Interview With I AM MOTHER Stars Hilary Swank & Clara Rugaard

The thrilling sci-fi film I Am Mother (which I got to see at Sundance earlier this year, check out the review here) comes to Netflix this week and I was lucky enough to sit down with stars Hilary Swank and Clara Rugaard to chat about what makes this specific film so intriguing!

Kristy Strouse for Film Inquiry: Thanks for taking the time today. I was actually able to see the film at its premiere, and I really loved it. Congratulations! So, I’ll start with Clara. You’re amazing in this, by the way. I mean, this is really your movie. What was it like getting into a character like this, a girl who spent most of her life only interacting with a robot?

Clara Rugaard: Yeah, a strange one really. There isn’t really any research to be done on that, it’s a unique situation. I think that’s also part of what drew me to this character, as well as the script. It was very unique, and I knew it would be a massive challenge. And the director, Grant, was amazing, and really helped me get into the mindset of this.

I imagine it was difficult. And Hillary, save for perhaps the movie The Core, this is a fairly new genre for you. What was it about the character that stood out to you?

Hilary Swank: Well, I am not usually a sci-fi fan. So, it’s not usually you know, what you would normally think of me, but when I read this script, I really felt compelled by the strength and mental strength and physical strength of this woman, who has survived. Who knows what she survived yet that one scene when you can kind of get an understanding through the emotion that comes up that she’s seen a lot in her lifetime. But also, just the idea of like, the world being a place that just, ethically and morally and value wise was so tumultuous, that someone said, hey, let’s recreate the human race. And who is going to do that? And how do you create a perfect human being, and who defines what perfect is? And the idea of all of that was very thought-provoking, especially in the world that we live in now. And the idea of like, artificial intelligence, and that is actually being created and I think before we know it, we’re going to see a lot more of that. Also, how different people’s points of views like from daughter to woman to mothers, and how that reality is there. It creates a completely different circumstance, and who do we trust?

Definitely. So, you do see any parallels with our society now in the story? You kind of touched on that a little bit.

Hilary Swank: I mean, I just think that the idea of like, you know, I think ethics and morals and values and being more, I think… open minded. And it is definitely playing with all of those ideas.

Absolutely. And, you know, I love the practical effects. I spoke with Luke Hawker [who plays Mother, Rose Byrne voices] back in January, he’s great. It must have made things a lot easier with him actually in the suit.

Clara Rugaard: I mean, absolutely, it absolutely helped, you know the alternative would be playing opposite of what I imagine you do a lot of in sci-fi. You know, a green screen and looking at a tennis ball and imagining it is something else. But Luke is an incredible actor and provided such a brilliant performance inside the suit and there was a lot of energy, and emotion to bounce off of, to be honest. So, it was a tremendous help.

What would you say was the most challenging part of making this movie?

Hilary Swank: Well, I would say the physicality because I’m always like hunched over and suffering. And by the end of a 14/15 hour day, I was when stand up and go, oh, wow. You know, I didn’t realize that it would be as physically challenging as it ended up being, I was always limping around. And also, she saw a lot and so emotionally as well.

Clara Rugaard: That was challenging too.

I bet! What did you two make of Mother and her intentions? Do you think you can empathize with the character at all?

Hilary Swank: Well, who knows, I mean who brought her to the place where she is in order to fulfill this position that she’s in? We don’t know that. And it kind of is I mean, it’s touched on, right. You know, everyone has their kind of marching orders, and we believe what we’re taught and even though she wasn’t programmed. She was programmed with the one thing, this drive-the goal to achieve this and she is going about it the best she knows how. The thing that we don’t know is can this robot have empathy or not? Can you learn empathy as a robot?

Clara Rugaard: Can you teach it?

Hilary Swank: So I mean, that’s part of the endless question, even in human beings, what makes one person authentic and one person maybe not? It’s, it’s really interesting. And I feel like I think that is, there’s like, a really important question in the world, especially now: empathy.

Yeah. And I mean, connection in general in this movie is a theme. Whether it be between mother and daughter or your character.

Hilary Swank: Yeah, exactly.

What was it like working with the director Grant Sputore?

Hilary Swank: He’s great. For me, it’s obviously I mean, for anyone really, but especially because I’ve made a lot of films, the idea of working with someone who’s new and taking a risk on someone who has really little to no experience, is it risky, but I know, pretty much immediately knew, I mean, through his ability, he’s very smart. He’s very articulate in his vision, and he was very ego-less. So, it was easy. It obviously is when you work with someone like that, who is a true collaborator. And, and it’s nice when the film is over, and it works, that you trusted that instinct that you had about a person. And certainly, someone gave me my first opportunity, and someone believed in me and gave me a chance, so it is nice to be in a position to help someone else. And I know you [speaking to Clara] loved him as well, I know, you guys did a lot more than I did because I wasn’t there as long.

