Water isn’t just a motif in The Chronology of Water — it is its pulse, its bloodstream, its way of breathing. Kristen Stewart’s directorial debut is a bold, brave and beautiful retelling of Lidia Yuknavitch’s memoir, following a young woman’s journey from surviving childhood abuse and the loss of a stillborn child in her teens, through years of addiction and self-destruction; through art, writing, family, relationships and swimming, she finds healing and shapes a new life.
At the film’s helm — alongside fellow co-stars Thora Birch and Esmé Creed-Miles — is indie cinema’s shape-shifter Imogen Poots (28 Weeks Later, Green Room, Vivarium - and most recently, Nia DaCosta’s Hedda) who sears through the screen, letting her body speak through sweat, salt, blood, chlorine and tears. It’s one of her most powerful performances to date, and the palpable sense of memory, grief, desire, and survival as she swims, stumbles, collapses and picks herself up again, all in dedication to telling and embodying Lidia Yuknavitch’s story, is remarkable.
In conversation with Laura Stratford, Imogen Poots reflects on the messiness of authenticity, the freedom of letting go and how this film has changed her.
Laura Stratford: Kristen Stewart has said watching you in this role was like seeing you “crack open”.
Imogen Poots: There was such an immediate trust and desire for each other to soar and to exceed expectations and get us as close as we could to render this story in our own way, the way we wanted to. To be asked to do this part was in and of itself a sort of a challenge from a peer like Kristen, who is such a singular artist in her own right. I knew it was going to be hard and it should have been as hard as it was to do it justice, but I think the impact on me was probably less to do with me as a performer and more to do with what I took away from the film into my own life, which I haven’t experienced before.
Did you have any doubts about the role?
The only doubt I had which was sort of perennial and exists in any artist (which is what keeps your sanity) is that I didn’t want to let Kristen down, in terms of what was on the page and the chance to sort of try and get to the truth of this person. All of that is pure excitement, and I think in order to be an actor you do have to be quite deluded and there has to be a sort of sense that you might be able to get as close as you want to… I think of it like paint against a wall, I was just like, we have to try everything and go for everything and then at least you’ve tried your damndest to bottle this person’s life.
I just came from doing an interview with Lynne Ramsay. One of the questions I asked - since I read somewhere about her love for painting - was, “how would you describe Die My Love?”, and she said, “Like a Pollock.”
Yeah, exactly, Pollock. That’s all acting is - fluids against a wall and you’re just ejaculating in the hope that you hit something that’s gonna make something else at the end of it; and in that way, it’s high stakes but low risk.
What do you think this role, or this experience has taught you?
There’s two parts to it. First of all, you’re looking at someone’s life, who have the cards stacked against them from the very beginning and have this sort of ever present, omnipotent voice of the father that was haunting her throughout her life and to create your own identity in the face of that is a huge achievement, especially when you have a frequent tendency to self sabotage. Every time Lidia got an opportunity, there was a sense of not being deserving of it or at least, fucking it up so royally that she wouldn’t be able to do it and see it through. So, I think on the one hand, just living as that person and understanding the catalyst for that behaviour, was heavy and cyclical and endless and relentless, and then on the other hand, I do think we’re living in a time where there are corners to things, and I mean like, edges to things, and it’s quite sanitised, and there’s all these algorithms telling us how to get over heartbreak, how to appear confident, how to be productive and all these rules and rules and rules and I just think, we’re not living in the way that we should maybe, and it should be a lot more messy - you don’t need to go into a social situation and being worried about maintaining power! That’s just fucking weird. We should be able to just be and I think Lidia is very - and Kristen is the same way - just kind of evisceratingly present, as a person, I think that’s really cool. I do wonder whether any of us listen to each other, anymore, and the film is definitely about listening and reacting, so… all of that.
How did you feel after watching its premiere in Cannes?
I think what people forget and underestimate is that Kristen's been a movie star for a very long time and succeeded in every single realm as an actress. So, to then say, “I’m going to direct something” and on top of that, have that debut be one that is so singular and personal and no doubt will be polarising, is such a cool thing to do, and such a risk, as well; and I just think that courageousness is what will always continue to set her apart, because it doesn’t mean she doesn’t also have fear within her, but it’s just, despite that, she went and made a movie and I’m so proud of her as a friend, it is wonderful.
I can’t wait to watch this film again, and see all the little intentional details that I missed last time.
