From writer/director Armando Iannucci and inspired by the graphic novel of the same name, The Death of Stalin follows the Soviet dictator’s last days while depicting the absolute chaos of the regime after his death. In the days following Joseph Stalin’s collapse from a stroke, his subordinates began a fierce and desperate fight for succession to place themselves in a position that would ensure their rivals were disposed of and that they would make it out alive. The film, based on incredible true events, stars Simon Russell Beale, Steve Buscemi, Michael Palin, Jeffery Tambor, Jason Isaacs, Andrea Riseborough, Rupert Friend, Olga Kurylenko and Paddy Considine.

At the film’s Los Angeles press day, Collider got the opportunity to sit down with co-stars Steve Buscemi and Andrea Riseborough to talk about why The Death of Stalin appealed to them, their desire to work with Armando Iannucci, his great taste as a filmmaker, and the fun of doing big ensemble scenes. They also talked about what they look for in a project, working together again, on the upcoming feature film Nancy, which Riseborough also produced, and why Buscemi wanted to play God on the TBS series Miracle Workers.

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Image via IFC Films

Collider: When you read this script, with all of these wild and crazy, but very real characters, what was your impression of it?

ANDREA RISEBOROUGH: I was so thrilled by the thought of getting to work with Armando, and was so excited that Steve was in negotiations to be a part of it. That was a huge draw for me. Really, my first thought was, “Who was this woman?” There was so much information on Svetlana, so I truly felt very fortunate, in that way. There’s been a lot written about her, over the years, and you can actually see her talk and move and speak on YouTube. There are public domain clips of her, all over. Getting to know who she was, was a thing that excited me, in terms of playing the character.

STEVE BUSCEMI: I got the script that Armando Iannucci co-wrote and knew who the other cast members were going to be or could possibly be, and then read it and went, “Oh, my god, where do I fit in?! How do I do this?” And then, I had a lovely talk with Armando on the phone and he very calmly, as he does, reassured me that I’d fit in and it would all work out, and it did. I’m glad I did it. I’m glad I got out of my own way because it was pretty intimidating. 

So, you believed him when he told you that it would all work out?

BUSCEMI: I did! I thought, “This is a good director! He’s already working with me on the phone.” Even physically, I thought, “How in the hell do I pull this off?!” He said, “Don’t worry about it! We’ll shave your head and put you in some padding, but we’re not gonna put you through hours of make-up because we don’t have the time or the money to do that.” Once I got over that I would be playing this iconic figure and focused on playing the person, that made it much more interesting. 

What did you like about working and collaborating with Armando Iannucci? How was the experience of watching him find that tricky balance of humor and drama, on set?

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Image via IFC Films

RISEBOROUGH: When we were doing Birdman, we had the same conversations about the balance between the darkness and the light. But when you’re in it, it’s very hard to have any objective relationship to what you’re doing. It doesn’t feel like you’re trying to reach a balance. You’re really just playing the truth, or attempting to play the most authentic version of the scene. Life can be hysterical and ridiculous, and grief is. A bunch of totally incompetent men usurping each other is ridiculous, so there was a truth to it.

BUSCEMI: Life is like that. If you’ve ever gone to a funeral or wake for somebody that you love, but then there’s another family and another wake going on, over there, you look at that family and go, “I don’t know these people, but they’re funny. I know that conversation is funny.” And they’re probably looking at your family and saying the same thing. But when you’re in it, you don’t feel it. I think there’s so much comedy in everyday life, and that’s what Armando knows. He’s not afraid to portray that. The script had a lot of comedy in it, and there were a lot of jokes, too. But whenever a joke got in the way of the truth, he said, “That doesn’t work.” I know he did that in the editing room, too. 

RISEBOROUGH: He just has great taste.

BUSCEMI: We had incredible faith in him from his past work, but also from working and rehearsing with him. He had a two-week rehearsal period, which was so important because we got to know each other and become friendly. He would always remind us that friends can turn on each other, in that atmosphere, in a heartbeat. It was all about survival. They had to be that way because they could be on the chopping block. 

RISEBOROUGH: Every character was about self-preservation.

BUSCEMI: That heightens the reality and pushes these people to act in a certain way and to be slightly over the top. 

This is a great ensemble and we get to see that ensemble together, in so much of the film. What were those big scenes like to do?

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Image via IFC Films

BUSCEMI: Those were some of the most fun scenes, when we were all together. 

RISEBOROUGH: The sweetest actor in the world plays Stalin, and he spent a lot of time in that bed, with us fiddling around with our lives.

BUSCEMI: The group scenes were really fun. Armando would do these long master takes and play them long, so it really was like doing a play. 

RISEBOROUGH: A lot of us are theaters actors and it felt very much like being in a play. The way we achieve the final product in filmmaking is so different from the theater, but it felt like we were playing out these ridiculous scenarios, and they were being captured. There was no constraint, and often there can be. Armando is interested in big comedy, and there’s a lot of that in this film, even though it’s a small film. There are a lot of wide shots, just zooming out and looking at how ridiculous the whole situation is. It’s really timely and a great relief to have right now. It reminds you that society is cyclical. Things happen, over and over again. Despite our best efforts sometimes, we don’t always learn from historical events. We often just replicate them. We’re an interesting animal, aren’t we? I love us, but I think we’re an interesting animal.

Did The Death of Stalin turn out how you expected it would?

BUSCEMI: Yeah, pretty much. I didn’t know how he was gonna do it because the script was really thick. It felt like we were shooting an epic. 

