Nightbitch star Amy Adams, inside that Conclave stairwell scene, making Gladiator II's costumes, and more in EW's Awardist digital magazine

Amy Adams let her 'guardrails down' for her 'vulnerable' performance in 'Nightbitch' — and why she wanted her husband to see it first

Interview by Gerrad Hall
Illustration by Nicole Rifkin

One of the words Amy Adams uses to describe Rachel Yoder's novel Nightbitch is "biting."

It's fitting given that the main character, referred to throughout simply as Mother, turns into a dog in various moments of magical surrealism. Once a prolific artist, she's now a stay-at-home mom to an energetic toddler who she raises single for most of the week while her husband (Scoot McNairy) travels for work. Exhausted, burnt out, uninspired, isolated, and alone, she starts to experience canine instincts (digging in the yard, eating from dog bowls, howling at the moon) and physical traits (is that a tail she's growing...and extra nipples?) as her desire for more grows and she starts to rediscover herself.

Adams, a six-time Oscar nominee for movies including Junebug, Doubt, and American Hustle, sits down with EW's The Awardist for an in-depth conversation about the movie (currently in theaters, available Dec. 27 on Hulu), directed by Marielle Heller (Can You Ever Forgive Me?, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood).

Check out more from EW's The Awardist, featuring exclusive interviews, analysis, and our podcast diving into all the highlights from the year's best in TV, movies, and more.

THE AWARDIST: This performance is unlike any that I have seen from you. And it requires a lot of stuff that might make someone feel silly performing them in the moment — eating a dog and digging in the yard and the howling, all of that. Would you say this performance was a big exercise in lack of vanity, in throwing embarrassment out the window? I don't know if you get embarrassed with those kinds of things, but...

AMY ADAMS: I call it radical acceptance. I tried not to judge myself — how it looked when I was doing anything — and really just be so present inside of this woman's experience. There were only a few times where I was like, ooh, maybe I'm going to look at this on the big screen and think about it a little differently. But I think I really learned that from this film, this idea of just radical acceptance and not judging things as they come. Part of that was working with this 3-year-old actor, these 3-year-old twins because it really made you be very focused and very present. You couldn't really be thinking about anything other than what was happening in each moment.

It seemed like you had to respond a lot of the time to what these actors, Arleigh and Emmett Snowden were doing...when you're walking up the hill to see the garbage truck, those kinds of things. Was it just a matter of you teeing them up and then take their lead, see where it goes?

Mari did a really good job at building a set that was very playful. On the day that you're talking about where we were walking up the hill and then watching the garbage truck, I sat with the twins and we built a little town and we had building blocks and cars so that by the time I started doing the scene, it was just sort of an extension of the relationship that we were building off camera. So that was really important that they felt really safe with me, that they could play with me, talk to me, talk about the world around them. It really served to help the relationship feel very lived-in and very real.

They seemed so comfortable with you. It seemed like such a genuine relationship.

They were the best. They were really playful, really open, and it really did force me into being very present in a way that I learned a lot from.

The paint scene...it starts out fun but takes a little bit of a turn, a little bit of a mishap at the end. Was that scripted or were you guys figuring out other little things that you could do to show life with child?

That was scripted. It was interesting because I have to be discouraging them while at the same time encouraging them. So that was a feat of editing because it was a lot of like, "Okay, now squeeze...yeah, you can come hit me on my nose," and then immediately go, "What are you doing? Don't do that." And once they understood that I was going to play a game that I was unhappy with what they were doing but I really liked it, then they thought that was really funny to see how far they could push it.

Kudos to the editor because that plays so well. So, you did say there were a couple moments you were like, oh geez, how am I going to feel watching that on the screen? That was the eating, your face covered food?

