Cailee Spaeny

VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images

If Civil War star Cailee Spaeny isn’t already on every casting shortlist in town, then her 2024 is about to etch her name in stone.

Coming off of her Golden Globe-nominated performance as Priscilla Presley in Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla, the Missouri native returns to the big screen with another critically acclaimed A24 film in Alex Garland’s Civil War. The duo previously collaborated together on Garland’s sci-fi miniseries Devs, and fulfilling a promise he made years ago to write his cast new roles, Spaeny is one of six Devs actors in the British filmmaker’s new action-thriller. 

Spaeny plays aspiring war photographer, Jessie Cullen, and after being saved on the streets of New York City by her photojournalist hero, Lee Smith (Kirsten Dunst), she maneuvers her way into joining Lee’s road trip to Washington, D.C. Along with two other journalists, Joel (Wagner Moura) and Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson), the quartet make the dangerous trek to the nation’s capital in order to photograph and interview the dictatorial president (Nick Offerman) before rebel forces have their way with him.

Civil War is an anti-war cautionary tale about a potential future in which polarization has led to a warring nation. And at a time when our own real-life polarization is at an all-time high, and politicians and extremist organizations routinely bandy about terms like secession and civil war, Garland’s picture serves as a stark warning to everyone. For Spaeny, it all comes down to communication.

“The hopefulness of the film is that it gets into you, that it sits there and gets under your skin, and hopefully, the reaction to that is to have meaningful conversations,” Spaeny tells The Hollywood Reporter. “I think that’s the only way out of the position that we’re in, not only in America, but also all over the world.”

In August, Spaeny stars in the Alien (1979) and Aliens (1986) interquel, Alien: Romulus, which director Fede Álvarez penned with her in mind. The filmmaker recently detailed to THR the great lengths that he went to in order to recapture the handmade feel of Alien and Aliens, and Spaeny now says that there’s just one relative downside to bringing back many of Stan Winston’s special effects artists from Aliens.

“Because we had the best of the best, that also meant that we [as actors] had to watch those scenes play out right before our eyes, and it was truly disgusting and horrifying, which is great. So hopefully the audience appreciates that,” Spaeny shares.

Despite being in nearly every scene of the film, Spaeny was still frightened by the footage she watched during recent ADR sessions: “I was genuinely jumping and going, ‘Oh my God, no! This is terrible [in a good way]!’” Spaeny says with a laugh.

In March 2021, due to Civil War’s ever-shifting schedule, Spaeny officially exited the de facto lead role on Disney+’s Willow series, and in a twist of fate, Ruby Cruz, who played Spaeny’s character’s best friend on HBO’s smash hit Mare of Easttown, took her place. At that point, life had already imitated art as the two actors became fast friends in real life, so much so that Spaeny brought Cruz to the 81st Golden Globes where they encountered one Taylor Swift. As a Missourian, Spaeny had to make it known that she’s been a fan of the Kansas City Chiefs and Swift for as long as she can remember, long before the combination became fashionable via Swift’s relationship with Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.

But, as they got to talking, Swift let Spaeny know that she was a big fan of Mare, which prompted Cruz to chime in about her own role on the series. Bear in mind, Cruz is often unrecognizable due to her constantly changing appearance, but Swift’s subsequent response and recognition truly impressed Spaeny.

“Taylor Swift brought up that she loved Mare of Easttown, which is so crazy, and Ruby went, ‘I’m in Mare of Easttown, too!’ And then Taylor said, ‘But you were blonde in Mare of Easttown, weren’t you?’” Spaeny says of Swift’s impressive memory. “So I don’t know what that says about Taylor. Maybe it’s just that she’s a massive Mare of Easttown fan, which is very cool.”

In 2018, Spaeny co-starred as Rose Summerspring in Drew Goddard’s well-received Bad Times at the El Royale, and with recent news that Goddard is helming Matrix 5, Spaeny is eager to reunite and go deep down the Matrix rabbit hole. [Writer’s Note: Bad Times also gifted the world some incredible junket clips between Spaeny and junket all-star Dakota Johnson.]

“I would do anything with Drew Goddard. He is such a mastermind, and I am so excited for him,” Spaeny says with a Matrix-esque black leather jacket in hand. “So, yes, let’s get that out there and see what happens. Let’s manifest it.”

Below, during a recent conversation with THR, Spaeny also discusses Civil War’s most terrifying scene involving Jesse Plemons and how an intimidating moment of improvisation caused her to overlook a key piece of information about the “Show-Me State” of Missouri.

When your aspiring combat photographer character, Jessie, meets Kirsten Dunst’s Lee, she fangirls out, as she inspired her to pursue this line of work. When you first met Kirsten, was it impossible not to gush about her like Jessie did to Lee?

I saved that for the screen. I really played it cool when I met her, and then I thought to myself, “This is going to be incredibly useful when I have to do that scene where I’m fangirling.” So there wasn’t much acting I had to do there in that scene because I got to release my inner Kirsten fan girl, which is definitely living inside me.

