Netflix’s new sci-fi thrillerThe OAis garnering acclaim from critics and plenty of intrigued head-scratching from fans.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: So what was the original inspiration for this series?
It was like she had a brush with something inarticulable and that was now contained in her energy.
Credit: Myles Aronowitz/Netflix
It made a lot of sense to have a streaming long-form format.
You did a lot of research I hear?
Marling: It required doing a lot of research.
It seemed like a rich setting to dive into.
Batmanglij: Brit and I also went across the Midwest and visited a different high school every day.
It was eye opening to see what high school kids are experiencing today.
It’s very different than when I was in high school or in the John Hughes films.
That’s what I felt, at least.
Batmanglij: Oh, not at all.
Like, “Why can’t you have the credits come in an hour into the show?”
Netflix operates the same way.
The release strategy wasn’t ours, but it was great.
Obviously, we don’t really know what happened to Prairie during the years she was missing.
Is that something viewers could figure out if they rewatched the show?
Did you put clues about that in the show?
The show can be viewed in a lot of different ways and angles.
If people watch the show again they’ll have a different perspective on it at least I do.
What was the inspiration behind the physical movements in the show?
Batmanglij: The choreographer was Ryan Heffington, who I’ve admired for over a decade.
When I first saw one of his performances I was 24 and my brain was blown.
Violence doesn’t interest me very much.
Brit and I were fascinated by exploring something uniquely cinematic that was the opposite of violence.
Could there be something that’s the opposite of violence?
Marling: We spent a long time training too because we were largely a group of non-dancers.
But it ended up being something that held us all together as a tribe.
Eventually, it started to feel like the choreography was more expressive than any dialogue you could write.
Movement is immediate and primal and says a lot without having to open your mouth.
Batmanglij: She does say to Homer that he killed a man.
It’s implied that he told her stuff that we don’t see.
Batmanglij: I can’t talk about that.
That’s exactly what I can’t talk about.
But there’s no possibility that Prairie is telling the truth about her abduction, right?
Batmanglij: I don’t know if that’s true.
It is a story, so anything is possible within a story.
Marling: It was always leading to that moment.
And then, of course, the bottom drops out.
It feels to me like most of the provocative questions that are raised are eventually answered.
From a writing perspective.
there isn’t anything we haven’t solved in our heads.
But the question is: How long does the story continue?
Brit, do you have a definitive opinion in your mind, in terms of the truth of it?
Marling: As an actor, I certainly do.
I think you have to know where you’re coming from.
But I don’t want to say it out loud.
What I felt was the truth as an actor doesn’t matter anymore.
Can you say if the gunman is a character who appears previously on the show?
Batmanglij: I don’t know what you’re talking about …
I don’t think there are any right or wrong answers.
Marling: I like that, that makes so much sense to me.
That’s how poetry functions.
