June 14, 2025 • 17 mins
Celine Song has generated plenty of interest and acclaim off her directing debut Past Lives - and her new romantic drama Materialists has attracted attention from film fans.
Materialists stars Dakota Johnson as a successful match-maker for New York's elite singles who's torn between two potential suitors of her own.
Celine Song says she used her own experiences as a matchmaker to help craft the film.
"The reason why I quit - the job was too fun. My day job ended up being too fun. It's so fascinating because all these strangers of all kinds just tell you what's in their heart."
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudkin
from News Talks edb Now.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Siln Song has become one of the hottest film directors around.
Her twenty twenty three debut film, Past Lives was huge.
It was hailed as the best Sundance debut in years
and received two OSCAR nominations, including Best Picture. Silen's second
film is a romcom of sorts, inspired by her own
short stint as a matchmaker in New York. It's in
cinemas now. It's called Materialists.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Hey are you single? I'm a matchmaker. Give me a
call if you want to meet somebody. I deserve someone
who fulfills all of my criteria. Nothing over twenty bam.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
I don't want someone who likes cats. I'm trying to settle.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
I promise you're going to marry the love of your life.
Speaker 4 (00:50):
She's sweeps.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
So how many marriages are you responsible for? Now? Lucy nine?
If the girl asks for us haul drink of water,
has no time with a salary over five hundred grand
always missed.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Deliver, Saline Song joins me. Now, good morning, good morning.
After the success of Past Lives, did you have lots
of offers. Did Hollywood come calling saying what would you
like to do?
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Well, I think that I already knew what I wanted
to do, because I actually, before Past Lives had its
beautiful Sundance premiere, I actually had already written Materialists. It's
a story that I've been wanting to tell for a
really long time, and there was a few months period
between when I finished Past Lives and when it came
(01:40):
out into the world at Sundance, and at that time,
I think that I wanted to write my next movie.
So it was really a story that came from the
time that I worked as a matchmaker for about six
months as a day job back in my twenties, and
ever since then, I always knew it was going to
be something that I make something about, so I spent
(02:01):
that I used that opportunity to write a script for Materialists.
So the whole time I was making was releasing Past Life.
The whole time I was releasing Past Lives, I knew
that my next movie was going to be materialless.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Is that quite frustrating, because because you know when you
release the film when it's a success, is just like
Past Lives was it takes up a lot of your time,
doesn't it. It can take years of your life when
you're quite keen to just crack on to the next one.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
Well, I feel like that desires of course there, But
you have to watch the life of this movie through.
And I think that because it was my debut film,
I had so much interest and energy in learning what
a life cycle of the movie was. So I feel
like I really enjoyed giving the whole thing, giving my
(02:49):
everything too, you know, my very first movie, and I
think I've really learned a lot from that. And I
do think that it really did make me a better
filmmaker too, in a way, because it's just like, I
don't know, it's like you just learn a lot meeting
your audience. You know.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
I'm fascinated by the six months that you spent as
a matchmaker. How did that come about?
Speaker 3 (03:12):
Well, I was a playwright for about ten years. And
the thing about our living in New York City, and
I think that this is probably relatable for so many
of us. But in New York City, the rent is
very high and it is really hard to be a
freelance artist, and especially experienced artists in theater. And tried
(03:32):
to pay rent. So I needed a day job. And
the thing about you know, New York City is that
because the city of dreams full of really ambitious, wonderful people,
that the day job market is very competitive. So I
couldn't really get a day job. Like I tried to
get a day job as a barista, and then I
(03:53):
learned that every brista job needed ten years of brista experience.
So I was just in a situation, unfortunately, where I
was getting a little bit desperate for our day job.
And I met somebody at a party who was working
as a matchmaker, and then I got really interested in it,
and I just like interviewed for the job and god,
and got trained and I got to work. And I
(04:16):
only worked for about six months. So but you know,
I think I learned more in those six months than
I did any other part of my life.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Were you good at it?
