If there’s one thing you can expect from a Wes Anderson movie, it’s the A-list cast, as in his whimsical pictures The Royal Tenenbaums and The Grand Budapest Hotel, to name a couple. The auteur’s trip to the candy-colored Asteroid City is no different, and before opening in select theaters, Collider’s Steve Weintraub spoke to stars Scarlett Johansson and Jason Schwartzman, who play Midge Campbell and Auggie Steenbeck, to discuss what fans of the filmmaker may not expect from an Anderson production.

Around the year 1955, a group of young space lovers and their parents make the pilgrimage to a dusty desert town called Asteroid City. This isolated, pastel-hued mock-up village invites Junior Stargazers to a convention where they’ll enjoy an itinerary of activities and competition and the promise of rest and relaxation. However, not all is as it seems in this aesthetic dreamworld, and Stargazers and their families not only find themselves embroiled in dramas and romances but will also bear witness to a world-changing phenomenon. Asteroid City’s cast also features Tom Hanks, Tilda Swinton, Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Adrien Brody, Maya Hawke, Steve Carrell, Jeffrey Wright, Hope Davis, Stephen Park, Rupert Friend, Margot Robbie, and Willem Dafoe.
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During their conversation, Johansson and Schwartzman share what it’s like on a Wes Anderson set, telling Weintraub the writer-director’s energy is always lively and positive and that despite his affinity for working with large ensemble casts, fans would be surprised by the atmosphere. Johansson explains why Asteroid City was her “North Star” project, and they both discuss the kind of direction Anderson gives his actors. For all of this and more on Johansson’s involvement in the upcoming animated Transformers One and Schwartzman’s Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse tease, check out the video or full transcript below.

COLLIDER: Obviously, I’m a fan of both of your works, but if someone has never seen anything that you’ve done — besides Asteroid City — what’s the thing you want them watching and why?

SCARLETT JOHANSSON: Something that you have done yourself?

Yeah, from your resume.

JOHANSSON: Oh, how interesting! Oh, gosh. Maybe Under the Skin because I think it’s a great movie, and I’m obsessed with (director) Jonathan Glazer outside of the work that we did together. I think it’s such a unique movie that I want as many people as possible to see it because it’s kind of a little hidden gem.

JASON SCHWARTZMAN: Is he a nice guy?

JOHANSSON: Yeah, he’s a great guy.

SCHWARTZMAN: I loved his video he did. Remember that “Rabbit in Your Headlights” video he did for the band Unkle? Thom Yorke, remember that? It was great.

What about you?

SCHWARTZMAN: I would just say… I don’t know [laughs]. I can’t, I–

JOHANSSON: You have to.

SCHWARTZMAN: Yeah, okay, I have to. I would just encourage them to see Fantastic Mr. Fox.

Sure, that’s kind of a good movie.

SCHWARTZMAN: For the whole family.

100%. Scarlett, what was it like to finally get the call from Wes to do live-action?

JOHANSSON: It was great! I was in the middle of the quarantine time, and so it was basically the best call that I received. It just felt hopeful and like there was something to look forward to. It was kind of this North Star thing, the light at the end of a very weird tunnel. I was excited to read the script and know what the world was that he was sort of playing in, and then to get to have creative conversations with him over that, too, just felt like I was working on something and developing and building something, which was, again, a really welcome distraction. So it was very exciting.

For both of you, a lot of people watching this will be Wes Anderson fans, and I’m curious, what do you think will surprise them to learn about the way Wes works on set or in preproduction, or just things, in general, about Wes they wouldn’t know?

SCHWARTZMAN: I think it’s that as large as this cast is, and as many people as it took to make the movie, and how many people are involved, it’s surprising to see how much he prefers an intimate setting to actually start shooting the movie. He prefers to have just the actors, you know what I mean? He really makes that clear, and it’s really cool because then he never has to raise his voice, he’s just right there, I think that’s the thing. It’s the feeling of intimacy in a movie that looks… you know, it’s got all these people, and it’s in a crater, and it’s this big thing, but the process feels intimate.

