Sienna Miller The Edge of Love Press Conference
There’s a lot of female bonding in the film. What kind of bonding happened on set between you and Keira Knightley?Sienna Miller: "Well, we were friends before we did the film, and we became even closer. And to this day she’s one of my closest friends. Because it was such an intense relationship between these two women, I think it’s really important that we did get on and really lucky that we did. I mean she’s obviously a brilliant actress, and I think amazing in this film, and the dynamic between these two women is so multilayered, but we had a really great time making the film."
Can you talk about working with Keira Knightley and what would you usually talk about off the set?
Sienna Miller: "Working with her was brilliant. She’s one of my favorite actresses, regardless of the fact that she’s a friend of mine. I think she’s hugely talented, and she’s so professional and ridiculously mature for someone her age. I’m 12 compared to her."
"And what do we talk about off? I mean, we’re quite nerdy. [Laughing] We talk about books and we play cards and do The Guardian crossword, and there was a lot of that. We were living together in this house in Wales that was really beautiful and we all sort of walked around in our pajamas and went for long walks. And, you know, what you talk about with any girlfriend, just what’s going on in your life. She gives me good advice, and hopefully vice versa. She’s a very loyal, very great girl. Woman."
You said Keira gives you advice. What sort of advice does she offer you?
Sienna Miller: "I think both of us often find ourselves in similar situations, in terms of great things, and there are challenges that come with this job. Sometimes it’s just nice to have somebody who’s in a similar situation and to talk to you about the things that, to other friends who have different jobs - where they’re in an office - would find whiney and annoying. [Laughing] Like, 'You’ve got a great job, it’s great, but you don’t understand!' She understands and I understand and I think, we keep ourselves afloat if things happen, the press that are hard to deal with, or the awful temptations to occasionally Google yourself and just be mortified at what people can write about you. [If she's] thinking about doing it, I am too, 'Don’t do it! Don’t do it!' We’ll kind of talk each other out of the situation. And it’s hard sometimes to not want to know what people are saying behind your back, and to ignore certain things that are written, and to be resilient with that kind of journalism. I think we both help each other. I mean, I think that’s one of the things that we help each other out with."
How did you figure out how to play Caitlin?
Sienna Miller: "It was really well written. Keira’s mother, Sharman Macdonald, wrote the script and it was kind of all there. I tend to know when I read a script that the first way that I read it in my head is eventually how I’ll end up playing it. And I’ll go and try many different things, but I tend to come back to the first instinct that I had. She really jumped out of the page. I mean it was, from cartwheeling the bar to this and that, I mean the character was pretty clear. But she goes on such a journey and it really required… What she begins the film as is such a different person to how it finishes. But it was pretty much all there in the writing, in the way she was described."
What was the most difficult part for you?
Sienna Miller: "I think the transition was probably quite hard. Going from having this tough exterior to being quite a feisty person to falling apart, it’s always challenging emotionally to do that. And the scenes when I’m breaking down, they’re always quite emotionally difficult to do. So that was probably the most challenging part. But, to be honest, it didn’t feel like a challenging project because we were all having such a good time. It was such a great script and such a lovely group of people that it was very supportive, and John Maybury, the director, was a great friend so we never felt like I was drowning in any way."
What was the hardest day that you experienced during the shoot?
Sienna Miller: "The hardest scene emotionally for me was when I was crying and pulling the stitches out. John Maybury, as I said, was a great friend and kind of knows which buttons to push as a result of having been a great friend for six years, so he kind of knows my weak points. [Laughing] He locked me in a trailer with the saddest music that I’ve ever heard and said, 'Come out when you’re ready,' and kind of tortured me and in a good way. Obviously to get yourself to a state where you’re sobbing and snotting all over the place is quite heavy."
"And in terms of the weather and all of that, there’s a scene with Keira and I on the beach and the wind, I don’t know whether you noticed, it was our first day shooting in Wales and we were like, 'We can’t shoot in these conditions. This is ridiculous.' There’s hair all over the place and John is such a kind of free-for-all, impulsive person, he was like, 'It’s great. It’s only going to enhance it.' And actually I think the scene really works. The weather really kind of made that scene in a way. But we were freezing - freezing cold."
Page 2: Sienna Miller on Getting in Touch with the Past and Dylan Thomas
