Jeff Goldblum Made The Fly A Once-In-A-Lifetime Role For Geena Davis
Not only is Geena Davis remembered and recognized for iconic roles such as "Tootsie," "The Accidental Tourist," "Thelma & Louise," and "A League of Their Own," her humanitarian work has done a great deal for the entertainment industry at large. The Geena Davis Institute on Gender Media has been involved with the Bentonville Film Festival for years now, and Davis recently sat down with Collider from the festival to talk about some of her personal career highlights. Even if we only look at Davis's genre work, films like "Beetlejuice" have left an indelible mark on pop culture. But David Cronenberg's masterful remake of "The Fly" reaches Shakespearean levels of tragedy that are hard to shake even decades later. When Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum) invents teleportation and accidentally transports himself and an unfortunate housefly into a second pod, it fuses their DNA together, starting a gruesome transformation. Davis enters in as an ambitious journalist who falls for Brundle and then gets to witness his disgusting demise.
Goldblum and Davis worked together for the first time in "Transylvania 6-5000" but they were officially a couple on the set of "The Fly." When Brundlefly acid vomits and rips its own face off to turn into a giant bug, the tears that Davis sheds aren't just for the character. That's her BOYFRIEND. In that moment, she may have been regretting the fact that Goldblum had helped her get the part. Mercifully, working with Cronenberg turned out to be "a fabulous experience."
'What if you guys break up?'
Acting alongside your real-life partner in an innocent romcom could already prove to be a challenge, so imagine Davis and Goldblum working together on what is considered the quintessential body horror film. Cronenberg's unflinching vision for "The Fly" and Davis's dedication to fully immerse herself in the part proved to be a perfect combination of horror and heart. Davis spoke about taking the role originally and the initial reluctance to cast two actors who were actually dating each other (via Collider):
"I got cast because Jeff Goldblum was already cast and we had recently become an item, and he recommended me for the female part, and they were like, 'Oh, well what if you guys break up? That would be a bad idea.' And then I auditioned and they said, 'Okay.'"
Clearly, talent won out over the risk that the couple would decide to part ways halfway through filming. The entire production was a rare experience for Davis and turned out to be extremely rewarding. She continued:
"So the thing about that, which had never happened before or since, but I was acting with my actual real life partner and so we just lived and breathed that movie ever since we got cast. And so it was a wonderful experience. And David Cronenberg is so collaborative and supportive and everything. It was just a fabulous experience."
The reactions of Davis go such a long way to sell the unbelievable practical effects in "The Fly" and gives so much necessary weight and reality to the horrors taking place. Every time she visits Brundlefly's apartment, another phase of the transformation is underway, forcing her to become an unwilling observer. Knowing the two actors were dating sells the dread even more.