consider the role from Stalin's point of view, in that he was nothing more than a normal person who "gets up in the morning, puts on his socks and shoes, brushes his teeth, and goes to work". As Stalin did not "see himself as evil," Duvall "couldn't see him as evil either". He imagined Stalin as a Shakespearean character who "saw everywhere only deception, plotting, and perfidy", practicing "in front of a mirror to appear dismissive, stoic or passive". He saw Stalin as a gangster and said it was as if Al Capone had become President of the United States". Duvall met with several historians, including former general Dmitry Volkogonov, who gave him the key to interpreting Stalin's "blocked conscience". He also spoke to another historian who surmised that Stalin had a deep need for enemies and was only so cruel and terrible because he was obsessed with a latent self-loathing. He also spoke to Stalin's former bodyguard, who showed him how Stalin walked and talked, and learnt that he was a very private and secretive person. Duvall realized that Stalin was a strange and complex man, "a street gangster" with peasant cunning who was also "unpredictable [and] devouring". Duvall commented that Shakespeare would have written about Stalin. In preparation for his role, Duvall spent four days at Stalin's dacha to get to grips with the character. Since one could neither "play history" nor "play time", he only tried to play Stalin "from moment to moment", without knowing beforehand the final result. Although he noted that he saw an interesting aspect in uncovering history, Duvall indicated that he did not understand Stalin as a person. He did not know his "dark, deep secrets and what propelled him to power", and wondered if he could ever understand him. However, Duvall's performance was described as his "most thoughtful and effective of all roles". Julia Ormond as Nadezhda Alliluyeva British actress Julia Ormond faced the same problem as Duvall. She conducted research, read several books and watched old archive footage to better understand Nadezhda Alliluyeva's character. However, with the exception of Twenty Letters to a Friend written by Nadezhda's daughter Svetlana Alliluyeva, she found nothing useful. She herself liked that in Alliluyeva she had a character with whom she could play an urge for freedom. Therefore, she created her character "as a romantic idealist" who "falls in love with the hero Stalin", gradually