Director Nia DaCosta and stars Thompson and Hoss reflect on their queer adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s iconic play.

Power play: Tessa Thompson and Nina Hoss unpack Hedda, their mischievous and sensual take on a literary classic

Director Nia DaCosta and stars Thompson and Hoss reflect on their queer adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's iconic play.

By Gerrad Hall

Gerrad Hall is an editorial director at **, overseeing movie, awards, and music coverage. He is also host of *The Awardist* podcast, and has cohosted EW's live Oscars, Emmys, SAG, and Grammys red carpet shows. He has appeared on *Good Morning America*, *The Talk*, *Access Hollywood*, *Extra!*, and other talk shows, delivering the latest news on pop culture and entertainment.

EW's editorial guidelines

December 22, 2025 12:00 p.m. ET

Leave a Comment

"Her senses are suddenly alive." **** Tessa Thompson has a visceral reaction when describing a pivotal moment in her new film *Hedda*, a gender — and in turn, queer — flip on Henrik Ibsen's 1891 play *Hedda Gabler*.**** "Life is completely reinvigorated when she hears Eileen's name," the star says of her titular character reconnecting on the phone with a past lover, formerly named Eilert in Ibsen's classic tragedy but now Eileen in writer-director Nia DaCosta's adaptation, streaming on Prime Video, set in the 1950s. "You see her in the bath, and the scalding water.... There's a kind of sensuality suddenly to the film."

Those senses go into overdrive when Hedda and Eileen (Nina Hoss) finally reunite in person.

"It's that thing people say when you see someone across the room and time sort of stands still," Thompson notes of the scene, at a party Hedda is throwing with her husband, George (Tom Bateman). "An electric moment — like time and space sort of dissolve."

That same energy electrifies Thompson and Hoss' ** cover shoot in late October.

"Oh my gosh," Hoss quietly exclaims from her seat on a petite settee.

The Manhattan skyline peeks in through the penthouse studio's many windows, but she's busy soaking in Thompson, who's just quick-changed into a black Marc Jacobs dress with structured, bulbous shoulders and hips.

'Hedda' stars Tessa Thompson and Nina Hoss on the cover of EW's Awardist 2026 Kickoff.

Simone Niamani Thompson

Thompson can't contain her giddiness about the high-fashion piece as she settles next to her costar in various poses of physical proximity: cheek to cheek; Thompson's head resting on Hoss' leg; arms wrapped around the other; legs intertwined; Hoss gently biting Thompson's arm. The two are clearly enamored with each other, life imitating art imitating life.

It was nearly 15 years ago that DaCosta first read Ibsen's play and became fixated on the character of Eilert, whom she describes as a man "struggling to be recognized, who's really depressed and self-medicated by drinking."

She couldn't get him out of her head. But then inspiration struck, and the fascination became something more: "If Eilert were a woman, then that struggle aligns so beautifully with Hedda," the *Marvels* and *28 Years Later: The Bone Temple *filmmaker says of crafting a story in which, years after a tense parting, newly married Hedda crosses paths with her past paramour, a once-renowned academic and author who has a new woman in her life: Thea (Imogen Poots), a former bullied classmate of Hedda's who left her husband to be with Eileen, both romantically and as a writing partner.

Tessa Thompson for .

Simone Niamani Thompson

Gender-swapped, "Eileen becomes another foil for Hedda alongside Thea," DaCosta explains. "Then you have these three women at the center of the story. Oh, and now they're all queer….Then it became, for me at least, more vital, more urgent."

Thompson agreed. "In an interesting way, Nina's approach almost felt like Hedda is also a question that we’re asking about pathways to female agency, and particularity of female rage," says the actress, who also starred in DaCosta's first feature film, *Little Woods*.

2026 Golden Globes nominations: See the full list of nominees

Tessa Thompson has a scene partner in mind for Valkyrie's next MCU outing

It was around the time DaCosta's crime drama had its world premiere at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival that the filmmaker began writing the script for *Hedda*, so it perhaps makes perfect sense that the director only had Thompson in mind for her leading lady.