JOHANSSON: I don’t know what would surprise anyone, I don’t know what their assumptions are about Wes, but Wes has a very light, positive, excitable attitude on set. You know, sometimes if you think of an auteur, they seem kind of, like, serious and concentrated, and very particular, and the set’s really quiet, or whatever. Wes is very lively on set, he makes noise while you’re working, you can hear him laughing and making noises. He’s really excited by the process, and he somehow has more energy as the day goes on. He’s so invigorated by work, and he just works constantly, and he comes off the set and he’s so excited about the work that you did that day, he’s already prepping for the next day. He’s so engaging and very funny and very vivacious.

Image via Focus Features

One of the things I’m curious about is I would imagine Wes is very specific about the way he wants you to deliver dialogue, and also you’re acting-to-the-camera move. Everything is so specific. What is it like as an actor, where you are trying to bring his vision to life versus finding it on set with a director who doesn’t really know exactly what they want?

JOHANSSON: I don’t think Wes knows exactly… My experience is he doesn’t actually know what he wants out of the performance. There’s a certain… you know, the dialogue is the dialogue, and so those are the kind of parameters, or if you have to hit this specific mark, which is normal. His may be a little more particular, but really, everything else is up for grabs, so your whole interpretation of what this means, how it’s colored, the nuance of it, the prose, whatever. Sometimes he might say, “Take a little air out of it,” or he wants soemthig to be delivered with a certain kind of speed, or, “This can be thrown away,” or whatever, but he’s actually very open to the shading in of all of it.

SCHWARTZMAN: I think that’s what he loves about being there, when you describe his on-set vivacious, that is the thing, it’s like this feeling of, “What’s going to happen?” Like she said, he loves that. [To Johansson] I didn’t mean to cut you off.

JOHANSSON: No, I’m glad you did.

SCHWARTZMAN: I was trying to jump in, but then when you didn’t keep talking, it was like, “Oh.”

JOHANSSON: It was perfect timing. Your timing was great.

Image via Focus Features

This is much better than Zoom because you can interrupt each other. For each of you, I definitely have to talk about the fact that you’re voicing The Spot in the Spider-Verse, so I just want to say congratulations on that. I want to know what you can tease for the upcoming third move, which I know is very limited. Also, I’ve talked to Lorenzo [di Bonaventura] about Transformers One, and you get to voice a character in this big CGI, ILM-animated Transformers movie; what can you tease about Elita? I believe that’s the character.

JOHANSSON: Yes, I’m playing Elita. I’m working with Josh Cooley, who is an incredible writer-director who I adore and have worked creatively with in another capacity. The film doesn’t look like anything I’ve ever seen before, it looks so cool! The texture of it is so awesome. And because Josh wrote it, it just feels very… I don’t know, it’s got a very dramatic feeling about it. It’s funny, but it’s got so much heart to it like all of his stuff does. I don’t know, I think it’s a different way of approaching this IP. I think it stands on its own, it’s pretty exciting.

SCHWARTZMAN: Yeah, there’s not much I really can say, but I’m just excited about it, and it was a great experience, I loved working with them. And we started doing that before this movie!

JOHANSSON: You can’t say one single thing? What single thing can you say?

SCHWARTZMAN: Well, I can say a few things: bigger, badder, holier.

JOHANSSON: No.

SCHWARTZMAN: Yes, believe it or not!

JOHANSSON: And by “holier,” you mean there’s plot holes?

SCHWARTZMAN: No, I have holes in my body! You know what? The truth is this, it’s really fun because, as you know, it’s a part one and two, and so it’s a really cool, rare opportunity to get to tell one big story and have the time to go into all these things and let these characters really develop. I can’t wait for it, I’m so excited.

Asteroid City iw now playing in select theaters.