Tessa Thompson is winning rapturous praise for her sizzling turn in Nia DaCosta’s Hedda, a sexy and sapphic spin on Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler. But fret not. Their daring film isn’t just for theater kids familiar with the classic play. This exclusive featurette from Prime Video welcomes audiences into the rich and scandalous world of Hedda in under four minutes.
Thompson, who headlines and produces Hedda, shares insights into the epic anti-heroine. “One of the things that makes Hedda a character that has captivated audiences for centuries,” Thompson explains, “Is that Hedda’s motives and why she does what she does is kind of mercurial. She has a ferocious appetite.”
For what? Oh, wealth, love, and carnage.
‘Hedda’s Tessa Thompson, Nia DaCosta, and Nina Hoss reveal the secrets to that sexy entrance
DaCosta’s Hedda takes Ibsen’s story of a wickedly smart and beautiful socialite who turns her discontent into everyone else’s problem and places it in a new setting: 1950s England, with a queer twist. DaCosta has gender-swapped Hedda Gabler’s former flame Eilert to Eileen, played here by Nina Hoss, who’d previously portrayed the title role on stage. “This re-invents the whole story,” Hoss explains in the featurette.
In Mashable’s interview with DaCosta, the writer/director spoke about making this traditionally white and straight protagonist Black and queer. “I always knew I wanted Hedda to be Black, but more than anything I wanted Tessa to play Hedda,” she said in Mashable’s interview, “And then I was thinking about Eilert, and was like, ‘Hm. What if Eilert were a woman? What if the struggles he experiences are because he was a woman. You know, he’s brilliant but misunderstood, not listened to…If it’s a woman it not only makes more sense to me but also fits into the stucture, into the themes we’re dealing with anyway with Hedda. And then I thought, ‘Oh, everyone’s gay!'”
This featurette delves into how DaCosta’s reinvention of the story demanded unique music, costumes, and production design. Icelandic composer Hildur Guðnadóttir brought a carnal intensity to her score by infusing it with heaving human breath. The video up top reveals she created this by bringing Hedda’s cast and crew onto location to record these sounds where Hedda prowls.
Costume designer Lindsay Pugh shares how she conceived the defining gowns of the lesbian love triangle of Hedda, Eileen, and Eileen’s current paramour, Thea (Imogen Poots). Then, production designer Cara Brower unveils her thought process in finding the perfect home for Hedda, while DaCosta speaks to how its decor hints at the conflict within Hedda’s head and heart.
In short, this featurette teases plenty of reasons to fall for Hedda. What’s yours?