The Big Picture

Collider’s Perri Nemiroff sits down with the team behind Love Lies Bleeding at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. Writer-director Rose Glass and stars Kristen Stewart, Anna Baryshnikov, Jena Malone, Ed Harris, Katy O’Brian and Dave Franco discuss making the highly anticipated A24 film. The movie sees Stewart’s Lou, a reclusive gym manager, fall hard for an ambitious bodybuilder, but their love ignites violence, pulling them deep into the web of Lou’s criminal family.

As you’ll hear me say many times in this interview, the Love Lies Bleeding team offered up some very curious and exciting teases during our conversation at the Collider interview studio at Sundance 2024 brought to you by Film.io. Now that I’ve actually seen the movie, I can continue to confirm that, yes, these teases are quite good, but I can also add, nothing will prepare you for how big Rose Glass, Kristen Stewart and the rest of the artists behind the upcoming A24 release swing with this film.

The movie marks Glass’ second feature film following her feature directorial debut, Saint Maud. Love Lies Bleeding stars Stewart as Lou, a gym manager doing her best to distance herself from her crime lord father (Ed Harris). When an ambitious bodybuilder (Katy O’Brian) rolls through town on her way to a competition in Vegas, there’s an instant connection. As their relationship intensifies, so does everything else in their lives, sending the pair on an especially steamy and violent ride guided by questionable decisions made out of revenge, love, and ambition.

Shortly before Love Lies Bleeding celebrated its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, Glass, Stewart, O’Brian, Harris, Jena Malone, Dave Franco, and Anna Baryshnikov visited the Collider interview studio in Park City to tease their characters and the chaos they all attempt to barrel through. Check out what the group told me about sending up the idea of “a strong female character,” the “masculine/feminine juxtaposition” between Stewart and O’Brian’s characters, the joy of telling a “heightened, weird, unreal story,” and loads more in the video interview above or in the transcript below.

Love Lies Bleeding A romance fueled by ego, desire and the American Dream. Release Date March 8, 2024 Director Rose Glass Runtime 104 minutes Writers Rose Glass , Weronika Tofilska

PERRI NEMIROFF: Rose, I’ve got two questions about making this your second feature. What was it about the story that drew you to it, but also, what did you think you would gain from making this movie next as a director honing your craft?

ROSE GLASS: I think going into it, I just knew that I wanted to try something different and take some risks and challenge myself. I knew I wanted to make something fun and kind of bombastic and pulpy. I didn’t have a clear view of the story yet. I knew I wanted to co-write, as well because doing Maud, loved making the film, writing by yourself is quite isolating and stressful, so I thought, again, “Try something different,” so I teamed up with Weronika Tofilska, who’s a writer-director as well, been friends for years, and we read all each other’s stuff. So I basically came to her with this sort of embryonic version of the idea, and then we just locked ourselves in a room for a few months and just kind of brainstormed the whole thing and came up with these characters and just tried to, I don’t know, try out different things and see where the story led us and go with whatever felt the most fun and exciting and surprising, and tried to make each other laugh.

Probably no surprise, but my next question is another two-parter. I’m always fascinated by the experience of going from a successful first feature to getting your second off the ground because I feel like there can be a misconception that it’s easy. So, what is a misconception about what it takes to get your second feature a green light? But then, can you also give me the opposite, something about Saint Maud that did make this process easier for you?

GLASS: I tried to sort of not stop and think about it too much, I suppose. There’s such an exciting momentum of having got to a point where you’ve actually made a film, because for so long before that it’s just kinda like, “Oh, I’m gonna get to make one.” So I just tried to sort of follow that momentum, I guess. I mean, I was really fortunate that I got to team up with A24 and Film4 supported us again to develop the script, and everyone took a bit of a risk. So, yeah, I don’t know. I just kind of went with it.

If you’re not taking a risk, is it worth it?

GLASS: No!

Kristen Stewart’s ‘Love Lies Bleeding’ Character Is an “Affable Dude” Who Can Be “Pretty Monstrous”

Kristen and Katy, I’ve got yet another two-parter for the two of you. To touch on your characters, when you first signed on to the movie, what quality of theirs were you most looking forward to playing, but then also, what’s a quality you discovered along the way as you started to work together?

