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Frances McDormand has always had a wandering spirit.
In her forties, the “Nomadland” star made a promise to her husband, filmmaker Joel Coen (of the Coen Brothers): at 65, she would change her name to Fern, go in a motorhome and start smoking Lucky Strikes and drinking wild turkey.
Now, at 63, his plans seem a little different, although the open road is still beckoning.
“I won’t drink wild turkey – I’m much more sophisticated in my tastes now. It’s Casamigos tequila all the way, ”McDormand says. “But I invested in a motorhome and plan to drive across the country in March to visit my friends on the East Coast,” en route to Canada, where she will shoot another project this summer. .
As for Fern, McDormand’s restless alter ego is now the namesake of his character in “Nomadland” (on IMAX screens now, in theaters and streaming Friday on Hulu), Chloe Zhao’s discreetly deep exploration on life on the fringes. The film follows a recent widow named Fern (McDormand) who loses her job at the factory during an economic downturn and begins to live in her van. She embarks on a journey through the American West, landing odd jobs and staying in campsites, where she meets other nomads.
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Nominated for four Golden Globes, including Best Drama, “Nomadland” established itself as one of the first best films at the Oscars, having won almost every major critics and festival award since its premiere at the Venice Film Festival. last September.
McDormand bristles at the so-called “A-word” (awards), but says she “brims with pride” because of the film. While less flashy and more meditative than the other contenders this season, she believes it is being tapped into a new empathy brought on by the pandemic.
“One of the most rewarding things is that we bring catharsis to the public,” McDormand says. “People don’t just look at their belly button, but they look outside of their little life and wonder how they can make a difference in the bigger world.
Zhao adds, “You don’t have to pack it all up and hit the road like Fern. But this pandemic has forced us to slow down and look at some of the biggest things we’re looking for. Are these the things that really matter?”
Real nomads “ didn’t know I was an actor ”
“Nomadland” is based on Jessica Bruder’s 2017 non-fiction book on the life of a van, which was given to McDormand by his partner producer, Peter Spears. The actress has long been drawn to contemporary American stories – winning Oscars for “Fargo” in 1996 and “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” in 2017 – but says she “wanted to take risks” with “Nomadland,” who finds her active and working alongside nomads in real life.
McDormand contacted Zhao about his collaboration in the fall of 2017, days after seeing the Toronto Film Festival debut of filmmaker “The Rider,” a modern western that also stars non-professional actors.
“I thought for a moment that there was this email from Frances McDormand in my inbox,” says Zhao, who reviewed “Fargo” just before reading Bruder’s book. “I have always been drawn to the road from a young person’s point of view, but being able to put myself in the shoes of people rediscovering themselves on the road in the twilight of their years was a very interesting experience that I wanted to live. . “
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The duo shot “Nomadland” for four months at the end of 2018 with a naked crew: traveling in vans, staying in motels and chasing sunsets for the jaw-dropping scenes from the movie’s “Magic Hour” . McDormand had no trouble blending in with the nomads, in part because Zhao had already gotten to know them before filming.
“The groundwork has been laid,” McDormand says. “Most people like to tell you their stories, if you’re willing to listen to them.”
It has helped that many McDormand co-stars have no idea she’s a Hollywood star: Swankie, one of the most endearing nomads in the movie, “didn’t know I was an actor. She just thought I was another woman on the road, so she trusted me like another inhabitant of the van. “
Bob Wells, another nomad, also didn’t know McDormand before filming a moving scene in which Fern remembers her late husband, Bo.
Afterward, “he told me privately that it meant a lot to me to tell him this story and that everything was going to be okay,” McDormand says. “And I said, ‘Bob, I just want you to know my husband’s name is Joel, he’s alive and well, he’s making movies, and I’m coming home after that.’ Bob said, “Oh. How did you do that? I really believed you.” And I said, “It’s my job, Bob! It’s what I do for a living! Isn’t that weird?” “
There was a job she “ didn’t like at all ”
Fern takes on many temporary gigs throughout the film – cleaning a toilet in a South Dakota national park, working a sugar beet crop in North Dakota – some of which were more fun to shoot than others.
“I’m a really, really good cleaner – always have been, ask anyone in my life – so it was easy,” McDormand says. “I didn’t like harvesting beets because it was really back-breaking work.” She also loved packing boxes at an Amazon warehouse in Nevada: “I love repetitive work like that. Would I do it all the time? No.”
McDormand, who lives in the remote seaside town of Bolinas, Calif., Says she has always subscribed to a “less is more” philosophy when it comes to goods. The experience of creating “Nomadland” only underscored these beliefs
“I try to train myself to be less attracted to shiny and shiny things,” Shensay says. “I have enough for the rest of my life and I don’t need just one more. We’ve always lived small and kept the overhead low, so I practice as much as I can and try to push through. word.”
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: ‘Nomadland’: Frances McDormand worked at Amazon for her new movie
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