By Paul Salfen AMFM Magazine
It’s not every day you get to chat with two powerhouses like Elle Fanning and Stellan Skarsgård about a project as intimate and introspective as Sentimental Value. Directed by the visionary Joachim Trier, this drama unravels the tangled threads of family legacy. At its heart is Gustav, an estranged director who retreats to his ancestral home after his wife’s passing to helm a comeback film inspired by his mother’s life. When his daughter Nora, a dedicated stage actress, turns down the starring role, Gustav pivots to an American screen siren—sparking a raw exploration of sibling rivalry, paternal shortcomings, and the healing balm of art.
In our exclusive interview for AMFM Magazine, Fanning and Skarsgård opened up about the film’s magnetic pull, its emotional resonance, and the life lessons it imparts. What follows is a glimpse into their candid exchange, where personal anecdotes intertwined with profound insights on parenting, career advice, and the art of staying present on set.
The conversation kicked off with the script’s irresistible allure. “Hello though it pulls up MFM magazine and Drew Pearson live. Such an honor to be on with both of you today, because what a beautiful movie,” I began, before asking how quickly they signed on. Fanning’s response was swift and enthusiastic: “When you get a script like this, how quick is the guest series? Like, I have to do this for me, it was right. It was. It was a yes. I just I wanted to get the part.”
Skarsgård echoed her sentiment, highlighting his admiration for the director: “I was trying to get the role. Yes, I love Joachim. I love his films. I’ve always wanted to work with him. So to have that opportunity, it was a big yes. No big yes. Had to. Yeah absolutely.”
As a father myself, the film’s themes hit close to home, prompting me to share: “And this is this so beautiful and makes you think about so many things as a, as a dad of a daughter I wanted to call my daughter and go, all right we’ve got to talk about not only this movie but am I doing things right.” Both stars nodded in recognition. Skarsgård elaborated on the film’s personal impact: “Did you find yourself each calling your families and being like, yeah, I’m just making sure we’re all good here. Yes. I think, you know, it’s a it’s a personal film for all of us. I think people, you know, relate to it in so many different ways, which is the beauty of it. And it starts conversations, and maybe will lead to forgiveness, maybe will lead to more understanding.”
Fanning added a touching note: “And, yeah, I got to share it with my sister. And that was very special.”
Delving deeper into the parental guilt threaded throughout the narrative, Skarsgård reflected on his own life: “Well, it’s more when I was working on it. I didn’t have. It wasn’t much correlated to my personal life, but. But then starting to show it to people and show it to my children and stuff. It’s, it’s sort of even if I, I’ve got eight children and I’ve spent a lot of time at home with, actually, since 89, I’ve been at home eight months out of 12. So it’s been a lot, but, but still, you you feel that you’re not, you know, you have bad conscience because you didn’t give them enough. You think because you were interested in other things and you were you had other things in your head. You didn’t have that extra moment for them. Always. So you’re always you will always have that conscience as a parent. And some of it is deserved and some of it is not deserved, so they better forgive you. Like this is a film about forgiveness also. So forgive us kids.”
Shifting gears to advice for aspiring actors, I asked: “Both of you are at the top of your game and just making such great, films right now. So. So what is it? When people look up to you and they go, I want to do what you do. What kind of advice would each of you offer them?” Skarsgård kept it practical: “Oh. Well, I’ve got to find a director. Yeah. Good director that can help you.”
Fanning expanded with inspiration drawn from a Hollywood icon: “Yeah, I know, no, I also think, like. No, no small opportunity. There’s no small opportunity, you know, I think, like, what is it like, Quentin Tarantino? He says like he, he’s seen, like, background artists and he like, likes what they did or their face, like every moment kind of counts on a film set. Like, soak it in and nothing is small, you know, and you don’t know who’s watching, and nothing is unimportant.”
On tackling the film’s challenging scenes, Skarsgård emphasized collective focus: “Exactly. And, and, and when it’s go time to do these tough scenes, what do each of you keep in mind that kind of keeps you on the right path and focused? What I mean is it’s it is it’s given that your focus because, the whole set is wanting the, the scene to be good and, everybody’s focused on it and all the other actors are focused on it. The director is focused on it. You can’t be the only one not being focused.”
Fanning stressed openness: “Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And stay open, you know, stay present to the surprises that the other actors are going to give you to react to.”
Wrapping up, I posed the big question: “And to and what are you hoping that people will take away or think about, after seeing this? Because there’s so much going on here.” Fanning’s hope was clear: “Wow. That’s a big question. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean I hope it starts conversations, you know, whether it’s in families or, you know, about your career, your relationship to art, the balance of that versus your life. I don’t know. Yeah. You hope it gets people talking.”
As we parted ways—”Well, thank you both so much for your time. And again, just look forward to talking to you both again a little bit more soon.”—their words lingered, a testament to Sentimental Value‘s power to bridge the gaps we all carry.
Catch Sentimental Value in theaters now—it’s more than a movie; it’s a mirror for the soul.
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