Dear Gossips,

Dan Stevens is having a great year. First, he got to do whatever the hell he wanted in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, then he got to do whatever the hell he wanted in vampire ballerina movie Abigail (is it good? No. Is Dan Stevens’ performance wildly entertaining? Yes), now’s he doing whatever the hell he wants in Cuckoo, a psychological thriller/horror film starring Hunter Schafer (it’s in theaters now, it starts strong but flounders at the end, though Schafer and Stevens are both very good). Dan Stevens has turned into one of those actors who pretty much gets hired to do whatever the hell he wants no matter the role.

Which is not to say he’s not taking direction and collaborating to serve the story best, but that he is one of those actors whose range is so great and whose knack for giving completely unhinged performances that still, somehow, feel grounded that you hire him to play weirdoes and losers and all manner of rogues and rapscallions. Turns out, Cousin Matthew isn’t even his best character archetype, and he knew exactly what he was doing when he left Downton Abbey at the height of its popularity. Dan Stevens leveraged Downton Abbey better than anyone, argue with a wall.

But speaking of Cuckoo, Stevens was profiled for Vanity Fair, and he brought up working with Hunter Schafer on her first leading role on the big screen. Cuckoo is a tense film steeped in psychological terror and physical danger, it’s the kind of film that some people will insist must be a miserable experience to make because of the tension between characters and in the various horror scenarios. But of working with Schafer on Cuckoo, which was NOT a horrible experience, Stevens said:

“I think it was refreshing and delightful for her to realize that not every job needs to be like Euphoria. It was nice to be able to present that and to be a part of that. We can still shoot this incredibly f-cked-up, difficult scene, but everybody’s still friends at the end of the day and nobody needs to have months of therapy afterwards.”

Euphoria’s work culture has recently been a topic of discussion, and not for how good it is. But what really struck me about Stevens’ comments is that I would swear we already had this conversation years ago, like back when #MeToo was blowing up toxic work environments in Hollywood and beyond, and then it struck me. What depresses me so much about the Euphoria conversation is that it perfectly represents backsliding on the progress of #MeToo. It’s a return to the “tortured genius” archetype that excuses bad behavior, poorly managed sets, and toxic work environments in the name of creating art. (Ditto for The Idol discourse.)

And look, I KNOW there was never a moment where things were suddenly perfect, and there was perfect equity, safety, and respect on set. But that Dan Stevens is STILL expressing this sentiment six years out from the conversations of 2018 is depressing. And it’s not about him, specifically, it’s just that he said this thing about Hunter Schafer and Euphoria and learning that challenging work doesn’t have to be punishing work that distilled the itch I’ve had in my brain for the last few weeks.

I thought if we could get rid of anything, it would be the tortured genius archetype, because so often “tortured genius” is just an excuse for a sh-tty person to work with. We’ve seen it recently with Sam Levinson, The Weeknd (in re: The Idol, at least), and even Joaquin Phoenix, who bailed on a production that was his own idea, leaving hundreds of crew members unemployed and unpaid.

(Reader L posited that could have been the result of Warner Brothers pressuring Phoenix to bail on the explicit gay romance film, lest it upset Joker bros, who are presumed to be the kind of people who would be offended by an explicit gay romance film. That is the kind of pretzel logic that Hollywood runs on, it would not surprise me in the least if that was at least part of the equation of Phoenix abandoning that film. And if it is, he and everyone at Warners are craven assholes, catering to the worst people.)

Season three of Euphoria will probably happen eventually, and everyone will have to answer questions about the work environment, and we’ll hear a lot about how, actually, it’s fine, and Sam Levinson is a genius, and Hunter Schafer might even be put in a tight spot because of Dan Stevens’ comment here. I don’t think he said anything out of bounds…unless Schafer is ever put in the position of defending Euphoria and Sam Levinson. I hope she’s not, but let’s be honest, if season three happens, she probably will be. We have learned nothing, we have changed nothing.

Live long and gossip,

Sarah

Hunter Schafer Gossip

About