ComingSoon Editor-in-Chief Tyler Treese spoke to I.S.S. director Gabriela Cowperthwaite and star Ariana DeBose about the space thriller that takes place aboard the International Space Station. Bleecker Street will release the film in theaters on January 19.
“Tensions flare in the near future aboard the International Space Station as a worldwide conflict breaks out on Earth,” the official synopsis reads. “Reeling from this, the astronauts receive orders from the ground: take control of the station by any means necessary.”
Tyler Treese Ariana, you did such a great job at showing just your range as a dramatic actress. Not only do you show such uncertainty and fear through your performance, you also show that willingness to live and just to survive in just the worst possible situation. How did it feel getting to show a whole range of dramatic abilities in this film?
Ariana DeBose: I appreciate that sentiment so much. It was a real a pleasure for me to do something like this. It came to me at a time when I had made West Side Story and The Prom, and I really wanted to try something different. I also knew that by taking a chance or what felt like a big risk for myself, that I might fail. There was a version of the world where I might not have, you know, achieved what I wanted to achieve.
But then I was like, “This is Gabriela. I love her work. She’s so strong, she has a vision for this. I will be able to achieve anything with her.” And so I went after this piece. I auditioned for it, I fought for it, and I’m so glad that we hit it off [when] she said yes to me. It made me a better actor all around, I think.
Gabriela, one of the choices I thought was really interesting in the film is that not all the spoken Russian dialogue is subtitled. The viewers are put in the same state as the astronauts, where they don’t know the full story. Can you speak to that artistic choice?
Gabriela Cowperthwaite: A piece like this lives kind of in the uncertainties. It really is those moments where you don’t quite understand, necessarily, what makes somebody tick. You don’t understand how someone’s gonna react to something. You don’t really totally understand everybody’s backgrounds.
That feeling… you have to keep folks on the edge of their seats with that. With really just not knowing. And that’s what space feels like to all of us. To me, for sure. It’s the great unknown.
I.S.S. also feels that way to me. Even trying to kind of crack it and understand this science. This ship, just up there traveling at 17,000 miles per hour… that is still a mystery to me. What are we doing up there? Human organs are not meant to be in zero gravity for extended periods of time. There are so many question marks. Keeping the audience rooted in that is germane to the film.
Ariana, I thought Chris Massino A) had a great mustache and B) had some really stellar scenes with you. What stood out about him as a scene partner?
DeBose: I have so much respect for Chris. I’ve seen him in so many films. He’s that actor that, like, it doesn’t matter what you put him in, he’s just stellar. The range on that guy is incredible to me. One of the draws of doing this film was to be in the same space – the same sandbox — with him.
I felt that way about all our actors. John Gallagher Jr. Hello– Newsroom? Incredible. And Lou Beck! What a Danish icon. But since you asked about Chris Messina — specifically being able to work with him – we both share a love for dark chocolate, specifically the Hu brand. Very good. You should get into it.
