Alicia Vikander admits Irma Vep is her strangest role yet
Alicia Vikander’s part in ‘Irma Vep’ is her strangest role yet.
The 33-year-old actress plays Mira, an American film star who travels to Paris to star in a remake of ‘Les Vampires,’ a French movie about a criminal gang in which she stars as femme fatale Irma Vep. The name ‘Irma Vep’ is also an anagram for vampire and Mira starts to struggle to distinguish between what is reality and what is fantasy.
Speaking to Britain's Harper's Bazaar magazine, Alicia described the HBO show as being “so meta, it’s eating itself,” and she cannot put it in a genre.
The ‘Tomb Raider’ star explained: “I think, while I was making it, I played five roles … It’s like Chinese boxes. There’s always something else going on. I think that’s the beauty of the project.”
The series has been directed by French filmmaker Olivier Assayas, who said he has “always wanted to work” with Alicia.
Olivier explained: “[I] always wanted to work with [Alicia]; it was just a matter of finding the right role. And I thought about her at once for ‘Irma Vep.’ She has all the depth, the complexity and the humour I needed.”
Speaking about the director, Alicia added: “He’s the most timid and kind person and everybody loves him. When you go on set, it’s all the same people he’s worked with for years — it’s a joy to be with him and his friends, and it’s all happy and sweet. And then he wrote this in a few months, with its darkness, and you say, ‘This was actually in your mind?’ He’s an extreme observer.”
The ‘Ex Machina’ star added: “I love the communal feeling independent films give you.”
