Paloma Kwiatkowski stars as the ambitious Loretta in Gaurav Seth’s newest film, the sci-fi thriller Multiverse.
Synopsis: Colleagues Loretta, Danny, Amy and Gerry are on the verge of an amazing breakthrough in quantum physics when tragedy strikes. Racing to complete the experiment, Loretta dies in a fiery car accident. Five months later, as the trio struggle to move on with their lives and the work they’d started, Loretta returns. She’s full of energy, enthusiasm, seemingly unaware she’s been gone for months. Are the friends losing their collective minds or has something remarkable happened? Soon, each of them comes face to face with their dead ringer. Professional rivalries and personal relationships surface and the friends realize only one version of them can exist in our reality. A violent correction is necessary to maintain order.
Check out my Q&A with Paloma!
What attracted you to this film and your character?
Paloma: I was really excited by the world the script created. Having to think of and create two universes that my character lived in gave me more space to play and provided new challenges as an actor. In my experience, working through challenges can make for far more interesting work. It also stood out to me that Amy, one of the core characters is deaf and that wasn’t the focus of the film. She was a college student like the rest of us. I think it’s important to see that diversity in films.
Multiverses are a really hot topic right now, what do you think sets your film apart from others that are exploring this same topic?
Paloma: I see our film as more of an ensemble piece between the four main characters. Or eight characters depending on how you look at it. We focused on creating strong relationships so that when a character interacted with someone from the other universe – the repore felt different/ foreign. And then of course our film explores what one would do when faced with knowing that only one version of themself can exist. I think our film takes an interesting look at humanity, and asks the audience what lengths they would go to to survive.
Have you ever thought about how you would react if you saw yourself from another universe?
Paloma: I once heard something like- if you were to truly run into another version of yourself that you wouldn’t be able to recognize that it was you. So maybe I’ve run into another version of myself and didn’t even know it! Haha! I honestly don’t know how I’d react if I saw another Paloma in the world. Perhaps she and I could team up to play some practical jokes on people.
How did you approach your character knowing you would also be playing a different version of them? Was this a difficult process?
Paloma: I focused on how Loretta’s relationships to the other characters changed. Since Loretta 1 and 2 didn’t have any obvious major differences, I had to think of more subtle things. It was a lot of fun collaborating with the rest of the cast on this. Loretta and Amy (from separate universes) had the most obvious shift. Loretta from universe 2 was not accustomed to her best friend Amy being deaf. I chose to play Loretta 2 with a bit more of an edge, and an impatience when it came to trying to communicate with Amy. Loretta and Danny’s relationship was super fun to play with. I mean how do you act around your boyfriend who’s cheated on you with your best friend but not really since you’re in a different universe? Haha. I was lucky to have such stellar cast mates. We really enjoyed exploring all the what-ifs in the script.
in the sci-fi thriller film, MULTIVERSE, a Saban Films release. Photo courtesy of Saban Films
The four of you meshed really well together, did you all know each other prior to filming? What did you do to build that relationship?
Paloma: I’m so happy that it came through! Munro Chambers and I had shot a film together just prior to Multiverse, called Riot Girls. As for the rest of the cast, it was really easy for us to build a relationship. We shot on location in Sudbury, Ontario. Since none of us are from there, we only had each other to hang out with. We spent almost every evening together- dinner after work and explored the town on weekends. It’s easy to pretend to be friends on camera when you’re friends in real life.
Do you have any favorite moments or funny stories from filming?
Paloma: One of my favorite moments was seeing Munro work with his real life identical twin, Thomas, in the fight scene between the two Gerrys. It made the filming of that action sequence less of a logistical nightmare and it was also pretty trippy to actually be around two Gerrys all day long!
Were there any scenes that were challenging?
Paloma: Just because it was so technical, the opening / ending sequence was tricky to shoot. There was a lot of very precise timing for the shots to work out, as envisioned by Guarev, our Director. And of course the scene is heightened with emotion and adrenaline – staying in that zone was probably the biggest challenge.
What was your reaction to the ending?
Paloma: I love a good open-ended ending! Just when you think you’ve got everything figured out, the movie asks you one more question. But what reality are you really in?
Is there anything else you’d like to add about Multiverse?
Paloma: Multiverse is a really fun, thrilling ride and I hope audiences like every twist and turn of it!
