Darren Aronofsky is known to be a demanding director. Can you share your auditioning experience with him?

The auditioning process was a challenge. Before my audition he sent me one page of the script, which I performed and then he said ‘Okay, you did alright with that’ and then he handed me another three pages and said, ‘I’m going to leave you alone for five minutes and then you get to do it’. And so you can imagine when he left me alone for those five minutes how I was feeling. But it was fun and I’ve never produced real tears in an audition environment before, but I did with Darren.

It’s incredibly difficult because you’re not in costume, there are strangers in the room, there’s a cameraman you’ve never seen before and it’s your first time doing it. And yes, I was crying my eyes out by the end of the audition!

Describe your character.

Noah’s (played by Russell Crowe) family finds Ila when they go through this abandoned refugee camp. Ila is a victim of war. She’s a refugee who is very badly wounded. Her family has been killed. Noah decides to rescue her, even though it means carrying this girl who can’t walk, who’s bleeding. If they left her there, she’d bleed to death. She’s a child at this point, seven or eight. He risks himself to save her. Ila becomes his adopted daughter. It’s a really beautiful story. Noah and Ila have this very intimate connection and relationship, and you can tell that they truly care for one another.

Tell us about working with Russell Crowe.

Russell isn’t prepared to say anything that he doesn’t fully understand and believe. If it doesn’t make sense to him, he isn’t prepared to let it go. I remember the rehearsal process. We went through every single word in that script with a toothcomb. It had to make sense in Russell’s mind, everything. He’s really meticulous like that. He really cares. He’s never just phoning it in, which you have to respect. How many years has his career spanned? But at the same time, there’s something very sweet about him. I was really intimidated to meet him at first, but he was very caring with me. He started very young himself, and he knows what it’s like to be a young actor on set. It wasn’t just me he did that with... it was all of the kids on the film. He took all of us under his wing. He’s very generous like that.

You were in New York for Hurricane Sandy (in October 2012). Did it affect the shoot?

We were already under a lot of pressure, because there was so much to get done in such a short period of time. We got pushed back because of the storm. We lost about a week’s shooting, which as far as film schedules go is a huge amount of time. From that point onwards, we really were working 16-hour days. Most of my scenes were shot between three and five in the morning. I was often going home in daylight, having worked through the night. It’s in those situations that it’s very difficult to explain to your friends and family why you’ve just disappeared for three months. It’s because there’s just no excess energy left for anything else. That was all I had space for in my world. But it was immensely satisfying. That’s what I want to do. I’d rather have a really intense experience with Noah, and give it my everything for two or three months then wait for the next special thing. That’s the kind of work I want to do. I want to be pushed and challenged. I want to feel utterly exhausted and expended and like I’ve given everything I can by the end of it.

Would you say this is the hardest film you’ve had to do?

By far, the most challenging thing I’ve had to do. You’re dealing with the kind of themes like: You’ve just been told it’s the end of the world, how do you feel? The world is coming to an end. It’s almost like, how do you get there? How do you hit that? It’s Shakespearean. Darren would say, ‘When you see this on a huge screen, and you’ve got the soundtrack and the noise of the waves and the rain….’ It almost felt like what you give couldn’t be big enough. At times I was like, ‘Is this going to be overacting? Is this going to be too much?’ But when you’ve got that scale supporting your performance... you’ve just got to go for it, hook line and sinker.

Which of Darren’s films have stayed with you?

The Fountain (a 2006 film starring Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz) was one of my favourites. I found Requiem for a Dream (2000, starring Ellen Burstyn and Jared Leto) about five years ago. That film is so impactful. I remember feeling physically ill after I saw it. I was genuinely nauseous and just really overwrought. To be able to create a piece of art that has that kind of effect is just so amazing. I always think, ‘every teenager who is thinking about experimenting with drugs should watch that film’.

How was it working with Logan Lerman (who plays Noah’s son Ham) again after The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)?

I felt like someone had my back. We play brother and sister in the film. We do have quite an emotional scene together, and it was so nice not to have to try and find caring about him — I already care about him and there’s no acting required. It was one of the early scenes that we did, and it was just a relief that I didn’t have to push for it with him. I just felt immediately comfortable. Making a film and then doing the promotion, those can be really intimidating and intense situations, and it’s just so nice to have someone to commiserate with, compare notes with, hand-hold with.

Finally, the Harry Potter series is still adored by many, how does it feel being part of the most loved franchise of all time?

Honestly, I look back on the Harry Potter films with amazement. I can’t quite believe it all happened and I look back on it with pride. We really pulled off something amazing.

To make eight of those films, to the quality and level we did, I think is quite miraculous really and a testimony to how dedicated and how passionate everyone was who worked on it.

EMMA AFTER HARRY POTTER

My Week With Marilyn

Emma had a small but impactful role of a wardrobe assistant named Lucy, who catches the eye of Colin Clark (Eddie Redmayne).

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Emma grabbed eyeballs as the extrovert Sam who takes freshman Charlie (Logan Lerman) under her wing and tutors him in the ways of the world.

The Bling Ring

‘Who’s that girl?!’ wondered everyone. Shy girl Hermione became smokin’ hot Nicki in this Sofia Coppola film based on a real-life gang of fame-obsessed young girls who rob the homes of celebrities.

What kind of roles should Emma Watson do? Tell t2@abp.in