"When I think about Tessa's ability to portray someone who is really battling internally, who holds a lot of masks, who has a dynamic and volatile inside that they don't wanna show on the outside... I think she's excellent at that," DaCosta says of the *Dear White People*, *Creed*, and Marvel Cinematic Universe star, who has received several honors for her work here, including a Golden Globe, Critics Choice, and Film Independent Spirit Award nominations. "Hedda is the peak, I think, of that kind of character. I knew she'd do it to such an amazing degree."

Nina Hoss for .

Simone Niamani Thompson

For Hedda's former lover, DaCosta says "it had to be" Hoss.

"I f---ing love that woman. The way she embodies other people is so enrapturing."

Though the German actress is best known for more recent projects (*Tár*, Prime Video's *Jack Ryan*, and Showtime's *Homeland*), it's her "stunningly good" earlier work in movies *Barbara* and *Phoenix* that the director says made Hoss the right pick for Eileen, a performance that has also earned her a Spirit Award nomination.

But there was one small detail Hoss' agent left out when calling to say a new *Hedda Gabler* movie was being made starring Thompson and there was a potential role for her. Years ago, Hoss played Hedda on stage in Germany. But if that part was taken...

"I, of course, was very surprised," the actress recalls of finally reading the script and discovering Eilert's new identity. "I was so happy that Eileen was such a diverse, nuanced woman. I hope there will be more Eileens in the world now. I was mesmerized that this is possible with this material, that it became so much more existential if this fight be taken seriously in this world — by academia — that you are brilliant in your thinking, in your writing."

"Eileen had to be powerful and fallible," adds DaCosta. "You had to really empathize with her and root for her and also go, 'Oh no, Eileen, don't do that.'"

First staged in January 1891, Ibsen's play has been adapted countless times through the years; the most notable big-screen version being director Trevor Nunn's 1975 film, which earned star Glenda Jackson a Best Actress Oscar nomination. Thompson admits she did watch all of the movies that came before, but she "had a couple of rules" in order to prevent them from imprinting on her: She watched each movie only once; she didn't take any notes; and she watched several versions that weren't in English first, followed by dance pieces and more experimental interpretations.

"Nina was very helpful because I went through a period where... it wasn't so much that any performance in particular made a huge impression on me, or I was worried about doing an impression, but I was just so worried about the piece, and the construction. I was really in my head about the piece working," Thompson, who's also a producer on the movie, recalls. "And then she really set me free, because she said, 'I think we're just making something new.' I felt really set free by that."

During two weeks of rehearsals prior to filming, DaCosta says, they discovered the "depth of possibility for this sort of... in part *erotic*, but also *emotional* underpinnings of everyone's relationships," as dynamics are challenged at every turn.

Writer-director Nia DaCosta on the set of 'Hedda'.

Parisa Taghizadeh/Prime

Hedda is jealous of Thea and Eileen's relationship, and Thea fears what Hedda could do to theirs. But does Hedda really love Eileen, or does she just love how she makes her feel? Regardless, she knows she could never be as brave as Thea and leave George despite not loving him, which he knows all too well. And now he's come face to face with the person who ignites his wife's passion for life — and even he's intrigued.

But Eileen isn't there for Hedda. She's just using her to get to her party guests, namely the university professors who are hiring for a position George is also interested in. Hedda, though, will do whatever it takes — manipulate, seduce, even destroy — to ensure her husband gets that job.

Oh, and did we mention that this is, true to Ibsen's story, a murder mystery?

As in the Norwegian playwright’s work, all of *Hedda*’s action takes place in one location (in this case, the English estate of Flintham Hall, near Nottingham). And as in any good murder mystery, there are plenty of suspects. But here, they are "all the pawns that Hedda will play with," DaCosta explains.

Nina Hoss and Tessa Thompson for .

Simone Niamani Thompson

In the play, the characters tell the audience — and each other — about events that have taken place off stage. But "the idea that it was gonna be a party opened it up for me so much more," DaCosta says, a smirk on her face, "because it will all happen at this crazy party that gets worse and worse... or better and better, depending on your point of view."

