Ayo Edebiri is a star on the rise, with an Emmy, a Golden Globe, and a Screen Actors Guild Award under her belt for her work on “The Bear.” Most of her work has been confined to television, but she’s quickly breaking through on the big screen with films like “Bottoms” and Luca Guadignino’s school-set thriller, “After the Hunt,” co-starring Oscar winner Julia Roberts and multi-nominee Andrew Garfield. While promoting her upcoming film “Omni-Loop” in a recent interview with Film Updates, Edebiri expressed her admiration for her recent scene partners and discussed the challenges the role presented.
“[Julia and Andrew were] toxic. Really, really toxic. Nasty people. Never knew their lines,” said Edebiri, jokingly. “They’re literally two of the greatest people I’ve ever worked with. It was so amazing [working on that film] and something I also feel very, very lucky for is that, because it’s a tricky script and tough material, I was just so fortunate to be with really thoughtful, kind people throughout the process who are also really careful and inquisitive.”
Guadignino’s latest outing, “Queer,” recently premiered at the Venice Film Festival to high praise. In our review, IndieWire wrote, “Guadagnino wants not only to expand your consciousness as a moviegoer, but to cut you open and rearrange all the parts of you that see and feel things when you watch a film at all.” According to Edebiri, “After the Hunt” is a similarly intense experience, one she was glad to work on with the best of the best.
“I’m excited for people to see it and have these conversations [about it]. I think it’s definitely a different feeling from me, but I felt like it was like school in the best way every day. I was learning so much seeing how Luca shoots, seeing how Julia is on set and how she inhabits a character,” Edebiri said to Film Updates. “Same with Andrew. And Michael Stuhlbarg is in it. Chloe Sevigny is in it. Lio Mehiel is in it. All these people whose work I love. It was really cool to get to work together. I’d wake up being like, ‘Somebody’s gonna tell me this is a joke, right? I’m being pranked or something. Did I win a competition?’ But yeah, it was fun!”