[Laughs] Weirdly enough, no, that is not. I'm a pretty silly person naturally. But honestly, I feel like the parts where I'm more emotionally vulnerable are harder to watch on screen, parts where I'm being silly or sort of exposed in some sort of less-than-ideal light. But the more emotional stuff is where I feel more vulnerable about an audience watching it. Yeah, that's where I am like, "Oof, that touched a little too close the flame there." [Laughs]

You're a mother yourself. This isn't a biopic of any kind, but you are feeling things.

Yeah, not just exclusively about motherhood — that definitely feeds into it — but just about being a woman and walking in this world and aging and transforming and struggling with identity at different times of my life and what that feels like to feel in between two places and feel almost like weightless in reality. It's a strange feeling, and I don't think it's exclusive to women, but I think we experience it in a very acute way.

Between this movie, the film Dìdi, where the mother Joan Chen plays mother is struggling to connect with her son, The Substance with its focus on beauty and the pressures put on women of a certain age — do you feel like the walls are coming down a bit from around these issues that have kind of felt a little taboo over the years? Is there more acceptance now to have more honest conversations about motherhood, about sacrifice, about physical perception, those kinds of things?

I'd like to think so. I'd like to think we keep moving forward — but two steps forward, one step back sometimes. [Laughs] But I do know that I'm having really great conversations with people. It's something I'm very comfortable talking about inside of conversations, inside of filmmaking, the female gaze, the female perspective. The great thing about it, how I feel, is that it is inclusive. What I love about Nightbitch is it's so much not just about the female perspective but about relationships, about that which we share, about that which we hide, how that affects our relationships, the world around us. It's a very inclusive perspective because I've had a lot of men see Nightbitch, and it's amazing the conversations that I've had with them as well, what they're seeing in it. It's been nice, the conversations around it — it's deep, it's nice. There's not a lot of superficial conversations that I'm having after people see it.

I would assume perhaps eye-opening for a lot of guys in the audience, realizing they might've been a little dismissive of things with their partner, with the mother of their children.

It's so fun! My husband saw the final cut before me in a screening. I always send him first. I do — I always want his perspective. It was funny because he absolutely saw us in it and he wasn't sure it was intentional or not. [Laughs] And I was like, "No, that's Mari too." That's such a common experience. That's why I love that part of the book so much is that even the part about him making the coffee and he's like, "How many scoops?" This has happened inside of my house several times, and I've got a great husband who's very helpful and very much in tune with our daughter, but it's just different. I love how Mari shaped that relationship because that also feels very lived in and very real.

Fearless is a word that has been used to describe your performance here — EW's own critic said that as well. Is that a thing that one strives for? How do I get to that certain level of confidence of freedom that I've seen other actresses reach? Is that a thing that one thinks about?

I knew I wanted to go into this with my guardrails down, and if I flew off the edge, I flew off the edge. But I knew it was really necessary to just be as honest and truthful as possible. Without using the word "fearless," I knew I wanted to balance the humor with depth and wanted it to feel as true to life as possible, even though we're living inside of magical realism. I just wanted it to feel grounded in her story and in her life and in her relationships. So I did kind of take the guardrails off a little bit.

Even though the presentation might be magical realism, the emotions, of course, aren't. That's all real. You can't make that up.

It was wonderful because I had just come off of a play and I think that that was really helpful because I was in the practice of taking chances every night, and I think that really gave me a certain amount of experience that I hadn't had in that way that really allowed for me to dive into the material with a different approach or different attitude.

I'm going to put you on the spot with this question: What are the performances that live in your brain as fearless?

Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth. I saw that when I was getting ready to move out to L.A. and I was like, "That's the bar! I'll never get it, but that's the bar!" And then the other one is Marion Cotillard in La Vie en Rose." There's a lot — I'm just doing these free association — when I watched that I was like, "That's the bar." Oh, Hilary Swank in Boys Don't Cry. These really lived-in characters that just transport you. Jodie Foster in everything she's ever done. Holly Hunter in The Piano. Anna Paquin? Come on.

You'll keep thinking of them — I love it! When we were talking a moment ago about that magical surrealism, when Mother transforms into a dog, was she always a husky? Were there conversations about what kind of breed?