KRISTEN STEWART: When Rose described the film to me, she’s like, “Everyone’s always telling me to write about …,” or at least we’re all talking about women telling stories about strong women, and so I thought that that intro — because I met her before I read the script. It was so funny. It felt kind of like hot and petulant, and I was like, “What is this gonna be?” She’s like, “You know, really strong women!” And then we got a very strong woman to be in this movie opposite my very “weak” woman.

To get back to your exact question, I really like these people a lot, but they’re morally defunct and completely willing to justify any bad behavior because of love, and that feels like something that’s easy to sort of be like, “Yeah, that’s a good idea,” but really, humans just tell themselves the story that they need to hear in order to get through. I guess I loved Lou so much because she’s funny and she’s kind of like a “good guy.” She’s kind of like an affable dude, but ultimately, I was like, “Oh, no, we can all just be pretty monstrous because we’re all just humans.” And, I don’t know, has anyone seen fucking Oppenheimer? You know what I mean? So it was surprising to me having to sort of really love Lou and protect her the whole time, and then we got to the end of the movie, or really more when I saw the movie, I was like, “Oh, no, bad guy.” But not bad! Let’s not be so binary. You know, we’ve all got it. We contain multitudes.

Oh, I feel like that’s the perfect combo — lose yourself in it in the moment but then be able to experience the movie as an outsider looking in. That’s cool.

STEWART: Everyone’s just tripping to the finish line and smashing their faces into each other.

Literally, aren’t we all? [Laughs]

STEWART: At least it gets to be kind of hot! You know what I mean?

KATY O’BRIAN: I think Jackie was just this really sweet, naive dreamer and I love that about her, but also had a bit of ferocity and maybe a bit of tragedy to her. I think what was really cool when you put her and Lou together is Lou is very much like the only support I think she’s ever had, and very grounded. And also there’s a really cool masculine/feminine juxtaposition where you’ve got a bodybuilder, or whatever, and I’m all, you know, putting makeup on and doing my hair and being all cutesy, whatever …

STEWART: And I took care of you.

O’BRIAN: Yeah, you took care of me. Thank you so much. And yeah, Lou took care of me, and I was like, “Oh, so sweet.”

GLASS: Or did she?

STEWART: I love a little flip-flop power dynamic. Nothing hotter than that!

Image via A24

Some good teases there. Another question for both of you. I love asking this question in general, but in particular when it seems like two characters and their connection together serve as the beating heart of a film, which is the impression the press notes gave me here. Can you each tell me something about the other that you appreciated as a scene partner, perhaps something that helped you access something in your character that you might not have been able to reach without them?

O’BRIAN: One of the things for me was, generally I didn’t have a lot of boundaries and I think Kristen was just really willing to do the things that needed to be done. We had a scene where you had a lighter and that lighter is near me on my skin. We’re living as true to the moment as we can and were able to actually feel what’s happening in the moment, which is really nice because sometimes I feel like people will be really timid and just kind of be like, “Oh, I’ll just hold it, you know …”

STEWART: I wasn’t gonna fake it for you.

O’BRIAN: “We’ll just put it in later in post.”

GLASS: Kristen’s just like, [gestures holding up a lighter].

O’BRIAN: “Do we have a bigger lighter for more fire? Is there a torch around here?”

GLASS: It was very safe.

STEWART: I feel like Lou’s a tough guy and the coolest feeling is being thrown over her shoulder [laughs], and a little bit flummoxed. I don’t know, Katy and I, we did this initial audition. We were both just very much plunged off a cliff into a dark, weird, deep water. There was never a point where we were pushing each other under, you know what I mean? It was so hard. It was really fun though, and that was definitely because of this weird alchemical thing that was going on between the three of us.

Jena Malone on “Wrestling” With Kristen Stewart in ‘Love Lies Bleeding’
Image via Photagonist at the Collider Media Studio

Jena, I’m gonna come your way now. This is kind of a scene partner question as well because in our press notes it emphasized that you and Kristen have known each other for a while, but you’ve never worked together, right? Not directly, at least?

JENA MALONE: Well, we were in the same film. I mean, that’s working together, right?

STEWART: I’ve been obsessed with Jena Malone since I’ve been watching movies, and so when I got to work with her in Into the Wild, I was like, [makes a trilling sound].

MALONE: We met more in press engagements on that film, you know, because it was like separate worlds.

What was the first movie of hers that got you obsessed with her as an actor?

