“Why you so obsessed with me? (Boy, I wanna know)†— A line from Mariah Carey’s Eminem diss track “Obsessed,†and also something Lily Gladstone might say to Martin Scorsese after the current press tour for Killers of the Flower Moon is over. The actress, a descendant of the Blackfoot and Nez Perce, stars as Mollie Burkhart in the film, out October 20. She acts alongside longtime Scorsese faves Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro, but she’s the one whom the auteur can’t stop raving about. With Killers’ lead actors unable to do new press amid the SAG strike, Scorsese’s been taking on the lion’s share of promotional duties, giving interviews all around town and throwing superlatives Gladstone’s way. Below, just a few of Scorsese’s favorite things about Lily Gladstone.
Her innate presence
“She had a very sharp sense of her own presence before the camera and an extremely unusual trust in simplicity,†Scorsese told Vulture in a profile about Gladstone in August. Scorsese likes to describe her as someone who is capable of a quiet solemnity onscreen. “We felt confident that she knew more than us,†he told The New Yorker. Or, perhaps more succinctly, he told the Washington Post that “the eyes say it all.â€
Her performance in Certain Women
Gladstone’s breakout role was in Kelly Reichardt’s 2019 film Certain Women, and seeing that film was what made Scorsese cast her in Killers, even though she’s not from the tribe that the film is about, Osage. “Our casting director Ellen Lewis said, ‘I think I have a person for you,’†Scorsese recounted to BFI. “But I said, ‘No, we’ve got to get all Osage.’ But I saw a clip from Certain Women and I thought she was extraordinary. Then I saw the whole film.†He said to The New Yorker that “Lily was extraordinary in it.†“And then Leo and her met on the Zoom because he was very concerned about who are we going to get to play this part,†he added. “Obviously, she has to be Native American, and we wanted the Osage approval. They approved her, and, before they approved her, Leo had this conversation with her on Zoom, and as soon as the Zoom call was over, he said, ‘She’s amazing.’†In the middle of this Lily Gladstone appreciation, please take a moment to appreciate 80-year-old Martin Scorsese saying “met on the Zoom.†Francesca taught him that, we assume.
Her spontaneity
On top of performing the script and helping to develop the film and her character, Gladstone was the impetus for some of Killers’ best improv, according to a profile of Scorsese in Time. In the film, Mollie calls Ernest a coyote in Osage during an early flirtation, and DiCaprio responded, “You must mean handsome devil,†which was not in the script. In response, Gladstone giggled, and the full, unscripted action made it into the film.
Her intelligence
One word that comes up very often regarding Gladstone is “intelligent.†To Time, Scorsese said she has “a fierceness and serenity at the same time. And it’s encased in this intelligence.†While describing his first Zoom meeting with her to BFI, he said he “saw her intelligence.†And when filming with her, Scorsese told Deadline, “She has an intelligence and a groundedness about her, in her mind and heart.â€
And now, just a list of complimentary words Scorsese uses to describe her
In The New Yorker: “Integrity, a sense of humor.†“Profundity.†“Sweetness.â€
In BFI: “Her confidence and her strength.â€
In Deadline: “Instinctual.â€
In Vulture: “You can’t take your eyes off her.â€