Zoë Kravitz Talks Epstein Comparisons to Channing Tatum in Blink Twice
Zoë Kravitz is aware of the comparison people have been making between Channing Tatum‘s Blink Twice character and Jeffrey Epstein.
In an interview with Indiewire published Thursday, the actress, who makes her directorial debut with the film starring Tatum and Naomi Ackie, reiterated that despite similarities, Tatum’s character and the story is “all a metaphor” and not based on Epstein. Kravitz also wrote the film alongside High Fidelity series writer E.T. Feigenbaum.
The film centers on Ackie’s character Frida, who is whisked away on an island vacation by billionaire Slater King (Channing Tatum). However, things take a darker turn. In Ackie’s The Hollywood Reporter cover story, the film is described as a “sort of a Get Out meets Promising Young Woman” and a “social satire plus class warfare plus gender politics.”
When asked whether Slater not being inspired by anyone in particular can represent more of the monsters that the public is not aware of, Kravitz agreed. “Yeah, and it’s all a metaphor. It’s not so literal. So that [Epstein] situation, that particular place and person, that documentary or whatever it was, came out not even halfway through writing [Blink Twice],” she explained.
She further explained why she set the film on an island: “But again, I set this on an island because I wanted to isolate the characters and have them deal with this situation. I was thinking about, again, the Garden of Eden and Lord of the Flies, and I’m not just also talking about powerful men at that level. It could be your husband. It could be the man down the street that’s following you home. It could be your boss, it could be a family member. There’s power on different levels and abuse of power on different levels. And so, how do you encapsulate this big idea into specific characters and try to find a way to make it relatable? People connect that to specific things, but that’s not the way it was thought about, if that makes sense.”
Given the film had a seven-year journey to the screen, Kravitz noted that the scripted “evolved in very cool ways” especially amid the #MeToo conversations at the time and now.
“The subject matter is so ancient, it’s power, the oppression of women. It’s the most basic things in the world. I’m talking about the Garden of Eden and the Serpent of Knowledge, and I’m starting way back at the very beginning, and yet it feels so current, which is really interesting,” Kravitz said. “Which is maybe why I felt like this should be written about. But when you’re writing about something that is still so alive that it keeps changing and you have to keep adapting in terms of the culture and the characters and what behavior is acceptable? What’s a red flag now? What is in the character’s consciousness in terms of, ‘Girl, don’t get on that plane with that guy. Haven’t you read the news lately?’ And so it was a cool thing to have to keep on keeping up with the times.”
Kravitz added that “at the same time, nothing was changing” and stories have continued to break about powerful men abusing their power.
“These stories would break about these people, and everyone wants to act all shocked. And my whole thing was, ‘You’re shocked that powerful men are abusing their power? This is a shock to you?’ And it’s been so important to make it clear that this is not about anyone in particular. And boiling down what we’re really talking about in this film to two people is problematic.”
Kravitz further reflected on the film’s plot to THR, explaining that the story is “personal.” “This story is so personal to me in terms of exploring what it feels like to be a woman, and of course when I’m talking to my girlfriends, we all have similar experiences, but when you go outside of your circle, it can be a little scary,” Kravitz told THR. “I remember talking to Naomi [Ackie] about our relationships with power and what it feels like being told to be invisible, and it was a relief to realize, ‘Oh, you vibe with this.’ ”
Blink Twice releases in theaters on Aug. 23.
