Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with Multiverse’s Paloma Kwiatkowski and Munro Chambers

Paloma Kwiatkowski and Munro Chambers are two of the stars of the must-see new film Multiverse.

The sci-fi thriller follows four brilliant university students who are forced to confront themselves in terrifying ways when their Quantum Physics experiment leads to an entangled parallel existence that leaves them questioning who they are and what is real.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to chat with Paloma and Munro about Multiverse.

PC: Could you introduce us to Multiverse and your characters in the film?
Paloma: Multiverse is about four talented physicists who are on the verge of a breakthrough when one of them sadly dies in a tragic accident. They open a portal to another multiverse and are confronted with different versions of themselves in a really terrifying way. It’s a sci-fi thriller.

I play Loretta, who is the leader among the four students. She’s the most passionate about connecting to these multiverses. Munro plays Gerry, who’s the least passionate. [laughs]

We also have Rob Naylor playing Danny and Sandra Mae Frank playing Amy, who is a deaf actor portraying a deaf character in our film, which is a really exciting thing to be a part of. It’s a real wild ride.

Munro: I play Gerry. He’s the least passionate about science. He has an arrogance to him. He’s a jokester. When the other variations enter the world, you get to see where he’s a little unhinged and a little off the beat.

PC: What was it about this particular character and script that stood out to each of you?
Paloma: It’s such an exciting challenge to be a part of. Not only is it a really challenging sci-fi concept, but as an actor, you rarely get the opportunity to play two different versions of your character. You have to not only prepare for the one role, you have to prepare for a second at the same time. They have to be similar but also different.

Plus, I knew it was an ensemble cast and something that was very grounded. I have worked with Munro before. Knowing that he was involved was really exciting. It was an easy “yes” for me.

Munro: For me, it was very much the same. You don’t get these opportunities often. I grew up idolizing Robin Williams, seeing him do The Fisher King and Mrs. Doubtfire, and having that range was something I’ve always aspired to. To have two characters who were close, but again, very, very different, was a fun challenge. You have to make it feel seamless and put together the pieces of this puzzle. When you have all of that mixed together, you can’t do anything but say yes.

PC: Does that change the preparation? What was the character development process like?
Paloma: For me, it wasn’t so much changing the character herself but more about thinking about how she would interact differently with the other characters. Because they live in different universes, their relationships have to be different. Sandra’s character is deaf in one universe. In another, she’s not. So, Loretta has a different relationship with Amy 1 and Amy 2. That’s true for all the characters.

Munro: I always root my character in whatever emotional scar tissue is driving them. For Gerry, he’s got a pretty deep insecurity complex. He’s got some arrogance to him, but he’s got roots there too. I created my own little roots and layers. For the alternate version of him, they mention that medication is involved. There’s an ocean of possibilities. You try to create something that’s honed in and not too broad, so that it lends itself to whatever the film is trying to portray and let that scar tissue and his purpose be amplified.

PC: Like Paloma said earlier, the two of you have worked together in the past. How beneficial was it to have that prior relationship when embarking on this project? There’s also great chemistry that comes across between all four of you. How did you all build that bond?
Paloma: It was really easy for us to build that bond because we filmed in Sunbury, Ontario. None of us are from there. We were all staying in a hotel together. For the three weeks we were there, our lives were this film. We didn’t know anyone else in Sunbury, Ontario. At night, we’d get together for dinner and on the weekends. We’d spend our off time together. It was very easy for us to become quick friends.

Munro and I had done a movie the previous year. That takes the stress away. It really puts you at ease. We talked about this a bit today. When you’re able to feel comfortable with your scene partner, you’re really able to let go and have fun. That’s when the best performances come out. My very first scene in the movie with Munro is a pretty intense one. I was lucky that we had worked together before. I didn’t feel uncomfortable screaming and yelling at him.

Munro: We actually switched it up. When we did Riot Girls, our first scene was of me screaming at Paloma. [laughs] It’s our thing.

PC: Given the fact that you two have worked together in the past, what’s one fun fact that fans would be surprised to learn about your costar?
Paloma: Munro calls me every year on my birthday. It’s the sweetest thing. He’s so thoughtful. I’m sure he has a list of people. [laughs] He’s such a kind and thoughtful person.

Munro: Paloma always answers my call. Paloma lives in Vancouver. She’s got a wonderful, amazing dog. I want to steal her.

PC: You’ve both worked on projects of all sizes. What is it about independent filmmaking that excites you as creatives?
Paloma: With independent films, you get a bit more say in things, which is exciting. It’s more of a collaborative effort. You don’t have these big executive producers deciding how things are going to be. That’s really exciting because you can do a scene and be like, “I don’t feel like that was right for this character. Can we try it another way?” We were lucky with Gaurav Seth, our director. We could go up to him and be like, “Can I get another take?” There was no question about it. He was like, “Yeah, let’s do it. Let’s do one for you and see what happens.” He allowed us to be collaborative and ourselves and to do what we wanted to do. We got some really interesting performances out of that, and I don’t know that you always do when you’re doing big-budget things.

Munro: The one thing that you always want when working on a project is time. It’s the intangible. It’s something that you always want. There’s a silver lining to creation where you have to find solutions in the spur of the moment—maybe the script isn’t working or it’s not going right. You have to adjust. You don’t have the time or money to do it on another day. We had eighteen days to film this. We had to readjust quickly. It’s fun to come up with things on the fly and embrace that spontaneity.

The best material can come out of that spontaneity. It’s wonderful. As Paloma said, there are certain times for other projects with bigger budgets where you don’t get that time and you don’t get the collaboration.

PC: There are so many intense moments within the film. Is there a particular scene that you’re excited for fans to see?
Munro: This is a spoiler, but there’s a sequence when my two characters meet. I get to fight myself. I’m actually a twin, so we were lucky enough that my brother was able to come in and we didn’t have to rely on CGI. We’ve been fighting since we were in the womb. It was pretty easy to do, and it was a lot of fun.

Paloma: Mine doesn’t involve my character. There’s a sequence when Amy 2 comes into play. Amy 2 isn’t deaf. I remember reading the script and being like, “How are we going to do this?” Because Sandra’s deaf. They superimposed a voice and Sandra did such a fantastic job vocalizing that. It was seamless.

Make sure to follow Paloma (Instagram) and Munro (Twitter). Watch Multiverse wherever you stream movies.

Photo Credit: Saban Films