{"id":7962501,"date":"2026-03-04T06:04:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T14:04:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/?p=7962501"},"modified":"2026-03-05T14:07:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T22:07:20","slug":"sentimental-value-renate-reinsve-elle-fanning-inga-ibsdotter-lilleaas-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/industry-news\/awards\/sentimental-value-renate-reinsve-elle-fanning-inga-ibsdotter-lilleaas-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"The Family Trust: Unpacking Meta Narratives in ‘Sentimental Value’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
\"TheWrap
Renate Reinsve and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas star in Sentimental Value<\/em>. ( Artwork: Michael J. Hentz)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Renate Reinsve, Elle Fanning and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas unpack Sentimental Value<\/em>\u2019s meta narratives<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

By Joe McGovern
Artwork by Michael J Hentz<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Cinema has its share of taciturn filmmakers, iron-willed men who run their productions like 17th-century Jesuit priests. Joachim Trier is not one of those guys\u2014just ask the three actresses who star in his latest dizzy-dancing opus on contemporary life, Sentimental Value<\/em>. According to Renate Reinsve, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas and Elle Fanning, the limber qualities you see in their performances are a reflection of the environment of warmth and spontaneity in which they made the film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou can feel it right when you walk on Joachim\u2019s set,\u201d said Fanning, who plays an American movie star visiting Oslo, Norway. \u201cIt\u2019s like we\u2019re all moving in unison in order to create a very safe place where everyone feels included and involved. Without everyone, it just wouldn\u2019t work. The result is that his movies are made with such joy and hope and a lightness of touch. And the three of us felt limitless in what we could do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reinsve and Ibsdotter Lilleaas star as sisters Nora and Agnes, the former an angsty theater actress and the latter a stable, introverted homemaker, who both struggle with the reappearance of their absent father (Stellan Skarsg\u00e5rd). Reinsve, Ibsdotter Lilleaas and Fanning, separately or together, are onscreen for practically every scene of the movie, and the trio supply the mix of melancholy, yearning and ginger-ale-like effervescence that\u2019s become the signature of Trier\u2019s storytelling. The three actresses joined each other for a conversation about sisters, self-awareness, and how to say I love you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Renate, after your experience with <\/strong>The Worst Person in the World<\/em><\/strong> and <\/strong>Sentimental Value<\/em><\/strong>, what\u2019s the special quality that makes audiences connect so deeply with Joachim\u2019s films?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Renate Reinsve:<\/strong> For us as actors, the thing is that Joachim doesn\u2019t ask us to play vulnerable but to actually be vulnerable. When I did Worst Person<\/em>, I opened myself to something raw and unpolished that lives inside me but that not many people see. Showing that part of myself was really scary. But then when it was seen by the audience, the experience became so rich in hindsight. People who have seen that film come up to me and tell me about their lives. They talk about the scenes that were very personal to them. And then the circle becomes bigger and bigger and we all feel a little less lonely in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"TheWrap
Stellan Skarsg\u00e5rd stars in Sentimental Value<\/em>. ( Artwork: Michael J. Hentz)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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This movie, which is partly about moviemaking, includes many self-referential qualities, perhaps most of all in Elle\u2019s role. You play an American actress who goes to Norway to work with an esteemed director\u2014which is exactly what you yourself were doing.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elle Fanning: <\/strong>We found ourselves laughing at how meta it was. Joachim and I would be walking through the house and he would be explaining how the shot was going to go, just like Stellan\u2019s character would be doing in the scene. There would be a silence and we would look at each other and just laugh at the absurdity of it. At the same time, I was aware that my character was not me. She\u2019s a bit lost when we find her, she\u2019s going through her own feelings of longing and searching. But there\u2019s that special thing when you feel like someone sees you for your talent and that\u2019s what she experiences during the rehearsal with her director. And that I tried to connect to. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Has your sister [Dakota Fanning] seen the film?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fanning: <\/strong>She has. We had a Q&A the night that she saw it and I spotted her in the audience and I just started crying. She gave me a big hug and was very emotional afterwards. It\u2019s a story about sisters, which, of course, resonates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking of the sisters, there\u2019s an all-time magnificent scene late in this movie where Agnes and Nora comfort each other in Nora\u2019s bedroom. It was semi-improvised. How did that happen?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas:<\/strong> In that scene, [Renate and I] are talking about being siblings and how our lives have turned out differently, and why. And I explain that, for me, I am the way I am because I had her. Because she was my protector growing up. And I felt very connected and moved and emotional. It felt very true. So I was sitting on the floor, Renate was on the bed, and I wanted to hug Renate. But I was scared about ruining the take. Sometimes being spontaneous can ruin something great. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I spotted her in the audience and I just started crying … It\u2019s a story about sisters, which, of course, resonates.” <\/strong>\u2014Elle Fanning on watching the film with sister Dakota<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

