Felicity Jones didn’t realize she wanted to play a moon.
“People really underestimate fun,” begins the Oscar-nominated actress, whose upcoming performance in Julia Jackman’s 100 Nights of Hero is a whimsical and joyous departure from her recent portrayals on screen (see: The Brutalist and Train Dreams). “The most powerful stories are often the most entertaining,” she continues. “Julia has managed to do that amazing trick of combining those things, which is a very, very difficult thing to pull off.”
Ahead of this past Friday’s release of Jackman’s sophomore feature film, the director and her stars Felicity Jones and Maika Monroe sat down with The Hollywood Reporter to unpack the making of 100 Nights, a visually stunning fantasy set in a fairytale kingdom and adapted from Isabel Greenberg’s graphic novel of the same name.
It follows Longlegs star Monroe as the prim and proper Cherry, happily married to Jerome (Amir El-Masry) and living a seemingly idyllic life. But the couple have yet to conceive an heir, so when Jerome absconds and his dashing friend Manfred (Nicholas Galitzine) arrives with dastardly intentions, Hero (Emma Corrin), Cherry’s wily and loyal maid, is forced to concoct a plan to distract Manfred by telling captivating stories about rebellious women (including popstar Charli XCX, who has a supporting role as an ill-treated bride). Over the course of 100 nights, Hero’s stories lure Manfred away from Cherry’s bed chamber, leaving him in a not-so-threatening dream-like state. As aforementioned, Jones stars as Moon, a part as connotative as it is eccentric.
“I was almost a little sad because I put this script in a drawer during the pandemic for a little bit, and when you take something out again and you haven’t looked at it for a while, you wonder if it’s going to feel a bit stale,” says Bonus Track director Jackman about the aptness of her patriarchy-bucking story. “It was exciting, but also a little bit of a bum-out to be like, ‘Ah, nope. Still relevant.’ Maybe even more relevant.”
The movie had its world premiere in Venice and later closed the London Film Festival. Critics have praised the cast’s wonderfully quirky performances, as well as the endlessly impressive costuming and makeup; THR‘s Leslie Felperin said the work of costume designer Susie Coulthard and hair and makeup creative Natasha Lawes “deserve pre-title billing.”
Jackman, Jones and Monroe get into all of the above and more in a discussion about their fantastical fairytale film. They talk about working with Brat architect Charli XCX, why Scream Queen Monroe craved a dabble in fantasy and why this feminist flick is for everyone: “It was important to me to show no one is having a good time. Men are trapped as well. No one’s living their best life when we suppress any part of society.”
Julia, this is your sophomore feature. What drew you to this story? Do you remember reading Isabel’s graphic novel — and what impact did it have on you?
JULIA JACKMAN I definitely do. I actually read Isabel’s graphic novel when I was not a professional filmmaker at all. I think it was 2016 [or] 2017 when it first came out, and a friend had just said it was cool. I really thought, ‘Oh, God, someone should make a film about this one day. I love this.’ It’s so funny. It transports you to another world. I love the mythology and the fairytale aspects. And then when I started making films, I worked up the courage to approach Isabel — because I thought maybe that someone could be me — and she and I clicked, and it was the two of us for a little while, and then these [gesturing to Jones, Monroe] brilliant guys came on board, and our lovely producer and cast.
100 Nights of Hero is about the power of storytelling, but specifically between women and how, in passing those stories on, it becomes an act of resistance. It’s that brilliant intersection of feminism and queerness. These messages are really important right now, given the current state of the world and with democracy feeling so precarious. Does that ring true to any of you?
JACKMAN I was almost a little sad because I put this script in a drawer during the pandemic for a little bit — because it wasn’t going to be a first feature and it was quite ambitious — and when you take something out again and you haven’t looked at it for a while, you wonder if it’s going to feel a bit stale. It was exciting, but also a little bit of a bum-out to be like, “Ah, nope. Still relevant.” Maybe even more relevant! I don’t know what you guys felt about that, but I think there’s so much power in continuing to talk to each other… One of the best ways to control people is to control what they know, the information they have access to, the people they have access to. And [this film] feels like refusing to do that.
FELICITY JONES I think in societies where we listen to women, we empower women. They tend to be healthier, happier societies, and also more prosperous societies. So everyone’s a winner. We have to give women the opportunity to be heard and to be respected, and it’s better for everyone.
JACKMAN And for me, this was never women versus men — I can’t say assholes versus non assholes — but it’s a humanist thing as opposed to a purely feminist thing. It was important to me to show no one, as [Jones says], is having a good time. Men are trapped as well. No one’s living their best life. When we suppress any part of society…
JONES Everyone suffers! [Laughs.]
JACKMAN Exactly. It’s not a healthy society.
From left: Felicity Jones, Emma Corrin, Julia Jackman and Maika Monroe at the BFI London Film Festival premiere of the film.
Courtesy of Getty
There’s something so Birdman-esque about certain people in power at the moment. Maika, can I ask you about Cherry? Because the last project I saw you in was Long Legs. Such a different tone to 100 Nights…
MAIKA MONROE [Laughs.] Very.
You have a reputation of being a bit of a Scream Queen. Was this a nice change of pace for you?
MONROE Oh, yeah. This script came to me at a time where Longlegs had just come out and I was being sent a lot and reading a lot of things, and I was just blown away by the uniqueness of this story. It doesn’t always happen with scripts — you can be like, “Oh, it’d be so fun to play this role,” but this was like, “I need to do this.” It doesn’t happen all the time. We read a lot and there’s a lot of really bad things. It’s just so nice when you get sent something and it’s like, “Oh, wow. This is not only so enjoyable and a fun story, but it has meaning and purpose.” I was so, so excited to do something like this. It felt very different from anything else.
