Aubrey Plaza on Emily the Criminal, Parks and Rec and talk show weirdness | BFI LFF 2022 Screen Talk

great to see you you too it's been a while yeah it has actually five years since in group Goes West oh my God so last night was the first screening here of Emily the criminal how'd it go it was great I was not there I didn't watch it um but it sounded like it went great um I think it went great I don't know what are people saying what have you heard I heard you were fantastic at the Q a but maybe I was like oh yeah the Q a was funny that was funny all right the rest no I think you played who knows I think it played great it's interesting to see how people will react to the movie here because it's just very different you know than American audiences so I guess yeah for people who've seen you and maybe know you certainly initially from Comedy and stuff it's it's actually a genuinely like gripping unsettling Thriller yeah which I think even compared to some of the other projects you've done recently it kind of moves more in that sort of different direction yes I'm just I'm inching darker and darker more violent who knows what I'll do next quite good with the taser yeah thank you and second time that I've pepper sprayed someone in a movie so I'm getting really good at that too so I guess we want to sort of we'll talk about Emily the criminal War later obviously because it's here but I wanted to kind of go back to kind of where you started sort of origin story side of things if people had seen you I don't know at school high school teachers friends whatever would they have thought this is somebody who wants to perform who's naturally funny who's kind of that way inclined or was that something that wouldn't have been so evident at that time um I think uh I think it was I always think it was pretty evident um definitely in high school I think when I was a child I was very shy and very quiet and then I was introduced to Community Theater around 11 years old because my older cousin auditioned for a play there and I went to I just tagged along with her I thought she was so cool and once I saw kids auditioning for plays I just started to realize like oh wait a minute that's like an outlet or something um and so then I started doing that and then I and then I just started performance from there but I think I was pretty outgoing in high school at that point I was like a Class Clown kind of rabble Rouser kind of person always is kind of doing whatever weird stuff so comedy was already like making people laugh or you know you doing performing but with a sort of comedic Salon yeah I think so yeah I think the first time I uh was introduced to Comedy was uh I auditioned at the same Community Theater um I auditioned for the play Cinderella and I really wanted the role of Cinderella I really like thought I was really going to get that part which was really stupid I would have never gotten that part but um but I got cast as the ugly stepsister and I was really bummed because I was like why how am I the ugly like what and but then when I got into the play I realized like wait a minute I have the funny uh song I have the funny I have the funny part and uh the first time I performed that like you know I was 12 or something and I got last from the audience I realized like well that's like the good stuff right there like Fox Cinderella like boring I mean you know tragic but kind of oh yeah sorry yeah kind of boring I wish her the best I wish her the best I just mean like you know what I mean and once you sort of left um High School from what I've understood you kind of got really interested in improvisation and sketch comedy and you sort of enjoying the the UCB the upright the the Chicago Group which is very prestigious right yeah well I was very into improv comedy growing up I was a real comedy nerd I was really into sketch comedy shows and um like Kids in the Hall and Mr Show and that kind of stuff I was introduced to that as a teenager and um and I was just like really uh ambitious and I just um I was really into Saturday Night Live and I was very very obsessed with that show and um I remember just kind of like um constantly uh researching the cast members and trying to figure out how did they get on the show like what did they do first and um and it was all it always like LED back to this like kind of Chicago improv comedy stuff or the Groundlings or whatever and that was like kind of the first time that I was like well maybe I should do improv because like maybe that you know and then and then I just got really into comedy in general I guess I I was I had a very lucky week and I was out in Los Angeles for one week and I was there because I was up for a part in funny people which is the Judd Apatow first movie I was I ever did um and the casting director Allison Jones who's casting that film uh really took a liking to me and just said like well while you're here you know can I send you on some other meetings and I was like sure I'll do whatever you want lady I don't I don't know um whatever you want I didn't have an agent at that time or anything so I was just kind of like I don't know what's going on around here but um you know these people want something from me so and then so she sent me to Parks and Rec that week to meet with Mike sure and Greg Daniels and they hadn't written the pilot yet but they I think they had like a sketched outline of what it was and I don't know what I did in the meeting apparently I was like really weird or I don't know what I did I really weirded Mike Sure out um and I kind of I kind of collaborated with him on kind of pitched him the character almost accidentally I didn't realize the weight of the meeting at the time him but uh he kind of told me about the show and he was thinking oh well Amy's you know her character is going to have an assistant um and I just I don't know why I can't really remember but I just kind of pitched him the idea of April where I was like well if