Speaker 3 (04:26):
Well, I mean I feel like I didn't do again,
I didn't do it for so long. I feel like
so much of just like any job, I would say,
so much of the job is the consistency, like you
have to be you have to stick to it. You know,
you can't be good at it after having done it.
For so short a time you have to kind of
like grow and improve in it. But the reason why
I quit is because it was, honestly because the job
(04:48):
was too fun. My day job ended up being too fun,
I know. And it's because it's so fascinating because all
these strangers toward your clients, they just tell you what's
in their heart. They tell you what's in their heart
in a way that I would say that they wouldn't
even really share with their therapist, right because it is
(05:08):
just such a thing that is connected to one's desire
and the more sacred of all love, the feelings of
I want to be loved, I want to love so
because it is about it is a business when it
comes to that, right, I mean dating as an industry
that I think that I just learned so much about
(05:32):
what's in people's hearts.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
And we see that in the film. There's a moment
when Lucy, you know, asks one of her clients just
that she's about to get married, and she's got cold feet,
you know, deep down, tell me, tell me what you're
not going to tell anybody else. Why do you what
is the reason why you want to get married? So
what an amazing experience and what else did you learn
about people from your time in that role.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
Well, I think that the main thing is that often
what we are are being faced with, right, is the
way that I think that we want to feel very
valuable in the world. And I think this is something
that comes from a whole lifetime of being commodified and
and objectified. Right. It's kind of like, you know, there's
(06:18):
a line in my film that goes, I'm not merchandised,
I'm a person. And to me, it's feel much about
how the modern world, the way that the internet works,
the way that we're asked to sort of like uh,
you know, show everybody our photos and be seen. And
also like there's a very literal dating market on your phone,
(06:40):
just like you know, anything from tender to you know,
bumble or whatever. So much of those things are happening
because and so many of those things are resulting in
all of us starting to see ourselves as a bit
of merchandise. And I think that what I really was
interested in with this movie is how in a world
(07:02):
where we're being asked to treat ourselves as merchandise, and
that we should try to improve our values, you, right,
and become a more valuable person. How in the middle
of that we're able to find this really ancient mystery
and this ancient feeling which is love, this thing that
is famously not quantifiable. It's famously something that is invisible
(07:25):
and immaterial and just something that remains a mystery to
this day. And I think that you know something that
I think about. It's like, well, merchandise cannot love another merchandise,
but a person can love another person. So how do
we in this world where we are being asked to
be asked to live like we're being asked to live
like merchandise, how we still remain being a person, And
(07:49):
how do we actually still believe in true love? How
could we do That's I mean sometimes when I talk
about true love, I'm always like I sound like I
think I sound like I'm saying, let's believe in Santa Claus, right.
It feels so difficult in the world where that's that's
increasingly feeling very in a call where we're trying to
turn everything into algorithms. I think that it's so hard
(08:11):
to still say yeah, but there is this thing true
off that I think that is possible between people, and
I don't know. I always find it to be sometimes
met with such cynicism, but I can't help it. I
believe in it. You know.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
You know what I love about this film is you
explore so much. You explore personal expectations, social norms. You know,
marriage is a business deal, this idea of settling for
someone that you might think you know is worthy of you,
and even just talking as you say, about what south
Worth is and things, and about the math and about
(08:51):
you know, love. And I think this is the kind
of film that people are going to head along to
and they're going to be entertained, but they're also going
to leave with a whole lot of other stuff to
talk about. Have you found that the film has just
opened up all these conversations?
Speaker 3 (09:05):
Yes, I think that, you know, like the most common
thing that I've heard even so far, And I feel
like as the movie comes out all around the world,
I'm going to keep hearing it, which is that we
haven't stopped talking about it since. So I think some
of it is going to be about opening up a
new ways of talking about ourselves and the way we
(09:27):
love and what we believe about love. And it doesn't
mean that everybody's going to agree or what's going to
feel one way, but it's still going to mean that
we're going to get to talk about it. I'm going
to get to talk about it deeply. And I just
feel like there are so few there are so few venues.
