Emily Watson on playing the second Mrs Einstein
THE producers of Genius have shared this Q&A with Emily Watson.
Why do you think this story is relevant for audiences today?
Our understanding of the universe we owe to this man Einstein and his work and his particular nature.
Had Elsa and his family not taken the steps to leave Nazi Germany, he would have been lost to us and exterminated, and the resonance of history is strong.
I am not saying it is close to what is happening now, but the language used now is so resonant to the language of that era.
These are exactly the stories we should be telling and teaching our children, not as a “never forget, may it never happen again,” it is happening and we must be awake. How did the relationship develop between Elsa and Albert?
He was in the throes of the end of his relationship with Mileva and she (Elsa) was a breath of fresh air. It just sparked between them in a way that it should not have, and he fell very ill and she saved him. She nursed him back to health and then he was totally dependent on her.
When he became famous they needed to get married as they would be under an incredible amount of scrutiny. There is a transition in the script from battling to get a divorce from Mileva to standing at his side when relativity has been proven and it is a real moment of triumph for her.
How was Elsa different from Mileva?
Elsa was not interested in physics and not in any way Einstein’s intellectual equal. But she made no pretence to be. She was a nurturer, carer and provider, and astute with people and how to work your way through life, which Mileva was not.
Do you identify with Elsa?
The thing that I like about her, and her and Albert’s relationship, is that they have this real sense of being a team and being big enough to be unconventional. They are first cousins and I quite like playing that. For me they are related on a molecular level and pretty much are the same person.
Vincent Kartheiser (Raymond Geist) says working opposite you and Geoffrey Rush is like working opposite a married couple. Do you concur?
This is the third time I have played Mrs Geoffrey Rush and we get tough with each other and it feels good.