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princessofmarvel · 1 year

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Wonderland

summary | renfield sees a woman that catches his eye and knows that he shouldn’t speak to her, but he finds that he just can’t help himself.

pairing | robert montague renfield x fem!reader

wc | 1.2k

warnings! | none! maybe some cursing and not really proof read but it’s just fluff lol

genre | fluff!

author's note! | I saw renfield on sunday and just knew that I needed to write for him lol, especially since there are only a few fics on here about him, most of them are written by the amazing @youlightmeupfinn so definitely go check those out! this is a part of my “swift series” (where I write fics based on taylor swift songs) so if you have any requests for the swift series (or for just something that you would like for me to write) please send them in! I would be happy to write about them! and as always, I do I have really bad OCD that causes me to write in some random capitalization, and punctuation, but I think that we don't have to worry about that in this fic lol. and let me know if there are any mistakes, but please be kind!

Renfield was taking a stroll down the streets of New Orleans, he tells himself that it is to relax and to clear his head but in reality he was trying to figure out what to bring his master to eat that night. He didn’t want to bring him anyone innocent like he so desperately wanted, that's why he joined the support group in the first place, to bring those people's monsters to him. To bring people that he wouldn’t have to feel so guilty for. But, his boss didn’t like the taste of those people too much.

He spotted a coffee shop that doubled as a bookstore a few paces down and decided to slip in to sit and think about this. That was when he spotted her. Someone he knew his master would actually praise him for bringing back to the lair. She was the most stunning beauty he had ever seen. Sat in the back corner with a latte and what appeared to be a new romance novel that she was on the last few pages of. She was perfect.

Renfield ordered some tea and took a seat not too far from her, but not so close that he would seem weird. He knew he couldn’t bring her to him. No matter how much his master would appreciate it. No matter how much praise he would get for doing such a good job, he just couldn’t do it, it couldn’t, wouldn’t be her.

He wanted to speak to her, he knew he shouldn’t though. He knew that he should never involve someone like her in his life. But, he also knew that if he had the chance to, that he would regret for the rest of his life if he didn’t

The girl then got up and moved towards the bookshelf. He watched her as she spotted something on the very top shelf that she wanted. He watched as she frowned to herself and huffed and she tried to reach for it but couldn’t. He knew he shouldn’t do this, that this one simple and kind gesture would end up leading him down a rabbit hole, but his feet thought for him as he stood up and made his way to the bookshelf and reached up and grabbed the book she wanted and handed it to her.

“Thank you so much! I wish these things weren’t so tall.” She said as she looked up at him. Her voice just added to her appeal, it was soft and you could tell she was kind just from the sound of it.

“I agree, It’s like the person who invented them just wanted a cruel laugh.” He said before he could stop himself.

“Yes! Exactly! Oh I’m (Y/n) by the way.” She said as she put her hand out to him, his body taking over his mind and shaking it.

“Robert Montague Renfield” He said as he shook her soft hand.

“That’s a nice name, sounds fancy.” She said which earned a chuckle from him. “I noticed you’re alone, would you like some company Robert?” She asked. He could tell she was nervous to ask, but seemed like she wasn’t asking out of pity, but out of genuine interest in talking to him. He found himself saying yes and following her back to her table in the corner.

The two spoke for hours, she asked about where he was from, which led to him talking about how hard it is to find good tea in america. He asked about the new book she had picked up, which was ‘Alice in wonderland’, which led to her talking about her love for the 1951 animated movie (He made a mental note to watch it later). They just laughed and talked for hours. Then the conversation led to work. He found himself telling her about having a narcissistic boss that worked him to the bone. And, it never seemed like he really Appreciated it. Then he accidentally let it slip that his boss made him feel like he was undeserving of happiness. He regretted it immediately because he saw how sad it made the girl look.

“Oh Robert, that's just not true. Everyone is deserving of happiness.” She held up her hand to keep him from interrupting and stopping her. “I know it seems like sometimes you don’t, maybe because you’ve done some things that you regret, but as long as you make peace with those things and accept those things, to know that they were the wrong things to do. And, you work to better yourself from them. Then there is no reason why you should not deserve happiness.” She said to him with a smile.

Then he realized that her hand was laying on top of his from across the table. She must have realized that she had done that because she pulled her hand away and seemed slightly embarrassed.

“Thank you, you don’t know how much I needed to hear that.” he said while looking at her. He felt like he needed to change the subject, in fear of making things awkward. “So, what do you do for work?”

“Oh, I uh, work here actually.” she said finally looking back at him after feeling embarrassed. “Oh god i seem pathetic, I swear I have a life and friends, I just like to come here when I have some time to relax.” She said while letting out a small laugh.

“You don’t seem pathetic, I would do the same if my work place was as relaxing as here.” Renfield said while giving her a soft smile.

