Aubrey Plaza explains the ‘madness’ of filming ‘Megalopolis’: ‘My mentality was every day every man for himself’

Despite the film’s dismal box office performance, “Megalopolis” star Aubrey Plaza has received plenty of positive reviews for her performance as financial reporter Wow Platinum – and if an interview published by The New York Times on Sunday is any indication, the press is well deserved. “It was crazy working on this film,” she explained. “My mentality every day was: ‘Every man for himself; Only the strong survive here.’”

Plaza added that filming with Coppola was unpredictable. The director might tell her, “In the next shot, you’re a spider,” or he might get a suggestion from his barista. She said: “There were days when I walked onto set thinking we were about to start filming, and instead Francis said, ‘I’d like to play a game.'”

The actress decided to stay on set and outside the role of the platinum character. “Even in the car on the way to that set, I went wow,” she said. “I’d be like, ‘Okay, I’m terrified right now, I’m having a nervous breakdown just like me, but wow, that’s not the case.’ She can handle anything.’ And I would turn on like a lightbulb: ‘It’s wow time.'”

Improvisation on set was also the key to success. Otherwise “you would be eaten alive.”

Plaza also told the outlet that her co-star Jon Voight suggested she write her own scenes for the film because they might even be used. Plaza followed his advice and she and Shia LaBeouf worked together to find a solution to a scene that eventually appeared in the film.

“It took a long time, but I finally found what I was looking for, which was for Francis to guide me in a truly inspiring way that wasn’t about the end result,” she said.

You can read the entire interview with Aubrey Plaza at The New York Times.