There's so few venues where we get to talk about
(09:48):
our feelings, right, There's actually so few places where we
are able to talk about what we believe when it
comes to love and life, right, And I think that
maybe it's going to be such a special thing that
you can come you see this movie, sit in the
movie theater for a coup hours, and then when you
(10:09):
walk out of it, you're going to start a conversation
that's going to help you basically, that's going to make
you learn something about yourself or each other, right, hopefully
both right.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
Absolutely, And as somebody who has watched a lot of
romantic comedies and romantic dramas over the years, what I
really loved is that you take the genre seriously, you
give it, yes, you know you kind of I found
it really refreshing that there was all this There was
so much more depth in this film that I maybe
anticipated I should have after seeing Past Lives, but I
(10:43):
kind of just been I love the fact that you're
actually this isn't just sort of a throwaway pretty flick
that's selling me a fantasy. It's actually questioning the fantasy
as well.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
Of course, why I feel like the thing is like
I think the genre is often not given enough respect, right, because,
which I think is really unfortunate, because I think about
this in terms of when we call romance films as
chick flix, right, and people say, well, there is a
chick flick, it's not a serious movie. I think about
(11:16):
this as very sad in a couple of ways. I
think in one way, that's saying that chick flicks are
not serious. You're saying that chicks are not serious people, right.
And on the other hand, the other way that this
is sad is that you're saying that, well, for serious people,
the matters of the heart, and then the way that
we are asked to love in the modern world, the
way that our heart moves is not it should not
(11:40):
be of your interest. And why shouldn't serious people be
robbed of talking about this very universal theme, this thing
that is a mystery and a drama that haunts all
of us. You know, not all of us know what
it's like to say the world. But I think that
(12:00):
all of us do know this is one thing, no
matter how ordinary you are, this is the one great
drama that is in your life. You can do this
very extraordinary, very brave thing, which is to love someone
and to be loved, which is when it happens, a
complete miracle. And of course the movie is always talking
about it as an incredible miracle when it happens, and
(12:22):
the only thing you can do when you're offered it
is to say yes.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
I read that when you write a script and you
write characters, you don't have an actor in mind. You
don't write for a particular person. I thought that was
interesting because I really felt like you and the code
were on the same page here. I felt like you'd
written this for her.
Speaker 3 (12:44):
I know, well, I think that that's sort of how
it feels like the cast. I mean, I think that
cast thing is a matchmaking process. And I would always
talk to my casting directors that I was always talked
to them as if they're matchmakers, right, because I have
the characters on the page that I have created in words,
and then you go out into the world in search
(13:05):
of the soul meat the way that a matchmaker would.
So you're going out there and you're just kind of
and I wish that it was something like that you
could use math for. But the truth is that you
actually go out into the world and then you actually
get to experience it as an inspiration as if it's love, right,
and I have to fall in love with the idea
(13:26):
of them as characters. And when it comes to Dakota,
I'm so glad you point that out, because that was
it was so clear when it came to Dakota. Like
when I met Dakota, it was just a general meeting.
We were just hanging out. We just came to know
each other as people. And then it was incredible because
he then she and I I don't believe Sorry, I
don't believe in love at first sight, but I believe
(13:46):
in love at first conversation. So I was just in
you know, in conversation with her, and I fell in
love with the idea of her as Lucy. It felt
like I was sitting there with Lucy and before she
got up from lunch lunch to go home, and I
was still sitting there. But before I got up, I
texted h N four and my producers and said, I
(14:09):
think that I found there, Lucy. That's how clear it is,
just like love. Just like love, when it happens, it's
so obvious. So that's how inevitable it felt with the Koda,
And I think that it also extended then, of course,
because she was the first one to be tasked because
she's she's the movie. She's the one who has to
build the rest. And then I think that I met
(14:32):
Chris and I've known Pedro, and for both of them,
it really again was about falling in love with them.
