Mary Magdalene (2018)

it’s interesting because you’ve been in the midst of Lion’s release and awards and everything and all the while you and Garth have been shooting Mary Magdalene, which I’m really excited about. What can you tease people about that one?

FRASER: Well we shot on the Alexa 65mm for Mary Magdalene.

Oh wow.

FRASER: Yeah. We shot with some brand new lenses that Arri built for us and for our production for the shoot. I can tell you that we technically only used LED lighting on the film. We didn’t use any other lighting on the film, which was pretty interesting because it’s a period movie and it’s not a movie that you’d expect LED lighting to be useful for. It’s not a space movie, it’s not a modern film, it’s not a film at night in contemporary locations, it’s a period film where the lighting needs to be fire or daylight or moonlight or natural light, whatever it is, and we used all LED lighting on that too. I’m really excited about Mary Magdalene, it was wonderful working with Garth again. We unfortunately missed the premiere in New York and we were getting all these pictures and text messages from the premiere, I think it was the same screening that Bill Clinton went to, and we went ‘Awww, we’re missing it!’ But we went, ‘You know what? We’re making a movie. We’re about to film Rooney Mara and Joaquin Phoenix in a scene.’ I think it’s a pretty good tradeoff. It’s exciting, it’s exciting. It’s a beautiful film, I’ve seen some amazing performances—we got an incredible cast on Mary Magdalene. So I’m really excited, and I think Garth is a director to watch in my opinion. He has made an amazing film with Lion and he’s just gonna keep making amazing films, so I think we all need to back him up. Just back him up and be his rock.

Does the crucifixion play a role in the film? Did you shoot and craft a crucifixion scene?

FRASER: We did, we did. Obviously I shouldn’t talk too much about specifics, but there was a crucifixion scene yes.

It’s such daunting material, but obviously you’ve got a great cast and Garth is an exciting director, so I think that’s one that a lot of people are going to be looking out for.

FRASER: I think so, and also the fact that it’s a story that a lot of people know about too, but don’t quite know about this bent on the story. Of course I’m really excited about the script and the actors and the director, but technically I’m really excited for people to see it too because it’s a modest film but we made it with 65mm technology and beautiful lenses, and I think it’s beautiful man. It’s beautiful. I can’t wait for people to see it. The fact that it’s gonna be another however many months is kind of annoying because I want people to see it now.

Yeah I was already excited but the fact that it’s shot in 65mm makes me need to see it now.

FRASER: Yeah.

While Rooney Mara did have a role in best picture nominee Lion, it was somewhat thankless, and her other awards-friendly titles of the year (The Secret Scripture, Una) made little impact on the festival circuit. But she’s reuniting with Lion director Garth Davis for her next bid for an Oscar, playing Mary Magdalene in a high-profile new biblical drama. If Davis strikes gold again then the film might also bring awards attention to its other stars Joaquin Phoenix and Chiwetel Ejiofor and could lead to a host of other Bible-based pics on the way.