“We had wanted to work together for a long time,” Benedict Cumberbatch tells Newsweek, reflecting on the project that finally united him with Olivia Colman. To seal the deal, it took adding powerhouses like writer Tony McNamara (The Favourite, Poor Things) and director Jay Roach (Bombshell) to create The Roses (August 29). The new film adaptation of Warren Adler’s 1981 novel The War of the Roses was also made into a hit 1989 movie starring Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito.
“It takes nothing away from the original film,” Colman says. “Ours is with a sort of respectful nod to it and has taken it in a slightly different direction.”
The new film follows Ivy (Colman) and Theo (Cumberbatch), a witty British couple whose marriage is so rooted in sharp-edged banter that they can no longer turn it off and it almost becomes their personalities. After relocating to America, their professional lives pivot—his fails while hers skyrockets—igniting a domestic war to end all domestic wars. Their once humorous jabs morph into devastating weapons used at an epic dinner party and far beyond, and their dream home becomes the battle arena where their marriage may be the biggest casualty.
“At first, I said, ‘I’m not doing a remake,'” admits writer McNamara. “What I do want to write is a movie about marriage [instead]. Two people trying to stay together who don’t have the skill set.”
Director Roach had a similar reaction, captivated by the emotional core of the story. “The comedy and the drama and the pain and the joy are not separate. They’re all overlaid all the time,” Roach says. “In Tony’s script, the hope is kept alive till the very last second of the film.”
For Colman and Cumberbatch, one key difference between their version of this story and the original is how the couple treats each other.
“I think they [Ivy and Theo] love each other,” Cumberbatch states, contrasting the new film’s slow burn with the immediate animosity the characters show in the original.
“They love each other more,” Colman says, adding, “There’s more silliness.”
McNamara built the story around the dynamics that many modern couples have to grapple with. “Most people I know, both partners work,” he says. “I felt like sometimes ambition is the enemy of marriage.”
In the hands of Colman and Cumberbatch, the depiction of these nuanced dynamics was natural.
“They’re so self-driven, self-motivated, and in a way, you could just have the cameras be in the right place and trust the great script,” Roach says about their talent. “I helped add those little extra bits, but the fundamental power of what they can do as actors, I was never gonna have much impact on that.”
“I’ve got British acting royalty, and I’ve gotten American comedy royalty,” McNamara says, referring to the film’s supporting talent, primarily Andy Samberg and Kate McKinnon. “And the day those two things got on set, it was great to see how nervous both sets were. Ben and Olivia were like, ‘Oh my God, these two comedy geniuses.’ And of course, Andy and Kate were like, ‘Oh my God, it’s British acting royalty.'”
Ultimately though, a film like this relies on the chemistry of its leads, something Colman and Cumberbatch have in spades. Watching them on screen and observing them in person, it’s surprising that this is their first project together. During the course of our conversation below, lightly edited and condensed for publication, their talent and charm are on full display. Before any question was asked, Colman said: “Your lips are beautiful and juicy. I’m so sorry, I just have to say,” complimenting this reporter’s mouth. While we assure you this did not interfere with our professionalism, it also wasn’t exactly a bad way to start a conversation.
This story is so well-known. Was it intimidating to take on a modern version?
Benedict Cumberbatch: We had wanted to work together for a long time, and Searchlight had it as a property in their back catalog. My memory of the [original] film is a great one, and I thought, yes, that would be a very juicy relationship to play—so much drama and fun and comedy and tragedy. Little did we know that Tony [McNamara] would write that good a script. It was one of those things that was laughed out loud.
Olivia Colman: We had Tony doing all the heavy lifting for us. It takes nothing away from the original film. It’s a beautiful piece, a seminal piece that we all remember. But ours is with a sort of respectful nod to it and has taken it in a slightly different direction.
What feels fresh about this take on the story?
Cumberbatch: Well, I think they love each other.
Colman: Yes, they do. They love each other more. Yeah, I think that’s right.
Cumberbatch: There’s a little bit more humor, dare I say it. The first one is funny, but it’s very, very dark.
Colman: There’s more silliness.
Cumberbatch: Yeah, I think so. And I feel that Tony’s very smart. He kept us English in an American context. You have that kind of cultural clash and misunderstanding. I think it means that they then become even more English, and their invective and humor and wit that’s celebrated by friends becomes even more mean without them really knowing what damage it’s doing. The humorous joshing and teasing that came out of their initial love just gets worse and worse.
I loved how the very particular British sensibility of “taking the p***” out of someone you love can sometimes be misinterpreted. Did you enjoy playing with that cultural friction?
Colman: Oh, well, that’s great. I’m pleased you love it. American audiences have really taken to it. And it’s also such a lovely foil for the incredible American talent we have in the film—Kate McKinnon, Andy Samberg, Zoë Chao. I love watching their reaction to us, and I think maybe that’s why Tony’s such a genius and he knew that that would work.
Cumberbatch: We can sound a bit sharp and knowing and snide even when we’re trying to be terribly cuddly and lovely. If you say, “Are you all right?” Americans go, “What? I’ve been to my therapist. What are you talking about?”
Colman: A director I worked with once said, “Get some rest.” And I thought, “Do I look tired?” I’ve heard other people saying it and it’s genuinely a nice, “Go and have a nice sleep.” But, “Get some rest?” B*****. What do I look like?
The film reverses gender stereotypes, with the wife becoming the primary breadwinner. How important was that gender role reversal to you?
Cumberbatch: To me, it’s not about gender, it’s really just about an imbalance in a relationship that was existing in another dynamic. It could work equally well if it was her having a career suicide, let’s say, and me having an up-and-up stretch from having been at home.
Colman: I suppose for many people, they do see it like that, because we’re still laboring under this idea. But with this film, it could be either. It could be a same-sex relationship. I don’t think it’s a mother, father, male, female. It’s partners. It’s two humans trying to cope with being partners who work, who are parents.
Cumberbatch: It’s the extreme nature of the change [in their circumstances]. When you try to be bold and impulsive and you’ve got kids and you’re 10 years into a marriage, you have to take a little bit more care. He moves his obsession from architecture to his children and her career takes off, and they just start to miss each other. They don’t hold each other and look at each other, collaborate on what unites them. And that can happen in any dynamic.
Colman: It would be lovely, one day, when people don’t [see it as a gender issue].
Cumberbatch: Sadly, this is still [that] world. We shouldn’t have to imagine, it should actually be the reality, and I think it’s coming up a lot [in interviews about the film], sadly, because it still isn’t the case. We have to keep working, people, to make that not the case.
You’re surrounded by comedy legends like Kate McKinnon and Andy Samberg. How did working with them elevate the process?
Colman: It did up the ante. We had front-row seats to McKinnon and Samberg.
Cumberbatch: And when she [McKinnon] gets going on a line that she hasn’t yet tested and starts laughing because she knows what’s ahead, then you are all in trouble. But our director, Jay, is very patient. He lets that run a little bit, and we all end up going, “Sorry, sorry, sorry.” But it’s to foster a moment that’s rare to get, where the fifth or sixth take is as alive as it would be if it was the first.
Colman: Yes, absolutely. It was exciting. You didn’t want to let them down. But also, I think what’s really nice is being in the presence of such comedy greatness, genuinely. You can show a little humility.
Cumberbatch: Yeah, give them the floor and just, “Oh my God. That’s it!”
Colman: “Oh my God, we’re not worthy!” We’d be paid to sit that close to those people, watch them do their thing. It was really…
Cumberbatch: Free entertainment. Got paid for it. Paid for the pleasure.
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