Mia Threapleton Is Wes Anderson's Latest Muse
Watching a new Wes Anderson film is like reaching for a trusty closet standby. You know what you're getting into, but it continues to delight. The familiarity of the director's distinctive visual aesthetic, sense of whimsy, and reoccurring cast of A-list actors is always comforting, yet his knack for unique storytelling and casting breakout talent keeps his projects feeling fresh and intriguing. His latest film, The Phoenician Scheme,offers that same experience. His exceptional use of color, meticulous Adam Stockhausen set design, and Futura font are all there, but a brand-new peculiar story and its female lead, newcomer Mia Threapleton, give way to an engrossing watch that is as tender as it is funny.
Like those who have come before her (see: Maya Hawke in Asteroid City, Lyna Khoudri in The French Dispatch, and Kara Hayward in Moonrise Kingdom), Threapleton is a standout among Anderson's ensemble of Hollywood giants in this espionage dark comedy. The 24-year-old is utterly captivating as the complex yet sensitive Liesl, a nun who is called back home by her estranged father, wealthy businessman Zsa-zsa Korda (Benicio del Toro) to appoint her as the sole heir to his estate. But as Zsa-zsa embarks on a new business venture, the father-daughter duo, joined by professor Bjorn (Michael Cera), find themselves the targets of a group of assassins, international terrorists, and business tycoons.
The daughter of Kate Winslet and film director Jim Threapleton, the English actress first landed on our radar with her turn as the reserved Honoria Marable in the Apple TV+ series The Buccaneers, which returns for a second season this June. Following The Phoenician Scheme's Cannes premiere earlier this week, we're certain she's destined for a bright future.
What was the first Wes Anderson film that you saw or the one that had the biggest impact on you?
I can answer that in two parts. The first film I saw was Fantastic Mr. Fox in 2009. I remember hearing an audiobook of that on long car journeys as a kid. The first one that I felt was really impactful to me was Moonrise Kingdom. That came out when I was 12, and I remember watching that and just being so awestruck by the story and the visuals and the acting and everything to do with it. It has continued to be one of my favorite films ever. I recently had a slightly sentimental conversation with a very close friend of mine who also has exactly the same answer as me.
As a fan of Anderson's filmmaking, how was it experiencing his world now as an actor versus an audience member?
It's interesting because, obviously, he has a very distinctive style. You can tell that it's one of his a mile away. Having actually worked with him, it was amazing because I remember the way that he was lining it up and the way that he was creating the film. It made total sense. It's not all stylistic. Yes, he has his own style of doing things, but the simplicity of it makes so much sense having been a part of it. It's all very blueprinted. He has something which he gives out to all the people working on the job called an animatic, which is basically a very simplified, animated version . It's a storyboard basically, a very simplified, animated storyboard. So every day, we come into work, and we'd be like, "Okay, this is what we're doing today." But also, even though we had a blueprint, it allowed us so much creative freedom because we got what we needed to get, but then also, it allowed us to go "Okay, we've got this thing. Let's actually try this thing. Let's see if that works as well" because we had a plan. It was honestly brilliant.
