Black Swan set a high bar for complex, brilliantly executed ballet movies about relationships between women, but Birds of Paradise more than meets it. The Amazon film—which was written and directed by Sarah Adina Smith and stars Booksmart’s Diana Silvers and Kristine Froseth as Kate and Marine, two rival dancers at a French ballet academy—is both challenging and moving. It’s clear just how much prep the lead actresses had to do in order to embody their physically powerful and emotionally raw characters.
Vogue recently spoke to Froseth about working with Silvers and Jacqueline Bisset (who plays the academy’s uncompromising leader), getting in touch with her body through physical prep, and the “apples and oranges” phenomenon of competing against female friends for roles. Read the full interview below.
Vogue: I know you were almost finished shooting Birds of Paradise in March of 2020; how did COVID-19 disrupt the film’s schedule?
Kristine Froseth: We were shooting in Budapest—we started in February and then we had six days left of shooting when we got shut down. There was so much going on, but it was obviously a shame, and we didn’t know if we were going to get to go back and finish or not, because so much was up in the air. That was really tricky after three months of preparation, and it was difficult holding onto the characters and trying to keep ourselves physically prepped. Then we found out [we could] go back and finish the film—but it was really tricky to navigate training for the role again.
What drew you to the character of Marine?
I was truly intrigued by where we first meet her, because she’s experienced this tragedy; she’s lost her twin brother, her other half, and she’s going on this journey in terms of how she’s coping with that. I found her journey and healing process very uplifting, and I hope that other people will see that as well. Loss is different for everyone, but I hope people will feel less alone and find some strength in this story because I see it as very empowering. Women are also so often put up against each other, so that aspect of female competition was really interesting to me. I wanted to explore what her upbringing had been like in that ballet environment, and how that affected her relationship with herself and the girls around her.
Speaking of relationships between women, what was it like working with Diana Silvers and Jacqueline Bisset?
That was really wonderful. I had only known Diana from afar, but from the beginning, we just kind of were like, “Let’s buckle up and do this together.” We were unfortunately training separately—she was in L.A. and I was training in New York—but we would always face each other when we were struggling, and that was so helpful. When we got to Budapest, we had amazing rehearsals, and we were really open and honest about everything; I think that allowed us to feel super safe and just be present when we were shooting the scenes. Jacqueline was kind of in character the entire time, so that was very interesting. She’s such a force of nature, and she was definitely intimidating, but then when we wrapped, she was so lovely and we were like, “Oh my God, you liked us!” It was so wonderful to observe her work.
What was your physical preparation for the role like?
For three months beforehand, they set an intense schedule from morning to night where we would do Pilates, the Gyrotonic method, and some stretch classes. We would observe dance classes and take private beginners’ classes—which aren’t really for beginners, in my opinion!—at these different studios in the city, so I just tried to literally pack as much in as I could. I was really out of touch with my body and so out of alignment and had no idea what these different muscle groups were or what any of this was about, and I had no dance experience prior, so it was really intense, but I’ve learned so much about myself and my body. Overall, it was great.
Are you a ballet fan now?
I am—I have so much more respect for it. I don’t understand how they do it! I don’t have that in me. The discipline and technique of everything is just a little too much for me, but I really enjoyed it all the same.
Is there anything you particularly hope people take away from the film?
I do hope that they find some hope and strength. If anyone’s struggling with loss or depression, it’s so important to rely on one another and talk about it and ask for support. Amongst us females, I feel like we can support each other within the larger competition because there’s space for everyone. Within my own industry, I have a lot of good friends who go up for the same roles I do, but we know it’s apples and oranges, right? We can compete, but it doesn’t have to be sabotage.