Naomie Harris can't relate to Swan Song's grief, is keen on sequel

They say art and life imitate each other, and whilst this rings true for Swan Song director Ben Cleary, the same can’t be said for actress Naomie Harris. 

Almost every person would have experienced grief in their lifetime, whether it be the loss of a grandparent, parent, or even a pet, but fortunately for Harris, it’s something that she’s yet to fully experience and process in the last 45 years.

Some might say she’s the lucky one because, for folks who are like her Swan Song character, Poppy, grief can take an ugly toll. 

“I’m very lucky and I really have not had much grief in my life at all. The only person that I’ve lost is my grandfather and that was when I was very young, and I don’t even remember how I processed it because I was too young to really understand what processing grief really meant,” explained Harris in an interview with Geek Culture. 

“And yeah, Poppy does have a lot of grief and she processes it by shutting out Cameron and gone inward to be able to process the grief. I don’t think she’s taught me anything about how to process grief, but I think the only way to process group grief is through it right?” 

A sci-fi drama, Swan Song, is Apple TV+’s latest film by director Cleary and stars Harris and Mahershala Ali.

The movie centres around Cameron (Ali), who is diagnosed with a terminal illness. Unwilling to put his family through grief, he makes the controversial decision to replace himself with an identical clone, Jack, despite knowing his wife Poppy (Harris) opposes cloning. 

Although Poppy never found out about Cameron’s clone, Harris can only imagine how upset her character would be if she had learnt the truth, no matter how well-intentioned Cameron was about it. 

“It was definitely an act of love because he put Poppy’s needs above his own, but I think she would be devastated if she discovered what Cameron was up to.

"I think it would be her idea of hell that she would not be with him during these last moments to take care of him, to hold his hand and to love him through his transition. I felt incredibly bad about it,” said Harris. 

“He never got to be with his son and his wife during his dying days. I mean, even just saying that, actually makes me well up and get really emotional.

"I can’t even imagine going through something like that alone because all you want at that moment is to spend as much time as you possibly can with the people that you love and he sacrifices that so that Poppy doesn’t experience pain and suffering.”

Just like Poppy, Harris herself isn’t a fan of cloning. For many reasons but mainly because the actress believes that being human is more than the experiences one has lived through. 

“We are more than the sum total of our memories. We also have our soul right? And I think that’s something that is impossible to create because we don’t understand that, none of us understand what this soul thing is, right?

"But it’s part of all of us. Animals have a soul as well, like everything has a soul. And so I know that you can’t really replicate that,” explained Harris. 

The possibility of cloning was a topic she’d often engage in when debating with Cleary, but one thing they both agree on is that a sequel focused on the implications of Cameron’s decision would be interesting to follow up on. 

“I think that would be fascinating to see – when Poppy discovered that Jack was Jack and not Cameron, and that she was living with a clone. Oh, my God, that would be wow. That may be so fascinating to see,” shared an excited Harris. 

“And then there’s Jack, who doesn’t even understand because they wiped his memory so that he doesn’t even understand that he’s a clone, so he’d be rejected by who he thinks is his wife. There’s so much drama in that.” 

Aside from revisiting the premise, the actress would absolutely love to work with co-star Ali again. Swan Song isn’t their first rodeo, as the two also appeared in Moonlight together, and have very similar working styles.

“Working with Mahershala was just just a dream. He’s just such an incredible actor. One of the things that I discovered which I really loved is that we like to work in a very similar way, which is really unusual actually, because neither of us like rehearsals. We do our preparation separately, and then dive into doing the work on the day,” smiled Harris. 

“We were very lucky that we had a director like Ben. He trusted us enough to just do that. But also it was very unusual that we both felt the same way about rehearsals because most actors like to rehearse. I find it very interesting that neither of us like to rehearse at all.” 

Swan Song is a movie that many moviegoers will label as emotionally heavy. Harris’ most recent movies of 2021 – No Time To Die and Venom: Let There Be Carnage – lean towards action and required less emotional output in her role.

In the latest James Bond movie, the actress was analytical and straightforward, while her turn as the villainous Shriek saw her wreak havoc with her equally unstable partner. 

Meanwhile, Swan Song demanded a lot of the actress’ emotions and heart and Harris admitted to crying multiple times on set and although grief was something she hadn’t experienced, it was the overall vulnerability that was all too familiar for the incredibly independent actress. 

“In one scene, which is when I come to Cameron and I have a poem that my brother really loved, and I say to him, ‘Look, we really have to work on our marriage, and we have to start communicating.’, that scene was much longer and oh my gosh, it’s the first time Poppy is truly vulnerable and truly honest about how she’s feeling in this marriage –  that was really devastating to film,” recalled Harris. 

“I remember just going home afterwards and just not being able to stop crying because it’s like this emotional tap and it’s really hard to just switch it off again afterwards. And I was all alone in Vancouver during COVID times. Normally my family comes with me on every film set that I’m part of, but they couldn’t come this time so I felt very vulnerable after filming that.”

A Swan Song sequel may or may not happen but one thing is for sure – the actress will continue to take on roles that will challenge her and allow her to explore the intricacies of life foreign to her.

“I think what defines me is being a seeker. I’ve never been satisfied. I’m always like, ‘There has to be more!’. I’m always seeking to understand, like why are we here? What is this all about? That has led me down many kinds of cul de sacs, but it means that I’m constantly searching for answers.” 

Swan Song is currently streaming on Apple TV+. 

ALSO READ: Ben Cleary’s Swan Song was inspired by a personal experience with grief and death