Writer/Director Olivia Newman on Finding the Deep Soul of “Remarkably Bright Creatures”
When did octopus love become a thing? First there was the 2020 Oscar-nominated documentary My Octopus Teacher, followed by the non-fiction book “The Soul of an Octopus,” which then led to Shelby Van Pelt’s bestselling novel “Remarkably Bright Creatures.” Next up: the movie version of Van Pelt’s book (May 8 in select theaters and on Netflix), starring Sally Field as a cleaning lady who works nights at the aquarium, where the wise and witty octopus Marcellus makes his watery home.
Directed and co-written by Olivia Newman, who previously demonstrated an affinity for nature-centric stories in 2022 when she helmed Where the Crawdads Sing, this adaptation follows Field’s Tova Sullivan, her new friend Cameron (Lewis Pullman), and Marcellus, voiced by Alfred Molina, as they navigate the uncertainties of family, community, and work. For the emotions to land effectively, Newman says, Marcellus needed to feel just as real as the human characters. “We didn’t want to shoot green screen,” she says. “We wanted Marcellus to always appear in an actual space, whether it was a real tank that we built for him or plates of the underwater world that we shot ourselves.”
Speaking from Los Angeles, Newman breaks down the VFX behind Marcellus, describes the thrill of directing Oscar winner Sally Field, and revisits the shock of losing her home in the 2025 Los Angeles fires just five days before she started prepping Remarkably Bright Creatures.
Toward the end of this movie, the scene between Tova and Marcellus packs quite an emotional wallop. What was your reaction when you read the novel?
That exact scene is when I really broke. I loved all of the characters in that book, loved their distinct points of view, whether they were an octopus or a human. Shelby created such relatable characters and a specific humor that comes out of the lens through which they look at the world, and I loved that.
The cozy little coastal town where Tova lives with her neighbors looks so inviting. Where did you find it?
Most of the movie was shot north of Vancouver, in the small town of Deep Cove. The beautiful bay, the mountains, Tova’s house, the main drag, all of that is in Deep Cove, which we decided on after our amazing location manager, Amy Barager, showed us every Pacific Northwest-looking little town around Vancouver.
The underwater photography shows off marine creatures as inhabitants of a kind of mysterious, almost otherworldly realm. How was that material shot?
This wonderful diver and documentarian, John Roney, shoots a ton of underwater photography, and we licensed some of that footage for use throughout the film. My cinematographer, Ashley Connor, loved his work because he followed these creatures in a way that was very character-driven and fit the language of our film.
The themes in this movie deal with a lot of things, including community, loss, and the idea that work can provide purpose in life. Did you connect with those ideas?
Very much so. Sally’s character got that gig [at the aquarium], so she has a place to go every day. As lonely as she is, with all her other problems, Tova goes to the job and does it well. So yes, the work gives her a sense of purpose. I think that’s relatable to people of all ages and stages of life.
Relatable to people, including you, from what I’ve read?
I was just talking to my husband about this [theme] and what my family went through. We lived in Altadena and lost our house in the Eaton Canyon fire [in Los Angeles] five days before I started prepping this movie.
That must have been so hard. Millions of people last year watched the Pacific Palisades and Eaton fires from afar. What was it like to be in the middle of it?
Tuesday morning, we woke to the craziest wind I’ve ever heard. We had really large trees in our backyard, so I’m watching these trees sway, thinking they’re going to fall on our house. We went to a nearby hotel close to the kids’ school, and while we were there, the fire started. On our watch apps, we saw the fire get closer and closer to our part of the neighborhood over the course of the night. When we woke up the next morning, our house was gone.
Oh my god. What’d you do?
I called Netflix, and they were kind enough to fly my whole family to Vancouver, just so we had a place to stay. My kids were terrified because the fire was still popping up in different places, and it all felt very apocalyptic.
So, all of a sudden, you’re in a hotel room with your whole family prepping a big movie and dealing with the aftermath of this fire?!
I definitely wouldn’t wish that on anybody, but my incredible husband took on the heavy lifting of dealing with the fire, the insurance, and all that. I also had this incredible community of people in Canada taking care of me and working to make sure that [fire] didn’t stop me from making this movie. I understood so many themes of this story on a very personal and deep level as I was making the film.
Sally Field was already attached to star in this adaptation when you were being considered for the job of director. How did your first meeting go?
I was very nervous. I made banana bread and drove to Sally’s house to pitch my vision of how I saw the movie in my mind. I sat on the couch next to her with a deck of images and talked her through it. She’s an amazing listener, and I just remember feeling like she’s really absorbing me and what I’m saying.
A few months later, Sally Field steps onto the set in British Columbia, and you start giving her direction. What does she bring to the table?
Sally was unbelievably prepared and knew her character inside out. Sometimes her choices surprised me, and I would sort of say, “Oh, wow, I hadn’t seen that side of Tova in my mind, and here she is.”
She clearly draws on a deep well of emotions, but also knows how to hit a punchline.
She makes every scene funnier, or she can make the quietest moments so emotional. I don’t know how. You can watch her eat soup for an hour, because she doesn’t just sit there. She’s doing a crossword puzzle, or reading the paper, or she’ll have some cream that she’s rubbing on her hands because they get so dry from cleaning. Sally’s always about the truth of the scene and what props she needs to execute each little moment with absolute authenticity.
Sally Field and Lewis Pullman share great opposites-attract chemistry: he’s this aimless rock musician dude, and she’s bossy. At one point, it’s just the two of them in a car driving and talking for ten minutes. That must have been fun for you to film.
I can’t say I love doing driving scenes, only because you have to rig for an hour, do one pan, then turn the truck around and start again. It’s a very slow process, and you only have so many angles you can shoot from. Cinematographically, it’s not the most exciting, but that scene cracked me up on the page, and then Sally and Lewis added so much on the fly.
Their banter feels very spontaneous.
Each take was a little different, some little joke or a look between them. I told Sally, “I’m laughing so hard I’m peeing in my pants,” and she said, “Well, it sounds like you have a bladder problem.”
Always with the snappy line…
She didn’t let me get away with anything.
The movie opens with Marcellus the Octopus offering clever observations about humankind, voiced by Alfred Molina. Why did you choose him?
Alfred Molina has the gravitas, and he has the wisdom in his voice of an older man. But he can also play snarky, and his comedic timing is amazing.
With Alfred Molina, you have the perfect voice for Marcellus. What about the body?
My initial hope was to use a real octopus, but we realized early on that we couldn’t train an octopus to do the blocking that we needed. Once we decided to create a CGI version of an octopus, my VFX team came to Vancouver in the fall, months before we started prep, and recorded hours of footage of this Giant Pacific Octopus at the Vancouver Aquarium named Agnetha. We filmed her from every angle imaginable, doing all kinds of different behaviors. My VFX supervisor even fed Agnetha to see what that looked like. He’d show me side-by-side footage of the real octopus doing something next to the blocking of our CGI octopus. Our goal was to use footage of Agnetha interchangeably with our CGI octopus.
Remarkably Bright Creatures has twists and turns, ups and downs, heart and soul. It must have been gratifying for you to complete this piece of work in the wake of this incredibly disruptive fire.
You’re in a state of shock and trauma and all of those things. But I had to make this movie. The best thing I could do for my family at that time was to keep going and let my husband take care of the kids. In the end, making this movie was cathartic and a really joyful experience.
Remarkably Bright Creatures arrives in select theaters and on Netflix on May 8.
Featured image: REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES. Sally Field as Tova and Marcellus in Remarkably Bright Creatures. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2026.
