Argylle's Henry Cavill Reveals How Much He Helped Dua Lipa In Her First Major Role - Exclusive
Although pop music sensation Dua Lipa technically made her big screen debut in summer 2023 with a cameo as Mermaid Barbie in the blockbuster-slash-cultural phenomenon "Barbie," her real debut as an actress comes in "Argylle," the Matthew Vaughn-directed spy action comedy that was actually filmed before "Barbie" went in front of the cameras.
In the film, the Grammy-winning British-Albanian superstar plays Lagrange, the seductive head of a criminal organization that superspy Aubrey Argylle (Henry Cavill) is determined to take down. In the film's opening sequence, Argylle enters Lagrange's lair and performs an elaborate dance with her that quickly turns into a shootout and wildly chaotic chase. Argylle eventually captures Lagrange — with the help of his wingman Wyatt (John Cena) — but as we quickly find out, none of this is real: instead, it's all in the pages of the latest "Argylle" novel from reclusive author Elly Conway (Bryce Dallas Howard).
Even though it turns out that Elly is being chased by a real-life covert organization because her novels are veering too close to the truth, the "fictional" characters in "Argylle" still have to come across with all the clarity one would expect from a best-selling novel. That means that Cavill, Cena, Arianna DeBose (as Argylle's field tech Keira), and Dua Lipa had to perform like they were real characters.
Luckily, the untested singer had a great scene partner in Cavill, but as he tells Looper in our exclusive interview, there wasn't much he had to do to guide her: "She doesn't need any help. She's fantastic."
How actors work together, according to Henry Cavill
According to the production notes for "Argylle," Dua Lipa was looking to get into the world of acting when the opportunity to appear in Matthew Vaughn's high-octane, twist-filled spy actioner came about. "I was excited but nervous because I had never done anything like this before," said the former model and "Levitating" hitmaker.
While many singers have successfully made the transition to acting, there was no guarantee that Dua Lipa would have the skills necessary to take on the craft herself. When asked if he was able to provide her with any help or insight on set, her scene partner Henry Cavill answered in a more philosophical way about the collaborative nature of acting itself.
"Well, I think regardless of anyone's experience, whether they're very experienced or not, you're all there to help one another anyway," the former star of "Man of Steel" and "The Witcher" told Looper. "If you're having a good day or a bad day, it doesn't really matter. You're there to support, because that's what we do. We're all playing characters and throwing storytelling at one another, so we can respond. She doesn't need any help. She's fantastic."
Whether Dua Lipa's two relatively minor appearances in "Argylle" and "Barbie" lead to bigger and juicier roles for the vivacious singer remains to be seen, but if she can conquer the world of acting the way she has conquered pop music, she'll have audiences levitating in movie theaters around the world.
"Argylle" is in theaters now.