“I actually go in later, wait what time is it?” She checked her phone and jumped up out of her seat when she saw the time. “Oh my god I was supposed to start an hour ago, and I’m here, Linda why didn’t you say anything?” She said turning around towards the older woman working the register. Who in return gave her a wink and a smile before tending to the customer now in line, the first in hours.

“I’m so sorry Robert, I have to go.” She said as she gathered her things. He knew he shouldn’t, but he needed to see her again.

“Perhaps we could do this again sometime?” he said, folding his jacket over his arms.

“I would love to, you could give me your number and we could plan something.” The girl said with a smile.

“Oh, I don’t have a phone.” He said, which he immediately regretted since he knew in this day and age was weird. “I broke it yesterday, I was going to replace it tomorrow.” He said quickly thinking of something. “But, I can pick you up here this weekend, if you would be interested.”

“That sounds great, what time?”

“I was thinking maybe around 1:00? I hear the weather will be nice on Saturday, so I thought maybe we could have a picnic.” He said, knowing that doing something during the day would mean that his boss could not interrupt it,

“That sounds wonderful, It’s a date.” She said while making her way to the registrar. “I’ll see you then Robert.”

He smiled and said goodbye as he made his way out the door and onto the street, the sun starting to go down. He had realized what exactly he had done. He knew that he couldn’t let his boss find out about her, and he also knew how hard that would be to do. But, knowing that he would get to be with her, made how hard this would be worth it.

“Oh fuck me.” he said making his way back to his boss, but with a smile on his face, something that hadn’t truly been there in a long time.

#renfield #renfield imagine #renfield fanfic #renfield x reader #renfield fluff #robert montague renfield #r.m. renfield #renfield fic #renfield movie #nicholas hoult #nicholas cage #ben shwartz #awkwafina

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kpopgirlbtssvt · 1 year

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I MISS RENFIELD SO MUCH

TEARS 😭

I DESPERATELY NEED MORE RENFIELD CONTENT

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celebrityyimaginees · 2 years

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Request: Different celeberties asked if the rumor about YN being an amazing kisser is true.

#liam hemsworth #liam hemsworth x reader #liam hemsworth imagine #dylan o'brien x reader #dylan o'brien imagine #dylan o'brien #will poulter #will poulter x reader #nicholas hoult #nicholas hoult x reader #will poulter imagine #nicholas hoult imagine

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booknerdmusician · 1 year

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After watching Renfield I really like the idea of it existing in the same universe as wwdits, not so much for the vampires but because I think a meeting between Renfield and Guillermo would be both hilarious and kinda heartbreaking.

Like imagine Renfield coming out of his decades long abusive relationship with Dracula, and as far as he knows that's how vampires always are with their familiars. And then he encounters Guillermo who by all accounts hasn't been treated excidingly *good* by the Staten Island vampires but somehow has found a way to get some power balance with them.

Also imagine exactly what kinds of conversations the two of them would have like. Renfield whose whole character is that he feels guilty about the people he's killed and like he's become a monster himself vs Guillermo who actively seeks to become a vampire and doesn't particularly feel bad about all the people that have died because of him. Imagine. Because all I can think about is Renfield letting all his guilt pour out, while Guillermo has to awkwardly pretend he actually cares about all the people he has fed to the vampires over the years.

#renfield 2023 #what we do in the shadows #wwdits #listen the renfield movie had many issues but nicholas hoult as renfield is 10/10 blorbo material #imagine renfield: but doesn't the guilt consume you at night?? the feeling that you're as much a monster as your master??#guillermo who has just come back from burying another body in their yard: yeah... tragic :/#rm renfield #guillermo de la cruz #also I know i didn't mention the vampires on the post but they are there on the bg #probably deliberating if they should kill renfield or wondering how the hell this guy served / defeated the most powerful vampire out there #also no this probably doesn't fit the lore of the show given that guillermo is supposed to be a descendant of van helsing but shhh

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dick-helmet-magneto · 1 year

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it's too early in the morning to hear Nicholas Hoult saying he shaved his chest hair into the shape of an X while filming X-Men

#the idea of beast doing that #i'm imagining some weird DoFP era kink Charles had #and Beast trying to play into it #i found Nicholas Hoult reading thirst tweets #appreciate how he keeps thanking the people that wrote them

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horses-n-rodeoclowns · 1 year

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my religions exam prep ♡

#imagine failing an A Level because nicholas hoults puppy dog eyes distracted you for a month

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jcrchie · 11 months

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no better duo than nicholas hoult and the most pathetic characters imaginable

#movies #renfield #the menu #nicholas hoult #just watched renfield it was >>>>>>

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agentnico · 4 months

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Poor Things (2023) review

Yorgos Lanthimos may be the new Quentin Tarantino when it comes to feet fetishes in cinema, as there are so many Emma Stone feet shots in this movie… so many. Also, her little toe is oddly square shaped, just saying.