RISEBOROUGH: It was Biblical.

BUSCEMI: I couldn’t figure out how he was gonna do it, but he got it down to an hour and 40 minutes, and when I watch the film, I don’t remember a lot of what he took out. There are some scenes that are really truncated. He liked to shoot a lot and have a lot of material, but once he saw it all, he was able to say, “Okay, now I see it. That doesn’t work. We don’t need that. I’m repeating this, so we only need that here.” That’s just part of what makes him so brilliant, on set and in the editing room. 

RISEBOROUGH: One of my favorite qualities about the film is that I could keep watching it. I didn’t want it to end. It was mesmeric. It’s a strange comparison to make, but P.T. Anderson films have that same thing for me, where I feel like I could watch them forever.

BUSCEMI: You’re watching characters behave and you want to follow each character. 

RISEBOROUGH: I don’t think that’s exclusive to being an actor, because we observe people. I think that’s just very human. We love to get in each other’s business, see how the other half lives, and lift the curtain up, especially in politics.

At this point in your life and career, what do you look for in a project and what leads you to say, “You know, this just isn’t for me”?

RISEBOROUGH: Good question.

BUSCEMI: It starts with who’s making it and the script. I love ensemble films. I love films that are about different characters and not just two people that you follow, and they don’t really have friends or family. I love films where you’re not sure who to follow and characters come in and out. What I generally look for, when I sign up to do a film, is the writing, the directing, the cast and how the story is going to be told.

RISEBOROUGH: I really feel similarly. I think that’s why I love Chekhov. There are so many people that you can focus on that you feel less manipulated than having to see something from just one perspective. I love it when there are options. I don’t think not following one protagonist through an entire film takes away from the film. I don’t think you only have to see it from one perspective.

Steve, you’re one of the few actors who can now add playing God to your resume, which you’re doing on the upcoming TBS series Miracle Workers. What was the appeal of that, for you?

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Image via IFC Films

BUSCEMI: I knew the people involved. I didn’t know Simon Rich, who had created the show, but I knew some of the other people. There were also a lot of people that I didn’t know, and that was exciting. Daniel Radcliffe is in that, and I was excited to work with him, but I didn’t know the rest of the cast and I was hearing great things about everybody. That’s a situation where I’m playing this wonderful character in a funny script. It was hard to say no. I always look for ways to say no. I know I’ve done a lot of work, but I’m basically one of the laziest people you’ll ever meet. I read stuff and I’m like, “I don’t wanna do that. Where’s it shoot? I don’t wanna go there. I wanna stay home!” But when the elements all combine, I’m in. 

You guys worked together again, on the feature film Nancy. How did that come about?

RISEBOROUGH: We did Stalin first, which is how I had the great fortune of meeting Steve. There was this beautiful part, Leo, in Nancy, who’s just such a lovely guy. Steve gives a phenomenal performance. It’s a really vulnerable, warm side of him that I just love, in the quality of his performance. It was an utter privilege.

BUSCEMI: Andrea sent me the script for Nancy because she’s a producer on it, as well. I was content to take it easy and not work. I was just gonna hang out for awhile, but then I got an email from Andrea. She wrote such a lovely note and it was just too good to pass up. They made it so easy. That was so much fun. It was very dark material, but being together, making that effort, shooting in basically one location in upstate New York was great. 

RISEBOROUGH: It felt like such a company effort. It was such an ensemble feel. Even though it’s called Nancy, and she is the protagonist and it’s from her perspective, on set, it felt like we were in the theater. As you get older, you realize there’s so little time. When you’re a kid, you go, “I want to do thousands of things.” But really, you can probably only do, at most, four projects a year, if you’re really busy, and that’s intense and insane. So, you think about what you want to spend your time doing. My company, Mother Sucker, co-produced Nancy, and I developed it, from the beginning, with (writer/director) Christina [Choe]. The wonderful elements of that were having an 80% female crew that was 50% people of color. We felt like we were actually moving forward, on a grassroots level. We turned up to work and saw a pretty much accurate representation of the country, in many ways. There were perhaps slightly more women than usual.

BUSCEMI: For so many years, I would walk onto a set and it was mostly men. For me, it was such an eye-opener to go, “This is how it could have been, all these years. There’s no reason why it shouldn’t have been.” 

RISEBOROUGH: And while we’re addressing the balance, maybe we can all give more opportunities to women. We will all be 50/50 by 2020, but there’s been a long time when they’ve just not had the opportunity, the leg up, the open door. And we’re working with two of the biggest feminist guys, with Steve and John Leguizamo.

BUSCEMI: What they did on the film, by consciously hiring department heads who were women, who then, in turn, hired women to be on their crew, is what men have done, for years, without even thinking about it. It was just, “I’m a guy, and I’m gonna hire a guy.” 

RISEBOROUGH: Our gaffer went to the finest film school in Columbia. She has this huge brain and so much information. That she was our gaffer was a big opportunity for her. When I first met her, she said, “Thank you so much for hiring a woman. It hardly ever happens, in this position.” I hope she’ll go on to direct. The great triumph with Nancy at Sundance was that Christina was the first female American career woman to win Best Screenplay, which was so great. I was so thrilled for her. She’s a fantastic auteur and she deserves all of that because she’s just got the most twisted, wonderful brain and it should be out there, in the world.

BUSCEMI: We need voices like hers.

RISEBOROUGH: Absolutely!

The Death of Stalin is now playing in theaters.