JENNIFER CONNELLY

THE CHILD ACTOR TURNED OSCAR WINNER ON A 40-YEAR CAREER.

Achild actor especially beloved for playing Sarah, the heroine of Labyrinth, Jennifer Connelly transitioned to adult roles in movies like Requiem for a Dream, A Beautiful Mind – for which she won an Oscar – and Reservation Road. ‘My relationship to the work changed,’ she says, as she learned to dig deep. After sailing to box office glory with Top Gun: Maverick, she’s now playing a traumatised former child actor looking to heal in comedy drama Bad Behaviour.

Bad Behaviour is set in a New Age enlightenment camp. Have you ever been to one?

I’ve never been to a retreat like that, no. But she’s looking to find peace and happiness, so that’s familiar. We can all relate to that.

The film is comedic in places. You normally do dramatic roles. Did you enjoy the switch?

I love that about it. It’s a complicated tone: ‘Wait, are they serious now, or is it funny?’

In one scene your character, Lucy, has to pretend to be a pooping baby…

Those scenes killed me! So funny and preposterous and desperate and moving, that all these people are so much in pain and want to be healed. They will succumb to this.

Lucy was a child actor. Do you see overlap with your own experience?

I didn’t see myself in Lucy – where she is in life and in her relationships. I found her quite alien in the ways she reacts to things. That’s what was fun about it.

What are your own memories of being a child actor in films like Labyrinth and Phenomena?

I was 13 when we made Phenomena. We filmed in Italy and I had done Once Upon a Time in America; we filmed part of that in Rome. I was excited to go back. I just had a great time. I learned to speak Italian, I loved Dario [Argento, director]. At that age, I thought that doing a good job was hitting my mark, never complaining, knowing all my lines. I don’t think I was a great kid actor. I don’t know if I’m a great actor now!

And Labyrinth?

Jim Henson was lovely to me, and a genius. The movie was a whole different scale. We had these incredible sets. It was like a wonderland. And I got to be hoisted up on wires. There was so much creativity, and David Bowie… So much to marvel at. It was a magical experience.

‘I THOUGHT THAT DOING A GOOD JOB WAS HITTING MY MARK, NEVER COMPLAINING’

At the other end of the scale is Requiem for a Dream. Was it gruelling to go to such a dark place?

It was exciting because I had an opportunity to play a part that was so rich. I immersed myself in it. I was testing out a new way of working. But I didn’t take it home with me. I couldn’t afford to – my first son was very young at the time, so I was compartmentalising and being a mom. Everyone was at the apex of their creativity on that set. It felt very innovative.

You won an Oscar for A Beautiful Mind, and met your husband Paul Bettany on it…

An incredible experience, an amazing role. I auditioned for it and was beside myself to get the part. Russell [Crowe] was an extraordinary actor to work with.

How about working with Tom Cruise on Top Gun: Maverick?

He’s the hardest-working person I’ve ever met! I thought it was a great idea for Maverick’s romance to be with Penny, someone we’d heard of in the original. You hit the ground running because they have this history together.

The relationship is handled with maturity. It takes into accounts the characters’ ages, that Penny is a mom…

I loved that. It’s great that they made her someone who has her own business, her own pursuits. She literally has her own vessel. She’s going to chart her own course. And you want that for Maverick, too. They’re kindred spirits.