Plot: An incredible tale and fantastical evolution of Bella Baxter (Emma Stone), a young woman brought back to life by the brilliant and unorthodox scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe). Under Baxter's protection, Bella is eager to learn. Hungry for the worldliness she is lacking, Bella runs off with Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo), a slick and debauched lawyer, on a whirlwind adventure across the continents. Free from the prejudices of her times, Bella grows steadfast in her purpose to stand for equality and liberation.

At first I was very much a fan of director Yorgos Lanthimos’ directing style, with him managing to take any event or piece of dialogue and turn it into deadpan awkwardness. As such, his indie films The Lobster and The Killing of a Sacred Deer both are great examples of entertaining postmodern cinema with each one featuring a dystopian visual style. That being said, his last film The Favourite, even though it was a hit with the critics and the award ceremonies, for me did not hit the same. It felt much more reserved compared to the director’s previous efforts, and his usual weird style just came off crude and the humour for me personally did not land. Nicholas Hoult was a hoot though, but when isn’t he! Anyway, going into Poor Things I was hoping for more of the original magic which I’ve seen from Lanthimos in his earlier works, and the trailers with their vibrant visuals really sparked my interest, so I went in with high hopes.

So in terms of the visuals, Poor Things may just feature some of the best and most imaginative sets of any movie of 2023. Starting off the first part in black-and-white, very reminiscent of the old Universal monster flicks, but then 30 minutes in transforming into a technicolour dream world with colours popping Wizard of Oz-style, with every shot reminiscent of a vivid painting, with the use of the fisheye lends to create a somewhat watercolour effect to the backgrounds. The movie looks and feels artificial, which connected well with the narrative of this Frankenstein’s monster type woman learning and discovering everything with a brain that’s both her’s and not. Oh, and she happens to also wear rainbow glasses, so I can only imagine how much more stranger the world must look through her eyes.

The film’s biggest asset is its acting. Emma Stone is phenomenal as she has to play a grown woman with the brain of a baby, and then show us that woman growing into her brain (or maybe show us the baby growing into the woman?) over the course of the film. She really does throw herself into the role and it’s the type of role that awards shows will delightfully seek their teeth into. Willem Dafoe as the maker of Bella felt like a character that walked straight off a David Lynch fantasy, from the prosthetic make-up to his performance as the mad scientist that falls for his creation. But the real stand out here is Mark Ruffalo who simply is on another level. Playing the slimy player who only sees women through the male gaze, and attempts to take advantage of Bella’s naive outlook life for his own physical pleasure, it’s the kind of character you are supposed to despise, but gosh did I love everything Ruffalo was doing in this film. He was truly hilarious with every piece of his line delivery successfully painting the pathetic nature of his foolish character. Most critics will be showering Emma Stone with praise and deservingly so, however I believe Mark Ruffalo should not be overlooked and may be the actual MVP of the whole movie.

Narrative wise this is a fun feminist spin on the Frankenstein formula, that is a loud and proud shout to female autonomy for those who may have found Barbie a bit too cheesy and perky, yet I do find the movie to be overly cynical against its own good. It's like Lanthimos approached the film in the same way the mad scientist played by Willem Dafoe in the movie approaches his medical experiments -- with a cool eye and a lot of curiosity, but very little heart. And for the bubbly and big eyed Bella that is full of life and excitement, the film she’s in is the polar opposite. Look, I admired the film for what it was, but the romantic within me wanted a bit more of the, as the French would say, ‘amour’. Also there was just too much sex for my viewing pleasure. Again, I don’t mind a lil’ hanky-panky in my films, but when I’m sat in a dark theatre surrounded by many perverts with 90% of what I’m watching being humans doing the thrusting and the throbbing, it is a tad uncomfortable. You can also imagine what my fiancée thought when I told her afterward about the movie’s heavily erotic side.

Poor Things is very much a film that screams the director’s unique and distinct style and I truly respect it for that, however I personally feel like its not my cup of tea as it was a bit too cold for my liking. There wasn’t really a character I could connect or sympathise with, and even though Mark Ruffalo is funny as hell, his character is a piece of scum and a half. Again, kudos to the whole production team and cast for a great niche slice of art house cinema, but it’s too creepy for my liking.

Overall score: 7/10

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yourstrulymagickghost · 8 months

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via Nerea BG

Nicholas Hoult

Eloquent and handsomely talented man he sure stimulates the imagination 👌

#nicholas hoult #handsome man #close up

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nervouswreck202-blog · 23 days

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How my brother and I imagined if both of us created the DCU, here's the superhero cast, supervillain cast coming soon.

Superhero and Supervillain Cast

David Corenswet - Superman

Jensen Ackles - Batman

Eiza González - Wonder Woman

Grant Gustin - The Flash

Alexander Ludwig - Aquaman

Channing Tatum - Green Lantern (Hal Jordan)

Sterling K. Brown - Martian Manhunter (In Mo-Cap)

Xolo Marideuna - Blue Beetle (Jaime Reyes)

Isabela Merced - Hawkgirl (Shayera Hoy)

Meg Donnelly - Supergirl (Just Fancasting!!!)

