On Wednesday, November 9, The Knockturnal was invited to an special screening of “Rules Don’t Apply” with star Lily Collins.
The event was held at Metrograph and afterwords Collins graciously mingled with and posed for photos with attendees. In the film, Collins plays Marla Mabrey an aspiring actress who moves to Los Angeles with her mother Lucy (Annette Bening) in 1958. She was given a coveted contract by billionaire filmmaker, aviator and entrepreneur Howard Hughes (Warren Beatty). As soon as she lands she meets her driver Frank Forbes (Alden Ehrenreich) and there is an instant connection. Unfortunately, he is engaged and a devout Methodist and she is a devout Baptist. On top of that, Hughes forbids his employees from dating his actresses. Read our exclusive interview with Collins below:
Can you speak about collaborating with Warren and what you admire about him as a filmmaker?
Lily: Well, God, he just knows what he wants and how to get it. He is so smart about putting his actors in situations that somewhat mirror their characters. I think we were, by design, put in situations that he chose in order to get reactions as our characters. I want to be a producer, director, or writer of a movie someday. To be able to watch him wear all those hats at once was super inspiring and just the collaboration that he allowed us to have with him showed that he trusted us so much. I wasn’t expecting that. He’s Warren Beatty. He doesn’t need to collaborate, but he in fact needs that in order to be inspired, and I really love that.
Your character goes through such a journey. It’s a beautiful performance. Can you reflect on that?
Lily: Thank you. Yeah, she goes from this naïve, innocent, wide-eyed young woman, who’s very driven, who’s brought there with her mother, who ends up going through these trials and tribulations in Hollywood and realizes what it is about the American dream, or the Hollywood dream, that she wants, and whether or not her morals will help guide her through that. She ends up becoming a stronger woman because of the situations she’s put in. I think it speaks a lot to what it is to become a strong woman and when your morals do define how you interact with people and what it is to separate from the ones that you love in order to grow, which I could relate to because I’m really close with my mom, and I know that there came a point for me at least when I thought, “All right. I need her, but I also need to be independent.”
Speaking of mom, another legend Annette Bening plays your mother! Can you speak about working with her?
Lily: Oh my God. We had the best time together. She loves improv. She’s so fun. She’s so giving in a scene, and very trustworthy, and it was great to see the two of them working together, because yes they were husband and wife, but more so they were partners in crime. They were director/actor and it was a beautiful process to watch.
Can you speak about bonding with Alden and forming that rapport?
Lily: Well, by design, Warren had us hanging out for hours and hours and hours, really in situations like the movie. He’s so funny and sweet and kind and giving and an incredibly talented guy. I can’t wait for him to be Han Solo.
The fashion is so cool. Can you speak about how the fashion informed your performance?
Lily: Yeah. First of all, the undergarments are incredibly uncomfortable, so they make you walk a very certain way and hold yourself in a certain way. The clothing is so beautiful that it helps define who the character is by what they choose to wear. The way you carry yourself and how you feel by what you’re dressed, it defines a character, so it definitely helped me find Marla.
The film hits theaters on November 23.