Clara Rugaard: It’s like what you said. The aspect of film-making that really fascinates me is the trust that you implement onto each other by saying, “Yes, I choose you, and I believe in you. And I trust that you can get, and you can reflect my vision, and what I want from this film.” And Grant really did that, he gave me a lot of free rein, in terms of the character, and we had a lot of ongoing conversations throughout. And he was just so passionate about it. Which made the atmosphere, and everyone was passionate about the project, so it made the atmosphere on set really magical.

I think that came through too. I spoke with Grant briefly in January, and you could really see how passionate he was. I know Hilary said she wasn’t a sci-fi fan, but what about you Clara? I mean, I could see a bit of Sigourney Weaver from Alien within your performance.

Clara Rugaard: Thanks! To be honest, I wasn’t really a sci-fi fanatic before this. But, you know, speaking to Grant and, you know, him enlightening – you know, the reality of AI and how prevalent it is in our society now. It is a conversation to be add. It’s so interesting, really fascinating.

Yeah, and obviously, I mean, it goes way beyond sci-fi, kind of like Ex Machina does. I don’t know if you’ve seen that movie. 

Hilary Swank: Yeah. Love that film, love it!

Me too. And Hilary, you’ve done a lot of different roles, played lots of dynamic women. What do you look for in a script? And has that process changed over the years for you?

Hilary Swank: Yeah, it’s a good question. I look for something that I mean, usually, the stories that I’m part of make me see the world in a different view than I’ve looked through. And I love that. I love that it blows open my blinders of how I walk in the world and see the world and I’m endlessly curious. So, the idea of, you know, artificial intelligence and something bigger than all of us, what is that? I think I’m also drawn to characters who persevere through adversity. But I think how it’s changed over the years is that I’m in a place now where I’m just I’m so happy and fulfilled, so going to super dark places isn’t always what I’m looking for, you know, I’m looking for a little bit of lighter fare. I would not call this lighter [laughs]. But, but it wasn’t like a place that I had to go and live in for a long time. And it wasn’t a true story, so I was able to easily separate reality and fiction.

Are there any other kind of roles/genres that you’d love to explore that you haven’t yet?

Hilary Swank: I think the idea of doing like, an action piece has always been enticing to me and I feel you know, I mean, I did Million Dollar Baby and that was sort of actiony. I mean, certainly, I did more physically in that movie than I’ve ever done. But I, I like, I’m really a physical person and I like doing that kind of physicality work and something like that would be fun. Like a Bourne for a female or something I think I’d really like.

Clara Rugaard: You’d totally rock that!

Yes, you’d be amazing! Okay. I’ve heard some theories about the connection between your two characters, because you do look a bit alike. Any thoughts?

Hilary Swank: What’s interesting is that there was nothing in the script about the way we looked physically, it wasn’t written that way. It just ended up like that. Clara was cast and then I was cast right before we started filming. Maybe you guys had already started at that point?

Clara Rugaard: I had been in Australia for a week at least.

Hilary Swank: So you had already been filming for a good ten days. And so then I’m cast, and we got to set and, clearly, we look related. Yeah. And so the idea of adding that element and some of those ideas that are now in this script, because of the way we look so similar was a nice added dimension that really helped out.

Clara Rugaard: Yeah, enriched it.

Is there anything coming up for you guys that you’re filming or working on now that you can tell us about?

Clara Rugaard: Yeah, I’m, I’m flying to Barcelona soon to shoot a film that is set during the Second World War. It’s about the Warsaw Ghetto. And it’s about a group of Polish Jewish actors who put up a play. So yes, very excited to get started on that.

Hilary Swank: And I’m about to go do another project with Netflix, where I play an astronaut. And Edward Zwick is directing. and it starts soon, and I’m super excited about it. I love all this kind of stepping into this genre in another way. With the idea of that, you know, leaving Earth and what’s out there? And yeah… the unknown. There’s something that’s endlessly fascinating about that, and what is out there. It’s so open to the imagination, and no one knows.

I think so too. And thank you again for taking the time to speak with me. It has been great and congratulations on the movie! I wish you best of luck in the future.

We want to thank Hilary Swank and Clara Rugaard for taking the time to speak with us about the film. 

I Am Mother premieres on Netflix June 7th.