NOVEMBER
FA
LLMOVIE
PR
EVIEW
As Harriet Tubman, Cynthia
Erivo was tasked with unlock-
ing the humanity under the
abolitionist’s legendary hero-
ism. She found the key in Tubman’s
relationship with her husband, John
(played by Zackary Momoh), who remar-
ried after she escaped. “Every woman can
understand being heartbroken,” she says.
The role was as physical as it was emo-
tional, and the star trained constantly
during the 41-day shoot. “I got myself a
bike,” she recalls. “If we had a call at four
I’d be up at two [working out].”
Her efforts paid off: The film debuted at
the Toronto International Film Festival in
September to raves for its star, and the
Oscar buzz is building. Should Erivo win
next year, she would become the youngest
artist to ever achieve an EGOT, after her
turn in the 2015 Broadway revival of The
Color Purple earned her a Tony, Grammy,
and Emmy. But the accolades are second-
ary to what Erivo hopes audiences will
take away from the film: “Even the small-
est person has a strength within them that
could change the world.” —Mary SollosiAFTER NEARLY A DECADE PLAYING
Captain America, Chris Evans does
a complete 180 as Ransom Drys-
dale in the clever whodunit Knives
Out. And it’s exactly his character’s
terrier-kicking, fisherman’s-
sweater-wearing evilness that
attracted him to the role. “I’m usu-
ally tasked with playing guys who
are a little more noble, and this
guy is a little bit more vile,” says
the actor, 38. “It’s fun.” Here’s how
Evans liberated his inner jerk.1
He drew inspiration from
real-life twerps. “I’d be
lying if I said I didn’t know people
who are just like [Ransom],”
says Evans. “He’s born into privi-
lege and he’s also equipped
with a victim’s mentality, and I
think that combination is very
dangerous. You don’t have to
look far to find people who oper-
ate in this constant victimized,
indignant state of recreational
outrage where everything isnever their fault. It just opens the
door to a lot of s---ty behavior.”2
He took up allll the space.
“There’s a certain physicality
of a person who is soaked in
con fidence, truly marinated in that
kind of entitlement,” says Evans.
“And it involves minimal eye contact,
a constant state of recline, whether
they’re sitting or standing...an
unapologetic physicality [where]
they make the space their own.
They’re gonna put their f---ing
feet up, they’re gonna own their
oxygen in a way that is not just
confidence, it’s an active indiffer-
ence to the people around them.
Which is a real weaponized trait.”3
He embraced cashmere.
“It’s been a long time since
I’ve done a movie where I got to
wear nice clothes! I usually wear
such boring s---. The clothing, the
hair, all of it helps tons [with get-
ting into character]. —Clarissa CruzKNIVES OUT
HARRIET
DIRECTED BY Rian Johnson STARRING Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis,
Toni Collette, Ana de Armas, Don Johnson, Lakeith Stanfield IN THEATERS Nov. 27DIRECTED BY Kasi Lemmons
STARRING Cynthia Erivo, Joe Alwyn
IN THEATERS Nov. 1EGOT TRIP
A
↓ Harriet (Cynthia Erivo) on the run↑ Chris Evans (and his fisherman’s sweater) manspreading in Knives OutHow
TO
BeA
Jerk