When Emma Mackey met Vicky Krieps, she couldn’t help but blush.
The two actors play love interests Sofia and Ingrid in “Hot Milk,” Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s feature directorial debut that premieres at Berlin Film Festival on Friday, and the first scene they shot together also marked the first time they’d truly interacted.
“I didn’t get to meet her before we started shooting, and I remember the first scene we shot was on the beach. It’s the first time Sofia sees Ingrid, and Vicky looked at me and I blushed,” Mackey tells Variety. “And that just tells you — I was like, ‘Wow, how did she do that?’”
Based on Deborah Levy’s 2016 novel of the same name, “Hot Milk” follows a daughter and mother — played by Mackey and Fiona Shaw, respectively — who “wrestle with co-dependency and desire by the Spanish seaside,” according to the synopsis. “Yearning for freedom, the daughter falls into a passionate affair. But is this the liberation she needs, or an even more destructive trap?”
It marks Mackey’s follow-up feature to 2023’s box office blockbuster “Barbie,” in which she was part of the ensemble cast as Physicist Barbie. Before that, the British-French star played the rebellious yet intelligent Maeve for four seasons on Netflix’s critically acclaimed “Sex Education” in her first major role. But Mackey found herself seeking something different for her next project — which is where “Hot Milk” came in.
“It felt very elegant, very female-led and it’s an independent film so there were all of these elements that fell into place,” she says. “It just felt really obvious to me that I should go for it.”
Below, Mackey speaks more about “Hot Milk,” what it was like working with Lenkiewicz and reflects on getting her start on “Sex Education.”
Tell me a bit about how you got started in acting. Was there a moment where you thought, this is what I want to do?
In my last semester at university, I remember cornering my parents and saying, “I’m going to move to London. You don’t have to worry about me, I’m going to figure it out, I’m going to become an actress and train and see how it goes. I need to try this thing, otherwise I’ll regret it.” And so I did. And it was all about getting as much practice as I could, and that’s what I sought to do. And then I got very fortunate to meet the right people.
Most people know you from you breakout role as Maeve on Netflix’s “Sex Education.” How did that show change your life?
It changed everything. I went into that whole process quite blissfully unaware, but I was really nervous. I had nothing to compare it to, so it was a very innocent experience and such a good education, because on TV you get to do so much and the days are so packed and you have to learn really fast, and I really took to that. It was such a brilliant and unexpected launchpad into very different projects after that. I didn’t know how things worked, I just was unbelievably grateful and surprised that Kenneth Branagh was interested in seeing me for an audition (2022’s “Death on the Nile”) or that I was being picked out for a French movie (2021’s “Eiffel”). I was very lucky because I got a variety of different things after that that were nothing to do with Maeve, which was really interesting and hopeful, you know? Because people are always nervous about being one thing or being seen as one thing. “Sex Education” was four, five years so it was really important to me to find other projects that were very different and to portray different people.
And then there was obviously “Barbie.” How did that help you grow as a performer?
It was really kind of idyllic. I remember from the get-go being very keen and asking my agent, “Do I need to write her a letter, like what do I need to do? I’ll play a tree, I’ll do anything!” And it was just really nice to be a part of that team and watch the likes of Greta [Gerwig] and Margot [Robbie] and Ryan [Gosling] and Will [Ferrell] and all these incredible people who have such different, varied careers just really enjoy their job and do it really well. There was something really simple and pure about the whole process, even though it was big and it was “Barbie,” but it never felt overwhelming or scary. It just felt like everyone was there for the right reasons, and that was a really important energy that carried through the whole filming process.
Now you’re premiering “Hot Milk” at Berlin. How did you get involved in the project?
I actually came in quite late in their process. There was someone else originally attached and I got the script in June or in May and they were ready to shoot that summer. I read the script immediately and met Rebecca Lenkiewicz the following day. We had tea and she was just so unbelievably warm and sure and really welcoming and offered me the part in that moment. It was so unexpected. I was sort of searching for something like that — I really wanted to do that kind of ilk of film. It felt very elegant, very female-led and it’s an independent film so there were all of these elements that fell into place. It just felt really obvious to me that I should go for it.
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What drew you to the role of Sofia?
Sofia is an observer. She studies anthropology — she’s someone who studies human behavior but doesn’t know her own very well. There was something about that that really drew me in, something quite hypnotic. I like the quiet observers, I always have and I like her dealing with her own rawness and her own emotion and trying to find her place in the world. There’s a deep unrest in this film and there’s a real soul searching, specifically on Sofia’s part — all of these questions about her own identity that are completely unanswered and she’s never really dealt with because she’s so consumed by looking after her mum. That’s the whole principle of the movie, is this 24/7 carer role and being in your 20s and trying to make space for yourself in the world. It’s charged to say the least.
What was it like working with Rebecca Lenkiewicz on her directorial debut?
She’s a very sensitive, thoughtful, warm, generous person. It was very fluid. There was never anything contentious about it — everything sort of flowed into place. We didn’t have a lot of time, with these sorts of films you have 23 days and it’s so quick. But she trusted us a lot, I have to say, me and Vicky and Fiona. And I relied a lot on her guidance, but also on Fiona’s cues. So much of what Sofia experiences is through other people and through her mum, so I had to trust what other people were doing and sort of took my cues from the other actresses as well. Rebecca was very keen on that and just letting us exist.
Vicky Krieps plays your love interest. What was it like working alongside her?
Vicky’s amazing, as most of us know. She’s got such a fantastic presence and this kind of freedom. She’s in her own world and is so very grounded at the same time. I didn’t get to meet her before we started shooting, and I remember the first scene we shot was on the beach and it’s right at the beginning of the film. It’s the first time Sofia sees Ingrid, and Vicky looked at me and I blushed. And that just tells you — I was like, “Wow, how did she do that? That’s incredible.” She’s really a force, and we got to work together again last year in a short film that my partner and I just did, so we’ve stayed firm friends.
And how about Fiona Shaw as your mother?
There was a huge physical element in what she does, obviously, because she plays somebody who has this mystery illness. But she can’t move, and so Sofia has to look after her all the time and carry her and wheel her around. We were very keen in making sure that every scene we were in, it felt as charged as it reads on the page. She was just brilliant, and she’s such a great leader, because as I said earlier, a lot of cues I have to take from her.
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What do you hope the audience takes away from the film?
It’s not an easy film, necessarily. There’s something quite haunting about it, if we’ve done our job well. And I think there’s something about the relationship dynamic between mother and daughter that a lot of people will connect with at some level. Just the feeling of being attached to someone so profoundly through flesh and blood, quite literally, but also the love you can have for someone who can also torture you and make you unhappy and imprison you in some ways. That push and pull between love and hate I think is really interesting, and that’s what we try to explore in this film.
What’s next for you?
I did a James L. Brooks movie last year, which was just so exciting and life-changing, and then I start a J.J. Abrams project. So it’s very enriching and exhilarating and I get to do very different things in both those films, so I’m really excited.
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