This interview contains spoilers for Rumors.

The Big Picture

Rumours
is a true ensemble movie about G7 leaders lost in the woods during their summit, with Roy Dupuis, Nikki Amuka-Bird, and Rolando Ravello playing key roles.
The cast reveals the burning questions they had after reading the script and how they connected to their characters.
The cast talks about shooting that wild ending.

Guy Maddin’s Rumours is a true ensemble movie. Focusing on a G7 Summit, an annual meeting of powerful leaders, it’s not hard to imagine that big egos could clash and chaos could ensue. Throw in dense fog covering the entire woods around said meeting spot, mysterious and threatening bog bodies, and a giant, unexplained brain, and you really have a recipe for some wacky times as these politicians attempt to draft a statement about an unspecified global crisis.

Roy Dupuis, Nikki Amuka-Bird, and Rolando Ravello comprise nearly half of the representatives who find themselves in this situation. Dupuis plays lovesick Maxime, the Prime Minister of Canada; Amuka-Bird embodies Cardosa Dewindt, the laser-focused Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; and Ravello rounds out the trio as Antonio Lamorte, the Prime Minister of Italy, who rarely knows what’s going on even when things are somewhat normal.

Collider got the chance to speak with Dupuis, Amuka-Bird, and Ravello about their first reactions to reading the wild script, how they connected with their outlandish characters, the film’s big and surprisingly powerful ending, and more.

The ‘Rumours’ Cast Had a Lot of Questions For Guy Maddin After Reading the Script

COLLIDER: This film is wild from start to finish. I’m so curious, after you read the script, what was the most burning question that you had for the directors?

NIKKI AMUKA-BIRD: I wanted to know more about the bodies and the ritual by the fire. “What was happening there? Can you explain that to me?” That was my first question.

ROLAND RAVELLO: My first question was: Why me? Why me? Because I’m a director in this moment, and there were 10 years that I didn’t act. And so the first question I asked Guy [Maddin] was, “Why me? I can show you other 20 actors in Italy that can make this role better than me.” But Guy was so convinced.

ROY DUPUIS: For me, actually the first time I met the guys in Budapest, the first thing I told them coming into the hotel room was, “What the fuck are we doing?”

[ Laughs ] I think that’s a very fair reaction.

DUPUIS: And then, they started laughing. Yeah, that’s it. They told me, “Yeah, you’re on the right track. Keep on going that way.” That’s actually what I like about a scenario — to be surprised.

The ‘Rumours’ Cast Reveals How They Connected With Their Characters
Image via Bleeker Street

All of these characters are very rich, very interesting, and we get a little bit of information about Sylvain’s childhood when they’re talking about regrets. But I want to know, for each of you, what were some key pieces of background information that you established in order to understand where your character was coming from?

AMUKA-BIRD: I think with Cardosa, my character, the UK Prime Minister, the directors were very clear that she’s fixated on this idea of finishing the provisional statement no matter whether the world is going up in flames or not. And I feel like that was a real key to the character. That somehow this workaholic — this sense of her being a high achiever — [was something] she could hide behind. She could hide behind this idea of who she should be in the world, even when the truth is saying that everything is in chaos, was something that I liked playing with. That’s something that politicians and world leaders have to constantly present — an idea that they know and they have the answers — and I think that was the key for me.

DUPUIS: I know that when I was young — when I was about five or six years old — I spent pretty much the whole summer on a farm. They were taking me, my mother and father, and there was this cow that was about to give birth. I was going every day to watch when it’s gonna happen, and she was in the field. And one day, I couldn’t find her, and I walk in the field, and I found her baby in a swamp. And he was drowning, and I saved the baby. So that’s my heroic part if I had to characterize.

I love that.

AMUKA-BIRD: I do, too! I’ve never heard that story before.

DUPUIS: That heroic side of Maxim.

RAVELLO: You didn’t eat the cow. You didn’t eat it.

The ‘Rumours’ Cast Breaks Down That Wild Ending
Image via Bleeker Street

No, I love that. Speaking of sort of heroic moments, I really love the end of this movie where Maxim pastes all of these big ideas together for this triumphant speech that he gives on the balcony as the world burns. Roy, I want to know, what can you say about shooting that particular scene?

DUPUIS: Well, that was probably one of the most demanding things I’ve ever had to do as an actor just by the fact that it ends the movie, and it’s really well-written. In the middle of the monologue, I had for direction, “He says it like his life depends on it,” so I guess the sky was the limit at that point. Which was the right direction because it gives it all its dimensions — even the ridiculous one. But also the fact that all those great actors were joining me on the balcony. It felt like I was talking for all of them, so yeah, there was a little bit of pressure there, but the pressure was actually the build-up to that moment. Once you start playing it, it’s okay — I’m just in the action but just the builder learning the lines and thinking about it. Yeah, it was demanding.

AMUKA-BIRD: It was so human, that moment. Sorry to interrupt. I feel like it’s one of the things I love most about the movie — yes, it could be seen as farce or political satire or something, but we really treated all the characters with a lot of respect and empathy and heart and approached everything as these people trying to do the very best that they possibly could. And so that moment with Roy’s speech was a moment that meant a lot to all of us. And, of course, you did it so beautifully, Roy.

The ‘Rumours’ Cast Shares the Other G7 Members They’d Like to Play
Image via Bleeker Street

I think the groundedness of the characters definitely helps make the satire hit even harder. So I want to ask my last question — because this is such a true ensemble piece with all of these different personalities coming into play, if you could play any other character besides your own, who would you most like to sink your teeth into?

DUPUIS: I’m not sure I understand the question. If we could choose any other character?

Yes, besides Maxim, who would you love to play, regardless of any of the things that make it so you could probably realistically play them?

DUPUIS: I would have loved to play Rolando’s part.

AMUKA-BIRD: I was gonna say the same thing! I want to play Antonio. But it’s so genius how he steals every single scene with one line or handing out a piece of meat — I’m not sure anybody else can do it justice, but I would really love to.

DUPUIS: It wouldn’t have been as good if I would have done it — that’s for sure.

RAVELLO: I hear you in this way.

AMUKA-BIRD: Now you can hear.

DUPUIS: We’re all talking about you, Rolando!

AMUKA-BIRD: We’re all saying wonderful things about you.

I’m glad the connection was there for that, and I feel like, honestly, you guys all just embodied your specific characters so perfectly.

Rumours depicts the predicament of the G7 leaders as they inadvertently get lost in the woods while heading to their annual summit. In the face of mounting dangers and without communication, they must collaborate to draft a vital provisional statement addressing an unfolding global crisis, testing their resilience and diplomacy.Release Date October 18, 2024 Director Evan Johnson , Guy Maddin , Galen Johnson Cast Cate Blanchett , Rolando Ravello , Charles Dance , Nikki Amuka-Bird , Roy Dupuis , Denis Menochet , Takehiro Hira , Alexa Kennedy , Ralph Berkin , Alicia Vikander , Tomi Kosynus , Zlatko Buric Runtime 118 Minutes

Rumours is now playing in theaters.

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