IN THE CARDS,
Tiffany Haddish gets down to business in ‘The Card Counter’
Adeep dive into the world of professional card players, Paul Schrader’s “The Card Counter” stars Oscar Isaac as a haunted gambler and Tiffany Haddish as the woman who changes his lonely life.
“La Linda is all business,” Haddish, 41, began. “She’s very charismatic. She has a lot of style. But at the same time, she’s very serious about her business.
“She comes from not the best background, but she doesn’t want to dwell on that. She’s very open and vulnerable. But she’s more about business, like ‘I need you in my stable,’ like (Oscar Isaac’s William Tell is) a thoroughbred.”
Ever since this standup comic’s breakthrough with “Girls Trip” in 2017, Haddish seems to never have stopped working. She’s made eight movies, published her memoir, did “The Last OG” series and hosts a weekly talk show, “Friday Night Vibes.”
Schrader is a screenwriter and director whose landmark credits include “Taxi Driver,” “Raging Bull,” “American Gigolo” and “First Reformed,”
Theirs only seems like an unusual teaming.
“Paul reached out,” she recalled. “He was interested in working with me and I was like, ‘Let’s talk.’
“We talked for like an hour and I was, ‘I love this guy!’ I loved ‘Cat People’ and then everything else he’s done after that. So when I got to sit and talk with him, that was super dope.
“Then when I read the script, it really hit home for me. I was like, ‘I know people like this’ — this is definitely a world that needs to be explored, and I want to help tell this story.
“I know a little about the gambling world; I’ve got a few friends that are professional poker players. I know how to play poker. It’s not really my thing.”
Schrader rehearsed his cast for a week before filming began in actual casinos in Biloxi, Miss.
“I’m so glad we had rehearsals because what I thought the character was and what Paul thought the character was, was two different things!
“So I would say for that first rehearsal I was mad. It’s not that it wasn’t a comedy but you’re used to doing stuff one way. He had to show me, ‘No I want it this way’ and be very straightforward.
“That’s one of the things I love about him. He’s so blunt and honest. In the rehearsals is where I got to play and dare to fail.
“Then when we started in front of the cameras, I already knew what he wanted, right?”
Right indeed.