1 of 6 | "Bridgerton" actress Phoebe Dynevor stars in new spy thriller "Inheritance." File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI |
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LOS ANGELES, Jan. 23 (UPI) -- Phoebe Dynevor said her transformation in Inheritance, in theaters Friday, was extensive to the point of altering the way she walked. Dynevor, 29, plays Maya, an American whose father is kidnapped while they are traveling abroad.
In a recent Zoom interview with UPI, Dynevor said director Neil Burger demonstrated the physicality he had in mind.
"Neil was very specific about how he wanted Maya to walk through the world," she said. "She's [keeping her] head down and there's kind of a deadness in her eyes because she's obviously been through a lot."
Maya's mother recently died after a long illness, during which Maya took care of her. Maya's estranged father, Sam (Rhys Ifans), comes back into her life at the funeral.
Soon after learning her father was once a spy, Sam (Ifans) is kidnapped by people who demand Maya recover a hard drive her father has stolen.
Ifans, 57, said he imagined a backstory of instances of Sam keeping secrets from his family for his job.
"The people that first and foremost you have to lie to are your nearest and dearest," Ifans said. "You must have to be desperate or sociopathic, or both, in order for that to happen."
Keeping secrets is new for Maya, however, as is evading pursuers.
"Most of the script was Maya just running around through markets or down busy streets," Dynevor said, adding that the role required "a lot of movement and running around, a lot of walking."
Burger and his camera operator followed Dynevor with an iPhone on location in Egypt, India and South Korea. The director said he chose an iPhone to give the film a sense of intimacy, and to be able to navigate busy locations without drawing attention.
"I wanted it to be able to walk through a Cairo market that was incredibly crowded and nobody would look at us," Burger, 61, said.
While Dynevor is the focus of the camera, Ifans enthusiastically appreciated the opportunity to film a movie incognito. Ifans, plays Otto Hightower in House of the Dragon, and found it refreshing to blend in while in between seasons of the hit HBO series.
"When House of the Dragon goes to another country, the whole country knows that House of the Dragon's in their country," Ifans said. "When we went to another country [for Inheritance], no one knew and no one will know until they watch this film."
Filming with a crew of no more than 13 people allowed Dynevor to remain in character on location. She said it was easier to just be Maya all day whenever filming.
"We didn't really get any breaks because we're not waiting for camera setups or lighting," she said. "Once we started our day it was pretty go, go, go until we wrapped."
Other films like Sean Baker's Tangerine and Steven Soderbergh's Unsane have previously used an iPhone as a camera. Burger said Inheritance stands apart because he designed scenes around the aesthetic of filming an international thriller covertly with a hidden lens.
"Everybody's holding a phone and taking a picture of their friend," Burger said. "Or they're influencers. They're going to post something, they're doing something for social media, so nobody looks at you. That's what I wanted."
Ifans agreed that using the iPhone was not just a marketing gimmick. The actor was keenly aware of the intention behind Burger's cinematography.
"We used technology like this that has been so instrumental in decaying our attention spans," Ifans said. "Neil used this technology to do some of the longest takes I've seen in cinema for quite some time."
One such shot follows Maya riding a motorcycle through India while trying to evade the kidnappers and Interpol agents. Dynevor said the driver was a Bollywood stuntman.
"He showed me a lot of stuff he'd done in Bollywood movies driving through fire," the actress said. "We did do it a few times but I felt like I was in very safe hands."
Maya goes to such extreme lengths, Dynevor said, because she is so emotional about the loss of her mother. She wants her father back in her life, leading her to neglect self-preservation instincts.
"There's a side of her that [believes] it doesn't matter what happens now," Dynevor said. "She's lost her own sense of identity, so she's willing to do anything."
As an actress, Dynevor has experienced other recent positive developments in her life. She said starring in the first season of Netflix hit Bridgerton changed her life and career, and she has relocated from Britain to Los Angeles, with family and friends nearby.
Prior to Inheritance, she starred in the film Fair Play, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was released on Netflix in 2023. Bridgerton has continued since her character, Daphne, found love, but Dynevor said she has not been able to keep up with her successors on the show.
"I haven't watched it," Dynevor said. "It's a little too close to home for me to watch, but I love everyone in it and I'm so proud of the show."