\n<\/p>\n
It would seem that both actors certainly had to be brave during their many intimate scenes\u2014though for Dickinson, that may have been the easy part. \u201cActually, the more intimate scenes are relatively straightforward,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s blocking and then finding the truth of it.\u201d He credits Reijn and Babygirl<\/em>\u2019s \u201creally amazing\u201d intimacy coordinator, Lizzy Talbot,<\/strong> for creating a safe, open, and loving environment for the actors to work in, which Dickinson says is \u201cultimately what gets you to a place of truth with each other.\u201d And of course, there\u2019s also Kidman to thank. \u201cShe\u2019s funny as well, Nicole,\u201d he adds. \u201cShe can be very serious and diligent, but then she can crack a joke and be very, very normal. I think that just helps. It\u2019s not like, a stiff environment.\u201d<\/p>\n A certain lightness on set must be nice when your job requires you to explore the darker, more taboo parts of your psyche. \u201cIt was always about the darkness,\u201d says Dickinson. \u201cIt was always about, \u2018How much are we in touch with our darkness, and how much do we try and suppress it?\u2019\u201d Dickinson finds himself returning to one particular moment from the script: \u201cSamuel, when he\u2019s in the bed with Romy, he says, \u2018Sometimes I scare myself. Do you think I\u2019m a bad person?\u2019 He\u2019s aware of the fact that he\u2019s having an affair with someone who\u2019s got a husband and kids\u2014a family. And he\u2019s aware that he\u2019s the one that kind of instigated it.\u201d<\/p>\n For Dickinson, that internal conflict is where Samuel\u2019s mysterious vulnerability lies. \u201cI think that he understands that it is a bad thing that he\u2019s doing,\u201d he says. \u201cYoung men dealing with aggression and anger and tumultuous emotions, and figuring out what that means, and figuring out how to speak to that and control it in a way that\u2019s not just ignoring it. I think it\u2019s something we can all relate to. How we\u2019re taught to be what masculinity means and what femininity means\u2014the idea that if we\u2019re raised in a world to be strong, and then that comes crumbling down, what does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n While there may not be a clear answer to his query, Dickinson is excited that his work in Babygirl<\/em> is even asking the question. \u201cWe had another screening last night. Everyone had a lot to say,\u201d he says with a laugh. \u201cIt seems to be more than just like, \u2018Oh, that was great,\u2019 and then move on. I don\u2019t know whether it\u2019s someone\u2019s own restraint being liberated a little bit, or just relating to Romy or me. People are just latching onto it in a palpable way.\u201d<\/p>\n But though audiences are just starting to get attached to Babygirl<\/em> and Samuel, Dickinson himself has already let them go. He\u2019s reportedly circling<\/a> the role of John Lennon in Sam Mendes<\/strong>\u2019s four-part biopic about the Beatles. Though Dickinson won\u2019t say outright whether he\u2019s in the mix for the part, \u201cit would be a really interesting role,\u201d he says. \u201cJohn Lennon is someone I\u2019ve looked at as a really complex figure, so to step into that would be challenging as an actor. It\u2019d be a great challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n He hasn\u2019t spent much time wondering what Samuel might get up to after he walks barefoot out of Romy\u2019s upstate house\u2014and, presumably, her life. \u201cIf I\u2019m being totally honest, I don\u2019t think about what happens once my thing is done in the film,\u201d Dickinson says. \u201cI only think about what is before and what is maybe during. Once it\u2019s out of the story, I have no reason to imagine what they do.\u201d<\/p>\n Although, actually, he may have an inkling: \u201cI imagine him moving to Tokyo and doing it all over.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n