Hedda’s Moody, Old Hollywood-Inspired Interiors: How Production Designer Cara Brower Transformed a London Estate Into a 1950s Film Masterpiece

Like so many great works of art, the film Hedda, which is based on Henrik Ibsen’s 19th-century play Hedda Gabler, sees a house as a pseudo-main character. Perhaps house isn’t the right word; it’s more of an estate, and it’s one that production designer Cara Brower found about 45 minutes outside of London after scouting over 200 properties. Her criteria, as per director Nia DaCosta’s vision: a grand staircase, a view of a lake, a balcony, and period kitchens and bathrooms.

‘The house that we're in, Flintham, didn't have a period kitchen or a period bathroom,’ Cara tells us. ‘We actually built the period bathroom over top of their modern kitchen. It had the fireplace, so we just clad all the cabinetry that they had with old faux cabinetry and even put down a fake stone floor, made a Victorian range to put it in there, and had special effects rig smoke and stuff coming out of it.’

The film takes place in the 1950s and centers around the titular character (played by Tessa Thompson), the daughter of a general who feels just as trapped in her magnificent house as she does in her marriage.

When an ex-lover shows up at a party, chaos ensues. As such, the house played a significant role in the film, with nearly all scenes being shot in and around the property.

'We were looking for a very specific size, because we wanted that house to be not too ostentatious, we wanted it to be believable that they could they could live in it and not really afford it,' Cara explains. 'Some houses were just so grand, so baroque. Then other houses you would see in the photos, like 'Oh, this looks really interesting, this beautiful Elizabethan house,' and then you would get there and everything was so tiny. It was kind of like finding a needle in a haystack.’

From the ornate light fixtures to the dark, moody color palette, the rich interiors took inspiration from mid-century socialites, Hollywood glamour, and fashion photography – a twist on a classic period film.

'I referenced this socialite Oonagh Guinness, whose father had bought her a big country estate in Ireland,' she tells us. 'I hadn't really seen a country house decorated like that. She's got magenta carpet, purple satin drapes around her four-poster bed, and green carpet with purple wallpaper in her sitting room. She used to have these epic parties that would last a week, and people like the Rolling Stones would go there. She was friends with all the artists and bohemians of the time, so as soon as I started reading about people like her, I thought ‘Okay, I know who this person is now.’’

One of Cara's goals was to have the interiors reflect Hedda's inner world, and as such, a mix of traditional and contemporary items, all of which evoke a luxe, heady sensibility, collaged together.

'It made sense to me that this person would be very glamorous,' she says. 'Part of the story to me is about how women, especially in the past, have been trying to push against the confines of society. And I just imagined her as somebody who was just wildly trying to find her place and what fit and what made her happy. I imagined that she was a creative person and that design and fashion and interior design brought her a lot of joy.'

One of the standout pieces in the film is a leopard print rug, inspired by the interior design work of Madeline Castaing, a renowned antiques dealer whose eccentric work is still referenced by brands like House of Hackney. It took some persuasion, but once Cara explained the context of the piece, it was kismet.

'Leopard print carpet now has such a bad connotation,' she says. 'It seems so cheap, but at the time it seemed so chic. So once we showed [Nia] some references, she said, 'Okay, you convinced me.' When you watch the film, it's not jumping out at you. That's the balance that we were trying to find, is just being fun and playful with the interior design and having it juxtaposed with the traditional architecture.'

This mix of modern and contemporary also meant a selection of modern art on the walls, while the acidic green and plummy purple wallpapers were sourced. It's English countryside meets boudoir; or, as Cara states, 'romantic, eclectic, and timeless.'

Hedda is playing in select cinemas now, and will be available to stream on Prime Video on October 29.

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