Macdonald unravels secret of ‘Puzzle’ character
This week's “Puzzle” has Scotland's Kelly Macdonald as a housewife and mother who discovers, among many unexpected discoveries, a particular talent for solving jigsaw puzzles. Macdonald's performance as Agnes, a woman who blossoms before our eyes, has been greeted by critics, and not for the first time, as being akin to a spiritual experience.
Familiar from “No Country for Old Men” and “Boardwalk Empire,” Macdonald knows “Puzzle” is quietly different.
“The script is where it always starts,” Macdonald, 41, said. “It always boils down to the character. Really it does — and the character of Agnes was so unusual.”
Also unusual, she added, this was a role that came directly to her: “I don't get asked very often and it was unusual for me to be asked to be a lead in something.
“What was interesting was this story, which is not a big story. It's a relatable piece, a story where I just find her quiet rebellion fascinating.
“The backstory for the character was definitely vital. Her father passed and she needed looking after at that point and married immediately and has two sons.
“From there her family had been very loving and too protective I think. That was a real struggle.”
Macdonald see Agnes as being “on the `spectrum.' We all are I think. She's very focused, she has her routines, with numbers. There's definitely something. She's a little unusual.”
That could be why when Agnes gets the puzzle for her birthday, she can assemble its thousand pieces with remarkable speed. When she goes to Manhattan to buy more puzzles, she sees a sign asking for a partner in a puzzle competition and meets a reclusive billionaire inventor (India's Irrfan Kahn).
They become a formidable team and Agnes' life will never be as it was.
“Her husband is trying to understand what's happening to his wife,” Macdonald noted, “and she needs to be able to experience herself. That's never happened.
“I really love that these two quiet characters are in a room together to play and what I really love about the film is that it's not a love story.
“It's tenderness and love and moments of passion in there, but it's not about finding `that one person that can complete you.'
“It's Agnes, almost like a teenager, finding out about life, making mistakes. In the end it's really about her really discovering herself.” (“Puzzle” opens Friday.)