Hailee Steinfeld - Batgirl

Ben Schwartz - Plastic Man

Zendaya - Bumblebee (Karen Beecher)

Gina Rodriguez - Green Lantern (Jessica Cruz)

Alexandra Daddario - Zatanna

Austin Butler - Green Arrow

Jurnee Smollett - Black Canary

Zachary Levi - Shazam

Aldis Hodge - Hawkman (Carter Hall)

Anthony Carrigan - Metamorpho

Keanu Reeves - John Constantine

Aidan Gallagher - Robin

Bella Thorne - Starfire

Odeya Rush - Raven

Iñaki Godoy - Beast Boy

John Boyega - Cyborg

Chris Pratt - Booster Gold

Timothee Chalamet - Nightwing

Bill Skarsgård - The Joker

Nicholas Hoult - Lex Luthor

Margot Robbie - Harley Quinn

Karen Gillan - Poison Ivy

Jemaine Clement - Toyman

Antony Starr - Reverse Flash

Mehcad Brooks - Black Manta

Diane Kruger - Cheetah

Luke Evans - Sinestro

Colin Farrell - The Penguin

Neil Patrick Harris - The Riddler

Zoë Kravitz - Catwoman

Matthew McConaughey - Two Face

John Cena - Peacemaker

Viola Davis - Amanda Waller

Andy Serkis - Gorilla Grodd (voice)

Djimon Hounsou - Solomon Grundy (In Mo-Cap)

Peter Dinklage - Dr. Psycho

Pedro Pascal - Deathstroke

Wentworth Miller - Captain Cold

Mark Strong - Dr. Sivanna

Jude Law - General Zod

Dwayne Johnson - Black Adam

Ralph Fiennes - Brainiac

Michael Shannon - Black Mask

Dave Bautista - Bane

Sylvester Stallone - King Shark (voice)

Keith David - Darkseid (voice and in mo-cap)

I hope you have a great night!!! Let's hope James Gunn's DCU won't be terrible, it be very freaking strange if it was, but let's go!!!!

#dc universe #james gunn dcu #superman #batman #flash #dc fancast

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princessofmarvel · 1 year

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Love Story

summary | renfield falls for the vampire hunter sent to kill his boss

pairing | robert montague renfield x van helsing!fem!reader!

wc | 1.5k

genre | fluff!

warnings! | this is not really proof read yet, but other than that, nothing that i can think of, lol

requested? | yes! i combined two requests the best that i could since they were for the same character and song! i hope that you all enjoy it! and, if you have requested something, i promise that i am getting to them!

authors note | i loved these ideas! keep sending them in for the swift series! And as always, I do I have really bad OCD that causes me to write in some random capitalization, and punctuation, But I think that we don't have to worry about that in this fic lol. And let me know if there are any mistakes, but please be kind!

You had just landed in New Orleans. Your family is sending you to take out the most notorious vampire known to man, Dracula. Being a Van Helsing, you had trained your whole life for this very moment. You beat out everyone in your family for this opportunity.

Your family had found out where his location was, and sent you immediately. You made your way through the parking lot before being stopped by a voice.

“Miss? May I help you?” Said the voice. You spun around fast to find a young man with brown hair. He seemed to be around your age. You thought that he may be one of two things. He was either lost or another vampire that you would have to kill.

“I’m fine, thanks” You said as you continued forward. You were almost to the door before he jumped in front of you.

“Miss, I don’t think you should go in there.”

“Sir, I have a job to do, If you would please move.”

“As do I, and I truly can not let you though.”

“Then you will have to make me.” You said as you straightened your back to him, and placed your hand on your stake.

“Miss, I can assure you that you would rather not.” He said. The moment he looked away, you took your chance and in one punch knocked him out.

You felt something was up once you got a better look at him. Yes he could pass as a vampire, but with his mouth slightly open, you could tell there were no fangs. You decided to take him back to your hotel room and get some answers.

Renfield wakes up, dizzy at first and then he notices the woman holding a crossbow of stakes at his head “Woah! Woah! Miss, I’m not one of them! I swear!”

“Then who the hell are you?” You ask, not lowering your weapon

“I’m Robert Montague Renfield” He answers. “Please lower your weapon.�� “Renfield? The Renfield? That's not possible, you should be over 100 by now.” You said while lowering your weapon some.

“I promise I’m not lying, why else would I have been there?” He says. You stare at him for a moment. He seems like he is telling the truth. “I’ll prove it, feed me a bug and my eyes will turn yellow.”

“If I feed you one of these and you attack me, I can guarantee that you will be dead within a second. You hear me?” He nods, and you pick up his tin, and feed him one. You watch as his eyes do change to yellow, and he breaks his ropes.

