TIFF 19: Nicole Kidman says The Goldfinch director 'a joy to work with'

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Nicole Kidman told the TIFF red carpet Sunday that she took her role in the The Goldfinch — based on Donna Tartt’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel — to work with director John Crowley (Brooklyn).

“He comes from the theatre,” said the actress, decked out in a strapless black gown, to reporters before the film’s world premiere.

“So his ability to juggle all these actors and weave the fabric of this story together — that’s what he does. And he’s so, so detailed and nuanced and particular about what he wants in the performances and that’s just a joy to work with.”

The rest of the large cast — Ansel Elgort, Oakes Fegley, Aneurin Barnard, Finn Wolfhard, Sarah Paulson, Luke Wilson and Dennis O’ Hare — also walked the red carpet along with much admired Oscar-winning cinematographer Roger Deakins.

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In the movie, Elgort (Baby Driver) plays the grown-up version of a 13-year-old boy whose mother died in a museum bombing where a priceless 17th-century oil painting of a bird chained to its perch called The Goldfinch went missing.

Crowley said Kidman not only suited the role because she’s a mother herself but because she’s a great actress.

“She has instincts in all directions, not just as a mom,” he said.

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The director added he felt no extra pressure bringing such a beloved novel to the big screen.

“Ultimately, you have to block all of that out and be truthful and try to get to the essence of the story in the same way as if nobody ever heard of the book,” said Crowley.

“Certainly, it’s a little bit noisier perhaps. But I trusted my own first reading of the book and I had a very acute sense of what I found moving and powerful and affecting and I tried to be true to that. And I thought, ‘Well, okay, if I get that, that will communicate itself to people who loved the book.’”

The director described The Goldfinch as “very original and a very potent story about a young boy who gets stuck in his grief and who then transfers that grief onto an object. And it’s not just any object, it happens to be a masterpiece.”

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