Warning! SPOILERS ahead for X.
X actress Mia Goth, who plays both Maxine and Pearl in the horror film, put fright and admiration into her co-stars due to her ability to play both roles so convincingly. Ti West’s X, the new A24 horror movie that is gaining critical acclaim, follows a group of porn performers and filmmakers in the 1970s. In order to film their next venture, Debbie Does Dallas, they travel from Houston to the rural outskirts of Texas, and happen upon a farmhouse to use as the set for their film.
The actors playing roles in Debbie Does Dallas include Maxine (Goth), Bobby Lynne (Brittany Snow), and Jackson Hole (Kid Cudi). They are accompanied by their director (Owen Campbell) and his girlfriend, Lorraine (Jenna Ortega), who later decides to be included on screen in the porn shoot. The farmhouse that they arrive at is owned by an elderly couple, Pearl (Goth) and Howard (Stephen Ure). These unassuming homeowners soon turn violent as night sets over the group in the indie slasher film.
Goth plays both the dewy and youthful stripper, Maxine, as well as the murderous Pearl in the film, although her co-stars swear her performance was so convincing in both roles that it felt like two entirely different people on set, IndieWire reports. Ortega notes that the first time Goth appeared on set after going through the hair and makeup process for Pearl, which included several prosthetics, that she was completely unrecognizable as Goth herself. Snow echoes this sentiment saying how Goth’s change in physicality while playing the role of Pearl also added to not only the distinction between the two characters, but how frightening Pearl is as a character both on set and on the screen. Full quotes from co-stars Ortega and Snow regarding Goth’s double role as Maxine/Pearl can be read below:
Ortega: “It was almost like working with a different actor, whereas as soon as you got on set, there was really no other way to address her, but other than ‘Pearl’ or ‘Maxine’ or whoever she was at the moment. To watch someone work like that, it’s really awe-inspiring. It made going to set that much more exciting, because you know you’re going to see something really incredible that day.”
Snow: “It was so incredible to see Mia transform not only her face, but her body. Her physicality was completely different. It was not only frightening because the prosthetics and the makeup was so frightening, but it was really frightening to look into your friend’s eyes and not really see her. It was very strange. I had to really look at Pearl and I couldn’t see Mia.”
Goth playing Pearl serves a larger purpose in the world of X aside from helping its co-stars infuse more fear into their performances. Snow says that Goth’s deep transformation into Pearl allowed Snow to forget that she was working with Goth, which helped her play off Goth in scenes more easily. Goth’s double role also helps set up the already filmed prequel to X, also by West. The prequel stars Goth as a younger version of Pearl and explores the character’s background during WWI where the cabin in X is set as a boarding house. The prequel promises no less gore than X itself as it will explore the massacre of ‘X’ in the WWI boarding house, with Pearl displaying Goth’s fresh faced natural look as opposed to the heavy use of prosthetics and makeup.
The use of actors playing two roles in a film is a risky choice, as often times it can take the viewer out of the experience of the film and instead become a distraction. However, when it is pulled off in a way that doesn’t produce a sort of uncanny valley aspect to one of the double characters, it can be a testament to an actor’s performance as well as the hair and make-up crew which supported the transformation. West’s clever use of Goth’s roles to also provide an Easter egg to the prequel film adds to the story with the use of Goth in two roles as opposed to solely using it as a gimmick. The choice by Goth and West to find the right balance of makeup and prosthetics in order to still humanize Pearl despite her rage also adds a through line to both characters played by Goth which helps set up the prequel to X as well.
Sources: IndieWire
