Making a movie is a little like being in a relationship. Forget the time commitment (although being together for 14-hour days over months is nothing to sneeze at). A good actor needs to be vulnerable, and a good director should communicate clearly about their needs. Both submit themselves to the embarrassing ordeal of being seen, accepting that their fate is intertwined with another.
Sarah Pidgeon has become fluent in this art form. As a fixture of New York’s theater world, most notably in her Tony-nominated turn in the Fleetwood Mac-inspired Stereophonic—and as Carolyn Bessette Kennedy on FX’s television sensation Love Story—she’s spent countless hours taking audiences deeper into the lives of pop-culture figures we know and love. As the 29-year-old starlet earns greater recognition, the offers have been stacking up. But how does one pick the right suitor?
They date, of course. That’s how Pidgeon found herself in the orbit of acclaimed writer-director Celine Song—although their “first date” was not a carbonara dinner, but a Balenciaga campaign shot over a whirlwind 16 hours in downtown Manhattan. The resulting 60-second shorts, collectively titled “A New York Minute,” complete with Brechtian fourth-wall-breaking flourishes, were Pidgeon’s first foray into the world of high-fashion campaigns. It was also her first time collaborating with the mind behind Past Lives and Materialists, though it may not be the duo’s last co-production.
This May, the filmmaker and actor called each other up from across the Pacific Ocean. Song was in New York; Pidgeon was in Brisbane, where she’s currently filming the dramedy Honeymoon With Harry. For their second “date,” they talked off-Broadway theater, ephemeral performances, and what happens after the industry knows your name.
Sarah Pidgeon: I’ve always been a fan of yours. I remember watching Past Lives and crying, aching, and just feeling so moved by it. In Stereophonic, right before I went out on stage, I would ask our stage manager who the “fancies” were, so I would know who was in the audience. I remember when you were there. I was so excited, and then finding out that we were going to do this shoot together—it’s like I got to be in a three-minute-long Song movie. What a wild 16 hours. You obviously have these great standalone feature films, but then you also do commercial work. What brings you to it?
Celine Song: As a working actor, you’re able to hop from one project to another. But being a filmmaker, and especially the one who writes, I have a pretty long gestation period between projects. That’s what’s amazing about something that’s short-form: You get to date. It’s an opportunity to be on set and to meet new people. Then you might get attached to a 35- or 40-day film shoot, even longer sometimes. You’re together for prep and post. That’s when you marry.
“Sometimes I walk away from things thinking, I would love to be able to shoot an entire movie, watch it, and then go back and shoot it again.” —Sarah Pidgeon
Pidgeon: I’m finally in this new space where I potentially get scripts earlier. In so many projects that I’ve worked on—not that I’ve worked on much—like The Wilds or Tiny Beautiful Things, I found out I was cast, and days later, I was getting on a plane to go to set.
Having done something like Stereophonic with so much time in rehearsal to prep, when I got back on set after doing that show, it was a bit of a shock. I learn and uncover so much when I’m not thinking about it. It’s easier for my imagination to run wild, to relieve myself of the sense of disbelief when I’m in a theater, even if it’s an empty room with wooden floors and no natural sunlight, than it is when I’m rehearsing for a film or a TV show because the camera’s not there.
Song: I never want to waste a good performance in rehearsal for a film or TV thing. Theater acting is about consistency. It is important in rehearsal that you nail it, because on night 30, you have to do it again. When it comes to film, it doesn’t matter; if the camera isn’t rolling, you don’t have it.
Pidgeon: I think about how much I know the character once I’m done with the project. You’re trying on all these different things and then by the end of shooting, out of order, of course, you’re like, “Oh my God, that’s who this person is.” Sometimes I walk away from things thinking, I would love to be able to shoot an entire movie, watch it, and then go back and shoot it again.
Song: I wonder if the discovery is what’s exciting about a film performance, too. I like the idea of all of us agreeing that the scene will never happen again. We wrap a scene, and we move on. We’re like, “It’s dead to us.”
Pidgeon: Do you find yourself thinking of your close collaborators when you’re deciding on the next project?
Song: I don’t know if it’s quite like that, but there will be moments. When it comes to actors, I think yes, although it’s less that I want it to be that person and more about which actor is having a “moment.”
Pidgeon: I could never be a casting director. I remember when I started, my agent would tell me, “Just make fans.” I wasn’t booking anything. They would say, “Oh, they love you. They’re such a fan of yours.” I just kept thinking, When are these fans going to give me a job?
Song: What do you want to do next? I would love to know what kind of project, what kind of character, excites you. You and I come from a similar background of Off-Broadway theater. At that time, we were all just so desperate to work.
“Other people sometimes need to see you, in a way, to see what you yourself know you are capable of.” —Sarah Pidgeon
Pidgeon: I’ve been struggling with that a lot. I’ve been at this professionally since I was 21. I turn 30 this year. For nine years, I’ve been auditioning with representation, and I want to say that more than half of the time I’ve been doing that, I wasn’t employed. Other people sometimes need to see you, in a way, to see what you yourself know you are capable of. So, really, I want to work with filmmakers on really great scripts.
Song: If it’s a bad script, it’s not gonna be a good movie. Because I’m a writer first, I’m always baffled that people don’t know that. If the script’s not there yet, you shouldn’t shoot it.
Pidgeon: Sometimes I read stuff, and I know, I just need to say that because I know how it should sound. And then there are also scripts where I think, That would be a really cool physical transformation, or, I would have to pick up a new skill set. Changing myself physically—that’s really exciting.
Right now, I’ve played a lot of women who are pushed to the end of their rope, which I love, but I’d like to see myself differently. I’ll know I’m in the right place when I talk to a director and feel like they’re speaking a language that I’ve never heard anyone else speak except myself.
Photography by Cass Bird
Styling and Creative Direction by Studio&
Makeup by Romy Soleimani
Hair by Panos Papandrianos
Lighting Direction by Clay Howard-Smith
Project Management by Chloe Kerins
Digital Tech by Anthony Miller
Styling Assistance by Mike Snavely, Halle Klum, and Delaney Kim
Makeup Assistance by Jackie Piccola
Hair Assistance by Harley Beman
Lighting Assistance by Rufus Barkley
Runner: Angelo Capacyachi
Order your copy of the Hamptons issue, with Sarah Pidgeon on the cover, here.
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