It's about falling into, you know, a person to a person,
feeling for it and something that of course, you know
the line that I was saying, the important line in
my movie, not merchandise. I'm a person. I think all
(14:56):
actors understand this, but of course my three actors can
really understand this because they've all been treated as merchandise before.
So I think that so much of it is about
also fall in love with the people, right. It's like,
maybe you won't think that it's obvious that Chris Evans
as a merchandise would be right for the role of John,
but when you meet Chris the person, it is so obvious,
(15:19):
you know, Like if you meet Chris as a as
a guy. You just go, oh my god, he's a
John and he's perfect and he's actually born for it,
you know, And I think that's what's really been. So
that's what I really love aboutcasting. It's like you're just
falling in love with the right.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
People finally selling you know, past lives and as you've
just been talking about, materialists draw on your own personal experience.
Is there something that we're going to see sort of
continue with the films that you make. Does it make
sense to you to be inspired by your own life experience?
Speaker 3 (15:53):
Well, I feel like, you know, I think, don't matter
what I do, I know that it's going to be
in some way a thing that I'm giving myself too. Right,
So I think it's more like what's in this situation,
I feel like so much of it was and is
inspired by the things that.
Speaker 4 (16:10):
Uh, you know that I've felt, right, But I think
that no matter what I do, and even the parts
of Past Lives or Materialists that are not directly from
my experience, even those things still.
Speaker 3 (16:22):
Have to pull from, uh, my humanity, right, It has
to still come from how I am as a person
and how I am as a human being. So in
that way, it's always going to have a piece of
me in it in a very deep, in a pretty
philosophical way, like I think Materialists, you know, like it's
(16:44):
it's still a story about Lucy, who is not me,
but still it's gonna have throughout the DNA of what
I believe about love and life. Right, It's going to
fully have what I know about the world and what
I believe.
Speaker 4 (17:00):
Right, It's gonna be pretty clear about what I think
about love and life.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
You know.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
Selene, thank you so much for your time today, very
very much appreciate it. Thank you for the movie.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
Thank you so much. Thank you so much. This was
so fun.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
That was director Selene's song. Her new film, Materialists, is
in cinemas now.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to News Talks it Be from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudkin
from News Talks edb Now.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Siln Song has become one of the hottest film directors around.
Her twenty twenty three debut film, Past Lives was huge.
It was hailed as the best Sundance debut in years
and received two OSCAR nominations, including Best Picture. Silen's second
film is a romcom of sorts, inspired by her own
short stint as a matchmaker in New York. It's in
cinemas now. It's called Materialists.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Hey are you single? I'm a matchmaker. Give me a
call if you want to meet somebody. I deserve someone
who fulfills all of my criteria. Nothing over twenty bam.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
I don't want someone who likes cats. I'm trying to settle.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
I promise you're going to marry the love of your life.
Speaker 4 (00:50):
She's sweeps.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
So how many marriages are you responsible for? Now? Lucy nine?
If the girl asks for us haul drink of water,
has no time with a salary over five hundred grand
always missed.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Deliver, Saline Song joins me. Now, good morning, good morning.
After the success of Past Lives, did you have lots
of offers. Did Hollywood come calling saying what would you
like to do?
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Well, I think that I already knew what I wanted
to do, because I actually, before Past Lives had its
beautiful Sundance premiere, I actually had already written Materialists. It's
a story that I've been wanting to tell for a
really long time, and there was a few months period
between when I finished Past Lives and when it came
(01:40):
out into the world at Sundance, and at that time,
I think that I wanted to write my next movie.
So it was really a story that came from the
time that I worked as a matchmaker for about six
months as a day job back in my twenties, and
ever since then, I always knew it was going to
be something that I make something about, so I spent
(02:01):
that I used that opportunity to write a script for Materialists.
So the whole time I was making was releasing Past Life.
