Whitney Cummings is recalling her unusual audition with Francis Ford Coppola.
On a Dec. 7 episode of her “Good for You” podcast, the comedian said she studied her lines “for days” before trying out for Coppola’s “Megalopolis,” a science fiction epic that the legendary director released earlier this year.
“I go in. I’m in hair and makeup for three and a half hours,” she said. “It was, like, Jheri curls on my forehead that were glued down.”
Cummings said the audition was shot on film and jested that an old-school camera operator worked from “under a black sheet” as smoke was emitted by something like flash powder.
“He’s shooting it on film, fine!” Cummings joked of Coppola before recalling the atmosphere on set.
“Everyone is so quiet,” she said. “There’s no vibe of, like, ‘We’re at an audition. Hey, what’s up? Hi, how are you? Nice to meet you!’ It’s just so awkward. And I go in and … he’s like, ‘Oh, no, no, no, we’re not going to do the scene.’ And I was like, ‘OK, that’s three days of my life.’”
Cummings said Coppola instead decided to “just throw things” at her to improvise, giving her directions like “In an English accent, say goodbye to your son going to war” and “Now your husband is leaving you for your sister. Australian accent — go.”
“I did the show ‘Punk’d,’” she noted, referring to the prank TV series. “I was like, if I’m being punk’d, this is actually genius, because I disassociated the entire thing. … I started glazing over, and then he was like, ‘That was great.’”
Cummings said she was “embarrassed” by the audition, but said Coppola sent her off with “a signed copy of his new book” and a bottle of wine from his winery.
She ultimately did not appear in “Megalopolis,” which was a box-office flop and opened to poor reviews.
The drama centers on the conflict between an architect and the corrupt mayor of a fictional city called New Rome, with a star-studded cast that includes Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, Shia LaBeouf, Laurence Fishburne and Aubrey Plaza.
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Production was plagued by accusations of unprofessional behavior by Coppola, with Variety alleging that the director was seen “trying to kiss young female extras” in video footage from the set. Coppola called that reporting false and sued the outlet for libel in September, seeking at least $15 million in damages.