Interview: Nina Hoss on the intimidating and immersive world of ‘TÁR’ and working with Cate Blanchett

After a long trip cross the pond, talking to dozens of people about her work, Lydia Tár (Cate Blanchett) returns home to her massive flat in Germany. At this point, we have learned about the brilliant, relentless musical genius who is one of the top composers in her field and is a larger-than-life figure. But when she walks in the door, we meet the other half of her life, her life partner Sharon, who is not only the love of her life but Lydia’s concertmaster. At the helm of this fascinating character stands the renowned German stage and film actress, Nina Hoss, in TÁR, writer/director Todd Field’s first film in 16 years.

Nina Hoss’s career has been widely celebrated on the stage and screen. Most notably, over the course of the last two decades and five films, her work with German director Christian Petzold has delivered one of the strongest director-actor collaborations in modern cinema. Films like Barbara and Phoenix not only shine a light on Petzold’ keen visionary eye, but they carry marvelous, complex characters for Hoss to dive into and explore, with the result being nothing short of brilliant work.

In Todd Field’s latest psychological drama, Hoss must dance with her co-star metaphorically throughout the duration of the film. Hoss’s Sharon is a vulnerable and yet extremely powerful examination of a spouse struggling to live in a world dominated by their counterpart. In the end, she is the audience, as we are pulled in by the power of Lydia’s genius yet know there is something wrong under the surface. In learning to playing the violin in front of a concert hall full of world class musicians and facing off against her Oscar winning co-star, Nina Hoss shines in one of the best performances of the year, and her career.

In a recent conversation with her, we discussed TÁR’s recent Gotham Award nominations and what it means to receive praise for her performance in the film, as well the process in making her character come to life with director Todd Field. We also talked about her relationship with her co-star Cate Blanchett, her collaboration process with Petzold, and what she thinks of Sharon’s actions within the film, including her final moments within the film. Lastly, we spoke about her experience playing the violin, and her love of singing. 

Ryan McQuade:  I want to start by saying congratulations on the Gotham Awards nominations. How have you and the team been receiving this praise so far, and what do you think about all of it?

Nina Hoss: I think overall we’re mainly just very thankful and I can only say having this giving birth, so to speak, to this film in Venice, was already such an emotional experience and such a wonderful experience in terms that the people just really want to talk about the film

And that is basically why we all do this. Also, as the team, we really, at the beginning of it all, we thought, oh, hopefully this will start a good conversation. And that’s what it’s doing. That is so wonderful and it’s so great to see that what you try to portray and to put out in this world is received in a way that you can discuss the points and you don’t feel lectured, you don’t feel overwhelmed by it all, it’s more than that. People really want to engage and that’s just beautiful. It’s really, really mainly thankful, I would say, to be part of this beautiful project.

RM: Speaking of that, obviously it starts with the script. It’s been a long time since we’ve all seen Todd [Field] make anything. As you’re reading it, what were your first general feelings about the project?

NH: Well, I remember that when I first read it, I had to put it down and I was like, oh my God, I think I understood half of it, and I consider myself knowing a little bit about classical music and having read quite a bit and all of that. But I was at the same time really intrigued. I was so fascinated by mainly, of course, first of all by Lydia, but also about the world she’s in. I didn’t quite understand what is she looking for, what is it? So, you just wanted to go back and revisit and understand the world she’s in, because clearly it must be a very fascinating one.

And that was my initial feeling when I got the script that I thought, I just want to understand more. I want to dive into this world that Todd is taking us. And it was so intelligently written and giving so much room to every character to leave room for interpretation and you can’t judge any of them easily. And that I find so hard to pull off and that brings with it that you really want to work on it and you want to fill it and you want to find every little nuance. So that’s what it was. It was so nuanced and it’s not often that you come across a script like that. Firstly, I also thought, “oh my God, they’re going to finance this? This is going to happen. We were going to make a film like this. Wow.”

RM: When you were speaking with Todd after you’ve read it, in your initial conversations about Sharon, were there any changes after you read it and talked with him to flesh her out to more who you thought she was?

NH: I know that we had had a long, long talk about Sharon before we even started filming. It was clear that I want to do it, but I thought, let’s say he concentrated on her as her partner in the sense of a love partner of the one who shares her life with Lydia and who is so in love that they actually decide to adopt a child.

And so, it was concentrated a lot about her grief of feeling that she might lose her loved one and all of that. I thought that is already very clear and rich. But the more I thought about her, the more I worked on the violin, the more I learned about Mahler for example, and learned about his wife. I got so inspired that I thought, who is Sharon? Who is the person that’s next to a genius like that? Who are the people around someone very powerful? And that’s what informed me that I thought, Todd, maybe we can put something in that or look for something that Sharon is not innocent. Maybe she doesn’t know.

