"It's a radical film, it's very uncomfortable. And the adrenaline was at its peak when we were filming," the 46-year-old actor tells TT.
Her role as Linda in the film has earned her an award at the Berlin Film Festival, a Golden Globe for Best Actress and an Oscar nomination. But when director Mary Bronstein offered her the role, the Australian actor responded with a "Why me?"
"I never take anything for granted. This was such an extraordinary opportunity and I didn't want to ruin it," she says.
"A bit surreal"
Rose Byrne says she had never read a similar script before.
"It was a bit surreal in a way that I love and there was an ambiguity about the story and about her personality that I felt drawn to."
The main character, Linda, is on the verge of a mental breakdown. Her little daughter is seriously ill, her husband is away, she is trying to navigate her career as a therapist while everything around her is collapsing. Linda is not a completely likeable person either.
"No, the film demands a lot from its audience. Mothers are often celebrated while being invisible. This film challenges all of that, and she also fails in every role in her life," says Rose Byrne.
"Walk the tightrope"
Linda fails as a parent, as a therapist, as a wife.
"It was like walking a tightrope. You don't have to like the characters you play, but you want the audience to feel for them. And those are two completely different things."
People react differently to crises, she notes. In working on the role, she thought a lot about who Linda was before.
"There wasn't much information, nothing was explained, so Mary and I sat down and undressed Linda layer by layer, like an onion," says Rose Byrne.
"The moviegoers never see her daughter, and that's because Linda can't see her. She doesn't see what's in front of her, she's so caught up in her own crisis."
Age: 46.
Family: Husband Bobby Cannavale, two children.
Lives: New York.
Occupation: Actor.
Selected previous roles: "The Pitch", "Star Wars: Attack of the Clones", "The Placid Lake", "Troy", "Wicker Park", "Marie Antoinette", "28 Weeks Later", "Insidious", "Insidious: Chapter 2", "Bridesmaids", "X-Men: First Class", "The Place Beyond the Pines", "Damages", "Bad Neighbors", "Annie", "Spy", "Platonic".
Current: In "If I Had Legs I'd Kick You", which has a Swedish cinema premiere on 10/4.
