Since she first appeared on-screen, at the age of 10, Rebecca Hall has developed a knack for carving out smart, sophisticated roles, whether in her nuanced portrayal of Christine Chubbuck, the reporter who took her own life live on television, in Christine, or her plucky performance in Frost/Nixon. Hall has won a BAFTA, mastered Shakespeare onstage, and even powered a big-budget blockbuster, Godzilla vs. Kong. Now she makes her directorial debut with Passing, based on her adaptation of Nella Larsen’s 1920s Harlem Renaissance novel. Starring Ruth Negga and Tessa Thompson, the film explores the controversial practice of “passing,” a term describing a person classified as a member of one racial group who seeks to be accepted by a different one. Here, Hall shares her key components to the good life. —Bridget Arsenault
Airline: A solar-powered Concorde.
Alibi: “I was already dead.”
Bedtime: Early.
Breakfast, weekday: Sourdough toast, butter, Marmite.
Breakfast, weekend: Scrambled eggs and pancakes.
Car: A vintage Mercedes-Benz.
Cocktail: Mezcaletti.
Cocktail appetizer: Salt-and-vinegar crisps.
Couple: Bogie and Bacall.
Date: Dinner and a movie.
Dinner, weekday: Curry in the Instant Pot.
Dinner, weekend: Curry in the slow cooker.
Disguise: Extroversion.
Dress: Smocks.
Enemy: Carpenter ants.
Escape: Painting.
Excuse: “I’m painting.”
Fit: Draped.
Flaw: A paunch.
Hotel: Hôtel Bourg Tibourg, in the Marais neighborhood of Paris.
Insult: “Tosspot.”
Jacket: A Phoebe Philo–era Celine trench.
Lunch, weekday:
Cereal, tragically.
Lunch, weekend: My husband’s preferred fodder.
Movie: The Battle of Algiers.
Nonfiction book: Ruth Stout’s Gardening Without Work.
Notebook: Moleskin.
Novel: Anna Karenina.
Pair of pants: Phoebe Philo–era Celine flared front-pleated, high-waisted, wide-leg trousers.
Pet: Cat.
Piece of advice: “Try again, fail again, fail better.”
Podcast: You Must Remember This.
Second Spouse: Thomas O’Malley the alley cat.
Shoes: Plimsolls.
Singer: Nina Simone.
Television series: Gardeners’ World, on the BBC.
Time of day: Five p.m.
Toast: Buttered.
Writing implement: A Fisher Space Pen Bullet.
Rebecca’s Essentials