But she’s part of the system and she benefits from certain behaviors. But I would say that was all in there. I took it for example, from the scene where Sharon says, ‘yeah, Petra, our little daughter is having trouble in school and somehow someone must bully her in a way, and I don’t know what to do.’ And then we know what Todd does in school and she comes home, and she said, oh, now she’s fine that either Sharon is in that sense naive, or she says it, because she doesn’t want to do the dirty work. Yeah, no, Tara is good at what she does, and she takes things in her hands, and she does the things a little bit differently. And that took me, we just took it a bit further and I just wanted to make sure that he thought in the same direction, let’s say. So, I didn’t make the answer shorter, I didn’t really change my, but we enhanced the things and I think that brought a lot to the last scene of Sharon where they kind of the separation scene.

RM: The relationship between Lydia and Sharon is so integral to the story. You aren’t just living partners in the film, you’re also collaborators at work too. And so how did you and Cate go about building that bond we see on screen, off screen and while you’re working?

NH: Well, we talked a lot about the three of us. We talked about the background story, how did they meet, when did they fall in love, why did they fall in love? And then what happened up until the point where we get to meet them? So that helped us, knowing what we’re dancing on when we start filming. And then it was very lucky that Cate and I, we met before we started shooting, we were both shooting different projects in Budapest, and it was during the lockdown time, and we were all really on an exile in this one. All the tested individuals all being in this one room having breakfast and dinner and lunch or whatever. And we would meet, and we were both like, oh my god, and we’re going to work later in the year. And we got to know each other on a very personal level, which of course always helps when you then start working on being a couple people who live together.

You don’t start from scratch. And then we just took it from scene by scene and certain things. For example, I remember when we did the first scene, it was just, I looked at Cate and I thought, oh my God, this is so easy in a way floating and think, I think there was no kiss at the end of the scene written down, but it just happened, because it’s two people who are really in love. And that’s what Cate and I also wanted to portray that this couple is okay. They do love each other really, and they meet through this beauty that they’re producing through music. And the two of them can really bring the orchestra to a high point. And also, Sharon knows we can do this fifth symphony, which is really one of the most beautiful symphonies you can listen to. And we can do something amazing with Lydia as our conductor. And this fascination and passion to what they’re doing I think is the main bond these two women have. And those are the things we were working on.

RM: In working with the director Christian Petzold you created a real bond with an artist in your collaborations there. Do working so intimately with a creator like that, does that help you a lot when you’re taking on something as intense or intimate and immersive as TÁR with Todd and Cate?

NH: Yeah. Even when I stopped working on a project, if I’m really intrigued by the content, by the story world it’s set in, I don’t think about will it be good or not or I know we have a possibility and that I get very excited about it. That’s the main thing. And that is something that I found with Christian also. It never stops. You keep on questioning, you keep on digging, you keep on, not in the moment of shooting, then it has to stop, then you just have to see what happens. But before that, so because you are talking about life, and it never stop. I have more questions than ever. So, it’s to me the most rewarding and fascinating part of the job really, that you can discuss with other humans what we think life is about and exchange our experiences and put it in also political context and know what frame these characters are in and what they may be fighting with or for again.

And these are the topics. That is something I experienced a lot and loved about working with Christian for sure. And that I found taught the same way. It’s totally, completely different people or other filmmakers also, it’s just so I love when I find collaborators who want to go there in the same way. But I would say taking away from, I always see this as every work you do, you put something else in your suitcase that can carry with you and then you throw something out when you do the next thing where you go, okay, I can’t use this anymore. That’s maybe old and you put something new in there. And I would say I have quite a lot of stuff from working with Christian in my suitcase, though.

RM: By the end of the film, Sharon seems to have this massive internal conflict within her, because of Lydia’s fallout. Do you think she has regret and not speaking up about Lydia’s behavior, because she is her partner and collaborator?

NH: Well, there is a certain degree of complicity. I do think so. I always am afraid to interpret Sharon because I think everyone else would make up their own mind about it. But there is something. I only if I can make decisions and sometimes, you’re not even aware of them, of what you want to see and what you don’t want to see. It’s like being betrayed, not even in this constellation, but just in a couple. You just don’t see the other person is cheating on you, because in hindsight you might think, I should have seen the signs. It was clear, I saw everything. So that is what Sharon’s going through as well. She sees what’s going on clearly with this cellist. But I think Sharon is also, she’s an adult and she knows also what the fascination about someone so young is. And even if it’s just a young musician starting again, bringing all this energy, everything’s possible.

