all about.
And to see--
[CLEARS THROAT] excuse me-- to see actors
that I worked with-- young people like Annie
that, as they change, as they grow,
they just get better and better and better.
And it's really exciting.
And to see like Emily, too.
To see Emily when she was so young, and now what she--
all the different things she's done.
It's fantastic.
It's just-- it's fantastic.
I just have to geek out about Emily for one second.
I knew from the second I met her that all of this was--
all this was coming.
It was the clear--
it was as clear as anything.
And it's just great.
And then-- and Meryl, finally, has blossomed.
And I think she's finally coming into her own.
I'm so happy.
It's just been-- it's been--
the promise has been fulfilled.
It was touch-and-go for a while,
but I think she got there.
Yeah.
I feared this was happening.
They're here.
That means a test is coming.
GRAND HIGH WITCH: Ladies, I have a plan.
One drop will transform a child into a mouse!
[SCREAMS]
Whoa!
Why are we mouses?
- Mice? - Mice!
Whatever!
For your first scene in this film,
it is just so wild with the Grand High Witch
being so dismissive, and Stanley's character
just trying to do his job as best as he can.
For both of you, was that breaking?
I mean, I know you're both professionals,
but it seems like it would be just a barrel of laughs.
Oh, yeah.
We laughed.
Yeah.
No, there's no question.
In every scene we laughed.
I think, particularly, in the glory like scene, we laughed.
You loved that word.
I could literally have shot the scene all day.
And I'm-- this is why Bob Zemeckis is a much better
director than I, because I would've made that
scene like 20 minutes long.
He's just doing the same--
you just keep saying the word, [INAUDIBLE]..
[LAUGHS]
And you would just keep saying it.
But, yeah.
You couldn't help but laugh.
I was really happy.
You gave me a gift.
I'm not even sure if you knew it,
because that was in the first scene that I shot in the film.
And I knew I was kind of coming in with this,
like, take that, on the character,
that you could-- and a performance you
could probably see from space.
It was so big.
And so I was just trying, I was like, OK, I hope this--
I'm going to land this.
And I said one of my first lines in the rehearsal,
and Stanley just giggled.
And Stanley loves to laugh, but on-set
he doesn't laugh unless something's genuinely funny.
So it's just-- like, I can't explain it, Stanley.
It just lifted me up and made me feel like I had
just literally was levitating.
I was so happy.
That laugh meant so much to me.
No, because that is the thing that you want.
Because it is scary if you think,
OK, I'm going to try this.
And it's a big choice.
And I didn't have a plan B, man.
No.
There's no plan B.
[LAUGHTER]
It better work.
Otherwise, it's like-- but it worked.
I thought it worked great.
Great.
And then, lastly, both of you, when you're working
on a project like this, that is from the get-go a family film,
and you know you're going to have kids watching,
does that change your approach at all in acting?
Like, are you pivoting towards anything
in your performance or tweaking things
to adjust for that, or not really?
Yeah.
I do.
Simply because I know what those--
these types of movies meant to me when I was a kid,
and how they stayed with me, and how they informed
my world view in a lot of ways, and how
they helped me to find myself.
And so, because of that, I feel that it's really, really
important to make sure that everything
you're putting in front of them is as close to gold
as you can get it.
You just want to give them all the pure stuff.
You want to make it as great as possible.
You don't want to take any reckless risks with their time,
and their hearts and their brains.
In this case, when Bob showed me what
he was going to do to my face with the smile,
I just went, oh, OK, that's so scary,
that if I make the rest of the performance
scary on top of that, it actually will
stop being enjoyable for kids.
They'll just be terrified, and every parent across the world
will hate me, because they'll have a screaming child
every night for months.
They're having nightmares.
So that was when I decided to lean
into trying to make her funny.
And because I wanted--
and then I really wanted, in these particular moments,
when--
I think about it a lot--
my kids are still very young, but I think about it
for older kids in particular.
The world's so traumatic, you just--
you think about what a child who just randomly might see
the news would see these days.
It's so-- that's so much to process and take in
and makes sense of.
So it then became really important to me
that kids know that laughing at evil is an option, too.
You can stand up to it, but you can also laugh at that bully.
You can laugh in their face.
Because if they're anything like the Grand High Witch,
they're utterly ridiculous and their hate
will only shrink them down.
So it felt really cool to have that opportunity
to be part of that message.
Grandma, it's me!
Is that you, boy?
We'll never let you get away with your filthy, evil plot.
GRAND HIGH WITCH: Who's going to stop me?
GRANDMA: It doesn't matter who you are,
or what you look like, as long as somebody loves you.
You wouldn't happen to be carrying around a mouse
on your purse, now, would you?
Yeah, I know.
To me, yeah, I agree with Annie.
I mean, you can only--
there are parameters.
Without question.
And the thing is, if you have a good director like Bob,
he'll tell you where if you're going too far, or not
far enough, or whatever, to maybe
tone things down or something.
And it's very interesting, because the Roald
Dahl stuff is really dark.
And, like Annie said, the choice that you made to make the woman
funny, but she's really also [BLEEP] terrifying,
that's super--
that's really important.
Because that makes you really want
to watch, particularly as a kid, I think
you really want to watch them.
But I think that all of that complexity
is inherent in all of Roald Dahl's writing.
And it's a very fine line and has
to be handled very carefully-- as carefully as he did
In those books, which is-- some of
them are really scary and disturbing.
And yet, they're incredibly touching, really funny,
really weird, weirdly real.
It's a very complex line to walk.
[ELECTRONIC WHOOSHES]