At the recent in conversation event at BFI IMAX, Maggie Gyllenhall reflected on her career in acting, directing, collaboration and her upcoming film ‘The Bride!’

Listening to Maggie speak about her journey was fascinating but what struck me the most was not what she has done but how she thinks. The way she talks about film doesn’t feel like someone just promoting a project or revisiting past work but like someone describing a lifelong fascination with storytelling, perspective and human complexity. 

When Maggie began discussing ‘The Bride!’ starring Jessie Buckley and Christian Bale you could feel immediately the depth and passion behind the project. And the story of how she came to direct it is not what you would expect. She shared that she was once at a party when she noticed a man with a large tattoo of ‘The Bride of Frankenstein’ across his forearm. At the time she admitted she wasn’t entirely sure about who it was or the story behind it but her curiosity led her to research it further. She hadn’t seen the original film but she was intrigued to watch it. What she discovered surprised her as the bride appears for only a couple of minutes and she doesn’t say a single word in the film. That silence sparked something in Maggie as she continued researching, reading the book, sat with it and understood the narrative. She understood the narrative focus on the monstrous misunderstood man who asks for a mate but she couldn’t help but return to one questions: What about her? 

She spoke about reuniting with Jessie Buckley after working together on ‘The Lost Daughter’ describing her as brilliant and I couldn’t agree more with Maggie after seeing Jessie in ‘Hamnet’.She said that they speak the same language when it comes to acting and admitted that she tried not to write the role specifically for Jessie but in the end she wrote it with Jessie in mind. When imaging who would play Frank she admitted that Christian Bale came to mind. She shared that she thought ‘What’s the worst that could happen? He’ll say no. I can handle that.’ That moment stayed with me because there’s something so quietly powerful about that mindset about asking knowing rejection is possible and accepting whatever comes back without fear.

Maggie also revealed that her brother Jake Gyllenhall will make a brief but meaningful cameo in the film adding another layer to the project. 

Throughout the conversation Maggie spoke with deep respect for acting. She did not dismiss it. She honoured it. But there was also a clarity in her voice that directing is where she belongs now. And the more she spoke the clearer it became to me that she was always meant to direct.

She shared something that I immediately wrote down: that a film that contains many peoples minds will always be better than one that contains a single directors mind. I found this interesting as we tend to hear how a directors vision is coming to life but Maggie is interested and curious about the minds of the people she works with. How she wants to listen to their ideas, their interpretations and their instincts.Maggie admitted that she once worked with a director who wasn’t interested in her mind and her ideas about her character. She told herself at the time that if she were ever in that position herself she would never repeat that mistake because it is a mistake. This reveals so much about the kind of filmmaker she is as she is open, curious and collaborative. 

Personally, sitting there and listening I couldn’t help but feel that although Maggie has had an extraordinary acting career, directing feels like her true creative home. The way she thinks about her characters, their perspective,  storytelling  and collaboration shows someone who sees the bigger picture. After hearing her speak about ‘The Bride!’ I cannot wait to see it on March 6th. Not just because of the cast or the concept but because the film was born out of curiosity from asking a question that maybe it should have been asked a long time ago: What about her?