The dream is still there. All of that is something she knows this is what Lydia maybe needs to feed off. How far that she takes that Sharon doesn’t want to know. I guess she doesn’t ask the questions, and that brings me back to the, it’s the point who benefits from…

Is it worth breaking everything away that they have a daughter? So, it’s very… And Sharon can, I mean she’s a concert master, she’s a very good communicator. She can read people very well. She can make everyone happy, and she knows how to talk with whom and how to get out of the musician. And that’s the same with Lydia. And I think that’s how I see her. I don’t think everything is very conscious, but at the end of the day, I’m sure for me she was mainly hurt, because she lost trust. Lydia didn’t trust her, that she wasn’t involved in the biggest moment of their relationship, that she didn’t trust her to be able to be on her by her side. And that I think makes her think there’s something really bad going and I have to protect our daughter. I have to protect my career also.

*****MINOR SPOILERS – HIGHLIGHT TO REVEAL*****

RM: The last time we see you on screen is the scene is picking up Petra at the school and Lydia trying to connect with her one last time. Yet, throughout the film, we don’t see Sharon a lot with Petra. We see her a lot through her time with Lydia. Where do you see Sharon and Petra’s story going from there?

NH: That’s the thing with film, I had quite some scenes with Petra. (laughs) So, which were great, because we had a very close bond, the girl and myself. So that made this scene at the end very easy for both of us. It’s not like the first time I have to, and then I already take her away, whatever it was, we had a long story and we had experienced it. And for me it was always clear, it’s home. Sharon has the mother to help them out, even though you can read a lot out of where Sharon comes from by seeing this mother. But she has the background there also what Lydia can fall back on and rely on in a way. She can come in and let’s say do the fun stuff, but you never see her cooking a meal for Petra or so. And there’s this one scene in the kitchen where Sharon is cooking, Tar wouldn’t cook, I guess. So, for me it was clear Sharon cooks for Petra, Sharon picks her up from school and if Tara says I’m going to bring her, you’re like, oh great. That’s nice. So that informed me that Sharon is the one doing the motherly things with Petra.

*****MINOR SPOILERS DONE*****

RM: You mentioned it earlier, but you had to study the violin. How it was to learn, practice the material you play in the film and then also then perform in front of all the musicians? Seems like a daunting task.

NH: It was daunting. I can’t lie. That’s the thing, when you read it, you think, oh yeah, beautiful, it’s going to be great. And then you stand in front of this or concert hall and all the musicians flock in and you go, “oh my god, I’m going to go in there now and I have to sit down. And yes, it’s no problem. I play the Mahler’s symphony. How do I ever play? This must be possible.” But the good thing was that I saw Cate was equally nervous and probably more so, because I was to think, oh my God, I’m so glad I don’t have to do that on my own, exposed in front of this really well renowned orchestra. But I must say that they excited themselves of having the film crew and us around. So, we were all excited about each other and they led us into their world really in a way that was unexpected.

They opened up so much about everything really. We could ask them everything. And they were very helpful, especially the real concert master, the first violin in Wolfgang. I could study him, how he handles things and how he talks to people and how he’s always friendly but also firm. And it’s just how do these musicians hold themselves? How do they work with each other and what’s the atmosphere? And for me, it was very important that I know the pieces that were going to film by heart. I had a wonderful, really wonderful teacher. I think she’s the best, because she can work on this instrument with you in such an intuitive way that you lose all the fear that you learn while you’re doing it. Also, so much as I said about Mala because she’s so passionate about it herself. I was so you just want to know more, learn more, study more.

I knew if I sit in there, because I know musicians a little bit, they just can’t understand if you can’t do it, because that’s what they do. And they also have no patience, I guess, because they work very hard and they are disciplined and they go, why can’t you learn this? I guess. So I knew I got to put everything I have in it so that I can enjoy it also, but I’m not terrified and that I am an imposter anyway, but that it doesn’t show so easily. Then actually I had moments where I could just enjoy it, especially the Alga, for example, the cello play and where you have very quick things and then once you’ve got that down you’re like, oh yes, with all those stuffs, it’s also personally a lot of fun if you master something. So yeah, that was the private joy on working on the instrument.

RM: The movie is so musical. Were we close of hearing you sing again on screen like we did in your wonderful performance in Phoenix?

NH: Yeah. There wasn’t much room for singing in this film. But another thing was, we danced. It was a big scene in the film where Lydia and Sharon do have a dance. So yeah, there was a lot more music around us. And then there’s Count Basie and so all these kinds of musical influences and not just classical, but yeah, sadly I didn’t get to sing. I’m hoping for the next project.

RM: Yeah, we got to get you in a musical, because your voice is so great in that film.

NH: Thank you. I love singing.

RM: Well, thank you so much for your time and the movie is fantastic.

NH: Thank you so much.

TÁR is currently in theaters nationwide from Focus Features.