“I was on a train and I jumped out of my seat and locked myself into the bike locker.” Mia Threapleton had a very Wes Anderson reaction to being cast as a lead character in Wes Anderson’s latest vision, The Phoenician Scheme. From that initial leap of shock, to the film’s recent Cannes seven-and-a-half-minute standing ovation – as far as breakout performances go, Threapleton’s is right up there.

Set in 1950 in a semi-fictional world, the film centres around industrialist Zsa-Zsa Korda (played by Benicio del Toro), who grows weary of the numerous attempts on his life and decides to reconnect with his estranged daughter, a young pipe-smoking, novice nun named Liesl (played by Threapleton), with the hope that she will eventually take over the family business. In typical Anderson style, the film has a huge ensemble cast that includes names like Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson, Willem Dafoe, Bryan Cranston and Michael Cera. But they all play second-fiddle to Threapleton’s brilliantly deadpan Liesl.

We sat down with Threapleton on her final day of normality, the day before the film opened in cinemas. Though she often apologises for being a rambler, her gushing excitement to discuss the project is infectious.

Barry Pierce: I opened my phone the other day and immediately I was faced with the video of you crying during the standing ovation at Cannes. What’s it like to actually have to stand there and face that?
Mia Threapleton: Yeah, the whole world has seen my crying face now. But [the standing ovation] goes really fast. Some official person timed it and said it was like seven and a half minutes or something. It did not feel that long. I remember when we walked into the cinema for the first time, it felt like the room was vibrating – I couldn’t hear anything because my heart was going so loud in my ears.

As it got closer and closer to the end of the film, I got closer and closer to realising that I have to really try and not cry right now. I had kept it together and had managed to slightly keep everything under control, but then everybody stood up and suddenly [the camera] was on my face. Then I had this moment of going, “Oh God, that’s my face. Everyone’s clapping at me. Yeah, everyone’s standing up and clapping at me.” And then I was fucked. I was completely ruined. It was very overwhelming, but not in a negative way.

BP: Now I kind of want to go: how did we get here? How did we get to Cannes? When did the film first come into your life?
MT: I can tell you exactly when it was. It was on the 8th of May, 2023. 

BP: That’s specific.
MT: I’ll never forget it for as long as I live. I received an email from my agent saying, “You’ve got a self-tape to do.” I thought, “OK, great.” And then I read down, and it was like, “It’s for the new Wes Anderson film.” And I [had to go] “No, someone’s got that wrong.” The only character description on that email was ‘young girl’. Two words, that was it. No idea that Benicio was in it. No clue at all. I did it, sent it off, and then it was gone. I didn’t let myself think about it. Then I got an email saying they would like to see me for a recall. So I did that. Then, about three weeks later, I was told “Wes would like to meet you.” OK, have a little breath. So, I went and “Wes opened the door and went, “Hello!’ He was wearing striped trousers, pink socks, hotel slippers and glasses, with a blue shirt.”

“Wes opened the door and went, “Hello!’ He was wearing striped trousers, pink socks, hotel slippers and glasses, with a blue shirt.”

BP: Of course he was.
MT: We sat down and we just chatted. We talked about films that we love, the style that we like and the directors we like. We talked about photography and our mutual dislike of social media and why we both don’t take part in it. Then it was suddenly an hour later and he went, “Oh! We should probably do some acting now.” It was a very collaborative audition, which was not like anything I’d experienced before. Then I left and about three months went by. I thought maybe that thing has happened where they just don’t tell you that you didn’t get it. That happens often. But then my agent phoned me and said, “You did it!” I was on a train and I jumped out of my seat and locked myself into the bike locker. 

“The only character description on that email was ‘young girl’. Two words, that was it.”

BP: So not only did you manage to get the part, but what was it like when you realised who you’d be working with?
MT: I didn’t really come to terms with that until they were sat next to me at dinner, and I’m thinking, “Fucking hell, it’s Woody, Woody’s sat next to me.” Because that was my childhood, I grew up watching Tom [Hanks] do the voice of Woody. And then it’s Bryan Cranston, and I’m thinking, “No, that’s not Walter White, he hasn’t murdered children by accident, it’s fine.” And then it was Riz Ahmed, and there’s Michael Cera. (Don’t think about spermicidal lube. Don’t think about Superbad.) I remember all of these thoughts going around in my head at dinner, and I had to put my hands under my legs because I didn’t really know what to do. Tom was telling a story about filming Saving Private Ryan, and I’m sat there thinking, “I have nothing to say here.” [both laugh]

“Tom was telling a story about filming Saving Private Ryan, and I’m sat there thinking, ‘I have nothing to say here.'”

BP: How did the character of Liesl look on the page compared to how you played her? Were you allowed to influence the characterisation or did she come fully formed?
MT: It was very much a bit of both. She was fully formed, but there were elements to her that came from conversations that Wes and I had. Wes had sent me references for what her green tights were going to look like, stuff like that. But it really was a very fun process, getting to sink my teeth into learning about Catholicism, talking to people within the Catholic faith, going to church services, reading the Bible, studying bits of Leviticus, and things like that.

BP: Wait, you did that much research for Liesl?
MT: Yeah, I spoke to a deacon of a church, which was fascinating. I was really gutted that I never got the chance to speak to practising sisters at a convent. The timings never worked out. Wes wanted me to make some props as well. The stuff in [Liesl’s] dossier, that’s all come out of me. I made family trees, and spider diagrams, and stuff.

BP: I’m curious what a Wes Anderson script actually looks like. His films heavily rely on visuals, but is all that stuff in the script?
MT: So, it’s interesting. He makes an animated version of the film before you even get to the set. It’s called an animatic. I got sent a link, a very secretly encrypted link, to a fully two-dimensional, black-and-white animated version of the film where Wes has done all the voices for all the characters. It’s unbelievable. Having that as a tool was so amazing, because it meant that when we went into work, we knew exactly what we were doing.
And, interestingly, I feel like people maybe wouldn’t make this assumption, but Wes loves naturalism. He wants realness. He wants the human qualities. He does many, many takes. On day one, we did 69 takes. And he does that many not because he doesn’t know what he’s looking for, but because he knows exactly what he’s looking for. But then he keeps finding new little variations on things that keep adding to his vision of what he wants.

The Phoenician Scheme is in cinemas now