Based on Warren Adler’s classic 1981 novel The War of the Roses, Jay Roach’s black, satirical comedy The Roses is the second filmic adaptation, following the film of the same name helmed by Danny DeVito in 1989, which starred Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner as a warring couple determined to destroy the other by any means necessary.
Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch have stepped into such villainous shoes for the new film, which sees their Ivy and Theo Rose take on the joys and eventual jabs of marriage.
As the film arrives in theatres from August 29th, The AU Review’s Peter Gray was invited to speak with a wealth of the talent involved in making the film, including both Colman and Cumberbatch, as well as their co-stars Kate McKinnon and Andy Samberg. Hear what the actors had to say about what they most liked about their morally questionable characters and how playing such brought about only love and respect between the actors themselves.
Ms. Colman, Mr. Cumberbatch, lovely to talk to you both. I wanted to ask you about playing with the comedy and the drama of The Roses, did you find more satisfaction in your characters’ moments of petty revenge or in the glimpses of vulnerability they show?
Benedict Cumberbatch: Oh, excellent. I mean, it’s always nice being out of the leash and being allowed to behave badly, isn’t it? It’s so inventive, the stunts, the cruelness. But I love, well I think I can speak for us, we love our jobs. So even though it’s a hard day at work, when you have emotions coming out…
Olivia Colman: It’s also very cathartic.
Benedict Cumberbatch: Yeah! It’s why we do what we do.
Olivia Colman: If you could spend a day where you get to cry and be paid for it, you’d feel so great the next day. We should start that sideline therapy. Shout and scream and cry cryotherapy. That’s already something, yeah? But having a script that’s written well, and being able to play against someone who you admire and want to work with…it’s a great day, you know?
And Kate, Andy, I wanted to ask about your dynamics. I put this to both of you, because your characters, Amy and Barry, feel like chaos agents in the middle of this war. How did you imagine Amy and Barry’s backstory and their relationship to the Roses?
Kate McKinnon: You want to get that one, bud? (Laughs) No, Andy and talked about it at length, and we just had a great…we had fun! I can’t remember, what did we decide, Andy?
Andy Samberg: I don’t remember the specifics, Peter, but it was more like when they first met, they were both really at the same point in their lives, possibly even in the same sphere, like career wise, and they really connected and then dove in. And since that time, they have started becoming really different people in myriad ways. They’re both entrenched, they’re both stubborn, they’re both committed, they’re both loyal. They both have this feeling, and correct me if I’m wrong, Kate, but I feel like we talked about that no matter what it was going to be, well, they’re together.
Kate McKinnon: Also, I find you can talk at length about what you think it’s going to be like, and then you get on set, and I had such immediate, overwhelming affection for Andy that it completely changed what I was planning on doing. I just love him so. And I think that naturally came out, and I couldn’t ignore the reality, which is, “Ahh, love ’em.” So that became a part of it. Even though (our characters) are so weird together, there’s a lot of love in the background. It was just fun. Love and respect.
Andy Samberg: And love and respect to you, my friend. Always and forever.
The Roses is screening in Australian theatres from September 4th, 2025, following Advance Screenings from August 29th. It will open in the United States on August 29th.
