“My agent called and said, ‘You need to go on this thing. It’s worth it. You should start preparing immediately” – Alicia Silverstone
Filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Killing of a Sacred Deer isn’t just the oddest-sounding movie title of 2017, the psychological horror movies is also one of the most talked-about movies of the year. One of the more surprising aspects is that the cast includes 1990s teen star Alicia Silverstone in a role that is very much outside her typical performances. Speaking with Vulture, Silverstone talks about how she was cast in the film and compares working on the film to her work on Broadway.
Silverstone reveals that the casting process was very rapid. She says, “My agent called and said, ‘You need to go on this thing. It’s worth it. You should start preparing immediately.’ I think the audition was 24 hours later, it happened very quick. Francine Maisler’s people were casting, and luckily Francine had seen me in a play two summers ago so I’ve been in her graces lately. And then I got a call saying that Yorgos would like to speak with me over Skype. One thing he said was, ‘I really liked what you did on your first instinct with the role’ — before we started getting direction — ‘so just trust your gut. You’ll be great.'”
The instinct that Silverstone felt is that the character was missing something at her core. She explains, “I think that she was very lonely, very needing, very desperate and wanting. She had a big, big need to be filled, and that’s what I played.”
Silverstone compares the experience of working with Lanthimos to when she she co-starred with Laura Linney in the 2010 Broadway production of Time Stands Still. She says, “I’ve done tons of theater, and it reminds me of when I was doing a play with Laura Linney on Broadway. I remember when Laura would go to the bathroom, I’d wait to go to the bathroom with her. I had to pee and I didn’t want to leave the table because the conversations were so inspiring.”
