Podcast Summary: The Run-Through with Vogue

Episode: Sentimental Value’s Renate Reinsve on Parenting While Acting and Her Friendship With Elle Fanning
Date: November 11, 2025
Hosts: Chloe Malle (Vogue U.S.) & Marjon Carlos
Guest: Renate Reinsve
Main Theme: Exploring the interwoven themes of art, family, and motherhood through Renate Reinsve’s experience starring in Sentimental Value, her creative collaborations, and her approach to acting and fashion.

Episode Overview

This episode centers on a lively and eloquent conversation with Norwegian actress Renate Reinsve, star of the film Sentimental Value. Vogue editors Chloe Malle and Marjon Carlos dive into topics spanning the film’s focus on complicated family dynamics, Reinsve’s unique journey balancing motherhood with acting, her creative process with director Joachim Trier, and her notable evolution as a fashion risk-taker. The discussion also highlights her collaboration with Elle Fanning and reflects on how personal history, vulnerability, and laughter inform both her life and her work.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Sentimental Value: Plot & Themes

• The film is a “story of two sisters” — Nora (played by Reinsve), an actress, and Agnes, a researcher, reunited with their estranged film director father in Oslo ([01:17]).
• Explores questions of “family and home and art and how you can kind of heal family wounds—or not—through art” (Marjon Carlos, [00:53]).
• “Life imitating art and art imitating life… A film about film. A lot of meta narratives going on." ([01:05]).

2. Renate’s Relationship With Director Joachim Trier

• Sentimental Value marks her third collaboration with Trier; she credits him with writing roles specifically for her, deepening with each film ([19:23], [19:53]).
• Their process: Trier and co-writer Eskil Vogt develop scripts tailored to Reinsve’s range and personality, then adapt them further during rehearsals to capture authenticity:

  “When we got to rehearsals, he will adapt the script and the scenes to what comes out of that dynamic between the actors… On set, it’s also very flexible, very open.” (Renate, [20:46])

3. Motherhood & Acting: Navigating Work-Life Balance

• Reinsve coparents her six-year-old son, adjusting her filming schedule so her child can visit or she can return home regularly ([07:29], [09:41]).
• On the unique challenges facing children of performers, referencing her son’s experience of seeing her on posters everywhere and managing his anxiety:

  “I took him to the Norwegian premiere and I didn’t talk to anyone else but him so he would know he was the most important… he kind of actually stopped being anxious.” ([11:14])

4. The Oslo Effect: Setting & On-Screen Atmosphere

• The city’s unique light and energy inspire both the film and real life:

  “In the summer, you don’t get a sunset… and when the sun comes back, it’s like a festival. Everything just happens in the streets…” ([14:17])

5. Discussion of Key Movie Moments

• House as a character: The “gingerbread Victorian house” at the film’s nucleus is based on a real home Trier discovered, and the filmmakers honored its lineage ([16:08], [17:54]).
• Layered meta-reality: Scenes were shot in both the real house and its studio replica, adding emotional meaning, especially for the homeowners ([18:47]).
• A centerpiece sister scene:

  “When Inga had this impulse to get up on bed and hug my character… and then she had the bravery to add a line saying 'I love you’… but Joachim and Eskil talked about they could never write that line. It’s too pompous.” ([24:12])

• On improvisation and authenticity in performance:

  “…To be able to get to that point where everything is open. It’s how you work and kind of conditions everyone, cast and crew.” ([22:25])

6. On-Screen Fashion & Red Carpet Evolution

• Reinsve is known for bold red carpet looks, styled by Carla Welch and often featuring Louis Vuitton and Schiaparelli ([01:55], [03:09], [04:10]).
• She describes how wearing designer clothes shifted her self-perception:

  “I never wore anything that was a brand before I was 30… But after I won the Best Actress award at Cannes, I got to borrow a dress from Dior… I realized how emotional it is, how you can alter how you feel about yourself through how you express yourself.” ([36:31], [37:32])

• Collaborative, narrative fashion choices — looks are chosen to reflect her sense of self and support the story of her films across festival appearances ([39:09]).

7. Friendship and Collaboration With Elle Fanning

• While only sharing “one big scene” in the movie, Reinsve speaks warmly about their off-screen chemistry:

  “We just had that one rehearsal, but we were so giggly. Like, we just brought something out in each other…” ([29:16])

• Praises Fanning’s nuanced performance and humanity brought to her character ([29:58]).

8. Other Creative Pursuits & Humorous Anecdotes

• Reinsve attempted woodworking (“carpentry”) and built a porch, but humorously admits,

  “I tried to build this veranda… it’s very crooked. But I had, like, parties on it. It was working. No one fell through!” ([33:49], [34:22])

• Shares about being “really bad” at everything but acting, which is the one thing she’s never been dismissed from ([34:21]).

9. Favorites, Influences & Current Viewing

• Recent film/TV: Tried to watch more on Criterion (despite geo-restrictions in Norway); recently introduced to Grey Gardens — “Real American education right there.” ([45:48]–[46:21])
• Discusses meeting acting icon Isabelle Huppert and marveling at her talent and presence ([34:43]–[36:16]).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “This whole experience is so meta. It feels like we’re still in the movie. And also, like, the sister dynamic. Me and Inga could never really get out of it.” — Renate ([06:10])
• “I think it’s a good sign if you have, like, a little rascal. He’s going to be, like, a territorial provocateur.” — Marjon, about Renate’s son ([07:56])
• On the realness of shooting in Norway:

  “It wasn’t as beautiful as it looks because it was really freezing and so much wind and everything was blowing away.” — Renate ([08:47])

• About fashion’s personal resonance:

  “I’ve gotten to build something that also looks like what I feel like on the inside… there’s something so structural and architectural about how Nicolas Ghesquière builds his looks.” ([37:32])

• Her red Schiaparelli dress:

  “It was very, very tight. It’s a corset. And it was also… scratching the legs a little… But worth it.” ([40:42])

• “Sometimes I’ll get out of bed, and I’ll just change, like, put something over what I wore in bed, and then wear, like, night to day… with a very cool jacket.” ([41:30])

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Film Synopsis/Setup: [01:17]
• Renate’s red carpet style: [01:55], [03:09], [40:06]
• Balancing parenthood and press tour: [07:29], [09:41]
• Rehearsal process with Trier: [19:53], [22:25]
• Sister relationship & pivotal scene: [22:25], [24:12]
• Shooting in Oslo & the symbolism of light: [14:17]
• On woodworking/carpentry: [32:46], [33:49]
• Meeting Isabelle Huppert: [34:43], [35:03]
• Improvisation & authenticity in acting: [24:12], [25:31]
• Relationship with Elle Fanning: [29:16]

Tone & Style

The episode fosters a warm, open, and often humorous atmosphere. Renate Reinsve is candid, self-deprecating, and reflective, joking about her offstage carpentry mishaps, sharing vulnerable insights about motherhood, and reveling in the creative energy of long-term collaborations. Hosts Chloe and Marjon provide encouragement, relate via their own personal anecdotes, and infuse the discussion with Vogue’s signature blend of wit and sophistication.

Perfect For Listeners Who Want…

• Intimate, behind-the-scenes insights into a buzzy arthouse film
• Honest conversation about balancing creative work and family
• Candid reflections on fashion, fame, and self-perception from a breakout international star
• A taste of the camaraderie and curiosity that animate the world of Vogue

Episode highlights how, at the intersection of art, life, and style, Renate Reinsve brings levity, depth, and humanity—whether on screen, the red carpet, or making crooked porches.