The whole time I was releasing Past Lives, I knew
that my next movie was going to be materialless.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Is that quite frustrating, because because you know when you
release the film when it's a success, is just like
Past Lives was it takes up a lot of your time,
doesn't it. It can take years of your life when
you're quite keen to just crack on to the next one.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
Well, I feel like that desires of course there, But
you have to watch the life of this movie through.
And I think that because it was my debut film,
I had so much interest and energy in learning what
a life cycle of the movie was. So I feel
like I really enjoyed giving the whole thing, giving my
(02:49):
everything too, you know, my very first movie, and I
think I've really learned a lot from that. And I
do think that it really did make me a better
filmmaker too, in a way, because it's just like, I
don't know, it's like you just learn a lot meeting
your audience. You know.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
I'm fascinated by the six months that you spent as
a matchmaker. How did that come about?
Speaker 3 (03:12):
Well, I was a playwright for about ten years. And
the thing about our living in New York City, and
I think that this is probably relatable for so many
of us. But in New York City, the rent is
very high and it is really hard to be a
freelance artist, and especially experienced artists in theater. And tried
(03:32):
to pay rent. So I needed a day job. And
the thing about you know, New York City is that
because the city of dreams full of really ambitious, wonderful people,
that the day job market is very competitive. So I
couldn't really get a day job. Like I tried to
get a day job as a barista, and then I
(03:53):
learned that every brista job needed ten years of brista experience.
So I was just in a situation, unfortunately, where I
was getting a little bit desperate for our day job.
And I met somebody at a party who was working
as a matchmaker, and then I got really interested in it,
and I just like interviewed for the job and god,
and got trained and I got to work. And I
(04:16):
only worked for about six months. So but you know,
I think I learned more in those six months than
I did any other part of my life.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Were you good at it?
Speaker 3 (04:26):
Well, I mean I feel like I didn't do again,
I didn't do it for so long. I feel like
so much of just like any job, I would say,
so much of the job is the consistency, like you
have to be you have to stick to it. You know,
you can't be good at it after having done it.
For so short a time you have to kind of
like grow and improve in it. But the reason why
I quit is because it was, honestly because the job
(04:48):
was too fun. My day job ended up being too fun,
I know. And it's because it's so fascinating because all
these strangers toward your clients, they just tell you what's
in their heart. They tell you what's in their heart
in a way that I would say that they wouldn't
even really share with their therapist, right because it is
(05:08):
just such a thing that is connected to one's desire
and the more sacred of all love, the feelings of
I want to be loved, I want to love so
because it is about it is a business when it
comes to that, right, I mean dating as an industry
that I think that I just learned so much about
(05:32):
what's in people's hearts.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
And we see that in the film. There's a moment
when Lucy, you know, asks one of her clients just
that she's about to get married, and she's got cold feet,
you know, deep down, tell me, tell me what you're
not going to tell anybody else. Why do you what
is the reason why you want to get married? So
what an amazing experience and what else did you learn
about people from your time in that role.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
Well, I think that the main thing is that often
what we are are being faced with, right, is the
way that I think that we want to feel very
valuable in the world. And I think this is something
that comes from a whole lifetime of being commodified and
and objectified. Right. It's kind of like, you know, there's
(06:18):
a line in my film that goes, I'm not merchandised,
I'm a person. And to me, it's feel much about
how the modern world, the way that the internet works,
the way that we're asked to sort of like uh,
you know, show everybody our photos and be seen. And
also like there's a very literal dating market on your phone,
(06:40):
just like you know, anything from tender to you know,
bumble or whatever. So much of those things are happening
because and so many of those things are resulting in
all of us starting to see ourselves as a bit
of merchandise. And I think that what I really was
interested in with this movie is how in a world
(07:02):
where we're being asked to treat ourselves as merchandise, and
that we should try to improve our values, you, right,
and become a more valuable person. How in the middle
of that we're able to find this really ancient mystery
and this ancient feeling which is love, this thing that
is famously not quantifiable. It's famously something that is invisible
(07:25):
and immaterial and just something that remains a mystery to
this day. And I think that you know something that
I think about. It's like, well, merchandise cannot love another merchandise,
but a person can love another person. So how do
we in this world where we are being asked to
be asked to live like we're being asked to live
like merchandise, how we still remain being a person, And
(07:49):
how do we actually still believe in true love? How
could we do That's I mean sometimes when I talk
about true love, I'm always like I sound like I
think I sound like I'm saying, let's believe in Santa Claus, right.