But Joachim, from the beginning, had told us that it\u2019s in the mistakes where you find the art. So in a split second I got up on the bed and hugged Renate. Kasper Tuxen, the cinematographer, jumped on the bed too. And it was like a feeling of release. I loved Renate in that moment and I just said, \u201cI love you.\u201d And \u201cI love you\u201d in Norwegian is not like the American \u201cI love you.\u201d When I grew up it was not something sisters say to each other. But I felt that\u2019s what I should say in that moment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reinsve:<\/strong> This is exactly the way that Joachim likes to work. We already have that platform of improvisation and flexibility when we go into a scene. Everything is adapted to the dynamic between actors. So in this scene, Inga jumps on the bed, Kasper jumps on the bed with the camera, I\u2019m still in character too. And it\u2019s all because Joachim is so open in how he works. It feels like the whole room is making the scene in the moment. These are the scenes that leave space for the audience too, when they can feel that authenticity. That\u2019s what makes Joachim\u2019s movies so magical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"TheWrap
Elle Fanning stars in Sentimental Value<\/em>. ( Artwork: Michael J. Hentz)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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You\u2019re each open to being vulnerable as performers, but do you find it difficult to watch your own performances? Some actors really struggle with that.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reinsve:<\/strong> Vanity is definitely itching a bit when I see myself and I have my face all crunched together in a weird way. But I always get something out of it, craft-wise, because I can watch how my intentions got translated. Sometimes I watch myself and I can say, \u201cAh, that\u2019s how it actually looks when I\u2019m thinking these thoughts.\u201d So I can learn by watching the work. But I\u2019m not saying it\u2019s comfortable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ibsdotter Lilleaas:<\/strong> For me, it really depends on the performance. If it\u2019s a good project, then I\u2019ll engage with the story and forget a little bit that it\u2019s me. But if I feel like it\u2019s false or I don\u2019t believe it, it can be really aggravating. So sometimes I won\u2019t watch things I\u2019m in if I know it\u2019s not good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fanning:<\/strong> When I was a little kid, I loved watching my movies. Because it was my face up on a big screen and that was just so cool. As I\u2019ve gotten older, I\u2019ve gotten more selfconscious about it, but I agree with what Inga said about getting caught up in the story when it\u2019s really good. For this movie, I just wouldn\u2019t want to miss all the other scenes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Renate Reinsve, Elle Fanning and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas lay Joachim Trier’s masterpiece bare<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10222,"featured_media":7969862,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"magazine","format":"standard","meta":{"byline":{"profiles":[{"type":"byline_id","atts":{"term_id":504640,"post_id":7303166}}]},"_links_to":"","_links_to_type":0,"nb_breaking_email_type":"","nb_breaking_template":"","nb_breaking_from_name":"TheWrap","nb_breaking_subject":"","nb_breaking_preview":"","nb_breaking_list":[],"nb_breaking_header_img":0,"nb_breaking_should_send":false,"nb_breaking_content":"","nb_newsletter_sent_breaking_post_id":[],"apple_news_api_created_at":"2026-03-04T14:04:23Z","apple_news_api_id":"f544874d-1bfb-40d9-8b77-c98507f6bda2","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2026-03-04T19:30:10Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/A9USHTRv7QNmLd8mFB_a9og","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"hide_featured_image":false,"the_wrap_post_enable_full_width_featured_image":true,"the_wrap_post_enable_featured_video":false,"the_wrap_post_featured_video":"","the_wrap_post_disable_read_more":true,"wp_curate_deduplication":false,"wp_curate_unique_pinned_posts":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,33376,12],"tags":[13107,514691,507260,496010,508369,506040,506071],"tw_data_partners":[],"columns":[],"byline":[504640],"class_list":["post-7962501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-awards","category-culture","category-movies","tag-elle_fanning","tag-inga-ibsdotter-lilleaas","tag-mktg","tag-renate-reinsve","tag-sentimental-value","tag-thewrapbook","tag-wrapstyle"],"newsletter_builder_byline":"Joe McGovern","is_pro_article":false,"apple_news_notices":[],"eyebrow":{"link":"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/industry-news\/awards\/","text":"Awards"},"tw_schema_org_review":{"name":"","type":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7962501","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10222"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7962501"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7962501\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7972002,"href":"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7962501\/revisions\/7972002"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7969862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7962501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7962501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7962501"},{"taxonomy":"tw_data_partners","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tw_data_partners?post=7962501"},{"taxonomy":"tw_column","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/columns?post=7962501"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=7962501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}