I bookmarked this months ago, long before your recent appearance on Jimmy Kimmel, but there’s an amazing photo of you meeting Taylor Swift at the Golden Globes. You gave her this Spielbergian look of awe and wonderment. 

(Laughs.) I know! It was like I was looking at a real-life Disney princess. That photo is really great and sums it all up.

Did you pull a Jessie in that moment? 

I really did, actually. I was so inarticulate. No words came out of my mouth other than the thing I talked about on Kimmel, but it’s true. I was like, “Your hair is so pretty,” and I said to myself, “Oh my God, really!? Is that the only thing you’re going to say?” I also said, “I’m a Chiefs fan and I love you,” but I didn’t know what to say. And she was like, “Yeah, it’s all in one place now.” And I was like, “Exactly!” So I don’t have many fangirl moments, but that one was a big deal. Anyone my age would agree that you can’t keep your chill in that moment.

Have you framed that photo yet and put it on your favorite wall?

No, I haven’t gotten it developed yet. It was a film photo, and I’m scared that it didn’t come out well or it’s blurry. So I’ve just kept the roll of film, and one day we’ll see the surprise. Hopefully, it turns out, but I’ve got some great photos of my friend taking a selfie and freaking out. Yeah, it was a great night.

So did Alex Garland surprise you with Jessie’s Missouri backstory and its resemblance to your own?

He did, yeah! He knows me pretty well after Devs, and that state just made sense to him. He was like, “Can I use it?” And I was like, “Yeah, sure! Works for me.” 

Do you come from a family of farmers as well?

I do come from a family of farmers. I’ve got a long line of farmers in my family. My grandfather is a farmer. But the generation afterwards switched it up a bit.

When Jessie and co. arrived at the football field, a soldier asked for their IDs, and Jessie gave this worried look that made me wonder if she was hiding something. And later, when she was unable to answer the question of why they call Missouri the “Show-Me State,” I convinced myself that she was lying about her Missouri background. 

(Laughs.)

But, as I learned afterwards, there’s no consensus on why they call Missouri the Show-Me State. Multiple stories exist, so I let go of that theory. Regardless, why did Jessie give that weird look when they were asked for IDs?

Because she didn’t have her press pass. She’s not actually a professional photojournalist, so that was a moment of her being nervous that she was going to get caught and not let in. 

And when [Jesse Plemons’] character asked my character [Jessie] the “Show-Me State” question, that was all improvised. That wasn’t in the script. So I was genuinely like, “Oh my God, I don’t know why we’re called the Show-Me State.” We all say it … (Spaeny imitates a Missourian saying “Show-Me State.”) But I think it’s because people in Missouri need to be proven things. We’ve got a certain Missourian quality about us. We’re a bit spiky. But when you’re doing a scene where someone’s got a gun in their hand, I just didn’t know [at the time]. It was genuinely terrifying when Jesse pulled that line out because I had no idea what to say, so hopefully it works for the movie.

Like any combat photographer, Jessie will, quite literally, stop at nothing to get a photo. She’s fearless. Was there a memorable day where everybody on set also had to stop at nothing to get a shot? 

With the mass grave scene in particular, we didn’t have that much time left in the day. I only did that two times, and that moment is an insane visual of Jessie crawling through the bodies. It’s also such an intense performance that I had to try to give, and god bless the stunt team whose real bodies were in the Hotlanta sun for two days straight. So that one was a shot we were chasing. 

We also went back and got the shot of me and Wagner [Moura] screaming in the car, post-mass grave. That was a random Saturday. It was just me, Wagner, Alex and DP Rob Hardy and maybe one other guy, and we just went back and shot it, indie-style. We just drove around the streets and took turns screaming bloody murder. (Laughs.) 

And then Wagner got Covid while we were filming, so we had two weeks of us just trying to improvise how to shoot the film without him. So it led to these funny creative moments and shots of flowers in the wind, which Garland, of course, leaned into. But it was tricky because we then had to go back and reshoot the car-to-car sequence with Wagner now there. So there were some tricky beats here and there.

I’ve asked a version of this question to all your co-stars, but as I was watching this movie, I genuinely wondered if this was watching a sneak peek of our own future. Did you ever let yourself think about that possibility?

When I read the script, one of the many feelings I had was fear. This is scary, and when I watched the movie, I also felt that. But the hopefulness of the film is that it gets into you, that it sits there and gets under your skin, and hopefully, the reaction to that is to have meaningful conversations. I think that’s the only way out of the position that we’re in, not only in America, but also all over the world. There’s a lot of amazing things you can do with this medium of film, and while some of it is pure entertainment, you can also work through deep fears or big questions. That’s when film is really important. 

You’ve never let me down with this question, but what was this movie’s version of the orb in your camera roll and Elvis on Priscilla’s radio? [Writer’s Note: Spaeny shot The Craft: Legacy at a haunted location that resulted in a variety of supernatural occurrences including a picture of an orb that mysteriously showed up in her phone’s camera roll. The on-set witch — yes, the on-set witch — told her it’s common.]

Oh no! Don’t build it up that I’ve never let you down because now I’m going to let you down. 