“See?” He says as he rubs his wrist.

“Why am I not dead?” You ask as you head to the fridge, leaving him confused.

“I beg your pardon?” He asks, following you, confused.

“You kill anyone that comes for Dracula, so why am I still alive.” You watch as he frowns, as you sip your soda.

“Please, do not remind me, I hate myself for it.” This shocks you as you stare at him.

“What do you mean, don’t you do it on your own free will?” You ask, sitting down at your table.

“Of course not.” He says while he sits across from you.

“You mean to tell me that you don’t do this because you want to protect Dracula? You say, offering him a soda as you do.

“I don’t….not anymore at least, if I could get out, I would, he just won’t let me go.” He says while looking down.

“Wait, you are bound to him?” You ask. You had always heard the stories of Renfield tearing over vampire hunters to shreds, it just does not make sense to you.

“Yes, I am. I do want to be but he will not let me leave.”

“Alright, I will help you, as long as you help me.” You say as you stand from the table.

“Wait- What do you mean, you will help me?” He asks while standing too.

“I need to kill your boss. Help me do so, and we both will get what we want.”

“You would do that for me?” He asked, his eyes full of hope, while making your heart swell.

“It would be cruel of me not to.” You say as you smile.

Over the next few weeks, you and Renfield meet up every day while trying to come up with plans on how to get rid of Dracula.

You walk into your hotel room the next day waiting for Renfield, only to find Dracula sitting at my table.

“So this is the woman that plagues Renfields mind?” He says as you put your crossbow of stakes down onto the counter. “Allow me to introduce myself” “I already know who you are.” You say as you say while staying far enough away so you could attack if needed.

“Then introduce yourself to me, I would love to put a name with the face that he always thinks about” He said, like he was not asking.

“My name is (Y/n) Van Helsing” You said with a smirk. You knew he would know the name.

“Ugh, are they still making those?” He said while standing, “Why have you Van Helsings never stopped, Do you know how many of your kind I have killed?”

“Why are you here?” You asked while taking a slight step closer to him. “Are you gonna kill me?”

“I should, and perhaps I will.” He said, and in a flash he grabbed her neck and pushed her against the wall. “Maybe I will take pity on you? Kill you quicker than your ancestors”

He is taken aback by the laughter that comes from you next. “Why are you laughing? Is this some kind of joke to you? Losing your life?”

“You won’t, can’t kill me.” You say in a laugh

“And why is that?” He asked, getting closer to intimidate you.

“You know why, If you kill me, Renfield will find out, and blame you, and then you will never be able to control him again.” You say as you jerk his hand off of your throat.

“Stay away from Renfield, are we clear?” He said while making his way for the door, he left before he could hear your answer.

When Renfield came by later that day to see the marks on your neck from his hand, he was done, and he was ready to get rid of Dracula as fast as he could.

It was a month later when Renfield and you finally had killed Dracula, you were in your hotel packing up to go home when there was a knock at your door, when you opened the door, you found Renfield standing in front of you.

“I just wanted to see you one last time before you left, Miss Van Helsing” He said with a sad smile on his face.

“How many more times do I have to tell you to just call me (Y/n)” You said while inviting him in.

“Would you like some help?” He asked while taking a look around the place, noticing that it had become plain again.

“No thank you, You know I was just starting to get comfortable here in New Orleans.” You say with a sigh.

Renfield grabs her hand while she is packing “Please don’t go” he says in a small voice.

“Renfield I-” You look up and his eyes are already looking into yours.

He leans in and kisses you while he places a hand on your face gently. The kiss is gentle, and nervous, but full of need. When Renfield pulls away he immediately starts apologizing. “I am so sorry-” But before he could finish you pulled him back in, taking the air out of his lungs.

“You really want me to stay?” you say as you two pull away from each other.

“Yes,” He says out of breath.

“I will have to think about it” You say to him. Knowing that with your job, you will have to talk to your family about this first.

Renfield was starting to lose hope that you would return. It had been months since he heard from you last. A knock at his door took him out of his misery, especially when he opened the door to see one special vampire hunter standing there.

“Surprise” you say while pulling him in for a hug. You had to make some arrangements before you came back, but once you did, your family set you up with your own house in New Orleans for you to move into.

Renfield hugged you as tight as he could. “I am so happy you came back.” He mumbled into your neck.

“Well, I came back because I wanted to go out with a certain ex-slave of Draculas, any idea on who that could be?” You said with a smirk, teasing him.

“I have no idea, Will you tell me more about him?” He said as he pulled away to look at you.

“I will over dinner, how does that sound?” You say while looking up into his eyes while smiling.