Mari had a very clear point of view. It started with my eyes and my hair color. She was looking for a red husky specifically, and they actually found it in a shelter because there wasn't one already trained. And then they worked with that with Juno. Yeah, she had a very clear point of view. My personality is a little bit more, I don't know, golden retriever maybe, but I think Mother being a husky made a lot of sense.

I'm not going to lie, I feel ashamed to admit this: It took me a second to realize that the other three dogs were the other moms that Mother met at the library. The second time they pop up I was like, oh my God, you idiot, that's them.

But I like it when things unfold like that.

That is another great moment, too, going into the library, dreading it, didn't want to be there, and then there's that wonderful, pleasant surprise when she realizes she's not alone and there are other moms who also can't wait to get out of there.

Absolutely. That need for community, it changed so much after I had my daughter. The community that I was in shifted, and it took a while to find that new community with resources and support and validation. [Laughs] "You're not a horrible mom."

We have to talk about Scoot.

He's wonderful.

He's so good. I'm trying to recall, because he was also in Batman v Superman, Dawn of Justice, but did you share scenes together?

No!...Well, maybe... I knew he was in it, and I remember he was working with Holly Hunter and I wanted to be on set with him. But yeah, I'm trying to think — I don't think we were ever together.

So when casting Husband, he wasn't necessarily a thought from that film. You weren't like, "I want to get him."

No. Mari had brought him up and we had a quick conversation and I was like, "He's fantastic. I know lots of people who know him. I think his work is great. I know he's great." And the first time that we met and started running through the scenes, it was like we immediately both deeply understood what the relationship was and it felt instantly organic. He's a dad, and I think both of us being parents was really helpful in understanding complications of relationships. I feel like we fell into it so quickly — very comfortable. And he does such a great job not playing an antagonist. He's not playing the villain, and if you really look at it, she's not communicating with him truthfully. And so he's working with the information he has but not being very instinctive. She wants to be seen without telling him what she needs. I've fallen into that in my life.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Listen to our full interview with Adams — including why her Oscar nomination for Junebug holds a special place in her heart, her memories of making Drop Dead Gorgeous, and more — in the podcast below.

Get the latest awards season analysis and hear from the actors, creators, and more who are contenders this season on EW's The Awardist podcast, hosted by Gerrad Hall. Be sure to listen/subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts, or via your own voice-controlled smart speaker (Alexa, Google Home).

Oscar Nomination Predictions: Supporting Actor and Actress

Best Supporting Actor

Former Succession colleagues Jeremy Strong and Kieran Culkin might find themselves nominated in the same category this year for their supporting roles in The Apprentice and A Real Pain, respectively, though Strong's place in the race has significantly dwindled as the film's distributor, Briarcliff, couldn't push the film toward enough of a box office impact to make a dent in the Oscars race. There's a chance that the left-leaning Screen Actors Guild Awards could boost the project's prospects, and if it catches on there, there's no stopping Strong's wonderful performance as Roy Cohn. Support from the same group could also boost the supporting stars of Challengers into the race, so don't count out Mike Faist or Josh O'Connor (see below) for their work in a film that drove pop culture conversation — and internet chatter — earlier this year. Realistically, the safe bets at this stage are mostly in Best Picture contenders such as The Brutalist (the long overdue Guy Pearce) and Anora (Yura Borisov is a relative unknown to many voters, but will go along for the ride here). Industry favorite Denzel Washington's star-powered, well-received turn in Gladiator II also feels like a sure thing for now, given reactions to his performance in the sequel to Ridley Scott's Oscar-winning original.

1. Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain
2. Guy Pearce, The Brutalist
3. Yura Borisov, Anora
4. Denzel Washington, Gladiator II
5. Edward Norton, A Complete Unknown
   

Best Supporting Actress

Danielle Deadwyler suffered one of the biggest snubs in recent Oscars history when she missed out on a nod for her work in 2022's Till. This year, all signs initially pointed toward awards bodies course-correcting and finally giving her the recognition she deserved then for her equally deserving work in the upcoming August Wilson adaptation The Piano Lesson, but her notable snubs have continued on the trail thus far. In her place, the Emilia Pérez stars continue building support, with Zoe Saldaña and Selena Gomez looking to continue their shared prize at Cannes toward their first nominations as well. Felicity Jones will also go along for the ride with The Brutalist boys, but a question mark remains over Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor's performance in Nickel Boys, which saw director RaMell Ross creep into early precursor nominations despite scoring only a single nomination at the Golden Globes (for Best Motion Picture — Drama).

1. Zoe Saldaña, Emilia Pérez
2. Ariana Grande, Wicked
3. Felicity Jones, The Brutalist
4. Selena Gomez, Emilia Pérez
5. Isabella Rossellini, Conclave
   

Check out Joey Nolfi's predictions for Best Picture, Director, and Lead Actor and Actress here.

Other 'Awardist' coverage

Oscars snub Miley Cyrus' Golden Globe-nominated original song from The Last Showgirl

The host with the roast: How Nikki Glaser plans to put her own spin on the 2025 Golden Globes

The most shocking snubs and surprises from the 2025 Golden Globe nominations

Andrew Garfield and Ryan Reynolds reflect on 'insensitive' kiss during Ryan Gosling's 2017 Golden Globes win

National awards crisis averted: Jared Leto found his missing Oscar

SAG Award Season Celebration

Entertainment Weekly joined the Screen Actors Guild to host the second annual SAG Awards Season Celebration at the Chateau Marmont on Dec. 12. Cynthia Erivo (Wicked), Hiroyuki Sanada (Shōgun), Shrinking's Jason Segel, Brett Goldstein, Jessica Williams, and Christa Miller, Walton Goggins (Fallout, The White Lotus), Cooper Koch and Nicholas Alexander Chavez (Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story), June Squibb (Thelma), Kiernan Shipka and Brenda Song (The Last Showgirl), Karla Sofía Gascón and Zoe Saldaña (Emilia Pérez), Grey's Anatomy's Sarah Drew and Kelly McCreary, and many other stars from movies and TV celebrated the upcoming 31st SAG Awards and the SAG-AFTRA Foundation, with signature cocktails provided by Campari, and wines from Cooper's Hawk. —Gerrad Hall

Inside the Vatican — and that 'Conclave' stairwell scene

The Pope has died...and thus begins the search for his replacement. The Church, of course, doesn't have to look far: of the 232 cardinals, 120 are eligible to be elected. But who will it be?

That's the big dilemma and question at the center of Conclave, directed by Edward Berger, based on the novel by Robert Harris, and adapted by Peter Straughan. Like any election, there are conservative, liberal, and even progressive candidates — and like any election, there are campaigns to earn enough votes. Overseeing this story's conclave (the meeting of cardinals in the Sistine Chapel) is Cardinal Lawrence, the dean of the College of Cardinals, played by Ralph Fiennes. Being in the midst of a crisis of faith, he has no desire to be the late Pope's successor. Stanley Tucci's liberal Cardinal Bellini was once a front-runner, but after the first couple of votes, it's clear he doesn't have enough support.

So it's time to craft a new strategy. Lawrence and Bellini take their conversation to a stairwell in the Casa Santa Marta — a hotel of sorts where cardinals stay during the conclave — to figure out their next move with Cardinal Sabbadin (Merab Ninidze). It's one of the film's most intriguing scenes not just because of the scheming and plotting but also because of the way director Edward Berger and cinematographer Stéphane Fontaine stage and frame the conversation.

