Vanessa Kirby has revealed she ‘sobbed for 10 minutes’ after shooting the harrowing labour scene in her film Pieces Of A Woman.
The actress, 32, recalled how although she knew it wasn’t real, her ‘unconscious didn’t know the difference, especially having a real baby in my arms’.
While chatting to Harper’s Bazaar, Vanessa also explained that she prepared to play the character of Martha by watching a woman give birth for seven hours.
Emotional: Vanessa Kirby has revealed she ‘sobbed for 10 minutes’ after shooting the harrowing labour scene in her film Pieces Of A Woman
Reflecting on the powerful home birth scene, which was the first sequence to be shot and sees Martha lose her baby, Vanessa recalled how it hit her emotionally.
She said: ‘The first time we shot it, I was literally sobbing for 10 minutes afterwards. I couldn’t get out of it.
‘My brain was telling me it wasn’t real, but my unconscious didn’t know the difference, especially with having a real baby in my arms.’
Pieces Of A Woman starts with the birth and then follows Vanessa’s character Martha on a year-long odyssey of mourning that fractures relationships with loved ones in a deeply personal story about her learning to live alongside her loss.
Tough role: The actress, 32, said she ‘couldn’t get out’ of the scene while filming and holding a ‘real baby in her arms’ (pictured with an apple, which was a powerful motif in the film)
In order to prepare for her role, Vanessa said she watched a real woman go through ‘indescribable pain’ to give birth.
The actress recalled: ‘I remember every single second of it. I was there, glued to my seat, for seven hours, not even a loo break! I was just amazed, in awe.
‘I saw a woman completely surrender and go on this spiritual journey, which involved indescribable pain, clearly, but also ecstasy.
‘It gave me a whole new respect for women and how powerful they are, and a new empathy for men, because they feel so helpless.’
Discussing the moment the child was born, she added: ‘And obviously, seeing the baby come out was the most incredible thing in the world I’ve ever seen, by far.
Harrowing: The movie starts with the tragic birth (pictured) before showing Vanessa’s character Martha’s year-long journey with grief which fractures her relationships
‘After he was born, all of the mother’s colour returned, she looked like an angel, she had a kind of holy glow.’
Since the release of the Netflix film, Vanessa has been praised for her powerful performance and nominated at several awards.
She’s been included in the Best Actress category at the Critics Choice Awards and also given a nod for Female Actor in a Leading Role in a Motion Picture at the SAGs.
Speaking about winning the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival, Vanessa said: ‘It doesn’t seem real. I have it in its case – I wouldn’t have it on display, it looks like a football trophy – but occasionally I glance at it and think, “Did that really happen? Or did I make it up in a weird dream?”
While addressing the buzz around her and the Oscars, the talented star said: ‘My 13-year old self would have a heart attack. It’s ridiculous, isn’t it!’
Vanessa also spoke about her work with Sands, the Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Charity, and her admiration for the Duchess of Sussex and Chrissy Teigen who have both candidly revealed their own experience with baby loss.
The actress said: ‘I feel so close to them and so proud of them for breaking that silence. Meghan [Duchess of Sussex] is probably the last person who would feel comfortable sharing her very personal, intimate feelings.
‘It’s that courage that I want to continue to honour.
‘What they’re saying is, if you’ve been through it, we have too, we share your story. I think that makes you feel less lonely.
Recognised: Vanessa Kirby has been nominated in the Best Actress category for Pieces Of A Woman at the Critics Choice Awards and also for Female Actor in a Leading Role in a Motion Picture at the SAG awards (pictured in the Netflix film)
‘But one in four pregnancies ends in miscarriage, which is far more than I knew about. Society finds it difficult to hold space for that kind of pain.’
And after playing Martha, Vanessa said she’s now set on only portraying characters which she can connect too and ‘means something’.
She told Harper’s. Bazaar: ‘I can’t do anything unless it means something to me now. It’s a better way to work, because you’re not focused on yourself at all. So maybe I’ll only work once every 10 years!
‘The best thing about doing this mad job sometimes is having your ignorance illuminated. I gravitate towards things that push beyond my experience, I want to go to places I don’t know, I’m not familiar with.’
Pieces of a Woman is out now on Netflix. The World to Come is out in cinemas on 2 April. The April issue of Harper’s Bazaar is on sale from 03 March 2021
Read more: The April issue of Harper’s Bazaar is on sale from 03 March 2021