STEWART: Well, I mean, like all the little guy stuff is the cutest thing ever, but Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys is so cute! [Laughs] I genuinely like everything.

Jena, back to you. What is something about having that long-lasting connection that you found influencing the fact that you are playing sisters in this movie?

MALONE: I think from the very first time that we met and even circled, I felt a very oddly maternal, older sister, like, “We’re in the same boat, I want to protect you, build you up, make sure you’re cool,” and she just infinitely was, and so I was like, “Oh, that’s so amazing. I’m so proud of you.” So, yeah, it was a very easy bridge to build, and there was an infinite amount of things we could pull from in the sense of respecting each other and getting to sort of play off each other, and learn to kind of hate each other, also, in a way because, you know, the sibling rivalry.

STEWART: I was actually just gonna say that. We have a tough one.

MALONE: Yeah, there’s a lot of seed work of violence and family dynamics, and I think it’s nice to be able to trust someone to be able to go there in a way that’s very authentic because it can be really scary. I think it’s the birthplace of violence, right? Family. Family dynamics. It’s so wild.

Are you able to tease any of that seed work? Can you tease what sparked that friction between them?

MALONE: Like right now? Alright, let’s go. [Laughs]

STEWART: I’m like, “You can have it! I love you!”

I meant more like ideas and backstory, but if you want to do that, I’m all for it!

MALONE: No way, we’re gonna wrestle.

STEWART: No, when she got mad at me in stuff, because we have a tumultuous relationship in the movie, it genuinely destroys me. I’m like, “Jena, don’t do this.”

MALONE: And I’m like, “Is this okay?” It was fun though. It’s really nice to wrestle. I had a great wrestle partner.

STEWART: You’re so scary.

Image via A24

From sister to dad, Ed, I’m gonna come to you next. I love asking this question when it’s a character that seems like they probably exude confidence and authority, and that’s certainly the impression I’ve gotten of Lou Sr. from what I’ve read about the film. At the start of the movie, what do you think his greatest strength is, but then also, what’s his greatest weakness, the thing that makes him vulnerable during what unfolds?

ED HARRIS: Well, first of all, I was really excited to be asked to play Kristen’s father, not her grandfather. That was really cool. His strengths, well, he’s an organizer. He’s a businessman and he’s successful. Some of that’s illegal, but he’s on top of the situation. He is a confident guy, and he’s pretty good at manipulating people to do what he needs them to do. That was kind of his strength, I think, I guess. His greatest weakness is the fact that he’s an asshole. I mean, he doesn’t think of himself that way, but he has not been the greatest dad, his daughter despises him …

GLASS: And yet he still loves her.

HARRIS: So, I guess that’s a weakness. And, you know, he has a fondness for beetles, which I think is one of his strengths.

DAVE FRANCO: Tell us more about the beetles.

HARRIS: It’s hard to describe. He just, you know, appreciates them.

STEWART: Oh, that’s nice.

Never thought I’d be so excited to see lighters and beetles in the movie, but here we are.

Alright, Dave, you’re next up on my list. I warned you, I’m going to bring up The Rental, and also Somebody I Used to Know, but I’m a genre lover, so I might have watched The Rental too many times.

FRANCO: That’s so nice.

As a director yourself, is there anything you observed Rose doing as a leader on set and as an actor’s director that you back-pocketed and plan to take to your next feature?

FRANCO: Definitely. Rose, she just sets such a good vibe on set where, no matter how crazy the scenes are, she’s so calm and sweet, and she never feels frazzled. I don’t know, it’s very comforting. She just comes up and she doesn’t have to say much, she just gives you these little things and it’s just like, “Oh, that’s genius.”

STEWART: “I can make a meal out of that!”

FRANCO: [Laughs] Yes! But really, her energy is something that I responded to a lot.

GLASS: Thanks, Dave.

Make more movies, please.

FRANCO: Thank you!

Anna Baryshnikov’s Character Is “Totally Obsessed” with Kristen Stewart’s in New A24 Film
Image via A24

Anna, for Daisy, I was told that she and Lou were once in a relationship that had broken apart, but Daisy is still into her. What draws Daisy to Lou? And also, what does that rift mean for the rest of their journey — or at least what can you tease without spoiling it?

ANNA BARYSHNIKOV: Oh, yeah. “Still into,” I think, is the understatement of the century. She’s, I think, kind of pathetically, totally obsessed.

