Eva Green Talks Psychological Thriller 'Nocebo'

Moviefone speaks with Eva Green about 'Nocebo.' "It's not just a horror movie for the sake of being a horror movie, it's quite psychological." she said.

Eva Green stars in director Lorcan Finnegan's 'Nocebo.'

Opening in theaters on November 4th and on demand and digital November 22nd is the new psychological thriller ‘Nocebo’ from director Lorcan Finnegan.

The new movie stars Eva Green (Casino Royale) as Christine, a fashion designer suffering from a mysterious illness that puzzles her doctors and frustrates her husband, Felix (Mark Strong).

Help finally arrives in the form of a Filipino carer named Diana (Chai Fonacier), who uses traditional folk healing to reveal a horrifying truth.

Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Eva Green about her work on ‘Nocebo,’ her first reaction to the screenplay, portraying a character going through trauma, Christine and Diana’s relationship, how that is affecting her marriage, and working with director Lorcan Finnegan.

Eva Green stars in director Lorcan Finnegan's 'Nocebo.'

Moviefone: To begin with, how did you got involved in this project and what was your first reaction when you read the screenplay?

Eva Green: It was actually during COVID. Lorcan sent me the script and I actually saw his movie, ‘Vivarium,’ a few months before. I really loved the very unique atmosphere, kind of claustrophobic and disturbing, and I was very excited. Just the idea of working with him was exciting.

Then I read the script and I thought it was kind of a daring project. It's not just a horror movie for the sake of being a horror movie. It's quite psychological. The bond between those two women was very appealing.

MF: In the film, your character is going through a traumatic experience, both physically and mentally. As an actress, how do you prepare for those scenes and was it ever exhausting?

EG: Yeah, but it's quite fun. I mean, it probably looked exhausting on screen, but, it's kind of jubilating as an actor to let the demons out and do extreme stuff. We're so controlled in life so, it's a good opportunity. With Lorcan, he has a very dry Irish sense of humor, so that kind of helps to not fall into a deep depression. But, it's fun, really.

Chai Fonacier stars in director Lorcan Finnegan's 'Nocebo.'

MF: Can you talk about Christine and Diana’s relationship, and how Christine becomes dependent on her?

EG: The journey of Christine is quite interesting, because at the beginning she seems, quite confident, active, and like a normal person. Then she receives this phone call that completely devastates her, and after that she develops this very mysterious illness.

She's quite unique, this woman, this Filipino helper named Diana. At the beginning, Christina's quite suspicious, but Diana kind of quickly gains her trust by being the perfect nanny. She cooks amazing stuff and she even manages to cure some of the symptoms Christine suffers from.

So, they really bond that way. Christine becomes so indebted to Diana that their relationship shifts, and the servant becomes the master. I really love that. Actually, one of my favorite movies is ‘The Servant.’ So, it was kind of echo to this.

MF: Can you talk about how Diana jeopardizes Christine and Felix’s marriage, and what it was like working with Mark Strong?

EG: I think the fact that this is a very strong relationship with Diana, and it enrages Felix who thinks that Christine's illness is psychosomatic due to something that happened in her past and that she feels guilty about.

He becomes very jealous of this relationship. It's almost like you would think at some point that Christine's in love with Diana now. It's like she's a goddess or something, and she doesn't listen to Felix anymore.

But Mark, he's such a gentleman. He's so nice. I remember shooting that scene when I argue with him towards the end of the movie. I remember one night I threw this shoe at him, and I was like, “Oh my God, I hurt him.”

He was like, “No, no, I'm all right.” But he was so lovely, and we were very lucky to have him on board. He's such a strong and very charismatic actor. So, it was very important to have that kind of strong man in the house.

Mark Strong stars in director Lorcan Finnegan's 'Nocebo.'

MF: Finally, can you talk about watching director Lorcan Finnegan execute his vision for this project?

EG: I mean, Lorcan knows exactly what he wants. He's very visual. He has an amazing imagination. He speaks a lot with his cinematographer, and they really wanted to do something different, with interesting angles.

I know that both of them really loved the Polanski Cinema, like ‘Repulsion,’ it was all about creating this disturbing, oppressive world. They were really working together, and it was quite contagious.