Who do you think of when you refer to "A24's horror queen"? The answer in my mind is Mia Goth. Although she knows that horror movies have no place in the Oscar, her love for thrillers has been engraved in her bones.
Whether it's the porn star who wants to be famous in "X," the old lady who yearns for young flesh, or the crazy girl in a red dress in "Pearl," she touches the hearts of the audience with a highly recognizable face and explosive acting skills.
Today, I want to talk about Mia Goth. In “Pearl,” which has been called "all crazy" by netizens, Mia Goth managed to frighten me with a three-minute close-up at the end. As the film credits slowly appeared, her smile gradually stiffened, her expression distorted, and tears and snot fell together. The powerful performance tension is stunning.
This shocking shot was director Ti West's unintentional idea, and unexpectedly became one of the best shots in the whole film. At that time, he just tried to put Mia in the middle of the screen and shoot her face to see what would happen. As a result, she acted for three minutes. Later, when the director looked at the shot and thought it looked good, so he put it into the film!
● Compared to the 1939 version of "The Wizard of Oz," what Pearl did to the scarecrow was shocking.
As the prequel story of "X," the shooting style of "Pearl" pays tribute to "The Wizard of Oz" in 1939. However, unlike the dreamlike and beautiful fairy tale, "Pearl" tells a story full of decay and fragmentation. The romantic scarecrow has also become a prop to set off the horrible atmosphere.
What you may not know is, the script for "Pearl" was written by Mia Goth in collaboration with Ti West in just six weeks. From the image of a "good girl" who lives in a repressive environment and obeys her mother blindly to a "crazy" who begins to resist and kill people. In characterization and reversal, "Pearl" has handed a qualified answer.
There is also a ten-minute one-take monologue in the film. Mia's acting makes it easy to empathize with the character. After watching it, I thought this "crazy" was just a simple, self-willed little girl who wanted to be loved from beginning to end.
Mia's passion for this film type can be traced back to work with Luca Guadagnino in "Suspiria." She had no dance foundation. To shoot the role of a good dancer, she trained in the dance studio for ten hours every day. Gradually, she seemed to become a true dancer.
● Practiced dancing for “Suspiria”
Mia's movie screen debut was Lars von Trier's "Nymphomaniac: Volume II," which completely changed her life. The 19-year-old Mia's role in the film is bold and cold, often naked, and performs sadomasochism. Perhaps her passion for this role type began from this time. And she met her husband, Shia Labeouf, in this film.
When auditioning for "Nymphomaniac: Volume II," Lars von Trier asked Mia to imagine her cat dead and then asked her to read her lines naked, and she did so. Finally, she seemed to feel the pain, which opened her way to star in horror movies.
● “A Cure for Wellness”（2016）
● “Mayday”（2021）
It's easy for me to be attracted to characters who are in a state of struggle or need to fight. I sometimes feel that the true feelings of many female characters are often hidden. --Mia Goth
Mia seems particularly fond of stories that explore human nature. The female characters she chose and played accurately depicted women's complex and multifaceted nature. Such as the praise of women's rights and power in "Suspiria," the humiliation, abuse, and revenge among women in "Nymphomaniac: Volume II," the lust expression of elderly women in "X," and the friendship between girls in "Emma.”.
● “Emma.”
Oscar Wilde once said, "Give him a mask to disguise himself as someone else, and he will probably tell you the truth about himself." Mia Goth is constantly looking for suitable masks for herself.
It may be why her characters have a unique charm, hysterical, bold, or crazy, but they can all be impressive.
In her childhood, Mia often changed schools and moved for family reasons. She even changed nine schools in one year and was always bullied. It was difficult for her to integrate into the new school. To better adapt to different circles, she had to adopt a nomadic lifestyle like acting. Maybe this was the turning point for her to fall in love with acting.
You must have noticed Mia's weird eyebrows and big slit between the teeth, but when filming, these became her symbols. Isn't this a born horror movie face? When she starred in X, Ti West was also fond of her eyebrows and did not let her change deliberately.
Mia now lives in LA, remarried Shia Labeouf, had a child, continues to play her favorite roles, and has become a well-deserved horror queen. She admitted that if she were not an actress, she would open a cake shop named "Mama Mia", or maybe become a journalist or psychologist.
With her performance in "Pearl," Mia is already on the directors' lists of cooperation! I hope she can soon work with her favorite, Woody Allen! What movie did you begin to know about Mia? See you in the comments!
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