In honor of Station Eleven’s ten-episode run on HBO Max, Mackenzie Davis recently joined us for an episode of Collider Ladies Night to celebrate the truly exceptional post-apocalyptic miniseries, and also to look back on the past credits that helped her hone her craft. We touched on quite a bit including her first feature film, Breathe In, and the standout AMC series, Halt and Catch Fire, but there was no concluding the conversation without touching on Davis’ experience working with one of the most exciting directors out there, Denis Villeneuve.

Davis played Mariette in Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049, a character who has an unforgettable encounter with Ryan Gosling’s K and Ana de Armas’ Joi, a scene that’s a true technical and performance marvel. While I imagine there could have been much more to learn about Mariette in future installments, what we do get from Blade Runner 2049 is that the character is a Nexus-8 replicant working with the replicant freedom group.

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Image via Alcon Entertainment / Warner Bros.

A very hot top of discussion that’s become more and more prevalent with every single film Villeneuve releases is how he’s a true visionary, a one-of-a-kind artist with a knack for creating strong atmosphere, stunning visuals and stories dripping with complexity and subtext. But what’s it like working with Villeneuve on set? We trust in his ability to deliver a stellar final product, but what’s the experience like while making it? That’s the question I posed to Davis during our Collider Ladies Night conversation.

If you need yet another reason to be wowed by Villeneuve’s talents as a filmmaker, here it is:

“Wow, have I never seen a director who treated every single actor as the star of the movie, every single grip, electrician, camera operator, set decorator, everybody is equally vital to producing the movie that he and we are making together. There’s no hierarchy. When the actors are on set, it’s the actors’ set. When the director’s directing, it’s his set. When camera’s working, it’s their set. It’s filmed in absolute silence. Normally on set you do a scene, call cut and then there’s this enormous cacophony of people getting to work. There’s so much respect for what everybody is doing and that everybody requires the same level of respect for their job whether they’re changing sets, changing the lights or performing in a scene, and I think that tone of equality and respect and admiration for everybody’s component that they bring to this project was a magical environment to work in.”

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Image via Alcon Entertainment / Warner Bros.

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Davis also made a point to loop in Villeneuve’s next-level creative sensibilities:

“And a true genius, I think. How do you have that much information in your brain to build these worlds and still so much humility and admiration for the people that help you make them? I think what an outstanding type of leader that is.”

Does a combination of qualities in a film director get any better than that? When you’re taking part in such a hugely challenging endeavor that requires maximum time, energy and effort from every single individual involved, I’m a big believer that there’s nothing more important than making sure every single member of that team feels the true value of their work.

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Looking for more from Davis on Blade Runner 2049, Station Eleven, her earliest credits and then some? Be sure to give our 45-minute chat a listen in podcast form below: