In director Jonathan Glazer’s latest film, Under the Skin, Scarlett Johansson stars as a nameless, raven-wigged alien on the hunt for men. Disguised in human skin, she transitions from predator to prey, lost in a foreign world as treacherous as any extraterrestrial landscape. Shot in part by surveillance cameras hidden in Glasgow storefronts, nightclubs, and in the van where Johansson picked up unwitting passersby, Under the Skin presents an unvarnished image of humanity—both its tenderness and its monstrosity—as seen through alien eyes.
Glazer, the groundbreaking music video and commercial producer, previously directed Sexy Beast, the British gangster comedy starring a brilliantly sociopathic Ben Kingsley, and Birth, the controversial love story in which Nicole Kidman shares a bathtub with a ten-year-old boy. On a windy spring evening, the director sat down with Vogue at the Bowery Hotel to discuss his haunting new work.
Sexy Beast, Birth, and Under the Skin are so different, tonally and narratively. What is it that attracts you to a project?
When there’s an idea—it can be a tiny idea—that you turn over in your head. Sometimes you find a flaw in it, a reason why it’s not worth pursuing and then it’s gone. You don’t dwell on it. But then there are others that really stick, that you walk around in your head, and you see there’s something about it that’s really fertile or profound maybe. It’s those ideas that you move forward with.
When there’s an idea—it can be a tiny idea—that you turn over in your head. Sometimes you find a flaw in it, a reason why it’s not worth pursuing and then it’s gone. You don’t dwell on it. But then there are others that really stick, that you walk around in your head, and you see there’s something about it that’s really fertile or profound maybe. It’s those ideas that you move forward with.
What was the genesis of this project?
Jim Wilson, the producer, gave me the book [Under the Skin by Michel Faber]. He felt that I’d like it. It was the alien perspective that hooked me. But we departed from the plot of the book and focused on what we might look like through her eyes. I became fascinated by the idea of her witnessing things and becoming almost occupied by human feelings or impulses that were unfathomable to her. Underneath it all, there’s something really savage and dispassionate about the idea that for something to live, something else must die. There’s this thing that is human and majestic, and the idea of that [alien] force becoming occupied by those impulses felt very beautiful.
Jim Wilson, the producer, gave me the book [Under the Skin by Michel Faber]. He felt that I’d like it. It was the alien perspective that hooked me. But we departed from the plot of the book and focused on what we might look like through her eyes. I became fascinated by the idea of her witnessing things and becoming almost occupied by human feelings or impulses that were unfathomable to her. Underneath it all, there’s something really savage and dispassionate about the idea that for something to live, something else must die. There’s this thing that is human and majestic, and the idea of that [alien] force becoming occupied by those impulses felt very beautiful.
How did Scarlett become involved with the film?
Scarlett and I were kind of circling each other. We met here, actually, and I went through all the things that she would need to do, all the situations she would be put in, which she was completely up for. And she never wavered from that. She was brilliant.
Scarlett and I were kind of circling each other. We met here, actually, and I went through all the things that she would need to do, all the situations she would be put in, which she was completely up for. And she never wavered from that. She was brilliant.
Scarlett’s character takes her victims to her hideout, which, inside, is a glossy black void. How did you land on the visual concept for that space?
You eliminate the idea of anything actual, of sci-fi conventions, and what we were left with was simply a black screen. So if the black screen is right, what is the language of that? I could tell you the eureka moments we had, but the real work is done to get to the eureka moments. The eureka moment is almost when you’ve given up, when you let go and you think we’ve tried everything, or they come from dreams. You’re dreaming what you’re thinking during the day; you’re so immersed in those problems.
You eliminate the idea of anything actual, of sci-fi conventions, and what we were left with was simply a black screen. So if the black screen is right, what is the language of that? I could tell you the eureka moments we had, but the real work is done to get to the eureka moments. The eureka moment is almost when you’ve given up, when you let go and you think we’ve tried everything, or they come from dreams. You’re dreaming what you’re thinking during the day; you’re so immersed in those problems.
Did you find that being so entrenched in a film with a lot of horror elements had a strange impact on your life for the ten years you were working on it?
Yeah, probably. It becomes your whole world. You’re thinking about it all the time when you’re performing normal tasks: Picking my kids up from school, or fixing the car—not that I fix the car, that’s a lie of an example [laughs]—driving the car. Your mind can go to these ideas, and you have to be kind of shaken out of that weird headspace.
Yeah, probably. It becomes your whole world. You’re thinking about it all the time when you’re performing normal tasks: Picking my kids up from school, or fixing the car—not that I fix the car, that’s a lie of an example [laughs]—driving the car. Your mind can go to these ideas, and you have to be kind of shaken out of that weird headspace.
I love how you involved the Glasgow locals.
Oh, yeah, we took some in the car who didn’t know they were being filmed.
Oh, yeah, we took some in the car who didn’t know they were being filmed.
How far did you take them? And where did you leave them?
We just took them where they said they wanted to go! Afterward, the production assistant would come out and explain. It’s a combination of people who are completely unaware and people who are only aware of their part.
We just took them where they said they wanted to go! Afterward, the production assistant would come out and explain. It’s a combination of people who are completely unaware and people who are only aware of their part.
Were you or part of the production team listening in?
Totally. I had headphones, microphone. Scarlett had an earwig so I could talk to her.
Totally. I had headphones, microphone. Scarlett had an earwig so I could talk to her.
Were you able to get permissions from most of the people you filmed?
There was a hidden camera shooting two people sitting on a bench, and they were breaking up. They were talking about the end of their relationship. It was very beautiful, very sad. And we asked them if we could use the footage, and, of course, they said no. I mourned that one.
There was a hidden camera shooting two people sitting on a bench, and they were breaking up. They were talking about the end of their relationship. It was very beautiful, very sad. And we asked them if we could use the footage, and, of course, they said no. I mourned that one.
Under the Skin opens in New York and L.A. this Friday and in theaters nationwide April 11.
