Even amidst chaos, Nia DaCosta maintained her composure. She faced a tight deadline to film crucial scenes for her dramatic adaptation, ‘Hedda’, which required intricate shots of characters navigating a grand maze filled with plots, romance, and vengeance. However, an unexpected accident on set at the magnificent Flintham Hall in Nottinghamshire, England, caused a crucial lighting cable to be severed, bringing the complex setup to a standstill.
Nina Hoss, one of the film’s stars, recounted the scene: ‘It was deep into the night, far out in the countryside, and there was no immediate fix. Any other director would have been frantic, worrying about the budget and schedule. But Nia? She was cracking jokes, the lighting crew improvised with spotlights, we played cards to stay alert, and we got the scenes done. She truly has a remarkable ability to command a set.’
It’s hard to believe it’s only been seven years since DaCosta, at 35, captivated critics with her directorial debut, ‘Little Woods.’ This poignant film told the story of two sisters, played by Tessa Thompson and Lily James, struggling on the fringes of society in North Dakota, facing agonizing choices in a harsh environment.
DaCosta chuckled recalling her thoughts after ‘Little Woods,’ ‘I genuinely believed I’d never work again.’ She couldn’t have been more wrong. Her career quickly soared, leading to a fresh take on the 1992 horror classic ‘Candyman,’ co-written and produced by Jordan Peele. Next, she made history as the first Black female director for Marvel Studios with the female-led superhero blockbuster ‘The Marvels.’ And even after crafting ‘Hedda,’ her acclaimed adaptation of Ibsen’s pivotal 1891 play ‘Hedda Gabler,’ she’s already completed the horror sequel ’28 Years Later: The Bone Temple,’ slated for release next January.
From raw indie realism to horror, superhero epics, psychological period thrillers, and post-apocalyptic gore, DaCosta’s filmography spans an impressive range. Is there a unifying theme connecting these diverse projects?
Speaking from a London hotel, DaCosta revealed her core artistic interests: ‘I’m deeply fascinated by individuals, especially women, who defy convention, and by those who navigate life on society’s periphery. Furthermore, I’m intensely curious about the concept of freedom—specifically, at what cost one truly experiences personal liberation?’
These inquiries are central to ‘Hedda,’ a visually opulent reimagining that transports the classic narrative from its original late 19th-century Norwegian drawing-room setting to a sprawling English country estate in the 1950s. Here, Tessa Thompson portrays a biracial, bisexual Hedda, masterfully weaving a tangled web of deceit, seduction, and ultimately, destruction.
DaCosta’s most significant narrative alteration involves transforming Hedda’s former lover, the alcoholic Eilert Lovborg, into a woman named Eileen Lovborg (played by Nina Hoss). Eileen’s impending arrival at a party hosted by Hedda and her husband, George Tesman (Tom Bateman), ignites a devastating sequence of events.
The film has certainly polarized critics, garnering both fervent praise and strong disdain. Natalia Winkelman, a New York Times chief film critic, hailed it as ‘a standout film,’ praising DaCosta’s intelligence and playful approach. In contrast, Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian dismissed it as ‘Ridiculous.’
Deep in debt, the Tesmans find Hedda’s desired opulent lifestyle unattainable unless George can secure a prestigious university position. However, this coveted role appears destined for Eileen, who arrives at the party with her revolutionary manuscript poised for publication. Naturally, this sets the stage for disaster. Adding to the intricate web is Thea (Imogen Poots), who has abandoned her husband for the recently sober Eileen.
DaCosta explained her decision to cast Lovborg as a woman: ‘Part of my rationale for making Lovborg a woman was to prevent Hedda from being entirely absolved. Yes, she’s ensnared in a loveless marriage within this house, potentially pregnant, and she commits dreadful acts. But I’m also intrigued by how she self-imposes limitations. You see Eileen, who has made courageous choices to live authentically, and Thea, who left her husband. These are freedoms Hedda seems incapable of pursuing.’
In a phone interview, Thompson elaborated that the gender swap brought ‘reflections of other women to the forefront,’ showcasing diverse paths to personal agency and identity within the female experience. She noted that Hedda is as confined by her own internal struggles as she is by societal expectations and the norms of her time.
DaCosta first encountered Ibsen’s play in 2012, during her master’s studies at London’s Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. For years, she found herself returning to ‘Hedda Gabler,’ a work that has seen countless interpretations by legendary actresses like Maggie Smith, Glenda Jackson, Fiona Shaw, and Cate Blanchett. She pondered why this particular narrative resonated so deeply with her.
Shortly after ‘Little Woods’ premiered in 2018, DaCosta used a two-week window to pen her adaptation of ‘Hedda.’ ‘My goal was to prompt audiences to ask: Do you truly understand why you make the choices you do, and why your life is as it is now?’ she explained. ‘For Hedda, it’s a constant struggle of, ‘How did I end up here?’—like trying to escape a nightmare.’
