TORONTO — When Rosalind Eleazar first got a breakdown of Chris Rock's "Misty Green," it had a stress-inducing description of the character, a strong-headed, self-destructive actor in Los Angeles.
“It said, ‘She’s a really talented actress,’” Eleazar says. “You suddenly feel this extra meta pressure: ‘Right, so I have to do the job. I also have to make sure I’m talented.’”
The good news: Eleazar is, and anyone who sees “Misty Green” will be immediately convinced of that fact. The 38-year-old British actor has been a standout on “Slow Horses” and on London stages. But in “Misty Green,” Eleazar’s first lead role in a film, she’s poised for a much bigger breakthrough.
In the film, which A24 will release Oct. 9, she plays the titular Misty, a well-known actor whose once meteoric rise in Hollywood is now in the distant past. Told to leave the apartment where she’s been crashing, a countdown runs through the film of Misty’s days to find somewhere to live. At the same time, she’s trying to land a part despite directors (Rock plays one) and agents (Topher Grace) who have mostly tired of the turmoil she brings with her. Adam Driver, Daniel Kaluuya and Anna Kendrick also co-star.
The result is plainly one of the best performances of the year, a scintillatingly complex portrait of Hollywood struggle, overflowing with rage and, yes, talent. When Misty, or Eleazar, auditions, we can see how good she is. After the film's Toronto International Film Festival premiere, Eleazar was immediately hailed as a sure-fire best actress Oscar contender.
“Like in the movie, you never know,” she said in an interview the morning after the premiere. “Things just aren’t linear. I obviously hope people respond to it.”
‘Misty Green’ and ‘Slow Horses’ land simultaneously
Eleazar was also in Toronto with "Slow Horses," in which she plays Slough House agent Louisa Guy, to debut its sixth season. On Monday, she was flying to Los Angeles for the Emmys, where the Apple TV series is nominated for nine awards.
“It’s been a mad four days,” she said, smiling.
Eleazar’s performance as Misty is impressive partly because she’s unlike her in so many ways. The London-born actor, whose mother is British and whose father is Ghanian, is bright, self-effacing and quick to laugh. To adopt Misty’s confident stride, she worked with a movement coach.
“I like to think I navigate life a little differently than her,” she says, laughing. “But I do empathize with how so many things are out of our control as an actor. You’re constantly on an emotional roller coaster. You think, ‘Am I going to get it?’ ‘No, down to the last two.’ It’s oscillating all the time between these extreme feelings.”
“It can be relentless to somehow find a way to keep yourself open and soft, because you’re an actor,” Eleazar adds. “But Misty has multiple layers of armor on her because she’s been burned. I get that.”
A ‘meta’ audition
Landing the role was, itself, the kind of audition process Misty might have gone through. Eleazar first did a Zoom audition and then got a callback. For the next Zoom audition, she went all out. She got her hair and makeup done and rented a studio. But 10 minutes before starting, live music started blaring from the studio next door. Five minutes beforehand, trains started going past. When she began, the Wi-Fi was glitchy.
“It was so meta,” Eleazar says, shaking her head. “I was so angry with how the whole thing was going, that was probably way better. Chris said it was better because I let it rip.”
After those technical troubles, Eleazar resolved to meet Rock in person. She flew herself to Los Angeles.
“I knew I was going to do whatever I could to get it,” she says. “Whatever was in my control.”
A quick but not overnight ascent
Eleazar's first movie role was in Armando Iannucci's 1999 film "The Personal History of David Copperfield." Much of her rise has come on stage, including in Kenneth Lonergan's "The Starry Messenger" and in "Uncle Vanya" at the National Theatre. Earlier this year, she breathed remarkable depth into a small role in Mark Jenkin's "Rose of Nevada," a bewildering time-travel drama shot on 16mm.
“When I was young, I was very shy,” Eleazar says. “I was always, like, in a corner and watching people. And I found people really fascinating. I experienced many different cultures growing up, and it was fascinating how different cultures communicated. I think I could have been very happy pursuing a career as a psychologist. In some ways for me, acting is that. I’m studying the human mind in 3D form. It’s a full-body experience.”
“I let go maybe more in acting than I do in my private life,” she adds. “Maybe that’s why I’m attracted to volatility.”
“Misty Green” was Eleazar’s first time atop the call sheet of a movie. At the movie’s TIFF premiere, where Eleazar’s mother joined her, she almost looked like Misty Green walking the red carpet. But not quite. She was more composed, humble and evidently happy.
“What drew me to her is that I find people who are seemingly unlovable fascinating,” says Eleazar. “I read this quote — it’s a bit cheesy — whilst I was in prep: ‘The children that need the most love in the world ask for it in the most unloving ways.’ That, to me, sums Misty up.”
Eleazar pauses and smiles. “Even now, I still think about her.”