she's super positive you know and she loves her job maybe her assistant should be like an intern that like hates everyone and like hates everything but it's like good at her job it just doesn't give a about anything she's doing or something and and I guess like under the table he was like writing it down I don't know but then um and then and then Greg Daniels came in the room and I what I do remember about that meeting is Greg Daniels because he's really weird um in the best way and he came in and I don't know who asked the question but we started talking about the meaning of life and what happens after you die and I was like dude I don't know and we went down this like crazy Rabbit Hole So it's talking about what happens after you die and I think Mike was just watching us like what am I watching like why are you guys talking about this and so yeah something happened in that meeting and then the next thing I heard was that they had written me into the show and the first script I had the characters named Aubry and then they obviously changed it I guess once they convinced the network to cast me and then I had to audition to play myself they changed it to April and then they told me completely different yeah and then I had to audition to play April and I was like but don't play I'm me I'm playing if I I hope I get the part because like that'd be really bad I wrote this I co-wrote it yeah wow but so and in this same week this is the case right you got funny people you got what became Parks and Rec and you got Scott Hogan versus the world yeah at garage all in one week those actors like must hate you for this week they're like it was a really lucky week I don't know what I did I I you could ask Edgar I think he might be here but I'm not gonna put you on spot I'm not gonna put you on I don't even know if you're here there's a q a later okay but um yeah Allison Jones that's the that's really the answer she casts all three of those things and she changed my life I mean truly and she's changed a lot of actors lives it's really special she's a very special lady to me I mean Parks and Rec is one of those shows that Not only was sort of beloved and you know ran for many many seasons but it just had this incredible cast of many people who were not particularly well known at the time who've gone on to not just big acting careers but show running and writing and producing when I I know it was your first sort of main gig in that sense but when you're there making it is there any sense that you when you're there like this is a really special bunch of people or you just didn't have enough to compare it by at that time I think we all knew it was special um I think it really trickles down from the top like Amy kind of had that energy and she she's such a great leader and she had such a positive vibe and uh such a gracious Vibe like um I think we all felt like I don't know what's going on here but it's definitely special and rare also everyone's just genuinely very funny so we were all just cracking each other up all the time and I think when Parks and Rec was originally airing um if I'm not mistaken our ratings were terrible like we thought we were going to get canceled the first couple Seasons like we weren't we were kind of the underdog you know like modern family I think was was kind of the popular show at the time and we were so we kind of always felt a little scrappy but I think that actually was probably good because we we were just so grateful to to have that job and I think looking back on it it's yeah it's just like you can't you can't compare it's like it'll never happen again I don't think but I think we kind of knew we knew it was special at the time I think right I mean there are so many standout characters and actors in it but I think April ledgate really meant a lot to a lot of people and I'm interested because the thing that always comes up I think it was even in the festival catalog which I didn't write myself but you know this sort of the Persona that she has and the kind of sardonic and sarcastic thing that seems to kind of then kind of follow you to a degree in other roles or people's perceptions of it and I'm just really interested in your take on that because she is a certain way and she has like you said you know she doesn't care yeah and so obviously you're you're playing that but did you get a sense that this was sort of filtering into like a bigger perception of you as well as the character and then into other roles at the same you know that's followed I think it's kind of like it's like a it's a cycle that kind of feeds on itself because the first um parts that I got and you know they were all kind of in that zone like this this kind of like deadpan zone or whatever and I'd say that that wasn't the thing that I was known for when I was when I was performing at the Upright Citizens Brigade in New York I was doing all kinds of characters I wasn't known as you know like oh she's like the sarcastic like eye rolling her like girl or whatever like that wasn't my thing necessarily but um but I could do it pretty good and I think a lot of it was inspired by my younger sisters at the time um who who were more like April Ludgate in real life than me um and uh and then I think like I don't know I think there's like an unconscious kind of thing when people kind of project something on to you that you almost like give it back in a way and then I and then and then I truly think I just did it but I think I probably just did too much publicity or something I was on too many talk shows where I was out of my mind and then kind of like I don't know like P I don't know what happened but I guess I was weird on talk shows and then that kind of like fed into it as well where people just kind of assumed like that's that's just you know that's just who you are that's or something um and it is a little bit I mean for sure it is but that's a character you know it's a heightened version of me I mean