Emily Mortimer

Source: Peter Ash Lee

Emily Mortimer

London-born, Los Angeles-based actress and writer Emily Mortimer is attending Venice with the world premiere of Competition title Jay Kelly, which she co-wrote with director Noah Baumbach, and in which she has a small part.

George Clooney stars in the Netflix title as an actor navigating a personal reckoning alongside his manager, played by Adam Sandler. It is the first film Mortimer has co-written after several TV series: she co-created Doll & Em with best friend Dolly Wells, and adapted and directed limited series The Pursuit Of Love for the BBC and Amazon.

Mortimer, whose many acting roles include Mary Poppins Returns and Paddington In Peru, is now in pre-production in Budapest for her feature directorial debut, Dennis, for A24 and Fruit Tree. Alison Oliver and Yura Borisov star as a British student and a Russian poet who fall in love in 1990s Moscow.

What is the first thing you do each day when you are writing?

I go to the local all-day restaurant on the end of my street [in Los Angeles]. I cannot write at home. If I write at home, within seconds, I’m sort of dribbling on my computer asleep. Also, I can’t concentrate unless there’s noise going on — silence horrifies me. Going to this restaurant forces me to write because I find a table that’s slightly hidden, and I have to keep my face glued to the screen, because if I look up, I’m in danger of seeing someone I know and starting a conversation.

Do you have a mentor in the industry?

I never had one before, but funnily enough, I think Noah is one now. I feel like I can ring him when I’m feeling lost. I don’t think I realised when I was younger I was allowed to have a mentor. Young people, get yourself a mentor!

How did you meet?

We didn’t know each other until our kids [Sam Nivola and May Nivola, Mortimer’s children with Alessandro Nivola] were cast in [Baumbach’s] White Noise. That film shot in Cleveland during the pandemic, so we were in this bubble together. It was kind of reverse nepotism.

How did you co-write with Baumbach?

There was something intangible about writing together. Even if we were on the telephone, it never felt like hard work. The script didn’t write itself, it’s not a traditional sort of structure, and it’s complex with lots of characters, but there was something about this world, this tone, that we both understood, and that made it fun.

At first, I was worried I wasn’t going to be of any help to him, and I told him a story about visiting Italy with my dad when my best friend and sister dared me to pinch the bum of a policeman. For some reason, this story tickled Noah. The story didn’t make it into the movie, but he said, “I want our film to feel like that story.” It was very collaborative, and we were both entertaining each other.

What do you think you learned from him as a director?

That you just start making your film, and you don’t wait for permission. You decide it’s going to happen, that’s really the galvanising force. Otherwise, it can become a kind of flight of fancy.

Of what are you most proud professionally?

Probably Doll & Em, for a million reasons. Something about doing that with Dolly gave me courage, it made the stakes feel less high. It didn’t matter if we fucked up because we had each other and we’d have fun. We brought all our families along with us — our mothers and our kids and everything. My husband produced it and her husband [Mischa Richter] played my husband. Our friends did the music. We made something we’re both proud of.

What was your favourite film growing up?

Calamity Jane with Doris Day and Howard Keel.

With whom would you most like to take a meeting?

Billy Wilder or Michael Powell.

What’s the best film you’ve seen this year so far?

July Rain, a 1960s Soviet new wave film directed by Marlen Khutsiev.

What do you do to unwind?

I really want to find a hobby. I do like cooking but I think I need a better hobby than that.

Where do you go to unwind?

A bath.

If you weren’t working in film, what job would you want?

I’d like to have a little café, a greasy spoon, and make fried breakfasts. There would be beans and sausages, lots of sausages.

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