Jennifer Connelly: “You can follow Dark Matter without understanding physics”

She plays several Daniela Dessen, the wife of Joel Edgerton, in the different realities of the new Apple TV+ series. The Oscar-winning actress (for An Exceptional Man) tells us about her crazy Dark Matter experience.

PREMIERE: How was the series pitched to you? Dark Matter ?
Jennifer Connelly : I only had the first three scripts actually, that was enough. No one explained the scientific details to me. I read the book (by Blake Crouch) and it spoke for itself actually.

But do you have to understand the science behind the fiction, to star in a show like Dark Matter ?
Fortunately not ! Understanding the concepts wasn't really a necessity. We can understand what is happening in the series without understanding the physical. Fortunately (laughs). The concept of superposition suggests that there are possibly alternative realities that exist simultaneously. So. That's all we need to know. The character of Joel (Edgerton), who is a professor, begins the series by giving a lesson on the subject, which explains things clearly.

You play different versions of your character, Daniela, over the episodes. Does this require a particular approach?
I had to find the subtleties of these different versions of Daniela. Because it varies from reality to reality, but slightly. She remains close to the original Daniela, the one from episode 1. We obviously established some small aesthetic modifications in her, like her haircut which changes… but the most complicated thing was to understand the small interior variations of every new Daniela. Because they haven't all experienced the same things. As an actress, it's not all about playing multiple characters, but rather multiple versions of the same role.

On the set, was there really a big black box?
Yes, they built this “Black Box” in real life on set. Afterwards, as is often the case, what we see in the image is not exactly what was in our setting. Everything was retouched in post-production. But still, entering this black box, exploring this corridor, it was pretty cool…

You now go from cinema to television with ease, Snowpiercer has Top Gun: Maverick has Dark matter. Is there a difference today between the two media?
The big difference is time. We spend a lot more time filming a series. Also, the direction is not the same. On a feature film, it's the director who is in charge, he's the one we turn to when we have a question. On the set of a series, we don't go to see the director, but the showrunner. Even more so on Dark Matter, since Blake Crouch, who wrote the book, adapted it himself for TV… Afterwards, I have no preference as an actress. I like to do both. It all depends on the material, the story.

Snowpiercer will be back soon. Will you be there?
Yes of course, it's a season that we have already filmed (in spring and summer 2022) and which will finally be broadcast. So I'll be in there. But we don't plan to do any more after that.