Cherry doesn’t even know what it is to be desired or loved. It must have been really satisfying to get to the end of her arc and have that vulnerability of hers transform from the Cherry we see at the beginning.
MONROE Absolutely. That’s such a great thing about this particular role. You really go on this journey with her. You meet her, and [she is] very naive and ignorant to a lot of the world and and then she has this beautiful maid, Hero, who really guides her and teaches her.
Felicity, you obviously have such a beautiful voice for narration. Maybe you can talk a little bit about Moon as a character and where she fits into Hero and Cherry’s adventure?
JONES Yeah, I didn’t know that it was my secret desire to play a moon. [Jackman and Monroe laugh.] It was a no brainer. It’s like, “Moon? Yes, this is for me.” Well, it’s like [Monroe] is saying, it’s very rare that something comes along that you feel the story is a story you want to be telling — which is why I wanted to be involved as a producer as well as an actor — and then also at the same time it’s fun. People really underestimate fun.
MONROE Totally.
JONES And telling a story. The most powerful stories are often the most entertaining. Julia has managed to do that amazing trick of combining those things, which is a very, very difficult thing to pull off.
Similarly to Maika, you’ve been doing a lot of intense roles roles recently — The Brutalist and Train Dreams come to mind. This must have been a joyous switch-up.
JONES Yeah, I think I would say these are the kind of films that I love watching as a viewer, but it just immediately appealed. And the cast that Julia put together was all people that I like watching, so everything had a wonderful synergy to it.
A perfect segue into my next question for Julia. You managed to get so many great actors on board — Felicity and Maika, of course, but Nicholas and Emma, too. Everyone was great, including Charli XCX. She is slowly pivoting into film, so maybe you can talk about that casting decision and if she surpassed expectations.
JACKMAN Definitely. I was just so excited when these guys wanted to do it as well. And it was so funny, because every time you [to Jones] would come on set, you’d be like, “I’m just gonna come and serve up some good Moon vibes and see myself out.” [Laughs.] And it was just brilliant vibes. I was very moved, personally, by the fact that everyone could have taken on much bigger-budget projects with much more experienced directors, including Charli. And across the board, I was seeing people sign on with real passion and enthusiasm for something smaller and placing their trust in me.
There was a really wonderful agent who’s now actually with Working Title called Ruby Kaye who worked with Charli and was also a big champion of the film, and she reached out and said that Charli had responded to the script. It was a delightful surprise for me, and I just went and met her and saw that we were both keen for it to make sense and not feel like a stunt casting thing. When I met her, she had her amazing, dry sense of humor and her thoughtful questions, [and] I just started to really see her as Rosa. It felt very refreshing and lowkey and I found myself really hoping that she would take Rosa and she was keen. She really surpassed my expectations, for sure. I mean, I tend to not go in with too many expectations, because I just want to leave actors to be free to make their own [decisions]. You just trust the actors. If you’re working with them, you trust them, and these guys brought so many of their own choices and small behaviors that were incredible and made the film better than I would have ever thought. Charli was very similar vibes to these guys: devoted, kind, enthusiastic and very intuitive.
Charli XCX, Olivia D’Lima and Kerena Jagpal in ‘100 Nights of Hero.’
Courtesy of Alex Rusu
How would you guys describe a Julia Jackman set and her processes?
MONROE I’m trying to think of a better word than this but it just felt so comfortable. There was so much room to play. Especially with a movie like this, a script like this, you need that space to play. It was so much fun. It was so nice that the cast were all of the same age and, I don’t know, it was just magical. We’re filming in this castle every day, we’re wearing these incredible costumes. It was such a fun, exciting world to step into.
JONES She’s like a magician. She has these different things, and she makes a spell with all the different ingredients and brings little things out of you that you didn’t quite know were there — and just does it so subtly, but with purpose.
It sounds so fun. Where was that castle?
JACKMAN In Knebworth. And you guys were also such good sports about [things]… There was this one corset I remember — shout out to Maika’s ability to act when she also had to sit in a corset. It was entirely their skill and their willingness to get into that headspace that made my job so much easier. Because [on] indie sets, the schedules are crazy. You don’t really have any time. And so if they didn’t have the incredible insight and skill that they have, I wouldn’t have been able to pull it off.
I mean, this film is just as much style as it is substance. Do you have a favorite costume, corset, or piece of headwear?
JACKMAN Can I do three? Oh, no, there’s more. Our hair and makeup artist, Natasha [Lawes] was so good. She made the masks. She’s incredible. She made Birdman’s helmet. And I have a soft spot for Moon. I’m sorry, Cherry, because those puffy sleeves of Cherry’s, I just loved it. And then Rosa’s wedding outfit, where they made this flower cone on top of her head — and had to sew it into her hair. Susie Coulthard did the costumes on this, and she went above and beyond. She’s incredible. Hire her, everyone!
This film closed the 2025 London Film Festival, which is so nice for the Brits in the cast. Why is that so special?
JONES I think what’s brilliant is when you feel there’s a real appetite for the film. As we discussed, it’s tapping into some really relevant issues. And it’s been fascinating — so many people have come up to me and said: “I’ve been seeing, I’ve been seeing on the algorithm, 100 Nights!” Just the absolute excitement for it. It’s a real moment in cinema, this film, and I think it’s just so powerful [with] what it’s saying and doing it in such a brilliant way. So it makes sense that it [closed] the festival.
Lastly, are there any stories that have had you so enraptured, as Cherry and Manfred were, that days could have passed and you wouldn’t have known?
JACKMAN I’ve had a cold recently. I’m better now. I’m not spreading this to everyone. But me and my mom basically stayed inside, blowing our noses and watching the Colin Firth [and] Jennifer Ehle Pride and Prejudice. It never gets old.
