“Wander Darkly” stars Sienna Miller and Diego Luna got very cozy when they dropped by TheWrap’s studio at Sundance, and the two were such good friends that when they played a couple going through a tumultuous marriage, their director Tara Miele had to tell them to tone down their innate connection.
“It was sizzling! Smoking,” Miller told TheWrap’s Brian Welk. “We got on too well for a couple that’s not supposed to. Tara’s like, ‘Stop looking happy!’”
The two joked that their friendship goes way back to when they were first starting out, “in the 1920s.”
“You were riding your horse,” Luna said. “I was in the carriage, I tripped, and you caught me,” she joked back.
But that playfulness had to be scaled back for “Wander Darkly,” Miele’s drama that blends a crumbling marriage with a mystery brought about by a tragedy. Miele says the film was inspired when she and her husband survived a car crash six years earlier. While at a family gathering with parents arguing and kids screaming, she suddenly appreciated her life that much more.
“I found myself feeling so incredibly grateful that we had survived this, and really reflecting on our messy little lives differently than I had previously,” Miele said of how the film was born.
But Miele also appreciated the chemistry and trust that both Miller and Luna brought to their roles.
“The fact that you guys had this long-standing relationship gave the chemistry this depth and a real caring. You were so protective of each other in the work,” Miele said. “You would have these very challenging scenes, where we’re doing these deep dives, hard camera moves, and there’s quiet and exploration happening. And you two were able to be an anchor for each other where you trusted each other so deeply and held each other up in those difficult moments, and I think it really shows in the film.”
“You should just work with me,” Luna then suggested to Miller.
Watch the clip from the “Wander Darkly” team above.