every character I play has a part of that sure because it's me and I'm bringing me to the table but um but I I would say like yeah I'd say I'm I'm much different than than April I'd gave them people probably would expect um but I but I don't but I didn't shy away from that at the time and I think when you're on TV for seven years playing the same character people just kind of they get so used to seeing you that way so it's it's just kind of and I don't you know I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing but it's it's interesting people's perceptions sure and I guess I mean I don't know how much you go into the whole YouTube rabbit hole and stuff but talk show appearances and stuff they get almost compiled sometimes and there's all kinds of weird like oh look this person's in it but then maybe it's just your own you know feeling not comfortable being on a show and therefore that kind of elicits a certain response that then feeds into this whole thing well yeah I mean I think it's like I'm that I feel like I'm better at it now but like I think talk show appearances are kind of the opposite of improv shows where uh you know when you do improv and you learn like the art of improv um the worst thing you can do is plan a joke like you can't plan a joke that's like a No-No um and so talk shows like they short circuit my brain I don't know why but it's like planning a story or like planning a joke or something it feels so wrong to me that like I try to do it every time like every time I do I do a show I just tell myself like just be normal this time just just do it just do it get out like just be like Tom Hanks you know just sometimes I watch him I'm like he's so comfortable like he's smiling and everything seems great um but I just anytime I'm in the moment I just yeah something happens where I just like I just go off script I can't I can't it's almost like I'd rather have I'd rather have an uncomfortable moment um because it just feels real over having like a pleasant um fake moment or something but it's not on purpose and I would never try to like you know make someone else uncomfortable it's really my own like defense mechanisms just like put on a live television just displayed for everybody to watch over and over again late at night on YouTube and it's not on purpose crazy I swear to God I'm right every time and I just it up every time I mean it's interesting you say that some of the early roles kind of fell into this almost similar territory as April um we're going to look at um another kind of I guess an early film I think was a real certainly was a success and maybe a break you know another kind of breakthrough where I think that I can see links to some of the previous worlds but I think there's a lot more going on as well so maybe we can chat about that next so we're going to look at a clip from a film called Safety Not Guaranteed foreign [Music] [Music] do you sell guns here what kind of guns I don't know something sexy and affordable with killing power foreign state of Washington does not allow sale of firearms on the business premises of a brochure what about those thingies spiky ball at the end of the chain things you know and then you have those what exactly is the intended use sorry pest problem or hunting well if your ad had been written properly I may have a better idea of what I need my ad yeah it's pretty sloppy excuse me you heard me I hope you worked harder on your calibrations my calibrations are flipping pinpoint okay there are people after me how do I know you don't work for them you give her face certain death if it was so certain I wouldn't be here would I this is a bad place to talk I got off I'm like 15. rendezvous see you in eight [Music] I mean that film seemed to do I mean it's it's a I mean it's a lovely film but I think a lot of the people who are in that got a real Boost from that right the casting just a little bit and uh the director Colin Trevor who went from that straight to like Jurassic Park yes he did movies which is pretty good um when you got that script because like I say some of the mannerisms and some of the sort of the way that you're performing you know this there are connections to some of the early roles but the character herself for only for people who've seen it um she's a very there's a lot of sadness and there's a lot of trouble the reason why she might actually want to go back herself is kind of in there and I'm just wondering was that something that felt like different for you when you first read it and it was really appealing to them take on as a project yeah totally that was my first um lead role in a movie so it was the first time that I ever got to kind of construct a character from the beginning to the end like up until then I'd only done smaller parts so it was it was a huge opportunity for me to like you know dive a little deeper and create a fully realized person and that whole experience of being like the lead rather than kind of coming in being funny and supporting stuff did that feel like it was at that point the a natural step or did you feel when you felt it's like whoa this is actually a big jump up or did you feel kind of ready for that next kind of phase if you like it was so long ago honestly I don't even remember but I I think I probably both you know I don't know I probably I was so ready to do I love movies like I I was so obviously excited to be on Parks and Rec and be on a television show but I I really just love movies and I've always wanted to be in movies and um so I think it was it felt very natural for me but um but of course it was like a huge a huge deal and I was probably scared out of my mind but um but it's but also I think it's kind of what I always wanted to do so I was excited to to start really yeah yeah no bad film for a first leader yeah not bad right um one of the things I kind of was mentioning in the introduction was the sort of unpredictability that I don't think that many performers