KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON Star Lily Gladstone Says Martin Scorsese Adapted the Film to Be True to Its Osage Roots
Academy Award-winning director Martin Scorsese has been working on his adaptation of Killers of the Flower Moon for years now. Based on the book of the same name by journalist David Grann, the story “tracks the investigation of serial murders that plagued the Osage Nation during the 1920s after oil was discovered on their land. The murders prompted the newly-formed FBI to investigate.” Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone star as married couple Ernest and Mollie Burkhart. The cast also includes Robert De Niro and Jesse Plemons.
Lily Gladstone, who grew up on the Blackfeet Reservation, recently sat down with Variety to talk about the Sundance premiere of her most recent film, Fancy Dance, and she opened up about what it was like to make the film Killers of the Flower Moon, and work with her co-stars and legendary director Martin Scorsese. She explained:
“You have those moments with superstars, and I feel like I’ve had so many moments so far in these wonderful films that I get to do,” Gladstone said. “The name is a different thing than the person. When you’re sitting down doing the scene work, it’s just two actors. I’ve been so lucky that everybody is a committed artist to what they do. It was a really refreshing thing to see. Everyone is searching for the truth of what’s going on.”
She went on to reveal how the film evolved as Scorsese was on the reservation and was open to learning about the people there. He allowed it to inform the project he had set out to make. Scorsese worked closely with the real-life Osage Nation to ensure his movie would properly represent the community. Osage Nation chief Geoffrey Standing Bear even served as a consultant on the movie. The Osage Nation ended up positively changing “Flower Moon” from what Scorsese originally planned.
“The work is better when you let the world inform the work. That was very refreshing how involved the production got with the [Osage Nation] community. As the community warmed up to our presence, the more the community got involved with the film. It’s a different movie than the one [Scorsese] walked in to make almost entirely because of what the community had to say about how it was being made and what was being portrayed.”
It’s so cool to hear that the director was open to the changes that needed to be made to make it the most authentic story possible. I can’t wait to see the final project.
Killers of the Flower Moon is set to be released on Apple TV+ later this year.