Kirsten told me you had a film roll in your camera throughout filming, so part of me hoped for a return of the orb when you finally developed your rolls.

(Laughs.) My Craft orb, my ghost. Gosh, I don’t have an eerie story on this one. This wasn’t a spooky experience, so there wasn’t anything like that. It was so grounded, and it almost felt documentary style. But I had so much fun actually shooting film photos the whole time, and people would ask me all the time on set if I was actually shooting. I chose the composition. I made sure I had the right f-stop and the right speed of film. And once we entered the White House at night, my [ISO] was 800 or higher. 

And for Jessie’s last set of photos in the White House sequence, I actually got to compose those photos with our amazing camera team. We did that sequence again through Jessie’s POV, so I was standing right behind our camera operator, going, “Get this shot! Now go over there and get this.” So we got to develop that sequence together, which was so much fun and so interesting. And with all the knowledge I took in from researching and going to a dark room and talking to photographers, I got to use all of it to pick the shots I wanted.

Alex once said that he’d write new roles for his Devs actors, and he meant it, as there are six of you in Civil War. Did all of you get a chance to reunite and talk about quantum computing? 

(Laughs.) Sadly, we didn’t get to reunite all at the same time, but Devs was the best filming experience I’ve ever had. I was 19 years old, I loved Alex’s work and that was the first time anyone had ever given me a character that was outside the box. So I genuinely love all of those actors. When Jin [Ha] and Karl [Glusman] came into town, we hung out and went to the bar and had a good chat. And Steven McKinley Henderson is just like a Yoda figure. He’s got an endless amount of knowledge and experience about life and acting, and he’s got the best stories. He also sees the world with childlike wonder, and he is always learning with you. So he’s such a beautiful soul. And then seeing Sonoya [Mizuno] again, it was a real treat. 

So I love that Alex does that because he knows that he is only as strong as the crew that he’s working with, and that’s what makes his collaboration process so gratifying. He puts so much trust not only in his actors, but the crew around him. He’s done every movie with DP Rob Hardy, and it’s just beautiful to see those connections in an environment that you don’t really get to experience that often.

You’ve been on quite a run of good fortune, and when I spoke to Fede Álvarez recently, he told me that he wrote Alien: Romulus for you. 

That is so insane. I forgot that was true.

Isabela Merced also mentioned to me that she watched her very “disgusting” scene on Fede’s iPad during reshoots, and that everyone watching around her had to turn away from the monitor in horror. The teaser alludes to that scene as well. Were you also there that day to watch that scene?

(Spaeny takes a moment to remember the goings-on during reshoots.) I was just doing ADR for it, and even though I was right there in almost every scene, I was genuinely jumping and going, “Oh my God, no! This is terrible [in a good way]!” (Laughs.) What was so fun about working on Alien is that so much of it was practical, and, as a film nerd who adores not only Alien and Aliens and all the other attached films, but also The Thing, I just have such passion for practical effects. The [special effects] people behind them have so much love for what they do. But, because we had the best of the best, that also meant that we had to watch those scenes play out right before our eyes, and it was truly disgusting and horrifying, which is great. So hopefully the audience appreciates that.

During Priscilla, we talked about domino effects, and because Alex fulfilled his promise to write new roles for his Devs actors in Civil War, you were then able to meet Kirsten, who endorsed you to Sofia Coppola for Priscilla. Well, you’re a part of another domino effect involving Ruby Cruz, who played your best friend on Mare of Easttown. Did you fall over when you found out that she landed the Willow role you left? 

It was the best thing that could have happened. I was so gutted about not being able to do it because of scheduling conflicts with Civil War. Civil War was back and forth in getting made, and it took a couple years to get on its feet. So I was devastated when I had to jump out of that project, but when it was Ruby coming in to take my place, I was over the moon. There couldn’t have been a better person. I am such a Ruby Cruz fan as an actress and obviously as a person. I adored Bottoms. I think they single-handedly brought back comedy. So she’s a really brilliant actress, and she was the one who I brought on my date to the Golden Globes, which was the best choice ever. Taylor Swift brought up that she loved Mare of Easttown, which is so crazy, and Ruby went, “I’m in Mare of Easttown, too!” And then Taylor said, “But you were blonde in Mare of Easttown, weren’t you?” So I don’t know what that says about Taylor. Maybe it’s just that she’s a massive Mare of Easttown fan, which is very cool. But Ruby is a very special person, and yes, that is another good connection and domino effect. I thought she did a brilliant job in that role.

Lastly, Drew Goddard — who created your Bad Times at the El Royale character, Rose Summerspring — is making a Matrix movie. 

I just heard about this!

Can we put it out into the universe that you’d love to dodge bullets inside the Matrix? 

Yes, let’s put it out there. I’ve even got my Matrix coat here. (Spaeny grabs her black leather jacket that’s draped over her chair.) I would do anything with Drew Goddard. He is such a mastermind, and I am so excited for him. So, yes, let’s get that out there and see what happens. Let’s manifest it.

***
Civil War opens in movie theaters nationwide on April 12.