“That sounds absolutely wonderful.” He says while pulling you into his apartment, and shuts the door

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kpopgirlbtssvt · 1 year

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Hi!! Does anyone know of anyone who takes requests for R from Warm Bodies? I’ve been trying to find blogs who wanna write for him🤧🤧🤧

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popentertainment-interviews · 2 months

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Tony McNamara

The Provocative Poor Things Starring Emma Stone has Racked up Multiple Award wins and Noms Due to a Great Script

by Brad Balfour

It may have taken a while, but director Yorgos Lanthimos' Poor Things ultimately rose to the Awards season challenge, winning several Golden Globes and garnering 11 Oscar nominations: Best Actress, Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Cinematography. In this fractured tale inspired by the Frankenstein creation story, actress/producer Emma Stone plays a re-animated Bella Baxter as a fully grown body woman with the brain of a rapidly maturing child.

Bella doesn't hold back as she discovers the joys of masturbation and, further on, energetic sex – which she calls "furious jumping" – with Mark Ruffalo's domineering, and equally unclothed, paramour. Then she explores the inner-workings of a Paris whorehouse engaging with many men in many ways – but on her terms.

The movie's sexual candor is only some of the trappings to this extraordinary story of a woman – though born of men – comes into her own. In exposing herself aesthetically and physically, the seemingly fearless Stone is one of the rare A-list actresses willing to risk such exposure for her art.

Poor Things is a no-holds-barred re-imagining of female empowerment displayed in a thoroughly fantastical environment of striking colors, costumes and landscapes. As a result, the movie is rated R for strong and pervasive sexual content, graphic nudity, disturbing material, gore and language.

Though the cinematic vision is Lanthimos, the essential story comes from veteran scriptwriter Tony McNamara, an Australian playwright, screenwriter, and television producer. Born in 1967, he worked on the script for The Favourite in 2018, the historical comedy-drama film directed by Lanthimos, also starring Stone. Originally a screenplay by Deborah Davis, written 20 years prior to the film's release, Lanthimos and McNamara worked together to refashion it into a final script resulting in it winning, or being nominated for, many various awards at the time.

McNamara also created The Great, a series revolving around the life of Catherine the Great, starring Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult, which premiered on Hulu in May 2020. It's based on his period play about Catherine, which premiered at the Sydney Theatre Company in 2008. McNamara also wrote a film adaptation of it as well.

This Q&A is based on an appearance by McNamara shortly before Poor Things began its run as an award nominee and cinematic phenomenon.

Talk about the process of adapting this from the book by Alasdair Gray. That Poor Things is very much written from the male perspective in terms of people discussing and describing their experiences with Bella. The film switched that into [a story] from a female view of the world. What did it take to adapt and shift the perspective?

The book is a big Scottish classic – it's wild and has hundreds of pages about Scottish nationalism which, you might notice, is not in the movie. Bella's story was told by the men like Duncan and Max; they all tell you what happened to her. You never get her experience of it. Yorgos read it and we both felt the same – she was the character he was interested in. That's an interesting story and it seemed like a great thing to do. The point of the novel was that the men controlled her narrative. While keeping that idea, I wanted to flip it so that film-wise, it was her story.

This is the first time that you've done an adaptation from a book. What were the unique aspects of doing that?

Yes, it was the first time. When I read it, I thought the first one should be the baby's brain in the woman's head [chuckles]. But Yorgos is amazing, and we had such a good time on The Favourite that the biggest thing was to work out what to tell from the book. We could just depart from the book because I adapted material from history and stuff. I'm always a bit like, "Well, a book, that's one thing and a movie is a whole other thing. How do we make a movie that has a relationship to the book but isn't really about the book."

That started with the Bella thing, which let me invent a lot because the men told her story [in the novel]. I could invent her story because we didn't really know... There was nothing there when she went to Portugal, we knew she went, but we didn't know what happened there. I was creating this sort of internal story when she went on her journey, Yorgos kept saying it was a fantasy. We're both Fellini fans so we thought it should be a big European style, old school stage movie.

How do I create a language that's going to be big enough for what he's going to do? I had to create this sort of dialogue that felt baroque but was also contemporary enough that you could feel it emotionally. That was my main thing. You've got to feel her journey.

You adapted from history before. What you do with language is take elements of period language, but then you really look at it from the perspective of a modern audience's lens into it. You created this unique amalgamation. So for this one, in particular, how did you find the way to make the language work in that regard?

I knew the scale of this story and also, I love language. Half the time, I'm not serving the audience, I'm serving myself [chuckles]. I think it's fun to create a particular language for a movie, which is why I was really drawn to doing this. Bella had a particular language, and it was a character where you had to evolve her language, which you never get to do. Usually the person just talks the way they talk. But with her, part of telling the story was changing the language throughout the narrative. So it's how to do that and make it fun.

It's interesting how her language changed, even [if it's] just with the grammar. It's the same way when you learn another language, you learn the present tense first. She's speaking specifically in the present tense in the beginning of the movie but that evolves. How did you find those different layers and textures of grammar and language for her?

