Cruella will be released on May 28 and stars Emma Stone as the well-known villain from the classic animated cartoon film, 101 Dalmatians. However, this film follows along with Stone as she plays the antagonist before the 101 Dalmatians movie. This follows the trend of other Disney films – such as Maleficent, which starred Angelina Jolie as the Sleeping Beauty baddie.
Disney Press Conference
In a recent press conference, the team behind Cruella (and the star herself) spoke about the inspiration behind telling this backstory.
Craig Gillespie, the director of Cruella; opened up in the press conference what drew him to take on this kind of project:
“Villains are always so fun to portray, because you just have more license to, uh, to do things that aren’t quite appropriate or push the boundaries, and, uh, create these larger-than-life characters.”
In 101 Dalmatians, Cruella is seen to be very stylish and a villainized, over the top version of people in the fashion industry. In fact, a lot of this is Cruella’s inspiration in the cartoon classic. However, as you can see in the trailer, Cruella didn’t start as the fashionista she is today. Creating a younger version of Cruella definitely took talent and that all falls on the costume designer – Jenny Beavan.
“Well, I think it’s actually quite clear in the script. There’s a real arc for her. And, um, hopefully we found that arc that you see her change over, you know, from a child where she’s obviously anarchic and rebellious and does things to her school uniform much like I remember. Um, my wonderful associate designer, Sarah Young’s sister, was quite an inspiration for that; cause she used to turn her blazer inside out and various. Um, but you just see how she develops. And I think when she gets to the baroness who is a little old-fashioned but a very good designer, um, she learns quite a lot and hones her skill.”
Emma Stone on Playing Cruella
Now, let’s get to Emma Stone – the star of this film. Cruella is definitely a pretty dark film and something people are not used to when it comes to Disney. When asked how surprised she was that Disney was making such a dark film, Stone responded:
“I was. I mean, they really let, I think, Craig and Tony kind of write and make what they wanted to make. And, um, I don’t know, I think it’s definitely dark for a Disney movie. Maybe not for, like, a-a really intense kind of R-rated film. Um, but yeah, it was darker than I’ve seen a Disney movie for a good long time.”
In the film, we find out that Cruella’s name was originally Estella (which, makes sense that a kid wouldn’t just be named Cruella). When asked which version of the character Stone liked playing [Estella or Cruella], the actress expressed:
“What character do I prefer to be more like in life? Well, you know, it’s interesting, because there is a sort of rejection of Estella that comes at a point, and there I think, you know, Estella is sweet, but um, she’s not fully embodied. So I would say there is something about Cruella that’s pretty enticing, because she just kind of is who she is.”
Stone continued:
“She’s in full acceptance and autonomy there. So I am kind of interested in that Cruella world. Um, but, you know, that said, I-she does some things that I-some lines that I don’t think I would necessarily cross. But to be honest, I kind of prefer Cruella.”
On playing a well-known villain, Stone expressed:
“Oh, I don’t think I would ever be able to play a character if I truly thought, like, oh, they’re just bad, they’re just a villain. I mean, I think the only way you can really… Do you think anybody evil walks through the world thinking they’re evil? I mean, I don’t think so. I think they think they’re right.”
Stone also went in to getting the role of Cruella – which apparently all started about six years ago:
“It wasn’t as straightforward as getting a call to play Cruella. It was-it was six years ago. I mean, it was long before we shot the movie. There was sort of an idea. You know, Disney has all this IP, all these characters that they have, and there are sort of some brainstorms. And we actually-it was a process of about four years and different writers and different things were brought to the table, and it really felt like we might not.”
Cruella will premiere on May 28 in cinemas and on Disney+ Premiere Access. Are you looking forward to Cruella?
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