Shooting stars
Twice Oscar nominated Poor Things cinematographer Robbie Ryan talks about working with some of the biggest names in Hollywood
HE’S preparing to walk the red carpet again, but Oscar nominated Irish cinematographer Robbie Ryan still ‘can’t believe’ he makes a living capturing the greatest actors in the world doing their thing.
The Dubliner is up for an Academy Award for the second time for his work on Poor Things, after losing out in 2019 for The Favourite – both directed by the visionary filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos.
Ryan said being left stunned by the performance of a world-class movie actor in real time ‘happens all the time’ in his job.
‘That’s why I love it, because I get to do that every day,’ he told the Irish Mail on Sunday.
‘I’m filming people who are totally involved and immersed in the character they’re playing and to be watching that on the camera is the best place to be, because I’m right in front of it.
‘I’m blessed with that job. I can’t believe I’ve got it.’
The lauded cinematographer said this latest Oscar nod ‘feels a bit more rare because the film did so well in the nominations’. Poor Things, a berserk sci-fi/sex comedy produced by Irish company Element Pictures, is nominated in 11 categories, including Best Picture.
Ryan said the acclaimed film felt like ‘a special project right from the get go’.
‘To be amongst all the other craftspeople together and all the producers and the actors and all, it just feels like a very community award for our film. And the fact that it’s such a crazy film and it’s getting such love is just wonderful.’
The 53-year-old is now Lanthimos’s goto cinematographer and was enlisted to shoot the Greek director’s upcoming Kinds Of Kindness in New Orleans in 2022.
Like Poor Things, it stars Emma Stone and Willem Dafoe, as well as Jesse Plemons and Margaret Qualley.
‘It’s kind of three films in one and the characters in each film are played by the same actors, even though they’re different characters,’ Ryan explained. ‘It’s in the edit process, so hopefully that may come out later this year.’
Lanthimos is ‘a true gent’, he said of the director.
‘He’s very enigmatic, he’s very knowledgeable of what he wants. He’s what you want from a director really – he runs the show. He pushes you in a way that you really have to try and do the best you can, but it’s not done with tension. It’s all done through a collaborative, creative sort of sensibility. He’s a very special guy and he’s a very talented man.’ Ryan has also worked closely with legendary British director Ken Loach, shooting five of his films, and the awardwinning director Andrea Arnold, including on the films Fish Tank (2009), Wuthering Heights
(2011) and
American Honey (2016).
He worked with Michael Fassbender on 2015’s Slow West and on Noah Baumbach’s 2017 comedy drama The Meyerowitz Stories, which starred Adam Sandler, Ben Stiller and Emma Thompson.
His standing in the industry allows him to choose his projects from ‘a set of people I would know or like’.
‘I’ve been very blessed to work with the same directors a few times. So if somebody like Yorgos gives me a ring to ask me on to the next one, I’m on it like a shot. I’m really lucky to have people who I totally love working with and they’re making a few films every couple of years.’
If he hasn’t worked with the director before, it is ‘down to the script’.
‘If the script is something that interests me, then I would be pushing myself to try and get work on that. The third part of it is timing. So if you’ve got time to do it, then hopefully the script is good and the director’s fun.’
I’m really lucky to have people who I totally love working with