I got literally one sentence about your character and I already felt that.

BARYSHNIKOV: Yeah, I imagine that they’ve known each other for a long time and that maybe on Lou’s end there’s not a ton of other options. But I think for Daisy, you know, the movie deals so much with strength and I think Daisy is someone who doesn’t feel strong at all, and Lou seems like this kind of steady, capable presence, and is hot and she loves her. I mean, I think she’s pretty head-over-heels. And what was the rest of the question?

It could teeter into spoiler territory, so as a tease, something about that rift between them that could influence the overall events in the film?

BARYSHNIKOV: Yeah, tricky. Tricky to tease.

O’BRIAN: You didn’t tell me you guys were in a relationship.

BARYSHNIKOV: What I will say is that I think so much of what I love about the movie is that there’s this weird balance of romance and just completely sinister, shitty behavior, and that felt so true. That felt so true for Lou and Jackie, but I really felt like it could apply to Daisy, as well …

STEWART: Almost more.

BARYSHNIKOV: Yeah, almost kind of in a really concentrated way. She’s just willing to blow it all up for who she loves.

FRANCO: I just want to say real quick, just hearing everyone talk, everyone’s playing a character that’s so outside of themselves in this movie in such an amazing way. And again, I go back to Rose who just created this comfortable environment where everyone could take such big swings, and everyone is so good in this, and so unlike what you see up here.

STEWART: It was like doing an extreme comedy and the darkest drama ever, but all in the same breath, never one scene to the next. It was like, if it’s not devastating and hilarious, we’re messing it up.

Such good teases! I can’t wait for tonight.

Rose Glass Sends Up the Idea of a “Strong Female Character” in ‘Love Lies Bleeding’
Image via Photagonist at the Collider Media Studio

Rose, I wanted to make sure to ask you this. Kristen already kind of brought this up, but I have a specific quote from our notes where you were saying that the film is “somewhat sending up the idea of the strong female character and questioning what people actually mean by that.” Now that the movie is finished and you’ve had this experience, how have you redefined, to you, what it means to be a strong female character?

Related ‘Love Lies Bleeding’ Review: Kristen Stewart and Katy O’Brian Kick Ass in Roided-Out Thriller | Sundance 2024 Rose Glass’ excellent second feature is an unrelenting thriller, full of blood, sex, and popping muscles.

STEWARD: [Makes vomit noise.]

It could be that!

GLASS: To be honest, fortunately, it was always like a fairly throwaway, kind of childish response, to be honest, on my part. Luckily, I think, already, the whole sort of trope or concept of “a strong female character” already hopefully feels a little bit passé, but I guess it’s just a fairly hollow idea. I guess if the film is about anything, maybe it’s sort of strength for strength’s sake is, I don’t know, there’s no virtuousness in that. I don’t know. Yeah, it’s just hollow, and let’s look at something more interesting and real through a really heightened, weird, unreal story.

Clearly, there are many things about this movie that I’m excited about, but when I read that particular paragraph, I’m like, “Yes, this sounds like it’s for me.”

Before I have to let you go, Kristen, I have one question for you about your directorial debut because I was reading another piece that was released earlier this week that mentioned you were here promoting movies but also trying to make that happen. This is the manifestation table, so what will you get for that movie while you’re at Sundance that will allow you to leave Park City and go make that movie?

STEWART: Oh my god, LOL. I was just like, “That’s all I’m thinking about right now.” It’s not like this place … I’m genuinely here for her movie and for Love Me. It’s just that it’s hard to talk about anything else right now, and people are like, “What’s up? How you doing?” I’m like, “I’m doing one thing,” and it’s just trying to get to the point that we can make the film. What a bummer for you to ask me this question when I’m not allowed to tell you anything. But I’m making this fucking movie.

Fair enough! I’ll change the manifestation angle and I will just say with authority, because I believe in you all, you’re gonna have a phenomenal premiere tonight. Rose, I’m sure you’re gonna give me another movie that I’m gonna watch over and over and over again. Congratulations on Love Lies Bleeding.

Love Lies Bleeding hits select theaters in the U.S. on March 8th.

Special thanks to our 2024 partners at Sundance including presenting partner Film.io and supporting partners Pressed Juicery and DragonFly Coffee Roasters.