Posted in: Exclusive, Interview, Movies | Tagged: exclusive, Gaurav Seth, interview, Multiverse, Munro Chambers, Paloma Kwiatkowski, Saban Films

Multiverse: Paloma Kwiatkowski & Munro Chambers Talk Film's Duality

Actors playing dual roles is nothing new, but Gaurav Seth's Multiverse takes it a whole another level, with most of its principal cast dealing with alternate versions of themselves as the title implies. I spoke with two of its stars simultaneously in Paloma Kwiatkowski and Munro Chambers, who play Loretta and Gerry, respectively. They're among four brilliant university students forced to confront themselves in a terrifying way when their Quantum Physics experiment leads to an entangled parallel existence that leaves them questioning who they are and what is real.

"'Multiverse' was such a crazy script," Kwiatkowski said. "I was mostly interested for the challenge of not only having to play two different versions of a character but also like to bring understanding multiverse and quantum entanglement to audiences. I was scared of the challenge, but knowing that, I knew it was going to be like a really fun and exciting project." Chambers added, "It was a pretty wild script, and I think anything that's a bold and brave like that to have a challenge for us to perform and to create two different versions of a character is something you always want to leap for."

To create two distinctive characters within the same actors, there's plenty of meticulous detail needed. "There were a couple of obvious things with some of the characters," Kwiatkowski explained. "For example, with Monroe's character between Gerry 1and Gerry 2, Gerry 2 was on medication whereas Gerry 1 was not. So there was a bit of instability that Monroe got to play with. With Sandra [Mae Frank] 's character, Amy 1 was deaf, and two were not. With my character, luckily for me, I didn't have to play too much with Loretta 1 and Loretta 2 at the same time, but I did think of little quirks. We all thought of little physical changes to do that; for example, for Loretta 2, my hair is parted in a different way. There are just little tiny differences that hopefully make up a well-rounded, different character. But mostly, I think where you see the differences are in between how the characters interact with one another. Obviously, Loretta 1 is going to have a very different relationship to Amy 1 as opposed to Amy 2 because they've had different circumstances in which they've been living in. So that's where it all really comes out, I think."

The biggest challenge Chambers noted is finding consistency within the chaos given the standard structure of filming. "I think one of the biggest challenges in general with this script is just making sure all the puzzle pieces go together because, for many films, you're not shooting it chronologically, so you need to make sure that on the day you've got the right version, right?" he said. "But also if you when you see the film, it'll be there. Although it's kind of all over the place when you're first reading, and you want to make sure it's all consistent. So the dialog and communication you would have on the floor or even afterward on work just to make sure we had it all lined up properly. That was a great challenge, and I think hopefully, we were successful in that."

Kwiatkowski credits Seth for sharing his vision in a fluid manner with his communication. "Gaurav was very gracious to us and allowed us to explore our characters," she said. "So it was a very collaborative effort between all of us. We're bringing Gaurav more of our ideas for our characters and how the scenes we felt were organically working. Before shooting every scene, we would have a little rehearsal, and we would try to map it out to see what felt right. Gaurav was always listening to us if we had any concerns or felt like something was unnatural. He had some very cool, stylized ideas for shots that we just kind of had to run along with because we're not the ones looking behind the camera. It was fun to see all of that come together in the end, and all those stylized shots were very cool the mere shots, and it really brought us into this kind of eerie universe."

While filming of Multiverse took place prior to the pandemic, the two actors still find themselves adjusting to current COVID protocols. "My experience has always been a struggle," Chambers said. "There's always going few more hurdles, especially behind the cameras; I'm sure for production-wise is just a lot more, a lot more difficult. But as an actor, you just trying to you're trying to do what you always do, which is trying to communicate. Don't let your process affect anybody else's work, and you just got to work as a team as soon as you try to take it selfishly and put it on yourself. We all got to work together to make it work in the times we're in, and so it's been pretty smooth for the things I've been a part of, which has been a blessing. You just got to try to do your best and be accommodating and be respectful for each other." Kwiatkowski notes she tends to forget her mask is one when ready to film her scenes. "I'm just doing my eyes today, just the eyes," Chambers joked.

Saban Films' Multiverse, which also stars Marlee Matlin and Robert Naylor, is currently in theaters. It will be available on-demand and digital on November 16 and on DVD and Blu-ray on January 11, 2022. You can check out our interview with Frank here.

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