Did An Affectionate Hot Dog Fingers Scene In Everything Everywhere All At Once Take Cues From Carol?

Variety's "Actors on Actors" series is a beautiful exercise in relatability. Actors with very disparate filmographies or backgrounds often find surprising connections when they sit down to talk — whether it be in their interests, their processes, or their frequent collaborators. One pairing in particular from the 2022 season, Cate Blanchett and Michelle Yeoh, have a lot more in common than anyone might have believed at first glance. Among other, more profound connections, both recently worked with fellow actor Jamie Lee Curtis. Blanchett herself is a big fan of Yeoh and Curtis' work in "Everything Everywhere All At Once" — but even before she saw the film in its entirety, Curtis gave her a sneak peek of the film when they were filming their own yet-to-be-released project.

"She was showing me the strangest pictures I've ever seen in my life," Blanchett told Yeoh of her experience with Curtis. The pictures in question were from "Everything Everywhere All at Once," in the scenes that took place in an alternate reality where humans have evolved with hot dog fingers. In this particular reality, Yeoh's character Evelyn and Curtis' Deirdre are romantically involved. It's a far cry from the "prime" reality where Deirdre is Evelyn's domineering tax auditor, and paired with their hot dog appendages, it'd run the risk of feeling slapstick. But Daniels (the directing duo behind the film), Yeoh and Curtis bring a shocking tenderness to their scenes together — so much so that it reminded Blanchett of a moment in her 2015 film "Carol."

In "Carol," Cate Blanchett is the titular housewife who falls for a young shop clerk named Therese (Rooney Mara). Early in the film, Carol and Therese share a charged moment at a piano: Therese plays alone while Carol watches. Eventually, Carol comes to watch her play and briefly places her hands on Therese's shoulders. It's the very moment where it seems clear that something could happen between them, and it's indicative of the power that touch holds throughout the film.

"Everything Everywhere All At Once" features alternate-universe Evelyn and Deirdre in a similar scene, with the former playing the piano and the latter holding her shoulders. Blanchett noticed the parallels instantly. "Are the Daniels trying to say that I had sausage fingers?" the actor joked. Rhetorical worries aside though, it's genuinely possible that the directors were inspired by the Todd Haynes film.

"The Daniels have this way of paying homage to people they love," Michelle Yeoh replied. "Everything Everywhere All At Once" is chock-full of those references, from the old-school martial arts vibes of the Shaw brothers to the dreamy, lovelorn ambiance of Wong Kar-wai's "In the Mood for Love." Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction" and Steven Chow's "Kung Fu Hustle" were also big influences, as was the Pixar film, "Ratatouille."

"What we were trying to say in this scene was: 'These two people love each other,'" Yeoh continued. "I'm not surprised if they took inspiration from 'Carol.'"

If Daniels did intend to riff on "Carol," they subvert the scene in a really interesting way. Obviously, when you have hot dog fingers, intimacy and touch evolve in entirely different ways. The humans in this alternate universe have built dexterity in their feet instead of their hands. To type on your phone, to play on the piano, even to stroke the face of a loved one ... it's all done with the toes to hilarious effect. But, as Cate Blanchett points out, the meaning of the scene never gets lost in the visual gag:

"This is the power of the film. To me, you and Jamie [Lee Curtis] ... you both bring, as performers, this incredible intensity and truth, but yet it is always so playful. Only the two of you could have made an audience laugh and cry in that sequence — because obviously, you felt the love. You totally believe the deep love that these two people have for one another ... It's one of the great scenes of all time."

According to Michelle Yeoh, commitment is key to pulling off such dissonant tones. Not even she was the biggest fan of the scene when she first read the script, because as the story goes, she nearly asked the Daniels to cut it from the film. But if the success of that scene — and the film at large —  is any indication, they obviously struck the perfect balance.