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Naomie Harris and Natalie Dormer Discuss Finding Their Characters in ‘The Wasp’


August 21, 2024

You don’t get to see a lot of female-led two-handers these days, which is why the new indie drama The Wasp is such a treat. Not only is it a twisty, thrilling take on bullying, trauma and the dynamics of power, but it is also a tour de force by two spectacular actresses.

Naomie Harris and Natalie Dormer star as Heather and Carla, two women who knew each other in school but whose lives have taken drastically different paths. When Heather tracks down Carla and approaches her with a proposition that will change both their lives, long-simmering issues come to the fore in a movie that is surprising and stunning and will leave your jaw on the floor. Harris and Dormer are both dynamite in the movie. They spoke to us together from London.

The Wasp releases in theaters on August 30.

I’m curious how you came to be involved in this film.

Naomie Harris: I worked with one of the producers, Sean Sorenson, on a movie called Black and Blue, and we stayed friends afterward. He just said, “I’m going to find you your next project,” and sent me this. I read it and loved it.

It connected with me on such a deep level, because of course one of the themes in the film is bullying, and I was bullied as a child at school. I loved the fact that the film explores the lasting ramifications of bullying, because I think that can often be overlooked and belittled, but it does have a lasting legacy. I loved the idea of bringing that theme to the world with this film.

Natalie Dormer: I was aware of the play. I had been doing some developing with the writer, playwright-turned-screenwriter Morgan Lloyd Malcolm, a few years previously. I knew that she was in the process of getting it turned into a film, and when the time came, and it was becoming real, she approached me herself.

To Naomi’s point, I just think I just found it so fascinating, this theme of childhood trauma, and the choice that a character or a human being can make, in experiencing profound trauma when they’re younger, and what they do with it. Ultimately, good drama to me is about choice, and Morgan had written something for two actresses to swing the audience’s sympathy and the power dynamics back and forth, and explore the humanity of two characters in a multi-layered form.

It’s interesting that you say that, because watching it, one of the things I liked so much about it was how that power dynamic keeps shifting. When the big reveal happens, I was genuinely shocked. I’m curious about the challenges in playing something like that and maintaining a consistent tone.

NH: Natalie helped me with that. Because of that level of complexity, I haven’t played a character who is holding as big a secret as Heather is. In rehearsals, I was playing this thing where I know the truth that the audience doesn’t know. That’s when she told me that she had played that kind of role and said, “You know, if you play like that, then the audience is always mistrustful of you. Because they sense that you have a secret but you’re not revealing it. It’s much better just to play the truth of what is in each moment.”

It was a brilliantly helpful note because I think I would have been completely off-key with my performance if it wasn’t for that. I went back to the drawing board and looked at how I was playing. I think that is the key to how you do it, you just play the truth of each moment only.

ND: That’s very kind of you to say. That’s helped me in the past with characters that have been experiencing the same thing as Heather does, is you do play the truth in the moment. They’re both shocked by the revelations and the ever-unraveling truths that they draw from each other. Naomie made this amazing point in a previous interview. She said, young, female friendships, they’re often like first loves. It’s such an intense relationship, in this hormonal time in your life as well, and the emotional investment you put into them.

These two characters fundamentally feel profoundly betrayed by each other. They both feel like they are holding an emotional wound that was inflicted by the other one. Morgan talks about how she wanted when she was a younger writer, she was looking for dialogue for two women that sort of explore this violence and level of passion of emotion, and knew she was fighting hard to find it. She wanted to write it. That’s why it was such a unique job because I had certainly never come across something like this before.

Did you two know each other beforehand? Because there had to be an enormous level of trust to make it work.

NH: We knew each other socially. We’ve seen each other at social events, and I just knew that Natalie was a nice person, and that is the foundation of everything, in terms of being able to go on a journey with a fellow actor. You know, are they a good human being? Are they a kind human being? Natalie is a phenomenal actress, but it’s also just about generosity of spirit. Is your fellow actor going to share with you and play with you? I knew that she would do that.

ND: Naomie is an incredible actress herself, and you’re aware of one’s back catalog. But you never exactly know how a dynamic is going to go on a set, especially in something as intense as a two-hander. It’s a testament to [director] Guillem Morales and the producers in casting us. It was a massive compliment to be asked. Yeah, it was a very intense shoot, for obvious reasons, but with Guillem’s guiding hand, it was also very rewarding for that reason.

This was a play before it was a movie, so you’re both taking over roles originated by other actresses. This is not the first time that’s happened, though. You both have taken on iconic roles before. Naomie was Moneypenny in the Daniel Craig Bond films, and Natalie was Sherlock Holmes’ arch-enemy Moriarty, and also Anne Boleyn, among the many other roles you’ve both played. I’m curious about the process of taking on roles like that. What are the challenges you face, doing that kind of thing?

ND: It’s a really good question. You could argue, luckily, I hadn’t seen the play (Laughs). I was out of the country when it was on, and I think that helps that I didn’t see it. (Laughs) What do you think, Naomie? Do you think about other actors that have played the roles when you play them? 

NH: No.

ND: It’s part of the craft, part of the discipline, isn’t it? You have to be singular-minded about it.

NH: You have to take ownership. I think that’s the first step in connecting with your character. If you worry about what people have done before, as great as it may be, it doesn’t help you to take ownership. I make a point of not seeing previous performances if I’m playing somebody that another actor has played. Somebody like Moneypenny, I mean, obviously, I grew up watching Bond movies, but I didn’t go back and look back for inspiration. I just kind of say, “Right. This is mine,” and work out how I am going to make her connect as fully as I possibly can with me.

ND: And the beauty of The Wasp as well is that Morgan has been on her journey. There was the original production, then there was one recasting, and she was very open to our notes on our dialogue, during our characterization in the rehearsal and the pre-production process. So for Morgan as a writer, the story and the characters evolve, as well. That’s the joy of the art and the craft.

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