As we say goodbye to one year, Vanessa Kirby is looking ahead to the next—and it’s poised to be her biggest yet, as the former “The Crown” star is generating Oscar buzz for her breathtaking work in “Pieces of a Woman” (streaming on Netflix Jan. 7). But, Kirby insists, the road to 2021 has been paved with adversity, including one particularly traumatic audition involving a half-closed water bottle and a pair of wet pants.
What performance should every actor see and why?
I’ll say Gena Rowlands in “A Woman Under the Influence,” because even though compared to today’s acting style it’s very big—it’s a huge performance—I always reference it, because it was so revolutionary at the time, as someone who was just actually allowed full space. And someone behind the camera obviously loved her deeply and just wanted her to take that space and [be] wild and free and messy and complicated and a true human.
Vanessa Kirby Goes Into the Unknown Do you have an audition horror story you can share?
So many. I was auditioning for an HBO show, and they’d flown me over from London. I had to sit in a hotel for a few days with jet lag, so nervous, by myself, rattling around. I didn’t know anyone in L.A. And then, oh, my gosh, I got into the audition room and there were 20 people from the [production] and I was so intimidated. I sat at the front and this lovely actor was reading with me and the director was so lovely, too. But I started reading, and as I was reading, I was so nervous that I had a bottle of water in my lap. And I hadn’t put the top on properly. I was doing this big speech about my husband who just returned from Vietnam and how emotional it was for me, and as I was doing the speech, I could feel the water dripping down my leg into a pool of water on the floor. If I had been less nervous I’d have been like, “Guys, I’m really sorry, this is really embarrassing. I need to stop. There’s a bottle of water that’s spilling all down my legs and it looks like I’ve wet myself.” I couldn’t because I was so nervous, so I kept going, and it was such a sorry state of affairs. It was just a complete mess. Safe to say I left the audition room and there were a few uncomfortable coughs. They thought I was terrible, and I was. It was just horrific; it was excruciating. I went back home on the plane totally mortified.
What’s the wildest thing you ever did to actually get a role?
My audition for “The Crown” was pretty wild, honestly. But the one that I went to the most effort for was a film. I went and made a documentary about the town that this girl was from. I went and spent loads of time at the town and interviewed loads of people and put it into a little short film and sent it to the director. She didn’t cast me in the end, but it was still really cool learning about it.
Through what job did you join the union?
Here [in the U.K.], it’s really important that you join the union, obviously, and I was really proud [to do so]. It was my first job up in the north of England in a little theater. That was a big moment for me.
What was the play?
It was “All My Sons” by Arthur Miller.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Trust that really loving what we do so much, and that with the right discipline and the kind of faith—with those two things, faith and discipline, you’ll be OK. Don’t worry so much.
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