Matt Konopka sits down with Noomi Rapace to discuss her character in the sci-fi thriller, ‘Hot Spot’, and finding humor in times of darkness.
Noomi Rapace is an actor who takes risks. Genre fans likely know her from her role as Elizabeth Shaw in Ridley Scott’s Prometheus. Taking over a franchise that starred Sigourney Weaver in the first four films, in a prequel story that would reveal the history of the Xenomorph, no less? That was a risk. Playing the mother of a half-human, half-lamb child in A24’s Lamb? That was a risk. Stepping into the challenging shoes of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’s Lisbeth Salander? That was a risk. Some pay off. Some don’t. But Rapace projects a fearlessness in the roles she takes that I can’t help but admire.
Her next project arrives this weekend: the wildly hypnotic sci-fi thriller Hot Spot. From director Agnieszka Smoczynska (The Lure), the film tells the story of a world where everyone faces a choice…plug into the sentient A.I. system that regulates everything, or die. Following a murder at a compound where refugees are being held, Djonny (Andrzej Konopka), a private eye, investigates. But the deeper he digs, the more he struggles with his identity.
The prime suspect in Djonny’s investigation? Rana (Rapace), the leader of an anti-A.I. religious group. Some call her a cyber witch. But is she truly a killer? That’s the question that Rapace balances brilliantly with her performance.
I sat down with Rapace to discuss the project. Before she even received a script for Hot Spot, she already knew she wanted to work with Smoczynska.
“I was absolutely obsessed with The Lure,” says Rapace. “I watched that, and I was like, ‘Who made this?’ I was overwhelmed and completely in love. I told everyone to watch it because it was so fun and brutal and original and sexy and, just, everything.”
Seriously, though, if you all haven’t seen The Lure, it’s amazing. A horror musical based on The Little Mermaid? Yeah, it rocks.
Continues Rapace, “I told my manager I really want to meet this filmmaker. I live in London. She was in London with her producer. That was when they were casting Hot Spot, and they wanted to meet with me. They sent me the script first. I was like, ‘This is so weird. This is so amazing.’ And the script is only sixty-five pages or something. It was a lot of visuals. With Aga, everything has a meaning. It all comes to life on set. So, when I met her, I was already completely hooked. She asked me which character spoke to me the most, and I was like, ‘Rana.’ That’s where it started.”
From there, it was all about figuring out who Rana was.
“We started building Rana, and it was really interesting because it was kind of through movement and the costume. I was shooting another movie somewhere in Belgium, and the costume designer flew to the set. We were trying loads of different fabrics, and I was moving and seeing what it would do to me, and how it would feel. So, it was a different process to find her, to build her, and it was very creative and very collaborative.”
So, what was it about Rana that struck Rapace as the sort of unsafe role she prefers to take on?
“I think the whole project was unsafe,” she laughs. “I was like, ‘This is a bit of Mad Max. It’s a little bit like True Romance with a sort of coolness to it. And it’s a bit Strange Days.’ It’s sort of a mix of my favorite movies. It’s like a distant memory, and a nightmare, and a dream. I couldn’t put my finger on it. And I thought, ‘This is a huge risk. I’m going to jump off this cliff with the director and hope that I land safely.’”
Having seen Hot Spot, I couldn’t agree more. Despite feeling a little like the films mentioned above, it’s its own beast entirely. And Rana? She’s a little different than the characters Rapace normally plays.
“Rana is someone who communicates differently,” continues Rapace. “I mean, it’s all in her face. She communicates with her eyes. She’s not a character that speaks a lot. When we were shooting, we would do scenes again, take out a line or add a line, and keep repeating lines over and over. So, it sort of became almost like a hypnotic dream state sometimes. I feel like I went on an emotional journey with her. That was a risk.”
Speaking of emotional journeys, there are quite a few hot-button issues that Hot Spot ties into. Aside from the obvious conversation around A.I., the film also digs into concepts of refugees, genocide, and the way society treats anyone deemed an “outsider”. All of that was on the actor’s mind while on set.
“It’s mad that this story was written six years ago. It’s ahead of its time.It’s this dystopian, futuristic nightmare. We were on set in Greece during a heat wave. And we’re filming and dripping sweat, and you see the landscape driving from the hotel to set. There’s no grass, there’s no trees. Everything is burnt and dry. When you look at the road, it’s like the heat is shaking. It’s quite intense. We shot at this old airport that used to be a refugee camp. Walking onto set, I could feel the stories. I could feel the presence of a lot of lives that had been there. Hopes, dreams, fears, trauma, broken dreams. It was loaded with energy. Shooting in Greece…it was a very conscious choice to shoot it in a place like that. It’s one of the oldest, wisest, longest-lived civilizations. Of all the places in the world, this story needs to take place here because this is a place that carries so much and has seen so much. And here we are. Take a look at ourselves. Who do you want to be? What do you want for tomorrow, or in ten years, or twenty? I could feel that.”
Needless to say, Hot Spot is a heavy film. But, typical of Smoczynska’s work, it’s also loaded with a good sense of humor and infectious style. Especially when it comes to Konopka’s character (no relation, I swear).
Adds Rapace, “It’s a heavy film. But it’s also very funny. Every time Andrzej would come to set, he walked in and he was feeling himself. He was like a rock star, and I was so jealous. I was like, ‘I want that hair. I want those boots. Or his little skirt.’ We were laughing a lot. You can go in and investigate darkness and despair and fear if you have humor. That’s the oxygen. That’s what carries us through. Throughout my life, I always laugh at the darkest situation. Because it’s like, how are we going to survive? It was a set where we had a lot of fun. It didn’t feel heavy, even though, yeah, it’s heavy. But it’s also something so hopeful and beautiful. What is it to love? What is it to be? What is it to be human, or who are we? What is the spirit? What is the soul? What is belief? I think there are more layers. I don’t think it’s dark, dark. It’s like putting a mirror up to things and playing with stuff, but also saying there’s hope.”
While we’re talking about having fun in the face of darkness, there’s a theme of spirit animals running through Hot Spot that manifests in some shocking ways. So, how would Rapace describe Rana’s spirit animal?
“She’s like an elephant and a honey badger mixed. Honey badgers, they survive. You know, they’re little fighters. They just keep on moving. And elephants are peaceful sort of giants. There’s this grace and dignity to them. They’re very loyal and loving. They move in a tribe, and they feel like they are religious somehow. They share a connection that is really holy and beautiful. I think Rana has lived through a lot of violence. She’s been captured, tortured, questioned, thrown out, spit out, chased away over and over, and refused to commit or obey. I think for parts of her life, she was harder and probably had a lot of rage and a lot of anger. And then she channeled that into this field of love. So, she’s someone with a lot of wisdom. I feel like she could be 200 years old.”
Two hundred years old or not, Rana’s another fascinating character on a long list of intriguing roles that Rapace has taken a chance on.
See her for yourself when Hot Spot arrives in theaters August 21st via Focus Features.
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