Yes, it’s full of details. It’s like walking through an art gallery of someone’s life. It’s very trippy; you’re dealing with memory and you’re dealing with things that aren’t corporeal and you’re sort of trying to hold it altogether.
Were there any physical objects or rituals you would do that would help anchor you?
Music’s always been a big thing for me. Walking with music, I think, is the best healer in the world, I find it very grounding. I had a playlist full of things; a lot of folk on there, and then you know, a lot of Elliot Smith, Dylan, Coen, Judy Steel. I remember listening to ‘On Melancholy Hill’ by Gorillaz - that was a comforting track that I would return to whenever I’d hit rock bottom with fatigue and with the density of Lidia’s life. And then of course, rocks are a big part of the book and I’ve always collected rocks myself anyway, stones from different parts of the world and different beaches - so, it was nice to have that in common with the character.
Are you still swimming?
I’m still swimming. I got obsessed with swimming.
I swam a lot as a kid and once you do it, it kinda never leaves you.
No, and you yearn for it. Also, I think I do have an obsessive, addictive kind of personality… I remember going to a friend’s birthday and I just got there and it was like, 7pm, and I arrived and I remember after half an hour I had to leave, I needed a fix and so I went swimming. I found it really amazing that you can be so tired at the beginning and then suddenly, you’re not aware as to what your body’s doing, you’re just this weight in motion through water and your body does take over and your brain has thoughts that it couldn’t possibly have on dry land, it’s really cool.
Do you remember what you recorded for the self-tape?
I think I sent over a few scenes. I remember relating really hard to this line in one of the passages from Lidia’s own writing, in one of the scenes that Kristen had sent over, and it’s Lidia talking about (spoiler) her pregnancy and she says - I’m butchering it, I’ll try paraphrasing it - “I yearn to emerge amphibious and without gender” and I mean that in the way how it seems mystifying to all of us at this point what it is we are and culturally, what we’re trying to fit into, and I think we have breakthrough moments where we’re living our authentic lives and we look around a room and we all see each other and that’s an incredible, transcendent feeling but a lot of the time, we are performing; and I understood deeply that need and want to emerge as something amphibious. That line really mattered to me because I’ve often felt quite outside of things.
Talking of how you are in the moment, when you’re not on camera, necessarily… How would you describe yourself on set?
It’s all I’ve ever known since I started acting when I was quite young. Being on a film set always feels like home to me and you know, I wake up everyday and I’m a pretty hopeful person - despite having some pretty dower opinions at time - and I’m hopeful that something brilliant can happen and Kristen’s the same way, quite sort of peppy and always really happy to be there. I hope to never lose the sense that I feel really, really lucky to do this. It’s such a historical thing to make a movie with people.
It’s quite a feat.
It is, and it’s a circus and it’s strange and people’s emotions are all strained and it’s just… Everyone gives you back to yourself as a gift, every time you make a film, it’s a really special thing.
If you were to show this film to your younger self, what would you say?
I’d be like, “SEE?!” As an actress, I always wanted to make independent cinema and there was a period of time where it seemed like that just wasn’t possible anymore. I always look at the early work of Michelle Williams, for example, and how after Dawson’s Creek she went and did Kelly Reichardt movies and Tom McCarthy films and I think ‘Well that’s the dreamiest career in the world!’ and then Derek Cianfrance, you know? I think Kirsten Dunst has navigated that stunningly. But then there’s something about this film in particular which was a real confirmation of the fact that it really does matter what you believe you must and want to do with your work, and that if you just kinda stay faithful and authentic, you will end up surrounded by people that you should meet and will want to work with. You won’t get lost.
Attracting that kind of energy.
Yes, and speaking again to the fact that Kristen is such an individual… The way that she sees the world should be broadcast because it is just so reassuring and inspiring. She’s very brazen but she’s also incredibly tender and compassionate and kind to people. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone treat people so well or carry so much empathy - she seems to have endless patience and that speaks to how present she can be. I remember there was a bit in the script that said something like “This character is never going to be sullied”. There was always a vibrance to Lidia on the page and all of that was in the screenplay; it was very compelling and it read like a poem, but it wasn’t pretentious at all - Kristen couldn’t be pretentious if she tried.
You know, there’s work out there and you do a job and you meet people, and then there are films you make where it is like this cross section of you and it and your life and its life and it means a great deal to me because I think the questions that this film raises are really important. I’m just really proud of it and I think it’s important that movies like this continue to get made.
The Chronology of Water is now playing in cinemas across the UK & Ireland.
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