bring but you really do and I'm just interested when you're on a set is that something that you it's just in the in the moment or do you feel like I'm just interested how that manifests with your cast members there's a particular film in a particular I'm going to talk about for that but I just wanted before we go into specific examples do you feel do you feel like you have to have that sort of thing on the set as well or is that just when the camera is around what do you mean well like am I crazy no well you say crazy I think that's very productive sorry but you made a film called Dirty grandpa with Robert De Niro and the story that I heard again you can tell us it's true is that he was getting weirded out by your behavior in general so I was like is that mean off camera is that is that just the character is that more well first of all he we didn't okay first of all I didn't see I didn't really have a relationship with him off camera because he's him you know and that movie I got I you know I auditioned to get that part and I really wanted that part and I had tail you know I really created the character for myself there and I had an agenda and um and I wanted to make the most of it and I'm working with De Niro I'm like I'm acting with De Niro I'm playing his love interests Like There's No One Stop Nothing's Gonna Stop Me I will lose my mind on this thing and um but I didn't get time with it there wasn't time to get to know him or anything like that and he kind of shows up in a puff of smoke you know when he's shooting maybe just on that movie but um there's no like chatting at the water cooler you know when when he shows up it's time to shoot um which is fine but you know by the time he'd show up I'm in character you know and my character had one goal which is to have sex with him that's it that was my motivation and I'm wearing a wig in the film I don't look like I do in real life in the film I in real life my hair was chin length short I was acting totally you know insane as the character because we were about to shoot and I you know stay in character because that's what I do so he I don't think understood that that wasn't me um you'd think you would because he's an actor and he's a great actor method right um but uh but I'd say like the most amazing thing that happened with yes one of my agents did call me very early on in the shoot and say Hey you know we heard from you know down through the grapevine you know you know Bob's little you know he's a little freaked out what's going on over there and I was like I'm just doing my my job man I'm just doing my part um I was all over him because because I wanted to drum Up chemistry you know and I was really going for it and um I'd say after like a month or two of shooting um and in most of our scenes were you know we're like making out or saying dirty stuff to each other it's like ridiculous and then like halfway through the shoot he invited the cast over to his Bungalow for Sunday lunch or something and I showed up and he didn't know who I was and I'd made out with him multiple times at that point because I wasn't wearing my wig and I wasn't acting you know insane or whatever and and I was and he's like who are you sweetheart I'm like it's Lenore Bob it's me and then after that he loved me like he loves me like we we we really got along and I think he like it clicked for him at that point that he was like oh like you're just you know you're just being the character I'm like yeah because I don't that's what he does right that's what you do and that's what you do and that's what I'm doing so yeah so but at first yes at first I think I came on a really strong really strong I did some questionable things things that I probably wouldn't do anymore never in a million years would I say it Alan but I'll just say I went for it you see because I heard that I thought that was probably very particular to that character in that film that you know because I think there's that thing about being unpredictable and kind of going for Stuff within the working environment versus just being kind of a loose cannon in a broader project you know what I mean I wouldn't I didn't imagine it was a loose cannon but I think it's it's really whatever the character whatever the character is whatever the job is it's like you know that informs you how I am I think off camera too okay I can't help it it's just how I am but because one of the things I think is very um sort of noticeable and really characteristic of a lot of your work is you're you have to make a big impact no matter what the size of the role but I always get the sense that you're still very much like a team player and you do a lot of kind of projects where it's real ensembles I mean you've played leads obviously but it seems I don't know is that you know that Ensemble maybe going back to improv or Parks and Rec just does that sort of a dynamic that you still really really totally enjoy but you can still do your own kind of yeah totally I love ensembles and um it's a total improv thing because you know that's the difference between improv comedy and stand up it's like improv you're relying on your scene partner it's a collaboration and I I love collaboration I love it so much it's so fun to to tee up somebody else to be funny too you know I get just as much satisfaction out of that as you know so yeah I love I love I love working in a group because you've done several projects with your now husband Jeff Boehner um whose writes and directs and there's a kind of like a rep Company Feel to a lot of your projects right A lot of the same actors reoccur I mean doing very completely different parts and characters but you know yourself and Alice and Bree and Molly Shannon Johnson's John C Reilly so is that when I don't know how those projects come about if if Jeff sort of originates them or if you kind of collaborate them but it is that like can we get these other guys back is that part of the appeal of those