“I held her as a baby”: the movie that brought Christian Slater’s career full-circle
Working in Hollywood must be a trip sometimes. For example, consider the surreal quirk of fate that Christian Slater recently encountered on the set of one of 2024’s biggest thrillers. After all, we can’t imagine there are too many other actors out there who have signed up to star in a movie directed by someone they’d previously held in their arms as a baby. Aside from making him feel incredibly old, though, it was a real full-circle moment for Slater, who has a true love for the director – and actor- in question.
In July 2022, Slater was announced as one of a host of stars of a new MGM thriller – the charmingly named Pussy Island. Joining the already-cast Channing Tatum, Naomi Ackie, and Simon Rex would be Slater, Geena Davis, Alia Shawkat, Kyle MacLachlan, Adria Arjona, and Haley Joel Osment. The story follows Ackie’s ambitious waitress, who finagles her way into the inner circle of tech magnate Slater King and receives an invite to his private island. While there, she begins to fear something strange is happening to all the women at the retreat.
If any of this sounds vaguely familiar, it should. The movie was retitled Blink Twice before its release on August 23rd, 2024. The writer/director of the film, of course, was The Batman star Zoë Kravitz, who had been working on the screenplay on and off since 2017.
The film was Kravitz’s directorial debut, and perhaps this was why she cast several people with whom she had existing relationships. Tatum has been her boyfriend since 2021, of course, while she and Shawkat have been good friends for years. In fact, Shawkat told Consequence that she regularly checked in on Kravitz during the long process of putting together the script. She revealed that she would constantly prod her by asking, “How’s that script going? You gotta keep doing it.” Even when they went on holiday together, it became their beach conversation.
When it came to shooting the film, Kravitz knew it inside and out. Indeed, perhaps this led to the on-set experience being so fulfilling for its stars. Slater told Collider, “She came in and just had a natural ability.” He explained that the set had an experimental, fun, party atmosphere, with nobody ruling with an iron fist. However, when it came time to get serious, “She really took the time for everybody to sit around and talk about it.” At the core of everything, Kravitz wanted her cast to feel safe at all times, and talking through pivotal scenes before shooting them was a great way to relax everyone.
Witnessing the capable, passionate, smart filmmaker Kravitz had become was extra-special for Slater, though, who has quite literally known her from the very beginning. He gushed to Collider, “I just love her. Like I said, she led with love. I held her as a baby when she was little, tiny, so to see her grow up and become this great actress and creative person was truly beautiful.’
In the end, perhaps this is simply something that can happen when you grow up with famous parents like Lisa Bonet and Lenny Kravitz.
In a business where there are no age limits for making films or starring in them, you could very well end up like Kravitz: watching interviews with your cast in which one of them sings at the top of their lungs, “Held her as a baby!”
