“It’s important to love all types of films – and to show up in person at the movie theatre”: At the press conference for She Came to Me

The opening ceremony of the 2023 Berlin International Film Festival was willingly overshadowed by the ongoing war in Ukraine. Alongside this year’s opening film, the breezy, wistful comedy-drama She Came to Me, the ceremony features a video message from Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky. And for Anne Hathaway, both producer and star of the festival’s opener, this improbable fusion is extremely gratifying. Calling Zelensky, “a hero of our times”, Hathaway thanked Berlinale organisers for “giving us all the opportunity to amplify the message of Ukraine, which is the almost universal desire for peace”.

Speaking about the matter at hand, writer-director Miller praised the cast of her seventh feature film: “I’ve seen the film hundreds of times, and each time I watch it I become a little bit more involved with one of the characters. And it’s really interesting – the film exists for me on so many different levels, and I still sometimes find myself getting emotional at the end of the movie, which you’d think by now I’d be immune to. But these performances are so meaningful to me, and moving to me. I love them all.”

Contrasting his character’s creative block with his own artistic doldrums as an actor, Peter Dinklage said, “Choices, at least for me personally… they have so much to do with where you are in your own life – creatively, non-creatively. Rebecca brought this to me at the perfect point of my life. It was exactly what I needed: this character, and this world. Actors sit around sort of waiting for the jobs to come, and we don’t create – we can’t – we need each other. Writers can write, painters can paint, musicians can play all by themselves and create beautiful works of art. Actors really don’t have that ability, so we have to wait around a little bit or create our own things, collaborate on our own things. The question is what inspires you. What inspires me is the written word at that point in my life.” 

Not quite alluding to a possible change of career, the actor continued, “I couldn’t have played this part 20 years ago or 20 years from now. I’m 53, I wonder if I want to be an actor for the next 30 years, what I want to do. You’re at the fork in the road – it’s a common story, when you hit 50, there’s a fork in the road. You either wait for inspiration, or you seek it out. And I intend to keep seeking it out.” 

Dinklage’s enthusiasm for Miller’s script was echoed by Marisa Tomei. The Oscar winner had nothing but enthusiasm for the screenplay and her character, saying, “She (Miller) sent it to me, and I called her right away, giggling and screaming and saying, ‘I love it! I love it! I wanna be in this so badly!’. There was not even a second thought about this film at all. I love this character.”

With She Came to Me, Anne Hathaway continues a streak of starring roles in independent cinema, with indie thriller Eileen awaiting release after debuting at Sundance this year. When asked if her heart beats more for independent films these days, Hathaway clarified, “My heart beats for film, and the more types of them the better. I think we sometimes think about these things as isolated from each other, but, right now, I think the way we’re all participating in film, and the way we are all kind of unsure as to what the future of audience culture is, I think it’s important to love all types of films – and to show up in person at the movie theatre, for all the types of film that we can if this artform is to continue.”  Hathaway concluded with a chuckle and a sly flip of her hair: “I’m just an actor, I’ll get cast in anything!”

Oliver Johnston
Photo: Richard Hübner/Berlinale 2023

She Came to Me does not have a UK release date yet.

Read our review here.

Read more reviews from our Berlin Film Festival 2023 coverage here.

For further information about the event visit the Berlin Film Festival website here.