Maggie Gyllenhaal revives The Bride of Frankenstein with a 'hot' twist: She's got 'a lot to say' ...

The writerdirector also discusses casting Jessie Buckley, Christian Bale, her husband, Peter Sarsgaard, and her brother, Jake Gyllenhaal. Maggie Gyllenhaal revives The Bride of Frankenstein with a 'hot' twist: She's got 'a lot to say' (exclusive) The writerdirector also discusses casting Jessie Buckley, Christian Bale, her husband, Peter Sarsgaard, and her brother, Jake Gyllenhaal. By Mike Miller Mike Miller Mike Miller is the executive editor on the movies team at . He previously worked as a writerreporter for PEOPLE and TMZ. EW's editorial guidelines December 16, 2025 9:00 a.m.

The writer-director also discusses casting Jessie Buckley, Christian Bale, her husband, Peter Sarsgaard, and her brother, Jake Gyllenhaal.

Maggie Gyllenhaal revives *The Bride *of Frankenstein with a 'hot' twist: She's got 'a lot to say' (exclusive)

The writer-director also discusses casting Jessie Buckley, Christian Bale, her husband, Peter Sarsgaard, and her brother, Jake Gyllenhaal.

By Mike Miller

Mike Miller

Mike Miller is the executive editor on the movies team at . He previously worked as a writer-reporter for PEOPLE and TMZ.

EW's editorial guidelines

December 16, 2025 9:00 a.m. ET

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Christian Bale and Jessie Buckley in 'The Bride'. Credit:

Warner Bros. Pictures

- Maggie Gyllenhaal explains how a striking tattoo led her to watch 1935's *The Bride of Frankenstein, *which left her with a burning question that inspired her new film.

- The writer-director breaks down *The Bride*'s unique punk-rock aesthetic, pulling from both the 1930s, when the film is set, and the 1980s vibes of a Ridley Scott movie.

- She also discusses casting Jessie Buckley as the Bride and Christian Bale as the Monster, plus her husband, Peter Sarsgaard, and her brother, Jake Gyllenhaal, in supporting roles.

*She's alive! *

And this time, she's got a lot on her mind.

Maggie Gyllenhaal is resurrecting *The Bride* of Frankenstein* *for her latest directorial effort, but this isn't your grandma's monster with the beehive, lightning bolt hairdo. Unlike the first time she appeared onscreen nearly 90 years ago by way of Elsa Lanchester, Gyllenhaal's punk-rock take gives the monster (played by *Hamnet* star Jessie Buckley) center stage in her own story.

Inspired to watch the 1935 original for the first time after seeing a tattoo of the Bride on a stranger's forearm, Gyllenhaal was left with a question that would become the basis for her new film.

"I watched the movie, and I realized she doesn't speak. She's only in it for five minutes at most," the actor-turned-director tells **. "She's still formidable, but I thought there's a problem with this concept. It's called the* Bride of Frankenstein*, but it's really Frankenstein. So, who is she?"

Going back to the source material, Mary Shelley's seminal novel, Gyllenhaal found Frankenstein's Monster to be a "very empathetic character," who's "so lonely that he kind of can't survive without someone." But what the book (in which the Bride is never actually brought back to life) and James Whale's iconic movie don't answer is: "What about her? You can't just bring someone back from the dead and expect everything's gonna go okay," Gyllenhaal says with a laugh.

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Below, *The Lost Daughter *director tells EW about developing the Bride into a fully fleshed character, creating the film's punk-rock aesthetic, reuniting with Christian Bale (who plays the monster, Frank) 15 years after *The Dark Knight*, and working with her husband, Peter Sarsgaard, and brother, Jake, on her biggest film to date.

Jessie Buckley, Christian Bale and Maggie Gyllenhaal on the set of 'The Bride'.

**: I love the story about how you got interested in this character after seeing someone with a tattoo of the Bride. What do you think it was about that tattoo that grabbed your attention? **

**MAGGIE GYLLENHAAL: **At the time, I was doing press for *The Lost Daughter*. I was in L.A., and I was thinking, what do I wanna do next? And also, I'd better figure it out quickly while I have some options, you know? [*Laughs*]

I was thinking about how *The Lost Daughter*, which was very honest about something that people don't talk about very much — honest about secret dark things — but at the same time, it was a very small movie. It was a very quiet movie, in a way. I wondered, would that same intention work on a much bigger, pop scale? If I was really honest and really truthful about things that are hard to talk about or think about, but did it in a way that was hot and pop.

Maybe I wasn't totally conscious of this at the time, but one of the things that was on my mind was monstrousness, and the monster inside all of us. And I do really believe that there's a monstrous aspect inside all of us. And so, what if you take a really good, honest look at that, but in the style of something bigger and more pop?

And so, when I saw this tattoo, something all came together. I mean, this guy has a Bride of Frankenstein tattoo on his forearm. Every day, he's looking at her. And I was like, *Oh, yeah, I don't think I've seen the movie, actually*. I was like, *What is that? *But it hooked something in me, and then I went home to my hotel all by myself in L.A. and just looked her up online, and I was like, *Oh, yeah, she's got something.*

See Christian Bale and Jessie Buckley go full Frankenstein in first trailer for 'The Bride'

Maggie Gyllenhaal's 'The Bride' channels Bonnie and Clyde

**The character has such an iconic place in pop culture memory, but when you watch the movie, which really defined her look, she's not in it very much.**

No. Three minutes, maybe, and honestly, not until the very end. It's a Frankenstein movie. And I will say, a lot of people, friends or people who've heard I was making this, would say, "Oh, you're making Frankenstein." And I just sort of sweetly say, "No, I'm making the *Bride* of Frankenstein." [*Laughs*] And, in effect, it's actually just the Bride, you know?

**In your take on it, she's obviously a much rounder, fully formed character. What motivates and drives her?**

We get to see a little bit of who she was before she's brought back to life as the Bride. In a way, everything about the movie has an extreme mythological quality. She's almost every woman in a way. Before she's brought back, you watch her deal with a lot of s---. [*Laughs*] And she puts up with it, but she comes back with a very strong need to express herself.

And maybe that need is in many, many women. I mean, it's in me, I think it's in Jessie Buckley, I think it's in Mary Shelley. And, in fact, she ends up being buoyed and energized by all the women around her, by dead women. I would say basically she's someone who comes back to life with a lot to say, which I relate to.

**You've said she's not exactly who the Monster expected her to be. What do you think he was expecting, and how does she defy those expectations? **

I think that Frankenstein is so lonely and so loving. So what happens if we give him someone who, in every way, needs her? What's the explosion that then happens? And I think the wonderful thing about Frankenstein in my movie is that he appreciates her massive mind and heart. He wants it. He loves it. It's not like he expected. Christian [Bale] sometimes says, Frank just wanted someone to sit and have tea with in his little cave in Switzerland, and instead he gets *this*. And he's up for it. As much as he can possibly hang on, he's up for it.

Maggie Gyllenhaal and Jessie Buckley on the set of 'The Bride'.

**How did you decide to set the film in the 1930s?**

When I first started writing, I had set the movie in post-Civil War time, like the 1870s, because I was thinking about people coming back from the dead for all sorts of reasons. There was a big movement at the time — because so many people were killed in the Civil War, and so many women were losing children — of spiritualists, who were almost all women, who would speak to the dead. And so I thought that'd be an interesting time to set it.

Then I realized at a certain point, as I was writing, that I wanted Frankenstein, who was so lonely, who had no human connection, for his primary relationship before he meets the Bride, to be with a movie star. Also, in the movies, he's free to take his scarf down to show his face, which otherwise really alienates and scares people. So then I thought, *Okay, well, now it can't be the 1870s, how about the '30s*? And I love the aesthetic of the '30s. At the same time, I liked that the first movie was set in the '30s.

**What about the film's punk-rock aesthetic? Did you always imagine it that way? **

It's funny, I remember when I was able to articulate this to my production designer and my DP, we were actually scouting the restaurant that we used for the restaurant in the beginning [of the film], and I was like, "I know what it is: It's the 1930s by way of like 1981 downtown New York."

And so, how do those time periods meld, and what does that look like? And then there are different ways of communicating that to all the different people involved. With Larry Sher, who's just such a brilliant partner and my cinematographer, it was about watching movies and thinking about movies. Not necessarily movies from the '80s or the '30s, to be honest. I mean, yes, we looked at those sorts of references. Maybe some late '70s stuff. Like, I was really inspired by the look of *The* *Conformist*. But also Ridley Scott, and so maybe that's got that '80s thing, not punk exactly, but definitely outside the box.

Then, with [costume designer] Sandy Powell, it's a whole other kind of conversation, where she's pushing me for the dress to be more and more and more orange. [*Laughs*] And I'm like, *F---, really? That orange?* And then, when I see it lit at night, I'm like, she's a genius.

And I love clothes. As an actress, I *love* clothes. So Christian, Sandy, and I came up with this idea of flipping [Frank's] jacket inside out, and then all of a sudden, it basically turns punk. And naturally, Christian had all these beautiful ideas of what's written on it. So that was a real pleasure for me, the aesthetic of what the look is and how could it also maintain the kind of epic mythological or more iconic nature of the original characters, and yet be our own.

**Did you write the part with Jessie in mind? I can't imagine anyone else in the role. **

I wrote a part that is incredibly, incredibly difficult, right? I mean, it's many parts in one, and I knew that I needed an actress who was deeply feeling, both powerful and very vulnerable, both irrational and incredibly intelligent in her body, and compelling to me. [*Laughs*]

People would come to mind, but I'd really try to keep it imaginary. But when I was finished, it was clear to me. I know Jessie's work. I know her as an artist. We'd worked together before, and I thought there's really not anyone else who could do it. She was the first person I went to, and Christian was the same. I knew Christian from *The Dark Knight*, obviously, but to be completely honest, we weren't really friends. I mean, we liked each other well enough, but we hadn't seen each other in 15 years.

I spent a long time thinking about who my Frank was, and just asked him to do it. And it's always such a great feeling when something as weird and wild as that appeals. It's like we're speaking to each other across the world. *I could sort of see you doing this. Does this appeal to you?* And then it does, and that happened with both of them. I mean, really, with all of my actors.

**Speaking of the other actors, you made this into a bit of a family affair with Jake and your husband, Peter Sarsgaard. **

I love working with both of them, and, you know, Jake was like almost like icing on the cake, right? He came in, and we fit him in when he was available, and he wore this great tuxedo; he danced, and he sang. He was so funny, so generous, so loving, and such a pleasure to have on set.

And Peter, the same. I felt so supported by both the beautiful work he did for the movie and by just having him on set. It was a huge movie with such a massive scope, and just having him around with his vulnerable, beautiful heart was such a gift to me. He made that character into someone who's both kind of awful and a hero. He's a character who makes a huge change. These are really brilliant actors. It's a total gift to have them.**

*This interview has been edited for clarity and length.*

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