The Big Picture

Robin Wright is directing a new Prime Video psychological thriller, The Girlfriend.
Wright discusses her role in Damsel, transforming from princess to evil queen, and teases a groundbreaking project with Robert Zemeckis.
Wright praises the professionalism of her co-star, Millie Bobby Brown, and hints at the innovative storytelling in Zemeckis’ upcoming film, Here.

It’s going to be a busy year for actress Robin Wright. Not only is the House of Cards star returning to Netflix for their new dark fantasy, Damsel, she’s also heading back to the director’s chair. In this interview with Collider’s Steve Weintraub, Wright reveals that for her next directing project she’ll be working with Prime Video on a new psychological thriller titled The Girlfriend. She goes on to tease what the series is about and says she’ll be working opposite House of the Dragon’s Olivia Cooke.

As for Damsel, the Netflix feature allows Wright to flex new genre muscles as she exchanges one crown for another. The contemporary fairy tale turns the idea of happily-ever-afters on its head, with Wright starring as the formidable Queen Isabelle. Not only does Wright comment on her transformation from The Princess Bride to an evil queen, she also talks about reuniting with director Robert Zemeckis for Here. In addition to teaming up with the Forrest Gump filmmaker and her co-star Tom Hanks, Wright tells us the movie is “gonna be such a surprise. It’s never been done before.”

During their conversation, Wright teases the innovative storytelling of Zemeckis and Forrest Gump collaborator Eric Roth, promising that it’s unlike anything we’ve seen before and when we’ll get to watch it. She also talks about working opposite Stranger Things’ Millie Bobby Brown and which of her roles proved to be the most challenging. Check out all of this and more in the video above, or you can read the transcript below.

Damsel A dutiful damsel agrees to marry a handsome prince, only to find the royal family has recruited her as a sacrifice to repay an ancient debt.Release Date March 8, 2024 Runtime 85 minutes Main Genre Fantasy Studio Netflix

COLLIDER: Early in your career you got to be the princess, and now you get to be the evil one. How much fun was that for you?

ROBIN WRIGHT: It was a hoot.

Image via 20th Century Fox

I’m a fan of Millie. What surprised you about working with her?

WRIGHT: Nothing surprised me. We’re all just very impressed with somebody that has that level of professionalism on camera. She’s got an amazing presence on screen. She doesn’t have a false bone in her body when she’s delivering lines. It’s impressive to watch someone who’s been a child actor and now she’s this young woman with this empire that she’s built. It’s impressive.

Robin Wright Steps Behind the Camera for Prime Video’s ‘The Girlfriend’
Image via Netflix

You have directed, and I’m a fan of when you’re behind the camera. Are you planning on directing anything anytime soon?

WRIGHT: Yeah. I’m doing something now in England. An Amazon show.

Oh, can you say what it is or no?

WRIGHT: Yeah, I think so. It’s called The Girlfriend.

Can you say what it’s about?

WRIGHT: I won’t bore you, but it’s me and Olivia Cooke, and she’s the girlfriend of my son. It’s a psychological thriller.

I won’t pressure you into saying more than that. What was it about Damsel that said, “Oh, I wanna be a part of this?”

WRIGHT: It was really Juan Carlos, the director, and the way he wanted to break the mold of the conventional fairy tale, and I think he did with this one. And the writing. It’s different.

Image via Netflix

Well, I just appreciate the stepmom is not evil, that she has to save herself. It basically just takes the rules and says, “F that, we’re gonna do it this way.”

WRIGHT: Yeah, exactly.

‘Here’ Reunites Robin Wright and ‘Forrest Gump’s Robert Zemeckis

I’m also a fan of Robert Zameckis, and I know you worked with him and Eric Roth again on something called Here, which all takes place in a room. What can you tease about that project? I would imagine he’s using technology in a way that someone has not used it before just because it’s Robert Zemeckis.

WRIGHT: I’m not allowed to say anything, which I’m so excited about because it’s gonna be such a surprise. It’s never been done before.

Believe me, if it says Robert Zemeckis and Eric Roth are teaming up, I know that there’s something to this that people are not expecting.

WRIGHT: Yeah, it’s pretty great.

I’m confident. How long ago did you actually film that?

WRIGHT: We filmed that last year, this time, in England. It was supposed to come out, but we had the strike last fall, so we’re saving it. It’s not gonna come out until the autumn of 2024.

I would imagine it’s the kind of film that could play at the Toronto Film Festival or a festival of some kind later this year.

WRIGHT: We’ll see.

When you think back on your career, what is the role that you actually spent the most time preparing for? The one that you were really like, “This is gonna take a lot for me to deliver?”

WRIGHT: Kind of all of them. You have to do homework. You know what it is more than that actually? A Swedish accent. That was the most difficult. Trying to master English-speaking with a Swedish accent. [Laughs] That was a lot of work, and I don’t even think I accomplished it very well. So, I would say that over the difficulty in reaching the standards of this character or that character. I mean, that’s your work. That’s your homework all the time.

Damsel is now streaming on Netflix.

Watch on Netflix