Carrie Coon was emerging as one of the most exciting actors working today thanks to “The Leftovers” when she made her feature film acting debut in David Fincher’s “Gone Girl.” Coon starred in Fincher’s Gillian Flynn adaptation as Margo “Go” Dunne, the no-nonsense twin sister of Ben Affleck’s Nick Dunne. It was a small part, but one that in Coon’s hands made an impression on film critics. Nearly seven years after the film’s release, Coon told The Independent that she’s not a fan of her work in the movie.
“I’m one of the actors who feels like I should watch myself ‘cause that’s how my habits are revealed to me,” Coon said. “But when I watch ‘Gone Girl,’ all I can see is myself making faces. I think I can note my improvement as ‘The Leftovers’ goes on — I think I get better — but I find my performance in ‘Gone Girl’ horrific to watch.”
That’s not to say she regrets “Gone Girl.” Quite the contrary. Coon compared the experience of working on the movie to attending “David Fincher film school.” She added, “There was actually a lot of language about being on a set and working on camera that I didn’t know. I had David and Ben teaching me about why they were doing what they were doing, when I had to be still, and how much food to eat on camera when you’re gonna do 80 takes.”
Coon spoke to Collider last year about working with Fincher on “Gone Girl,” saying, “What I discovered about David is he’s a perfectionist and I’m a perfectionist, so if you want to do 70 takes that’s all the more time I have to practice and try to do better. He would show me the frame and tell me why he was asking me to do the things he was asking for. You can’t take it personally because he’s looking at the whole picture. You know when he’s focused on you and so many other times he’s not. And if you take that personally, you’re going to get in your own way.”
Following “Gone Girl” and “The Leftovers,” Coon has continued to receive rave reviews for performances in “Fargo” and “The Nest,” the former of which earned a Best Actress nomination from the Gotham Awards last year.
“I’m one of the actors who feels like I should watch myself ‘cause that’s how my habits are revealed to me,” Coon said. “But when I watch ‘Gone Girl,’ all I can see is myself making faces. I think I can note my improvement as ‘The Leftovers’ goes on — I think I get better — but I find my performance in ‘Gone Girl’ horrific to watch.”
That’s not to say she regrets “Gone Girl.” Quite the contrary. Coon compared the experience of working on the movie to attending “David Fincher film school.” She added, “There was actually a lot of language about being on a set and working on camera that I didn’t know. I had David and Ben teaching me about why they were doing what they were doing, when I had to be still, and how much food to eat on camera when you’re gonna do 80 takes.”
Coon spoke to Collider last year about working with Fincher on “Gone Girl,” saying, “What I discovered about David is he’s a perfectionist and I’m a perfectionist, so if you want to do 70 takes that’s all the more time I have to practice and try to do better. He would show me the frame and tell me why he was asking me to do the things he was asking for. You can’t take it personally because he’s looking at the whole picture. You know when he’s focused on you and so many other times he’s not. And if you take that personally, you’re going to get in your own way.”
Following “Gone Girl” and “The Leftovers,” Coon has continued to receive rave reviews for performances in “Fargo” and “The Nest,” the former of which earned a Best Actress nomination from the Gotham Awards last year.