Hunter Schafer in Emma Stone film Kinds of Kindness. (Searchlight Pictures)
The first trailer for Emma Stone’s latest film has dropped and it shows trans Euphoria star Hunter Shafer in one of her biggest roles to date.
Kinds of Kindness is directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, best known for his recent black comedy Poor Things, for which Stone won this year’s best actress Oscar.
He’s also directed Olivia Coleman (and Stone again) in 2018’s The Favourite, so it’s looking good for his latest film.
Described as a three-part, absurdist fable, Kinds of Kindness follows “a man without choice who tries to take control of his life… a policeman who is alarmed that his wife, who was missing at sea, has returned and seems to be a different person,” and “a woman determined to find a specific someone destined to become a prodigious spiritual leader”.
Little is known about Schafer’s role but in the new trailer, a very short clip, it has to be said, she appears with a choppy blonde bob and wearing a peach-coloured jumper. She’s got her eyes closed and appears to be in a laboratory or maybe some sort of medical surgery.
The trailer gives little away about the film and its plot, or about which actors will be playing which roles. But the cast includes Killers of the Flower Moon star Jesse Plemons, screen veteran Willem Dafoe, Drive-Away Dolls’ Margaret Qualley and The Whale actress Hong Chau.
The Boy and The Heron voice actor Mamoudou Athie is there, as is the star of Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk and Boy Erased – and Taylor Swift’s former boyfriend – Joe Alwyn.
In the chaotic, 45-second teaser, Kinds of Kindness promises bodies, slaps, body licking and Stone dancing. It marks another major career step for Schafer, who recently had her big box office breakthrough as Tigris Snow in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.
But she has played down her part, telling Elle magazine: “It’s a little cameo, like two scenes. It’s cool though, and it’s great to be in there.
“We’d never met before but [Lanthimos] had seen Euphoria and was keeping my name around in case a part came up. When it did, I flew down to the set in New Orleans immediately.”
Schafer is currently gearing for the release of horror thriller Cuckoo, in which she plays Gretchen, her first lead role. She’s also got a part in Anne Hathaway and Michaela Coel’s upcoming Mother Mary, about the seemingly queer relationship between a musician and a fashion designer.
Kinds of Kindness is due to open in the US on 21 June and a week later in the UK.