Mar 05, 2026 10:00am IST
‘The Bride!’ director Maggie Gyllenhaal On Understanding The Monster: ‘‘I’m interested in the monstrousness I see inside myself’ (EXCLUSIVE)
After the acclaimed “The Lost Daughter” (2021), American actress and filmmaker Maggie Gyllenhaal returns with “The Bride!” starring Christian Bale and Jessie Buckley. The movie is about the companion of the Frankenstein monster and their romantic journey. The film arrives in theatres, March 6.
In a freewheeling chat with Variety India, the film’s director Maggie Gyllenhaal spoke about her fascination with the character and the casting of the two actors. Maggie reveals the inspiration for the movie came at a party after she saw a tattoo of the movie, “Bride of Frankenstein.” She then revisited the 1935 movie and came out impressed by the Bride played in that film by Elsa Lanchester.
A puzzle worth getting into
Maggie tells Variety India, “I will say Elsa Lanchester makes a real impact. I mean, she’s in it for three minutes, but she has somehow taken the culture by storm. But to be honest, she doesn’t talk. She doesn’t speak. She doesn’t get an opportunity to express herself. And I thought it was an interesting puzzle. This guy understandably is so lonely looking for a mate. But then, just anyone will do and bringing someone back who doesn’t have any agency herself. So, what happens if you take that same format, that same story, but you give her a huge amount of agency and give her a huge amount of need, and intelligence, and soulfulness, and vulnerability, and power? That seemed like a puzzle worth getting into.”
A different take
The filmmaker confirms that “The Bride!” is a very different film than all the Frankenstein ones we have seen so far. Maggie says she is interested in monstrousness and the depths of human nature. She tells us, “I’m also interested in the monstrousness I see inside myself. And at the time, I was particularly interested in that. I was like, “What is this terrifying stuff that I personally believe is in all of us?” And Frankenstein is a way to think about and understand that. Because Frankenstein in the book is, I think, a monster that you can empathize with, and allows you to maybe take a look at the monster inside you. But this is not that. That’s the starting-off point, but then my movie is really a different story.”
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Why Jessie…
This is Jessie Buckley and Maggie Gyllenhaal’s second movie together. They worked together for Maggie’s first film, “The Lost Daughter,” where they bonded. She says she tried to resist writing the part keeping Jessie in mind but later gave up. She tells us that she still cannot envision anyone else playing the lead in “The Bride!.” Explaining further, Gyllenhaal states, “I think it’s to do with her wisdom in knowing that every human being holds the whole spectrum of feelings, so fierce and powerful, and right next to that is the deepest vulnerability. Also smart, totally irrational, sexy, and also sometimes ugly. All of it, put together, makes a person. And I think that what’s so extraordinary about her as an actress is that she really allows all of those things to be a part of the work. And because of that, I think it means that many, many people can relate to what she’s doing. And The Bride, the part that I was asking her to play, needs all of that in order to work.”
Dreaming up the monster
Maggie reveals Christian Bale and Jessie shared a “real, deep, and special connection,” which she did not anticipate. She says she wanted to take the role to the most brilliant actors around, even if they said no, she would accept her fate. She tells us, “And Christian — listen, I just dreamed big. I was like, “Okay, I wrote this part. I’m just going to ask whoever I want. What’s the worst thing that happens? They tell you no. Can I tolerate being told no? Yeah, I can.” Gyllenhaal reveals she tried to analyse the character of Frankenstein from the book. She said he is full of need and hunger, and also very intelligent. “I needed somebody with all of those characteristics who was also tough. He does some fucked up stuff, this monster, as monsters do. And as I would say, we all do. I needed someone who could hold all of that and be able to hold the monstrous in a way that lets us look at it and go, “Yeah, I don’t bash people’s heads in personally, but there are parts of me that have that kind of rage,” she states.
Rollercoaster ride
Maggie believes her film, “The Bride!” demands a theatrical viewing. “I do think it’s a trip and I do think it’s a movie that needs to be walking in the door, getting your popcorn, sitting down, the lights going down—it’s true. You put your seatbelt on, or not, whatever you want. It’s funny because we keep talking about the movie as offering and saying something new, but there’s something kind of classic about that. It’s two hours. You got two hours? Sit down. Turn everything off and go on the trip. It’s actually a trip to another place, and there’s no opportunity to get off once you get on. That’s just the truth. It’s like a rollercoaster in that way. Once you get on, you’re on. And then you go back to your life afterward. But I hope that if you do get on and take the ride, that going back to your life afterward feels a little bit different.”
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