DaCosta playfully admitted to perhaps watching Robert Altman’s ‘Gosford Park’ too often, noting that she deliberately set her film in 1950s England due to her fascination with the post-war period. ‘There was a powerful urge to revert to past norms,’ she observed. ‘Women were expected to leave the workforce and return to domestic roles, while men, many deeply traumatized by war, were pushed back into traditional societal roles. It was an era where collective pain was masked by widespread pretense.’
She also confessed, ‘I absolutely adore the classic tropes of English country house murder mysteries—the ominous hand reaching for a weapon, the unsettling shadow on the wall.’
DaCosta intentionally emphasized Hedda’s sexual identity over her race in the film, aiming for race to be ‘an inherent part of who she is’ rather than a central plot device. ‘Hedda is isolated, and her race only heightens that isolation,’ DaCosta explained. ‘The single instance she mentions it, Eileen dismisses it with a ‘Whatever.’ This felt like a more powerful and truthful portrayal of how society often overlooks or avoids discussions about certain aspects of identity.’
Raised in Harlem, New York City, DaCosta’s upbringing was shaped by her mother, Charmaine DaCosta—a singer with the group Worl-A-Girl—who exposed her children to a rich tapestry of ballet, opera, theater, and performance art. ‘My mother was acutely aware of how readily Black girls could internalize feelings of ugliness or inadequacy, or succumb to stereotypes about laziness,’ DaCosta recounted. ‘She ensured I understood that beauty manifested in myriad forms.’
Her passion for filmmaking ignited early in life. ‘As a latchkey kid, I’d arrive home from school and immerse myself in films like ‘Full Metal Jacket’ and ‘Apocalypse Now,’’ she shared. ‘Initially, I wasn’t sure what precisely drew me in, so I considered acting. But my mother wisely told me, ‘No, you’re a writer, you’re sensitive. I believe you’re destined to be a director.’
DaCosta pursued film studies at New York University, balancing her education with work as a television production assistant. Later, she applied to programs in England, her father’s birthplace. ‘It was there that I truly grasped the immense importance of craft,’ she explained. ‘I utterly fell in love with theater; it was a profound awakening for me.’
Upon returning to New York, she took on various roles, working as a crew member and personal assistant on reality TV shows like ‘Kesha: My Crazy Beautiful Life’ and Martin Scorsese’s acclaimed series ‘Vinyl.’ All the while, she diligently wrote scripts and applied to the prestigious Sundance Institute’s Directors and Screenwriters Lab. In 2015, she was accepted, recalling, ‘I met so many incredible directors there, even Robert Redford was present—my mind was completely blown.’
It was at Sundance that she reconnected with Tessa Thompson, who was assigned as an actor to various filmmakers. Thompson recalled being deeply impressed by DaCosta’s ‘poise and confidence,’ despite her being one of the youngest attendees. ‘Within days, she told me, ‘When I make this movie, will you make it with me?’ There was no ‘if’ in her vocabulary.’
That ‘when’ became ‘Little Woods,’ a film that solidified DaCosta’s reputation for crafting meticulously edited, aesthetically cohesive narratives. Manohla Dargis, The Times’s chief film critic, later observed that it was evident DaCosta could ‘direct actors and create visual meaning.’ Dargis noted, ‘She didn’t just fill the screen with talking heads; she masterfully established and leveraged atmosphere.’
The film industry took notice. Her debut studio feature, ‘Candyman,’ soon followed, quickly succeeded by ‘The Marvels.’
Explaining her strategy, DaCosta stated, ‘I aspire to create my own large-scale films, so I believed directing someone else’s big project first would be beneficial.’ She remained tactful when discussing ‘The Marvels,’ acknowledging, ‘Parts of it were genuinely enjoyable, and others were quite challenging.’ She noted that the pandemic stretched the production of the box-office disappointment to three and a half years, adding, ‘Anyone entering that world understands they must sacrifice a part of their own vision.’
With ‘Hedda,’ she emphasized, ‘I wanted to return to my essence as a filmmaker, to my unique writing style and personal voice.’
Director and actor Janicza Bravo, an early acquaintance of DaCosta, commented that ‘Nia has most notably demonstrated her versatility, her effortless ability to transition tonally between films. Her artistic signature is remarkably adaptable.’
Nina Hoss, who has portrayed Ibsen’s iconic character on the German stage, highlighted DaCosta’s exceptional skill as a screenwriter. ‘My character underwent the most significant textual alterations compared to the original play, yet it never felt disconnected,’ Hoss explained. ‘Everything is meticulously planned: the setting, the attire, the color schemes, the cinematography, the lighting. You discuss, you rehearse. Then she says, ‘Let’s see what you bring to it.’ She fosters an environment of trust, encouraging actors to reveal themselves, to experiment, and to innovate.’
The film’s conclusion, a departure from the original, is notably more ambiguous. In the play, Hedda, after incinerating Lovborg’s manuscript and orchestrating his suicide, ultimately takes her own life.
DaCosta concluded, ‘I envisioned a powerful ending that would leave audiences thinking, ‘Oh no, what unknown challenges await them tomorrow?”