Craig Gillespie Interview: Cruella

Disney furthers its live-action adaptation trend with Cruella, which tells the origin story of the infamous villainess from 101 Dalmatians. Out in theaters and on Disney+ May 28, the movie drops a pre-transformation Estella (Emma Stone) in the fashion world of 1970s London and portrays the makings of a so-called monster.

Director Craig Gillespie spoke to Screen Rant about how he approached the prequel, what Emma Stone brought to the role, and what homages are included for longtime Disney fans.

There’s very much a Batman-Joker vibe to Cruella with the Dalmatians. How did you craft that into the story so that it stands on its own, and yet scratches that 101 Dalmatians itch that folks might have? 

Craig Gillespie: I mean, there’s a lot packed into this film. Sean Bailey called me and said, “Hey, are you interested in doing a Cruella with Emma Stone in 1970s punk London?” And I was like, “Yes, that sounds very interesting.” But he called me after I, Tonya, so he wanted a big soundtrack and talked about The Clash and all this stuff. I figured if they’re calling me after I, Tonya, I’m going to really lean into it and sort of go with my instincts again like I did on I, Tonya.

Of course, we had the Disney parameters to a point, but I wanted to have that darker version of it, and really get to the emotional undercurrent of it, as well as having a lot of fun on top. I wanted both extremes, so I was never shy about leaning into any of it. They had it on the page, but wherever it was on the page, I would lean into it even a little bit more dramatically. And they let me go with it.

Can you talk to me about the time period and what helped inspire that version of the film?

Craig Gillespie: From a character standpoint, it really worked for us. Because what I loved about the through line of the story and Cruella’s character is she’s somebody that has this real talent and this real voice inside of her, and she has been told not to engage with it and not to embrace it. In 1960s London, you’ve got to color within the lines; there’s a way to do things, her mother wants her to fit in, and they’re not letting her be her true self.

That manifests its way again with the trauma, and it’s not until ultimately she ends up leaning into her true self and really flourishing, but she’s got a lot of baggage from stuff that’s happened along the way. So, I love that story, and that backdrop of the punk scene in London and the squatters in Notting Hill going up against the establishment just fits so well with her journey in that world.

What did Emma Stone bring to Cruella that you may not have considered before filming?

Craig Gillespie: The amazing thing with Emma Stone is that there’s honestly nothing she can’t do. The Lucille Ball part of it was just delightful, like when you see her at Liberty’s, and the physicality that she has; it’s just fantastic. But then the dramatic stuff that she can do, it’s to the other extreme.

First of all, there’s Cruella, and that’s a daunting task. Anytime you’re doing a heightened character – for any actor, they’re out on a limb. Because it can get too arch;  you can lose the humanity of the character, and it’s trying to find that zone that has it all. And she’s so talented that she came out and gave me a whole range, so we could figure out where it fit tonally in this film. So that we could get to the dark spots and the emotional spots and also the humor.

She has all of that, and then the scene that just gave me chills with her is that last final scene at the fountain. It’s a monologue for three pages; it’s a three minute scene. And she’s just so talented that we were going to do a little bit of coverage on that, and then on the day, I called her and I said, “You know what? I just want to do one handheld camera for the whole monologue, so there’ll be no cuts. And I’m going to shoot it at dusk, so we have 20 minutes.” But I knew she could do it. We’d been working together for a couple of months at this point, and she could deliver every time.

We did seven takes there. I said, “Look, I’m gonna shoot the whole 20 minutes. Don’t take it as if you’re doing anything wrong, it’s just that I’ve got 20 minutes. I’m gonna shoot till it’s too late and too dark.” And then we got to the sixth take, and it was just magical. I’m watching, and she’s so engaged and moving. And just as she turns her head to leave, the camera jammed. I thought we lost it and, amazingly, we managed to in post strip that head turn into another piece as she walks away. So, we’ve got the whole take.

What were some of the key pillars that you stuck with while adapting the story?

Craig Gillespie: It’s really the journey. I don’t know how much we can give away of the story, or when this is coming out, but obviously the relationship with the mother, what’s going on with the mother at the beginning of the movie – the twists and turns with that and the Baroness, that for the most part was in place. The humor and the dialogue and the banter, not so much. Very much the set pieces: the photo bombs and the fashion show, I believe, may have been there. But those set pieces, and the rats in the cake – all the craziness; I really wanted to amp up all the set pieces a lot.

And then Tony brought [something] in, which was an amazing adjustment. Originally, halfway through the movie, she stops working with the Baroness and they don’t really cross paths again. He designed this really great conceit that she keeps working in disguise, so they get to have all this screen time together for the second half of the movie. They’re some of the most engaging scenes where it’s like, “What does the Baroness know? Is she on to her?” That scene in the restaurant is just so loaded, and that was Tony’s making.

What might fans who grew up with 101 Dalmatians get out of the film, and what might new viewers get out of the film?

Craig Gillespie: Disney are very loyal to the fans, in terms of those touchstones, and we’ve got those in there. Obviously, there’s Roger and Anita. They have not met at this point in the film, but we’re setting that up in a way that it’s all plausible – even to the point of Roger tinkering with the piano and being a musician, the myth of her being a puppy killer and the reality of that; how we set that up. I kind of love how that lands in the film, that sometimes it’s just better to be what people want you to be and use that to your advantage. I love how we could weave that in.

And of course, the dogs are very front and center there along the way, and I  love the device of them having to get ahold of those dogs for various reasons.

Subverting expectations on a big project like this is both necessary and a delicate challenge. How do you approach tinkering with the tenets of the original film?

Craig Gillespie: We seem to have such a luxury that, because it’s a prequel and there’s so little known about Cruella’s origin – apart from those few touchstones that I felt were important to have, it really gave us enormous freedom. There’s obviously very strong character traits – the way that she carries herself and her laugh, and her sardonic way that she has – but that’s the fun part of Cruella; it’s the stuff you really want to lean into.

That 1940s character from Lifeboat, the Hitchcock film, that iconic laugh – we actually pay homage to her in a scene in the motel room when Estella’s sitting there. Part of the myth of Cruella is that the laugh was based on that actress, so we get to put that in there as well.