Tom Ford’s critically praised 2009 drama “A Single Man” yielded an Academy Award nomination for Colin Firth and a Golden Globe nod for Julianne Moore.
So when the designer-auteur approached Oscar-nominated actress Amy Adams for a role in his latest drama, “Nocturnal Animals,” she enlisted in the film for all the right reasons — access to his high-end fashion, because, of course.
“Initially I was sent the script and I found it very compelling,” she recalled on Thursday after the film’s screening in Los Angeles, presented by FN’s sister publication Variety and the AARP Movies for Grownups series. “Along with the themes of the film — the loss of one’s self, loss of loyalty — there were so many things I identified with, so many things. It all came together in such a way that I had to do it, and then I knew I’d get to wear Tom Ford.”
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Sitting alongside the fashion designer and co-stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Aaron Taylor-Johnson during the Q&A panel moderated by Variety’s Jenelle Riley, the group roared with laughter.
All joking aside, she admitted that she was humbled to embrace a glamorous transformation — both onscreen and off — in Ford’s luxe label that includes footwear, apparel and beauty categories, among others.
“He knows I’m being silly. But really, me as styled by Tom Ford as this idealized version of me — even today it’s not really me,” she added. “It’s a fun place to get to visit.”
Adams looked chic during the panel clad in a white collared blouse, black pencil skirt and sandal stilettos.
“Nocturnal Animals” is based on Austin Wright’s 1993 book “Tony and Susan,” which Ford adapted for the big screen after a friend recommended the novel to him in 2011, when the novel was reissued.
“The thing that spoke to me about the story… was the fact that it’s really about finding people in your life that you care about — people in your life that are your soul mates that you love and not letting them go,” Ford explained. “I’m a very loyal person and I’ve been with the same person for the last 30 years [Richard Buckley]. In today’s culture we throw things away — we tend to throw people away. Maybe I’m old fashioned but I think a movie should say something, challenge you and maybe help you think about your life.”
“Nocturnal Animals” follows a woman (Adams) who laments the actions of her past after reading an emotionally disturbing book written by her ex-husband (Gyllenhaal).
The drama arrives in theaters Nov. 18. It’s Ford’s first time returning to filmmaking after a seven-year hiatus.
“I don’t know where those seven years went — life just passes by,” Ford said of his time away from the director’s chair while running his fashion empire. He added that he’s been working on the film for the past three years. “I had a son who’s now 4. I opened a hundred stores. Life sort of sucked me up into a fashion void. Hopefully it’ll be another three to the next one, not seven.”
