TORONTO (AP) — When Rosalind Eleazar first got a breakdown of Chris Rock’s “Misty Green,” it had a stress-inducing description of the character, a strong-headed, self-destructive actor in Los Angeles.
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it → get → Angeles
“It said, ‘She’s a really talented actress,’” Eleazar says.
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Eleazar → say → ?
“You suddenly feel this extra meta pressure: ‘Right, so I have to do the job.
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I → feel → job
I also have to make sure I’m talented.’
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I → have → ?
The good news: Eleazar is, and anyone who sees “Misty Green” will be immediately convinced of that fact.
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who → see → fact
But in “Misty Green,” Eleazar’s first lead role in a film, she’s poised for a much bigger breakthrough.
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she → poise → breakthrough
In the film, which A24 will release Oct. 9, she plays the titular Misty, a well-known actor whose once meteoric rise in Hollywood is now in the distant past.
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rise → release → past
Told to leave the apartment where she’s been crashing, a countdown runs through the film of Misty’s days to find somewhere to live.
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countdown → tell → days
At the same time, she’s trying to land a part despite directors (Rock plays one) and agents (Topher Grace) who have mostly tired of the turmoil she brings with her.
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she → try → her
Adam Driver, Daniel Kaluuya and Anna Kendrick also co-
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Driver → co → ?
The result is plainly one of the best performances of the year, a scintillatingly complex portrait of Hollywood struggle, overflowing with rage and, yes, talent.
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result → overflow → rage
When Misty, or Eleazar, auditions, we can see how good she is.
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she → audition → ?
After the film’s Toronto International Film Festival premiere, Eleazar was immediately hailed as a sure-fire best actress Oscar contender.
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Eleazar → hail → contender
“Like in the movie, you never know,” she said in an interview the morning after the premiere.
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she → know → premiere
I obviously hope people respond to it.”
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people → hope → it
Eleazar was also in Toronto with “Slow Horses,” in which she plays Slough House agent Louisa Guy, to debut its sixth season.
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she → play → season
On Monday, she was flying to Los Angeles for the Emmys, where the Apple TV series is nominated for nine awards.
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series → fly → awards
“It’s been a mad four days,” she said, smiling.
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Eleazar’s performance as Misty is impressive partly because she’s unlike her in so many ways.
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she → ’ → ways
The London-born actor, whose mother is British and whose father is Ghanian, is bright, self-effacing and quick to laugh.
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father → bear → ?
To adopt Misty’s confident stride, she worked with a movement coach.
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she → adopt → coach
“I like to think I navigate life a little differently than her,” she says, laughing.
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she → like → her
“But I do empathize with how so many things are out of our control as an actor.
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things → empathize → actor
You’re constantly on an emotional roller coaster.
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You → ’re → coaster
You think, ‘Am I going to get it?’ ‘No, down to the last two.’
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I → think → two
It’s oscillating all the time between these extreme feelings.”
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It → oscillate → feelings
“It can be relentless to somehow find a way to keep yourself open and soft, because you’re an actor,” Eleazar adds.
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Eleazar → find → yourself
“But Misty has multiple layers of armor on her because she’s been burned.
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I get that.”
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I → get → that
A ‘meta’ audition
Landing the role was, itself, the kind of audition process Misty might have gone through.
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Misty → land → process
Eleazar first did a Zoom audition and then got a callback.
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Eleazar → do → callback
For the next Zoom audition, she went all out.
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she → go → audition
She got her hair and makeup done and rented a studio.
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hair → get → studio
But 10 minutes before starting, live music started blaring from the studio next door.
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music → start → studio
Five minutes beforehand, trains started going past.
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trains → start → ?
When she began, the Wi-Fi was glitchy.
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Fi → begin → ?
“It was so meta,” Eleazar says, shaking her head.
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Eleazar → say → head
“I was so angry with how the whole thing was going, that was probably way better.
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that → go → ?
Chris said it was better because I let it rip.”
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it → say → ?
After those technical troubles, Eleazar resolved to meet Rock in person.
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Eleazar → resolve → person
…and 20 more, not listed.
The Aporia
