The Queen's Gambit aims to make laymen care about chess when it arrives on October 23 via Netflix, and all the moves thus far suggest it will succeed. Based on Walter Tevis' 1983 novel, the series centers on a young orphan named Beth Harmon (Anya Taylor-Joy) who discovers a ion and genius for the game amidst her personal struggles.
An A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood) plays Beth's adoptive mother Alma with an impressive amount of nuance. The two women see their pain reflected in each other's eyes, but also help build each other up and form an unexpectedly loving family together.
Heller spoke with Screen Rant about crafting the delicate dynamic between Alma and Beth, as well as how she handled her character's innner turmoil and whether or not she'll take up chess herself.
The relationship between Alma and Beth was endlessly fascinating to me. It was both warm and genuine, yet it almost felt casual and transactional in a way. What was it like for you building the mother-daughter bond with Anya?
Marielle Heller: You know, the thing about both Alma and Beth is they're these very lonely characters who haven't had anybody to really trust in many, many years. They kind of find each other at this moment in time, and they're like two feral animals let out of their cages, who then spend a while kind of sniffing each other out to decide if they're worthy. And it takes a while. I liked that the relationship actually took a while to build. It's not just simple or easy, and it's not just with only purely good motivations. Alma definitely sees the opportunity in Beth, that she could make some money and that her life could be more comfortable if they pursue this chess thing.
But there's real affection there too. In so many ways, Beth is the exact thing that Alma needs, and Alma is the exact thing that Beth needs - they just don't know it. They sort of become the love of each other's lives, and they provide something that doesn't look like a traditional mother-daughter relationship, but that is really what they each need.
I also love how there's almost a parallel or an opposition in Beth and Alma's struggles with addiction, and her reliance on outside factors for her own emotional well-being. How do you approach that as an actress?
Marielle Heller: I think the thing that's interesting about the character of Beth, that she has these role models of women that are pretty flawed. She has her own mother, who's died and had serious mental illness issues. And then she has me, who has these substance abuse issues. I'm clearly an alcoholic and very unhappy, but I also had a dream of being a pianist one day that was never fulfilled. She can also see all of the pain and the ways in which she doesn't want to become me. She doesn't want to become her mother, so she has to forge your own path.
For me, it wasn't a huge stretch. It was like, "Alcoholic housewife, 50s? Got it!" No, but she was a fun character. The best characters to play are ones who are really complex, who have deep seated emotion behind their choices. Alma is somebody who comes to the world with a lot of pain, and I could relate to her and feel her and imagine what it would be like to be a woman born in a different era who couldn't fulfill her dreams. Who's locked in a loveless marriage and feel so constrained by the era and the expectations on her. So, all of those were really fun to play with.
She gets to learn about chess while she's watching Beth play. Was there anything surprising that you learned or that made you see the game differently?
Marielle Heller: Thankfully, Alma isn't supposed to know that much about chess, and I don't know that much about chess. And I think that's what's so impressive about the series; even if you don't know anything about chess, you are so invested in the game of chess by the end of the series. You don't have to know the game to really get emotionally invested in the journey, which I didn't. Truthfully, I didn't know if they were gonna be able to pull off, but they really pulled it off.
And no, I'm learning about chess slowly. My five-year-old, before the quarantine, ed a chess class in our neighborhood in Brooklyn, and my husband was learning to play so that they could play against each other. I haven't really taken it up, but there's time now with the rest of this quarantine. It's not ending anytime soon, so I think it's time for me to really kind of try to learn.
The Queen's Gambit will be available to stream on Netflix starting October 23.