Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.
Early inSanctuary, the camera pans in on Christopher Abbott at a critical moment.
Playing an ultra-wealthy hotel heir named Hal Porterfield, hes answering a series of personal questions.
Hals inquisitor is the dominatrix (Margaret Qualley) he routinely pays to humiliate him behind closed doors.
But when she interrogates whether its true he lost his virginity at age 25, something in Hal shifts.
Their quick-fire rapport comes to a halt.
This isnt what I wanted, he tells her, Abbotts face flinching with discomfort.
Its not in the script.
Its the first in a sequence of twists that continue throughoutSanctuarys 96-minute duet.
But this particular meeting is heightened.
Rebecca sees an opportunity to bribe Hal.
Hal is as privileged and insecure as Rebecca is confident and aimless.
Sanctuary, now in theaters, is part erotic thriller and part romantic comedy.
Abbott and Qualley make an ideal odd couple, in sync throughout their characters many gradations.
We both love him, and were friends.
Christopher Abbott:Yeah, Margaret and I were looking for something to do for a little while.
This felt like the ideal one because it was just us two.
How did your friendship form?Qualley:Showbiz?
Fair.Qualley:Weve both lived in New York and had seen each other around.
We love the scene.
And we all just read the script and had some wine and chatted really loosely.
I didnt make focaccia, but we did the same thing.
I dont think either of us dove too deep into figuring out what our history was.
Also, we shot the thing in 18 days with one-day weekends, so it was really fast-paced.
Abbott:I agree.
I dont think backstory was that important for this one.
Whatever exposition is needed for the audience is sort of all we needed for the parts.
These characters have a lot they dont know about each other and they dont know much about themselves.
A lot of stuff is revealed in the moment.
Its not like we were doingLincoln.
Whether or not you specifically discussed or considered it, what do you think their first meeting looked like?
When the movie premiered in Toronto last year, you said it was heavily choreographed.
A lot of actors resist that level of direction.
Sometimes I feel like the more rules there are in place, the more freedom you actually have.
But if I said, Tell me a childhood story, you could probably think of one.
The more specific you’re free to be with something, sometimes the more you have to offer.
Its the same reason why people like boutiques over going to huge shopping malls.
Abbott:I enjoyed the healthy constraints that we were forced to have by Zach notforced, but encouraged.
Zachs challenge was to make a one-room chamber piece as cinematic as possible.
If it were up to me, I would just sit in a chair every scene.
So it was a nice challenge to work like that.
Margaret and I treated it like a play.
The work was more about the words for us, and the physicality we left up to Zach.
Walk me through that experience.Qualley:Its a lot easier than you might think.
It came quite naturally.
Go on.Abbott:I dont know if you know, but acting is about drawing from real life.
I can say Ive never done that in my life, but I did it in a movie.
Its not like we were doing wide shots, medium close-ups, over-the-shoulders.
The movie was very much edited upon arrival.
Only whatever was going to be used was shot, and youd have three to five takes.
Wed come in swinging.
Abbott:We played with the levels.
You turn it up, turn it down, try different things.
What I think will surprise people aboutSanctuaryis how romantic it ultimately is.Qualley:Thats the hope.
It could be read as a warped rom-com by the end.
Is that something you guys saw from the beginning?Abbott:Very much so.
Qualley:I think we both saw this as a silly, fun love story.
Its all so silly, and at the same time its everything.
Its also kind of an erotic thriller and a callback to films likeBelle du Jour.
That was one good reference, specifically in terms of speed.
Here, youve got someone whos so nakedly unsure of himself despite certain appearances.
Yorgos is a director actors tend to feel very passionately about.
If you blink, youll miss me.
But Chris, go off.
Abbott:Thats not true.
Thats Margaret being humble.
Qualley:I mean, I shot for two days.
Abbott:I feel like you were there for, like, months.
One day with you, Margaret, feels like a year.
I mean, I loved it.
I still havent seen the film, but Im equally excited to see it.
Theteaserthat came out is even more vivid and wild than I imagined it would be after having been there.
I loved working on it and with Yorgos.
Im excited to see me in it, but also everyone else.
