Esther McGregor on Starring in Two Venice Titles With ‘Room Next Door’ and ‘Babygirl,’ and How ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ Helped Rekindle Her Relationship With Father Ewan
variety.comAlex Ritman Esther McGregor was sure she’d screwed up her audition to Pedro Almodovar’s hotly-anticipated English-language debut “The Room Next Door.” Shooting a short film at the time (as a favor) and not feeling too hot about it, the hyper-creative and delightfully energetic actress, model, musician and tattoo artist (and unashamed “Nepo Baby” — more on that later) hadn’t really been paying attention to the projects she’d been invited to tape for.
So she gave the lines that had been sent a quick read — perhaps not with the usual care and attention she might have usually — and emailed over the recording. “And probably two minutes after I sent the tape I went back to double-check, saw Almodovar’s name and was like, ‘Oh my God, I butchered it, I ruined my opportunity!,” she explains, speaking from Nova Scotia on a rare day off from filming Amazon’s upcoming mini-series “You Were Liars.” Almodovar is obviously the sort of auteur director any actor should be eager to work with at any stage of their careers.
But for McGregor, a self-confessed “international film geek,” he was a filmmaker she simply adored, had studied passionately in school and whose library she had had watched “in awe” over and over again. “I was so, so, so disappointed in myself.” Thankfully, such disappointment wasn’t warranted.
About three months later, in late 2023 — and with zero interaction or feedback — she got a call saying the part, in which she appears alongside Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton, was hers.
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