‘It just felt so raw. It was tough emotionally, but incredibly fulfilling’
Jessica Chastain talks to Gemma Dunn about the reboot of classic drama Scenes from a Marriage
Few dramas have had an impact as seismic as Ingmar Bergman’s Scenes from a Marriage.
Detailing the breakdown of a couple’s once-happy union, the Swedish miniseries, watched by nearly half the population, caused waves upon its release in 1973, with viewers moved by its intense examination of marriage.
In fact, the late director (married five times himself ) was blamed for spurring on a marital crisis, with experts attributing a sudden spike in divorce rates and an influx of people flocking to the country’s marriage-guidance service to the show (though neither link can be proved).
Now, the series, debuted at the Venice Film Festival, has been resurrected with a modern reimagining written and directed by Hagai Levi.
First for HBO, and now set to air on Sky Atlantic and NOW TV.
And according to its stars Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac, it is no less intense five decades on.
“I knew I was in trouble the very first week of rehearsal,” recalls Chastain, 44, who joined onto the project late, having heard of the remake via her co-star.
“I thought I was going to be fine, and then reading the scripts out loud, a lot of things that my character was saying were really hitting me.
“Hagai was asking us certain questions that was really getting into the psychology of the character and there was no way of hiding,” says the Interstellar actress.
“It just felt so exposed, so raw, and it was like living in it for months. I think you see that in the work; it was tough emotionally, but incredibly fulfilling.”
The five-part series examines the original’s iconic depiction of love, hatred, desire, monogamy, marriage, and divorce through the lens of a contemporary American couple: tech executive Mira, as played by Chastain; and her philosophy professor husband, Jonathan (Isaac, 42).
It marks a welcome reunion for the Hollywood pair, who go back some 20 years to having been classmates at the Julliard School, New York, before teaming up for American crime drama, A Most Violent Year, in 2014.
“Because of my familiarity with Oscar, I realised it was going to be quite intense,” Chastain says. “I would try to create moments on the weekend where I could spend one on one time with my family, and individuals, to try to make up for really not being super present during the week.
As for working with Levi, Chastain only has good thing to say about the Israeli creator, who won a Golden Globe for co-creating and co-producing television drama The Affair.
“Hagai trusted us; if we took our time, he never tried to rush us or push for any kind of rhythm.
“We were free to feel or do whatever we wanted to do. Because the takes were so long, it was all about listening to the other person and the rhythm of what that flow was between us.
“I think that’s what you see on the screen; we were always connected.”