Kirby Howell-Baptiste Interview: Cruella

Cruella, out in theaters and on Disney+ May 28, is more than just a prequel to 101 Dalmatians. The film reinterprets not only the character of Cruella De Vil, but also her relationship to other characters in the classic story.

One such character is Anita Darling, who is now a journalist rather than a housewife. Actress Kirby Howell-Baptiste spoke to Screen Rant about taking on the iconic property and revisiting the frienemy dynamic between the women.

Anita Darling is an iconic Disney character, and this is a different take on it. Can you tell me what it’s like to play this iconic character?

Kirby Howell- Baptiste: Yeah. What’s interesting is when I auditioned for this role, the character’s name was completely different. I think I had dummy sides, so I didn’t know I was auditioning to play with Anita Darling. Which is helpful, actually, because you don’t really realize the weight of it.

It’s just really exciting to play a character that some people are familiar with, because there’s obviously older generations that know the cartoon and know the Glenn Close movies. But there’s a whole new generation of people that maybe know of Cruella De Vil but maybe haven’t even watched anything. But I get to be the first Anita they’ve ever seen, and that’s so exciting to me.

What did you want to bring to the character that wasn’t necessarily on the page or even in the mythology before?

Kirby Howell- Baptiste: Yeah, I think what I really wanted to bring to Anita was that, in the past, she was called naive because she is so kind and so sweet. And I think what’s really nice about this, and what I wanted to bring, was that it’s not that she’s naive – it’s that she’s generous and non-judgmental. But she also is intelligent. She sits down and says to Cruella, “I forgot that you have an extreme side.”

I think that, often with people who are kind, kindness can be taken for a weakness. But I think it’s nice to show that this isn’t someone who doesn’t understand the situation. It’s someone who is, unlike the other women around her, choosing kindness and is choosing to be ambitious but to not tread on people in that process.

Can you talk to me a little bit about Anita’s relationship with Estella?

Kirby Howell- Baptiste: Anita and Estella meet when they’re kids; they go to the same school. We meet Anita doing what she does, which is trying to look out for the little people, and she intervenes when Estella is having a really tough time. And then their paths completely disconnect, because Estella moves away, and we don’t see what happens to Anita. And then what’s interesting is seeing them reconnect as adults.

I think it’s a really relatable story, because so many of us have – particularly if you’re a transplant, and you’ve moved somewhere else – friendships where we miss such a big chunk of time. You miss the growth of someone if you don’t see them for such a long time; that when you reconnect, it’s almost like you have to feel each other out all over again.

When you first got the script and found out it was Anita, what were some of the things that stood out about her journey to you?

Kirby Howell- Baptiste: I think the main thing that stood out to me was – and it was really nice to see when I read it, because in previous in previous iterations, her story has been so tied to Roger’s that they kind of came as a two-piece. I think what was really nice about this was seeing her completely on her own and having her role have nothing to do with a romantic interest at all. Just seeing her in her career, really in her bag and doing what she does.

I think that’s really awesome to see and awesome for people. Because I feel guilty of this with my own Mom, where it’s like you know them as your mom, but don’t you always recognize that they’ve had a whole life before you. They’re a whole person before you. And I think that what people have seen in Anita is her being a mother and a homemaker, but this gives everyone an opportunity to see who she was before that.

Switching gears for a second, one thing that stands out is the beautiful costumes and set design on this film. What was it like stepping onto those sets and those lavish parties during the filming?

Kirby Howell- Baptiste: Kind of as you would expect. This is one of the reasons why I hope people – if they have the ability to, and the interest – go and see this film in the cinema. Because I think it’s a way you can even get a slice of the grandeur that was presented. I’ve never stepped onto sets like this in my whole life. Some of it was filmed on the soundstage, but a lot of it was filmed on location.

Even the soundstage, there are moments where I would step in – you go in the big doors, and then you step in – and I was transported. There was no way you would even know, because top to bottom, the set design was so exquisite. There’s so much attention to detail. Particularly now that we’ve all been at home and just staring at our own surroundings for the longest time, people can go out and watch this film and be transported to another place.

Can you talk to me about the collaboration process with Craig? He does a great job of telling a visual story combined with the great music in this film.

Kirby Howell- Baptiste: He really is a brilliant director, and I think he has a very clear vision of what he wants and what he wants to create. And from the beginning, Craig made no bones about – of course, this is a Disney movie, but him not wanting to make a Disney movie. He wanted to make the movie that he wanted to make. When you have a creator who is that confident, and that steadfast in their own vision, it allows you to really trust in them and go along for the ride.

Anita has known Estella for a long time. How do you think that impacts her decision to work with Cruella in the film?

Kirby Howell-Baptiste: I think the way that impacts this decision is that you can have more empathy and compassion when you know where someone has come from, and then you see where they are. I think, though they reconnect at a point where it seems like Cruella is becoming a little more dangerous and a little more dark, Anita knows who she was. And I think she also understands that a part of that is her leaning into the way that people have always perceived her.

And also, they meet again at a time when they both need each other. Cruella needs to find a way to sort of dominate the headlines so she can supersede the Baroness, and Anita needs a way to get her name on the front page. Which I think, generationally, people might not understand the weight of that. But to have your name [there] and to be a journalist who has recurring front covers, you’re set.

Emma Stone has been working on this movie roughly for about six years. Can you talk to me about how informative she was about the world that you guys created? Because that’s a long journey to get there.

Kirby Howell-Baptiste: Until doing this junket, I had no idea that she was attached for that long. Because in the scale things, I came in so relatively recently. I came in on, I assume, the final draft – almost everyone, if not everyone, was cast – and then I was called. I was fashionably late to the party.

I didn’t have any conversations with Emma, where she would go, “This is the story.” I think she very much let Craig and the writers do that. But coming in and seeing how much attention to detail she had paid to her own character and her own characterization of Cruella in making her own was inspiring, I think, for everyone. I think seeing someone at the top take such care in building their character inspired all of us to do the same.

What is your favorite song in this film?

Kirby Howell-Baptiste: I don’t even know if it’s my favorite song, but I think it has the dearest place in my heart. “I Wanna Be Your Dog” [by The Stooges], because that day was so phenomenal. That big rock concert was so much fun, and Joel played the electric guitar for real and John was up there doing his thing. And what I didn’t know at the time was that would be the last live music event I would attend until today. We filmed that in December of 2019, so truly, that was the last live event I was at because then everything shut down.