PHANTOM THREAD Rising star Vicky Krieps talks about working with Daniel Day-Lewis and her plans for the future in ES Magazine

Rising star Vicky Krieps on working with Daniel Day-Lewis and her plans for the future

This week’s issue of ES Magazine, out Thursday 1st March

Actress Vicky Krieps opens up about working with Daniel Day-Lewis in Academy Award-nominated fashion drama Phantom Thread, as well as her interesting interactions with the actor on set.

The 34-year-old also speaks candidly about how she juggles motherhood with work, and being told her acting career was over as soon as she got pregnant.

Interview highlights

On working with actor Daniel Day-Lewis ‘He stays in character always, and between takes he retreats to his green room. And I found this difficult. All I got was a screen of whispers and footsteps and closed doors. I was thinking, “I cannot make a movie like this.”’

On her interesting interactions with Daniel Day-Lewis [So, she did the unthinkable. She broke through the screen.] ‘One day, between takes, I left my green room, and said “I want to see Reynolds.”’ [She laughs as she remembers it.] ‘The first [crew member] said, “Oh, no, no, you can’t.” But I kept walking. And then I walked past a few others who said, “No, really, you can’t do this.” But I’d had it up to here. Finally, I got to the door of his green room and knocked. I didn’t know what would happen. Would I be screamed at?’ [Happily, no.] ‘He opened the door and said, “Alma!” And we had tea together and a lovely conversation about music and Virginia Woolf. From then on, it became a regular thing; we would meet between takes, in character, and just... talk.’

On being told her acting career was over when she became pregnant [She moved to Berlin in her early 20s and was soon carving out a decent European indie CV — until, aged 26, she discovered she was pregnant.] ‘It was a surprise,’ [she admits.] ‘In my family, people become pregnant at 33 or something, not 26. And I had not been with the father long at the time [they remained together for several years but have since split]. But I really thought, “This is another adventure.” And as soon as people found out, they said, “Well, I guess the acting’s over.” And I was so determined I would not let this happen.’

On balancing acting and motherhood ‘It is difficult, and I’ve no idea how you deal with it, because I’m still in it. Tomorrow, I will go home, and then we’ll see. But I remember, recently, we walked past a poster [for Phantom Thread] with my son, and he pointed at it and said, “Mummy! Mummy!” And then suddenly, very seriously, he said, “My mummy.” And that said it all to me: he understands what I’m doing, but at some point it’s like, “Please come home now. You’re my mum.” That’s the most important thing.’

On future aspirations and goals ‘I don’t get too crazy about having goals, wanting to win Oscars, things like that. I suppose I’m lucky: the right things have always come my way and the wrong things never happened.’

The full interview appears in this week’s issue of ES Magazine, out Thursday 1st March

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