When I was preparing to shoot Rebecca Hall in New York for this issue’s cover story, I asked my friend, and Rebecca’s recent co-star in The End of It, Noomi Rapace, to describe the actor. Her response was immediate. ‘Rebecca is one of the kindest, most classy, gentle, fun actresses I’ve ever worked with,’ she said in a voice note. ‘She’s a brilliant leader on set, I will do anything with her, go anywhere with her. She has such a balance between an ocean of wisdom and something really childlike, naive and playful.’ I found this to be entirely true when I flew to NY to hang out in Washington Square, ride the subway and grab a bite to eat in a Greenwich Village Thai diner with Rebecca in July. As the daughter of a theatre director and an opera singer, she was taught not to take on projects for their commercial appeal and to pursue art for the joy it brings her personally. As we discussed her acting career, her recent art exhibition, her directing and the three scripts she currently has finished on her desk, I felt that she really let me into her real world, life and process. I’d spent time with a multi-disciplined, curious, smart creative who pours herself into everything she does, whether acting, writing, directing or painting. And that was motivational to me.
Elsewhere in the issue, I made cocktails with Leslie Mann, took in a football game in Como with Damien Lewis, strolled Westminster Bridge with Eve Hewson, hit the Croisette beach with Jay Lycurgo and hung out in Cannes with Diego Calva. And I revisited shooting Matt Damon nearly 30 years ago on-set of The Talented Mr Ripley where The Odyssey actor was contemplating Homeric verse even then, in a moment that now seems like pure kismet. Artistic drive and ambition are inspiring to me and this issue is full of both…
I hope it inspires you too. Enjoy the issue!
GREG WILLIAMS
Founder, Hollywood Authentic