Below, screenwriter Peter Straughan shares with The Awardist his notes on the scene and the men's, well, come-to-Jesus moment. —Gerrad Hall

1. The scene is a kind of mid-point in the film, where the characters feel defeated and are preparing to make a compromise in their voting. It felt fun to think of those great '70s American political thrillers (especially the Pakula “paranoia trilogy”) in relation to Conclave. I liked this sense that the Cardinals — even as they are feeling the paranoia, are aware that, absurdly, it’s as if they were in that kind of film.
2. Most of the Cardinals initially profess that they have no desire to be Pope, but in the end, we sense their ambition. Here, Bellini gives up his dream, whilst Sabbadin dismisses Lawrence’s chance — although ironically, Lawrence will go on to be a front-runner. I liked this triangular conversation (and the triangular composition that went with it): Bellini, the intellectual; Sabbadin, the representative of worldly politics; and in the middle, Lawrence, reaching for something he hasn’t quite got yet...faith.
3. This is the heart of the scene and, in some ways, the heart of the film. To what extent are we prepared to compromise our beliefs and ideals in the face of an imperfect world?
4. I wanted this moment to work on two levels: Firstly, Sabbadin’s critique of the past failures of the Church and his summary of the central problem (”We serve an ideal — we cannot always be ideal”) seem perfectly valid and sensible. Of course, we’re all flawed, we have to get over that and do the best with what we’ve got. But, the fact that it is the political fixer Sabbadin who says it subtly undermines the position and prepares the way for Lawrence to eventually reject the realpolitik and act in accordance with his conscience.

Dressed for the arena

Janty Yates won the Oscar in 2001 for her costume design on Ridley Scott's Gladiator — and she's in the running again for the movie's sequel, Gladiator II. In The Awardist's exclusive featurette (above), Scott's longtime collaborator — who's also worked with him on movies including American Gangster, The Martian, Robin Hood, Prometheus, and Napoleon, the latter of which she also received an Oscar nomination — details "everything that was made from scratch," from the leather and metal work to the jewelry.

Inspired by the "evolving fashions at the time," according to star Connie Nielsen, Yates and her team outfitted some 150 gladiators. "With Ridley, we always have costume villages of epic proportions," Yates says in the video. "Having a crowd of extras is a challenge because you have a huge quantity of garments."

And she makes the work easy for the movie's stars. "Her beautiful costumes, the colors, I don't have to think or worry about anything," says Denzel Washington. "It is an art."

Watch the video above for more.

Oughta Get a Nod: Josh O'Connor for 'Challengers'

Josh O’Connor first captured our attention with his Emmy-winning portrayal of a bitterly overlooked young Prince Charles on The Crown. With Challengers, he takes the entitlement that fuels Charles’ hapless, unlovable sensibility and transforms it by imbuing it with bravado and striking sex appeal. His Patrick Zweig struts through every scene with a beguiling swagger, barely concealing the emptiness underneath. We have no doubt O’Connor will be in awards conversations for many years to come, but we’d like to make a plea for some recognition for his outrageous take on this smirking husk of a man with a gaping, ugly maw of want at his center. O’Connor’s ability to make Patrick’s literal dick-swinging feel like high art should be the perfect serve for an Oscar nomination. —Maureen Lee Lenker

The Snub That Still Hurts: Barbara Stanwyck for 'Stella Dallas'

Joan Crawford in Mildred Pierce, Bette Davis in Now, Voyager, and Barbara Stanwyck in Stella Dallas — three towering performances from the three greatest women's films of the studio era. The only difference between them? Crawford won an Oscar for hers, Davis lost to Greer Garson but had already won twice before, and Stanwyck just plain lost. The legendary actress's exuberant, almost terroristically heartbreaking performance as the titular character in King Vidor's 1937 melodrama earned her the first of four Academy Award nominations over her seven-decade career. She'd lose all four. Playing runner-up to the likes of Jane Wyman, Ingrid Bergman, and Joan Fontaine can at least be justified, but losing in 1938 to Luise Rainer, who donned yellowface for her performance in The Good Earth, is particularly egregious in hindsight. More than any other actress that year, hell, that decade, Stany deserved the broadest possible recognition for this seismic performance. —Ryan Coleman

Oscars Flashback