It feels so difficult in the world where that's that's
increasingly feeling very in a call where we're trying to
turn everything into algorithms. I think that it's so hard
(08:11):
to still say yeah, but there is this thing true
off that I think that is possible between people, and
I don't know. I always find it to be sometimes
met with such cynicism, but I can't help it. I
believe in it. You know.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
You know what I love about this film is you
explore so much. You explore personal expectations, social norms. You know,
marriage is a business deal, this idea of settling for
someone that you might think you know is worthy of you,
and even just talking as you say, about what south
Worth is and things, and about the math and about
(08:51):
you know, love. And I think this is the kind
of film that people are going to head along to
and they're going to be entertained, but they're also going
to leave with a whole lot of other stuff to
talk about. Have you found that the film has just
opened up all these conversations?
Speaker 3 (09:05):
Yes, I think that, you know, like the most common
thing that I've heard even so far, And I feel
like as the movie comes out all around the world,
I'm going to keep hearing it, which is that we
haven't stopped talking about it since. So I think some
of it is going to be about opening up a
new ways of talking about ourselves and the way we
(09:27):
love and what we believe about love. And it doesn't
mean that everybody's going to agree or what's going to
feel one way, but it's still going to mean that
we're going to get to talk about it. I'm going
to get to talk about it deeply. And I just
feel like there are so few there are so few venues.
There's so few venues where we get to talk about
(09:48):
our feelings, right, There's actually so few places where we
are able to talk about what we believe when it
comes to love and life, right, And I think that
maybe it's going to be such a special thing that
you can come you see this movie, sit in the
movie theater for a coup hours, and then when you
(10:09):
walk out of it, you're going to start a conversation
that's going to help you basically, that's going to make
you learn something about yourself or each other, right, hopefully
both right.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
Absolutely, And as somebody who has watched a lot of
romantic comedies and romantic dramas over the years, what I
really loved is that you take the genre seriously, you
give it, yes, you know you kind of I found
it really refreshing that there was all this There was
so much more depth in this film that I maybe
anticipated I should have after seeing Past Lives, but I
(10:43):
kind of just been I love the fact that you're
actually this isn't just sort of a throwaway pretty flick
that's selling me a fantasy. It's actually questioning the fantasy
as well.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
Of course, why I feel like the thing is like
I think the genre is often not given enough respect, right, because,
which I think is really unfortunate, because I think about
this in terms of when we call romance films as
chick flix, right, and people say, well, there is a
chick flick, it's not a serious movie. I think about
(11:16):
this as very sad in a couple of ways. I
think in one way, that's saying that chick flicks are
not serious. You're saying that chicks are not serious people, right.
And on the other hand, the other way that this
is sad is that you're saying that, well, for serious people,
the matters of the heart, and then the way that
we are asked to love in the modern world, the
way that our heart moves is not it should not
(11:40):
be of your interest. And why shouldn't serious people be
robbed of talking about this very universal theme, this thing
that is a mystery and a drama that haunts all
of us. You know, not all of us know what
it's like to say the world. But I think that
(12:00):
all of us do know this is one thing, no
matter how ordinary you are, this is the one great
drama that is in your life. You can do this
very extraordinary, very brave thing, which is to love someone
and to be loved, which is when it happens, a
complete miracle. And of course the movie is always talking
about it as an incredible miracle when it happens, and
(12:22):
the only thing you can do when you're offered it
is to say yes.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
I read that when you write a script and you
write characters, you don't have an actor in mind. You
don't write for a particular person. I thought that was
interesting because I really felt like you and the code
were on the same page here. I felt like you'd
written this for her.
