Alfonso Cuarón & Denial stars tease Cate Blanchett’s Apple TV+ series

The Toronto International Film Festival is best known for its collection of highly-anticipated and often critically acclaimed movies, but the event also has its fair share of TV shows to promote. One such project is Apple TV+S DenialA new thriller from 5-time Academy Award-winning director Alfonso Cuarón. Based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Renée Knight, the show follows celebrated journalist Catherine Ravenscroft (Cate Blanchett, The Lord of the Rings trilogy) as she tries to keep her darkest secrets from being exposed thanks to a mysterious novel.

Surprisingly, it’s not Cuarón’s first time working in television, as he previously created the sci-fi series. Believe. Blanchett is also no stranger to the format, most recently lighting up the small screen in the Hulu limited series Mrs. America. Nevertheless, the show plays out in cinematic fashion, with a strong ensemble cast that includes Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville, Sacha Baron Cohen, Leila George, and Squid gameS Jung Ho-yeon.

Screen Rant Interviewed the star and director of Denial While on the red carpet of its TIFF premiere, everyone had nothing but glowing praise (and a few loving jokes) for Cate Blanchett. Additionally, Cuarón shared what aspects of the original novel he hoped to preserve, Cline discussed the mood on set, and George explained how she steps into Blanchett’s shoes as a younger version of her character.

Alfonso Cuarón sheds light on the adaptation process of denial

“The novel was full of incredible stories, and then we mostly worked on those.”

Screen Rant: You both wrote and directed Denial. What aspects of Renée Knight’s novel did you want to make sure remained intact?

Alfonso Cuarón: Well, it’s like everything. When you read something, the important thing is that – at least in my case – it is straightforward. You read just a few pages, and it already speaks to you like a film. This was the case for [Disclaimer].

Of course, when you think, and it springs out and becomes a film in your head, it is very specific. You have to be very discriminating of what you pick or don’t pick from this book because you are creating a completely different shape. I think the novel came with incredible material and also incredible stories, and then we mainly expanded on those.

Source: Screen Rant Plus

Kevin Kline keeps the denial plot shrouded in mystery

The actor teases, “I’m a pirate ship captain in the Seychelles in 1901…”

Screen Rating: Denial Has a very fascinating premise, and your character and Cate Blanchett’s are tied together with a unique problem. Can you talk about that dynamic?

Kevin Kline: No, no. You have to discover it. I don’t want to give anything up. [Joking] I am a captain of a pirate ship in the Seychelles in 1901, which is when Chekhov wrote The Three Sisters.

Screen Rant: Can you tell me about your dynamic with Cate Offset?

Kevin Kline: Off set? Oh, I never saw her off set. She finished work, and boom! No, it was a very common, demanding, strict plan, and there was not a lot of it [downtime]. Most people went home to sleep when they could. Not that the days were endless, but there were so many. We shot for about a year.

Source: Screen Rant Plus

Denial star Leila George shares what it’s like to be a young Cate Blanchett

“I think she’s uniquely perfect and, in the acting world, I feel like she’s the queen.”

Screen Rant: What’s it like to become one with Cate Blanchett, and how do you do it?

Leila George: I don’t think you can become one with her. I think she is uniquely perfect and, in the acting world, I feel like she is the queen. I hope I got as close as possible; I think only she would decide that. But it was amazing, and it was such an honor to [do it]. I still can’t believe this is happening and that I got the chance to do this.

She was so generous with me when I arrived in terms of saying, “Hey, she’s yours now. Go for it.” We had some conversations, and I got to see some scenes she did. I think I watched every single movie she ever did again, just to be in her time, I guess. But she was really, really generous with it and just saying, “Good luck,” which was really liberating. I am very grateful and so honored to share any space with you.

Source: Screen Rant Plus

More on Denial Season 1

Five-time Academy Award winner Alfonso Cuarón adapts Renée Knight’s novel into a seven-part psychological thriller about a journalist, played by Cate Blanchett, who is threatened with the exposure of her darkest secret.

Check out our other TIFF 2024 interviews here: