Vanessa Kirby is opening up about how her Oscar-nominated work on the film \u201cPieces of a Woman\u201d changed her.<\/p>\n
Speaking with PORTER, Kirby discussed her work with stillbirth and neonatal death charity, Sands, as she prepped for the role of Martha \u2014 which landed her a 2021 Oscar nomination for Best Actress.<\/p>\n
\u201cI notice now, I\u2019m so acutely sensitive to other people\u2019s pain, much more than I ever have been,\u201d Kirby said. \u201cI can read it more; I can see it more and if I see it, I know how to stand beside it and hold space for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
She also was able to be present for a live birth, which had a tremendous impact on her. \u201cIt was the best afternoon of my life, I would say,\u201d she added. \u201cI hope I get to do it one day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Given the uncertainty brought about by the coronavirus pandemic, Kirby was unclear that \u201cPieces of a Woman\u201d and her other completed projects would ever see the light of day.<\/p>\n
\u201cHonestly, I didn\u2019t know if the films would ever come out,\u201d she said. \u201cCinemas were closed and neither of them were with Netflix or any distributor. It was five months of absolutely nothing. I wasn\u2019t attached to any other jobs, so it wasn\u2019t like I was preparing for anything. I was in equal parts a 13-year-old and a retiree.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kirby\u2019s other recent project, 2020\u2019s \u201cThe World To Come\u201d, follows two neighbouring couples battling hardship and isolation in mid-19th century America. In addition to Kirby\u2019s Oscar node, the film won the Queer Lion award for best LGBTQ-themed film at the 2020 Venice Film Festival<\/strong>.<\/p>\n \u201cThey lived in such difficult circumstances,\u201d said Kirby of her character, Tallie, and Abigail, played by Katherine Waterston. This, she added, was even more true \u201cif you were a woman, and if you loved someone of the same sex\u2026 It could be fatal in those times, to take any risks outside of what you were expected to do.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s clear that Kirby approaches potential roles with tenacity. \u201cOne of my first questions will always be, \u2018Is this something that scares me?\u2019\u201d she explained. \u201cA lot of movies have these very neatly drawn female archetypes who are a film version of women, and that\u2019s not what I identify with.\u201d<\/p>\n Championing female-focused storytelling led Kirby to form her own production company. \u201cFrom my experience of being a woman in the world, I know that you have to be an agent of that change,\u201d she said. \u201cI know how wonderful it felt for me to have that space on a set, and now to be creating a company where I can continue to make those choices.\u201d<\/p>\n Kirby, like many other actresses, is no stranger to problematic female representation on screen. \u201cClaire [Foy, her co-star in \u201cThe Crown\u201d] asked me, \u2018Do you feel really empowered on this?\u2019 and I was like, \u2018Yeah, I actually feel like I have space to do the work I\u2019ve always wanted to\u2019\u201d, she told PORTER. \u201c[Foy] said the same, and we realized that [it was because] we were the protagonists of our own story. It was that [moment] which illuminated the number of times when you were in [projects] where you were saying things that only helped the psychological journey and the narrative of the male characters.\u201d<\/p>\n