Speaker 3 (12:44):
I know, well, I think that that's sort of how
it feels like the cast. I mean, I think that
cast thing is a matchmaking process. And I would always
talk to my casting directors that I was always talked
to them as if they're matchmakers, right, because I have
the characters on the page that I have created in words,
and then you go out into the world in search
(13:05):
of the soul meat the way that a matchmaker would.
So you're going out there and you're just kind of
and I wish that it was something like that you
could use math for. But the truth is that you
actually go out into the world and then you actually
get to experience it as an inspiration as if it's love, right,
and I have to fall in love with the idea
(13:26):
of them as characters. And when it comes to Dakota,
I'm so glad you point that out, because that was
it was so clear when it came to Dakota. Like
when I met Dakota, it was just a general meeting.
We were just hanging out. We just came to know
each other as people. And then it was incredible because
he then she and I I don't believe Sorry, I
don't believe in love at first sight, but I believe
(13:46):
in love at first conversation. So I was just in
you know, in conversation with her, and I fell in
love with the idea of her as Lucy. It felt
like I was sitting there with Lucy and before she
got up from lunch lunch to go home, and I
was still sitting there. But before I got up, I
texted h N four and my producers and said, I
(14:09):
think that I found there, Lucy. That's how clear it is,
just like love. Just like love, when it happens, it's
so obvious. So that's how inevitable it felt with the Koda,
And I think that it also extended then, of course,
because she was the first one to be tasked because
she's she's the movie. She's the one who has to
build the rest. And then I think that I met
(14:32):
Chris and I've known Pedro, and for both of them,
it really again was about falling in love with them.
It's about falling into, you know, a person to a person,
feeling for it and something that of course, you know
the line that I was saying, the important line in
my movie, not merchandise. I'm a person. I think all
(14:56):
actors understand this, but of course my three actors can
really understand this because they've all been treated as merchandise before.
So I think that so much of it is about
also fall in love with the people, right. It's like,
maybe you won't think that it's obvious that Chris Evans
as a merchandise would be right for the role of John,
but when you meet Chris the person, it is so obvious,
(15:19):
you know, Like if you meet Chris as a as
a guy. You just go, oh my god, he's a
John and he's perfect and he's actually born for it,
you know, And I think that's what's really been. So
that's what I really love aboutcasting. It's like you're just
falling in love with the right.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
People finally selling you know, past lives and as you've
just been talking about, materialists draw on your own personal experience.
Is there something that we're going to see sort of
continue with the films that you make. Does it make
sense to you to be inspired by your own life experience?
Speaker 3 (15:53):
Well, I feel like, you know, I think, don't matter
what I do, I know that it's going to be
in some way a thing that I'm giving myself too. Right,
So I think it's more like what's in this situation,
I feel like so much of it was and is
inspired by the things that.
Speaker 4 (16:10):
Uh, you know that I've felt, right, But I think
that no matter what I do, and even the parts
of Past Lives or Materialists that are not directly from
my experience, even those things still.
Speaker 3 (16:22):
Have to pull from, uh, my humanity, right, It has
to still come from how I am as a person
and how I am as a human being. So in
that way, it's always going to have a piece of
me in it in a very deep, in a pretty
philosophical way, like I think Materialists, you know, like it's
(16:44):
it's still a story about Lucy, who is not me,
but still it's gonna have throughout the DNA of what
I believe about love and life. Right, It's going to
fully have what I know about the world and what
I believe.
Speaker 4 (17:00):
Right, It's gonna be pretty clear about what I think
about love and life.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
You know.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
Selene, thank you so much for your time today, very
very much appreciate it. Thank you for the movie.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
Thank you so much. Thank you so much. This was
so fun.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
That was director Selene's song. Her new film, Materialists, is
in cinemas now.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to News Talks it Be from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
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