It was like knowing where to start. We had this geographic journey, so I used the geography to change her language through each geographic point. She would change a little bit through it, and I knew where I wanted to start. She talked like my four-year-old. He was a real inspiration. He's very proud now. When Yorgos and I were developing it, we were having lunch one day and I was telling Yorgos about my son and I said, "He's kind of a sociopath and he's only four years old.” We were in a restaurant, and it was really loud. This baby was crying, and my son looked at me and went “punch that baby." I went to Yorgos, and he said that we should put that in! So when she's in the restaurant, she goes, "I'm just going to punch that baby." My son feels like he should get a credit now.

We should see if – in the DVD version – he's given credit. Bella changes so much throughout the script. You talked about thinking from different specifications. At the beginning, she started out pretty much a toddler and then we reached a point where this is when she's 16. When she's leaving home for the first time, she's like in her early '20s at first, then her mid '20s. How did you set about creating those different stages?

In my head it was just to create. Basically at its core. In a way, this is a coming-of-age story. It was as simple as that. It's like watching someone grow up and discover their sexuality and then their intellectual life and they come to terms with being mature and emotional. There's a point – on the boat – where she's so self-regarding and then realizes there's a world out there and she has to be part of it. I felt like there were certain points where… I think the contemporary thing for me was things like, "Oh, you go to college and discover books” and you're like "Oh books and ideas!" There were all these steps where you get a boyfriend and you think he's great and then you realize at some point, "Oh my God, he's the worst." There were simple things I was always thinking of but not to take it away from the bigness of it. I had to ask, what are the basics of it in terms of us, in terms of just a human experience?

That idea for Bella was to be like, "Oh, I've got a boyfriend but he's the worst." That's the arc of Duncan [Mark Ruffalo], where it's so great because he's such an audacious character. We understand that he's full of shit from the get-go. But she takes everything quite literally. So when he says, "I bedded over 100 women," she believes that to be true. What was it like writing the dynamic between those two characters with that in mind?

It was really fun to write because he is such a classic trope and yet I felt sorry for him because she doesn't have any of society's ideas which he owns. He has them all in his head and it's like a paradigm he lives through. She doesn't have any of that. So he can't even get the traction that he would normally get from a person. He sort of dissolves. I enjoyed writing it, but I didn't have as much fun as I did watching those two do it. They were so freakin' right.

How did you shape the tension that starts to fester in Duncan because the less that he succeeds with her, the more frustrated he becomes. He's also watching her with the idea of who he wants to be in a world with no care.

I think that was what the irony was. He sees himself as a free spirit and he's outside society like all the men who have their view of themselves. Everyone in the movie had a view of society that she doesn't ascribe to. Even when they try hard, she either resists it or is oblivious to it. It was constructing that, and some people understood that ... like Max [Ramy Youssef] who went on a sort of positive journey in that respect. Duncan just dissolved more and more because he didn't know what to do. I liked the idea of that.

It's great the way that you have other characters start to use elements of her language. Suddenly another character uses the phrase "serious jumping." How did you find those moments when you wanted other characters to step into her world like that?

She's such a powerful character as she goes through life and gathers agency, I think she's so charismatic because she doesn't [back down]. Beat to beat [it's] just a pure response that isn't shaded by anything. How she feels in that moment without judgment of herself, I think that's attractive. I felt like [with the] other characters, [it] starts to rub off on them a little bit.

What's the difference in writing a character who is so innately reactionary but in such a positive way?

I was talking to Emma about it. It's great for you as a person. I think she felt the same, playing Bella. I think for her and me, and I'm sure for Yorgos, writing that character and her playing that character, you're aware of how much you're shaped by everything. For her, playing a character who is just shaped by a really pure response, and we don't get that. I think that's why she's a character people can respond to because it's a bit of a wish fulfillment of like, "that would be good if you could just live life like that."

We get an opportunity to watch her learning in real time and developing her back story as a character. How did you set about making sure that you are always cognizant of what she has already learned in the space of a scene to make sure that it comes into play here?

I have a really strong process. I guess I've always thought about what she learns. Yorgos and I were very meticulous as it goes. We didn't do that many drafts. But what we did at the end is, we just went line by line over three or four days separately. There's always time between it and as there's a three-week rehearsal. Then we tweak that a little bit if we hear things that aren't quite right or Emma would say, "Oh, that word seems too sophisticated for her at that point." We're very meticulous about her verbal journey as well as Emma and Yorgos creating the physicality of that.

It sounds like with that process as well in the way that you talk about the film previously that you really aren't doing rewrites during production and that even during rehearsal, it's right mental.

It's joyful. I'd just hang out and drink coffee and watch them do their thing. No one sees the script for a long time. The first person to see the script was Emma. I think the producers didn't see it for years and then when they see it, he's ready to make it. I think his view of it is that we spent four years on this by making it because I think it's right. He is a very strong individual about how he feels artistically. He's like, "That's what we decided; it is what it is!" He never really made changes on The Favourite. He rang me once [to make a change] because they literally couldn't do something physically. Through the couple of films we worked together, he's never changed anything.

