The “erotic” movie Claire Foy called “cerebral”
English actor Claire Foy’s rise to success has only accelerated in speed over the past few years, thanks to several award-winning performances in highly acclaimed television series. Appearing in shows such as The Crown and A Very British Scandal, Foy has established herself as a well-known star of the screen.
Her first appearance in a film came in 2011 with Season of the Witch, starring Nicolas Cage. Although her film credits remain small, she has appeared in a handful of critically acclaimed works, such as Unsane, First Man, Women Talking and, most recently, All Of Us Strangers.
In the latter, she stars as the spectral mother of Andrew Scott’s Adam, a writer who begins visiting his parents at his childhood home despite their passing when he was 12. Her portrayal of a woman processing her mortality and her role as a mother, including coming to terms with her son’s sexuality, is highly emotional, yet she never steers into overly sentimental territory. Foy’s performance reflects her astounding abilities as an actor, something she has been studying since she was a teenager.
One of Foy’s biggest inspirations as an actor is Isabelle Huppert, who has appeared in countless acclaimed films throughout her career, making her one of the most celebrated French actors of all time. From La Cérémonie to The Piano Teacher and Elle, Huppert’s performances never fail to leave audiences, including Foy, speechless.
Talking to A.frame, she discussed her love of The Piano Teacher by Michael Haneke, which stars Huppert as a lonely, sexually repressed middle-aged woman who has a complicated affair with one of her piano students. The movie sees her character, Erika, engage in bizarre behaviour, such as genital mutilation and voyeurism, instructing her student to act out her unusual sexual fantasies. Huppert was perfect for the role, playing the emotionally troubled character incredibly well, knowing when to let Erika act wildly and when to remain restrained.
Discussing the movie, Foy called it “cerebral,” adding, “I saw The Piano Teacher at university, and it was not something I ever would have watched at the time, in my capacity of what I had been exposed to as film. I remember the feeling of watching it. The feeling was like a pressure or something. I found it so challenging, but also, I was so fascinated by it.”
She highlighted her appreciation of Huppert’s performance, which won the actor ‘Best Actress’ at a variety of ceremonies, including the Cannes Film Festival. “I thought Isabelle Huppert was amazing in it. I’d never seen such a quiet, unlikable, but just charismatic performer. I could not understand how she could hold all those things in that space.”
Foy even noted that The Piano Teacher acted as a gateway for her to discover a range of more complex and challenging films. “There was something sort of erotic and also really perverse and difficult about it. I loved everything about it, and it opened my eyes to a whole different genre of cinema, which was amazing for me.”
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