Emma Stone revealed she was never a fan of the original title for her new film with Yorgos Lanthimos. In fact, she says she was the only one who voiced her disdain for the name.
Stone and her “Kinds of Kindness” castmates opened up about the origins of the movie while chatting with SiriusXM’s “The Spotlight With Jessica Shaw.” When they started, the title was “R.M.F.” — a character from the movie, as well as part of each of the triptychs — before it was amended to “And.”
“I was the only one that vocally hated that name,” Stone said of “And.”
Chiming in, costar Willem Dafoe mentioned the film’s title even confused those who were spectating from afar while the cast and crew filmed in Louisiana.
“We were shooting in New Orleans, and you’d meet someone on the street and they’d say, ‘Hey, Will. What you doing here?’ and I’d say, ‘I’m making a movie,’ and they’d say, ‘What’s it called?’ and I’d say, ‘And,’ and they’d say, ‘Yeah, yeah, but what’s the movie called?’ and I’d say, ‘And.’ He’d say, ‘And? What the hell? I mean, what kind of title is that?’” Dafoe said.
Jumping back in, Stone then said she pondered on how difficult it would be for interested moviegoers to search for the film online. “I remember sitting here multiple times, like, you know, how are people going to Google the movie? ‘And’ movie. ‘And’ showtimes,” she said.
After some banter, Lanthimos said that while the first title’s initials never had any real meaning, they have prompted some funny interactions for him. He shared that he had a run-in with a customs officer at the airport during a trip back to the States over the project’s former name, “R.M.F.”
“The officer there looks at my passport and goes, ‘What’s R.M.F.?’ and I go like, ‘What? Have they seen the movie? The movie’s not out yet,’” the director recalled. “In my mind, I didn’t tell them that and I’m like, ‘Well,’ you know, I was trying to be cheeky, but I’m like, I go, ‘It’s initials,’ and she goes, ‘No, sir. The company that’s on your visa. What’s R.M.F.?’ I’m like, ‘Oh, OK. Sorry. It’s a film production company.’ He goes like, ‘OK, you can go.’”
The film also stars Jesse Plemons, Joe Alwyn, Hong Chau, Mamoudou Athie, Hunter Schafer and Margaret Qualley.
“Kinds of Kindness” is now playing in select theaters.