This was a project that Yorgos had been trying to make since before The Favourite. What was the chronology of when you two started working on the script?

He'd moved to London and started on The Favourite and knew he wasn't... He'd only made Dogtooth and Alps, so he was like, no one's going to give me the money to make The Favourite. It's going to cost a little bit because of the period. So he went off with his Greek co-writer, Efthimis Filippouand they wrote The Lobster so they could try and make something cheap. While he was doing it, he rang me and said he'd read this book [Poor Things]. Even when he was making The Lobster no one would give him any money to develop Poor Things. Everyone was saying, "We like you but we're not doing the baby brain!” Once he made The Lobster and there was some buzz, Film4 came in with some money and he was like, "Do you want to do it?" So we started it. We were in pre-production for The Favourite, and I started writing Poor Things.

Going back to Bella as well, one of the things that's so refreshing about her as a character is she's not necessarily carrying this internal dialogue. Everything that she thinks and feels throughout the movie is said out loud. How is that a totally different approach to writing a character for you?

When I write, I'm just asking myself, "Where is she coming from? What does she want and what's in her way?" I knew she didn't question herself much and that was the joy of her as a character because she wasn't super conflicted about anything. Except towards the end, when she has to confront her feelings for Godwin [Willem Dafoe], but even then, she has clarity in the two different feelings she has. I think that was why she was a really refreshing character to write. She manages to be very simple and very complex at the same time.

How did you find what you wanted to be the essence of the relationship between her and Godwin? It's such a fascinating dynamic. He's had the experience of her being an experiment and now he's kind of carrying it out with a lot of love and heart.

Yeah, I think for us it was one of the most interesting relationships we explored in a way because he was an experiment as well. In the book, he's not an experiment. I made that up so that we could understand him a bit better. His father made him an experiment, so it makes sense. He thinks everything is science and everything's an experiment. But deep down, he's a guy who wants someone to see him and not think he's ugly – someone to "get" him. He's someone that's never had that and he doesn't quite know how to deal with feelings.

That's why he rebels, but it's not in the book. There's the Margaret Qualley character where they just make another one [like Bella] but not quite. That was our idea of how we can show him go through a journey. I was like, "Oh, he makes another one." He'd go with his feelings; by the end of the movie, he realizes his feelings matter.

What was the difference that you wanted to show with Godwin and Margaret Qualley's character when that comes up? It's such a different experience for him.

I think because rather than replace [Bella], it was supposed to show the idiocy of what he did by trying to do that to himself. Then he understood it wasn't the experiment he loved, but it was her.

With the narrative up to where Bella goes back to her ex-husband to learn to visit her old life and learn about that. Initially the idea was that it was sort of a kidnapping, and it was against her will. But then you realize that it was important for it to be her choice to go there. How did that change for you?

Yeah, I think we've done it. We've done a couple of years, and we were having lunch, and everyone really liked the script at that point. We had long periods of silence. That's our process. We just sit there not talking for long periods. We all thought there was something wrong with the third act, so I said I'll go think of something and then I'll text Yorgos. What if she chooses it because she's choosing everything else? So why wouldn't she? She's fearless and that broke it open for us because the other way – when she was kidnapped, and then there was a shooting and that's how it ended – he was kind of like, I think they shot him or something and he died. It didn't feel totally right because it wasn't weird enough for the rest of it. So we brought in Christopher Abbott's character. I was always nervous about that because it's hard to bring in a character in two hours and have them hold their own in a big crazy movie like this. But Chris was terrific [as a bad guy].

How did you deal with the sexuality of the whole film? Decisions you made and didn't make, where it would and wouldn't be?

It was always part of that coming-of-age thing. She's at a certain age and starts to discover it. A man comes into her life and she's like, "What adventure do I want to go on?" For me, it was all like, every beat wasn't so much a sex scene. It was the evolution of the character and of the general story. How it's shot and how it's managed was really Yorgos and Emma working together. For us, it was always going to be a movie that was like those '70s European films where it's very... Emma Stone was very unapologetic. It made no sense for it not to be very unapologetic. Yorgos was really devoted to that '70s European aesthetic.

The way you write with layers of comedy which stem from a place of truthfulness. There's so much comedy and attention that's created from Bella's perspective in the world. The way that she refuses to be tied down to other people's ideas of her – how did you write that in a way that feels so grounded – and then find the layers of comedy that can stem from that?

I always go for whatever's real, I think I read that someone famous once said, "To make it real, make it funny." I always try to go from the emotional place of what they want, so I never just go for the joke.

Yorgos and I love comedy, but I think it's all built from the ground up and it's built into the structure – it's a satire. She's a fish out of water. Here's the basics. They're all trying to control her and can't, the poor things. They're idiots. There's a certain element of comedy that I built into the whole structure. I love funny dialogue.

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