"Hedda has this urge towards destruction, in a way," Thompson says of her character. "But I think it's this desire to destroy everything that exists and then build something back up. Mischief: I think that's my favorite word to describe her."

Hoss lights up when she hears it too.

"When you see mischievous people, they're the ones that are fascinating. That's why we're all around Hedda. Eileen is there because there is this unpredictability. You can feel that she wants power over people and to see how they react — to either learn from it or she just wants to see them go down. Whatever it is, you wanna be around it."

But it's all not for nothing. *Hedda*'s Hedda has always lived just on the margins of high society: a mixed-race, illegitimate daughter of a highly respected general. In fact, even though she's now married, she's kept her late father's name, still longing for that life and what he provided. With that in mind, DaCosta wanted to "explore the space between spaces emotionally, the space between doing a thing and knowing *why* you do a thing, because Hedda's modus operandi feels quite large, quite extreme."

Nina Hoss and Tessa Thompson for .

Simone Niamani Thompson

And often unapologetically — in a way that made her feel childlike, Thompson says.

"There's something sort of arrested about Hedda," she observes. "It made me feel a tremendous amount of compassion for people that can behave terribly, because inside they're just pretty hurt and pretty damaged... which is not to make excuses, but that's the way I sort of understood her."

It even impacted the way the character speaks.

"We talked a lot about the fact that she's sort of yearning for and reaching for this sort of elevated status that her father represents," says DaCosta, who worked in moments where Hedda's voice changes — "not just in terms of accent, but in terms of pitch," explains the director, who took inspiration for this character trait from someone in her own life whose voice would pitch higher when speaking with men. "I don't even know how conscious she was of that," she explains. "So Tessa and I talked about that a lot, because Hedda is a performer. She is just pretend, in ways."

It's that enigmatic nature of the character that captivates Hoss.

"No one will ever completely understand that woman. She evades you. And I love her for that," the actress says, laughing. "And for sure, Tessa's Hedda does that. I think everyone puts what they're dealing with in their life into Hedda. It's a reflection of what you carry with you when you watch this thing."

***Check out more from EW's *The Awardist*, featuring exclusive interviews, analysis, and our podcast diving into all the highlights from the year's best in TV, movies, and more.***

Tessa Thompson for .

Simone Niamani Thompson

This Hedda, of course, is a big reflection of its writer. DaCosta says she wanted to write a story that was raucous, human, sensual, and slightly perverse.

"I got to express all the complexity of humanity that I like to think about — desire not just for another person, but the desire to know yourself," she says. "And stylistically, I got to do exactly what I wanted: the humor, the flamboyance of it at times, the farce of it at times, the melodrama at times."

Her friend, a writer, sums it up a little differently.

"She watched the movie and said two things that I loved," says DaCosta, already laughing as she recalls both. "One was that it is the most *me *movie I've ever made." And the second? “She goes, 'Tessa is c--t.'"

*Photography by Simone Niamani Thompson*

*Set Design: Elaine Winter*

*Backdrops: Charles Broderson***

*Tessa Thompson – Styling: Karla Welch/The Wall Group; Hair: Ursula Stephen/A-Frame Agency; Makeup: Alex Babsky/The Visionaries; (Look 1) Dress: Marc Jacobs; Tights: Calzedonia; Shoes: Christian Louboutin; Necklace: Completedworks; (Look 2) Full Look: Ronald van der Kemp Couture; Shoes: Aquazurra; Earrings: Nikos Koulis; *

*Nina Hoss – Styling: Miranda Almond; Ben Skervin/Walter Schupfer Management; Makeup: Liz Olivier/Typology/Exclusive Artists; (Look 1) Coat: Michael Kors; (Look 2) Blazer: Stella McCartney; Skirt, Shirt, & Tie: The Frankie Shop*

- Movie Reviews & Recommendations

Original Article on Source

Source: “EW Drama”