Argylle Director Matthew Vaughn Talks Dua Lipa’s Acting Debut and Being Inspired By Harry Potter
Director Matthew Vaughn is heading into the world of espionage with his new film Argylle. In it, Bryce Dallas Howard plays Elly Conway, an introverted spy novelist who learns her books are a little too accurate when it comes to the activities of a sinister underground world of spies. When a spy shows up to claiming to be there to save her, Elly and her beloved cat Alfie are plunged into the covert world where nothing and no one is as it seems. Kristen Maldonado of Pop Culture Planet spoke with Matthew Vaughn at New York Comic Con about Dua Lipa’s true acting debut, being inspired by Harry Potter, and the struggles of working with a cat.
While Argylle is based on an upcoming book by real author Elly Conway, Vaughn was also inspired by the worlds of Romancing the Stone and Harry Potter to bring this unique story to life. “I watched Romancing the Stone with my kids [and] loved it. I remembered how it was my first successful date as a teenager, right? So pretty special movie for that. I went there thinking this girl would like the film and I'll tolerate it. I loved it more than her,” Vaughn reminisced. “What we enjoyed was the escapism during lockdown and we forgot about the misery of the world. Then I read book one of Argylle, which is coming out. I didn't know how to make that into a movie that could break through. Then I had this idea what would happen if a wizard appeared to J.K. Rowling after book three saying, ‘You know what, Hogwarts… you nearly got it right. Wizards are real.’ She's like, ‘Are you f***ing kidding me?’ and then she goes off with a wizard and Voldemort’s out there chasing her. So that's what this movie is sort of about and then hopefully, if this works, we'll actually go shoot book one.”
He continued: “It’s a bit f***ing nuts. Book four is in this movie. Think Star Wars. In theory, was episode one the prequel? No, it was the beginning.”
Alongside Howard, the star-studded cast of Arylle includes Henry Cavill, Sam Rockwell, Bryan Cranston, Catherine O’Hara, Dua Lipa, Ariana DeBose, John Cena, and Samuel L. Jackson. “I'm very lucky,” shared Vaughn about how the cast came together. “I literally sent it out to the actors and they all said yes. I thought, well, maybe four of them might say yes. Maybe two. Nine of them said yes. I was like wow.”
Fans are particularly excited to see Dua Lipa take on her first major acting role in Argylle following her cameo in the global phenomenon that was Barbie. “We shot this before Barbie. I wasn’t really happy because I was like, “Hold on… Cena is in Barbie?’ John Cena is in it as well. I was like, ‘Not cool.’ Anyway. No, no, not really not cool,” Vaughn told me. “This is her proper acting debut. She is great.”
After seeing an interview with Lipa — and getting the co-sign from his kids — he knew she was the perfect choice for Argylle. “I needed someone that can hold the screen with Henry Cavill and then blow him off and that's a hard thing to do. And my kids, again, my girls… I didn't know who Dua was. You know, I'm getting old. They played me the music and then I saw an interview with her and she's wearing this Valentino dress and looked so incredible. It was such a ridiculous dress, but it still looked great,” he said. “Meaning, she just pulled it off. So then I met her and we talked about it and she wanted to act. She met with Henry and there was a good chemistry there, so I was like let's go for it.”
Despite previous reports, Vaughn exclusively confirmed with Pop Culture Planet that Lipa will not be releasing any music for Argylle. “No, we wanted her to be the actress in this movie. I think that would have blurred it a bit. Yeah, do the acting role,” he told me. “It’s got a lot of other great music in it, but, you know… she's acting in this movie.”
The most challenging part of making this film? “Filming with a cat [was] really tough, but we got there in the end,” laughed Vaughn. “I now love cats, I hated cats before this movie. And shooting with masks. It was really hard. I wouldn’t see the crew. We couldn't see each other, the actors, so it was very hard making a movie [with] everyone wearing masks.”
A surprising member of Vaughn’s family had a starring role in the film. “I fired the first cat after a day of filming and I literally went to my daughter saying, ‘I’m gonna borrow your cat.’ She thought for the day. And then the next day she said, ‘How long?’ Three months,” he said. “He's the star of the house now. It was weird. I drove to work with the cat. I had to feed the cat. I had to handle the cat. I didn't think it through. But he's good in the film.”
When it comes to what other surprises fans can expect in this film, Vaughn teased “loads of things.” “I can't say what they are, but by the end of the movie they'll be like, ‘Okay, wasn't expecting that.’ It’ll divide opinions,” he shared. “Some people will go wasn't expecting that was f***ing not my type of thing, but other people hopefully will love it.”
Argylle is set to hit theaters on February 2, 2024 and will stream on Apple TV+ at a future date.