sort of things I think that's I I would say that's that's that's all Jeff like I mean I all of those people have become like a family to me now but um I think that was his Instinct like the first movie that he directed um that I was that I was in was called life after birth and John C Reilly and Molly Shannon play my parents in the movie and and you play a zombie right and I play a zombie um and that was that was his first movie and then I think that's just how he is I think he's he's he loves um he loves the people he if he loves an actor that he works with it's like he gets really excited about them and then he wants to do it again and um and that's just how he is and then I think you know it's like it is kind of like it feels like we're like a little theater group or whatever and um it's just fun it's fun to work with the same people over and over again I just think that's how his brain works yeah and because you guys have worked together now several times over quite a few years and am I right in thinking the first film you produced was one of his right the little hours or would you produce yeah so I'm just fascinated in the dynamic of that because I guess when you started out you were acting in a project that he wrote and directed and then later on you're kind of producing so how I'm just fascinated how the dynamic works then between you as a couple but then you're actually you've got a different role than you had in the beginning and how that sort of works out between you two it's um sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't but um it's tough you know like working with your partner is complicated you know in any field I think um but I think me taking on the protosorial role at least in that movie was just an organic kind of thing like I kind of have always been involved in his movies in that way but I just never had the credit really for it but like um It's Complicated you know um when it's good it's really good when it's bad it's really bad but um who gets the kind of veto power like producer or director in those kind of scenarios fluctuating I don't know I mean I don't know uh that's the only time that's the only time I produced a movie with him so okay you need to spin me around no no I don't know I'm just an actor in that all right well I mean we want to talk about your kind of move into producing and so we'd like to show a clip from I think one of the first movies you produce as well Ingrid Goes West do people know Ingrid Goes West fantastic film and an amazing performance from Aubry and that um the setup is or do you want to explain the premise oh my god um I I can do it otherwise do it do it I know my brain is broken it's a very damaged young woman who is sort of obsessed with you know getting people to like her on social media and follows a kind of influencer and basically kind of stalks her and tries to integrate into her life would you yes sir I love it okay it's such a anxiety-inducing film I know I mean brilliant but so anxiety I know it's painful it's like painful that character is like how did you get involved with that did you did did you come across the script and then look at it as an acting gig and then a producing gig or were you sort of already looking for something to to be involved in production-wise that was well that was the second movie that I produced but that was that's the second movie I have a producing credit on but the first movie that I'd say I really really produce like from the very beginning to the very end I had my hands all over it I remember reading the scripts I got it through my agent kind of like a normal way but um I knew the director um and I read I remember just like reading reading it and my brain just kind of lighting up and I just felt like I just saw the whole movie I see exactly how this could be good I got really fired up about it and I aggressively uh got a meeting with Matt Spicer who was a co-writer and director in the movie first time director and I just demanded that he cast me and that I produce it I basically just aggressively I like the character in fact um just stalked him and um and I was just I just I think he you know was probably going to meet with other people maybe he did but I was just very I was very um determined to to not only act in that movie but to be a producer on it so that I could have more influence over the movie because I had a really strong feeling about it and I just felt like I understood how to make it good and um and we were totally on the same page in that first meeting and it was it was clear that like we we had the same kind of sensibility and vision and and then he he said yes and then we were like Off to the Races after that so did you have um an influence casting wise because it's I think I mean your performance is really spectacular and it's I'm amazed that those sort of performances don't get recognized more awards-wise because the kind of shifts that Ingrid goes through and you kind of loathe what she's doing and then you feel absolutely dread and horror and pity for her and it's an amazing character Arc but um did you get involved with like because everyone in it is great Elizabeth Olsen and Billy Magnuson and Shay Jackson was that something that then you could kind of influence who you wanted to be 100 yeah it castes everything it's everything it's so important um to get the right people so I was yeah we were we honestly we got like all of the people that we wanted like our Dream people we we got I don't know how we made it happen but um we were really lucky and getting Elizabeth Olsen was was was key because like I see that movie as like my king of comedy or something where I was like you know if I'm De Niro you know she's Jerry Lewis and it's like she's got that character has to the actress that plays that part has to be um you know like the character like and I in my opinion Lizzie Olson is kind of like that in real life I just she's so incredibly beautiful and kind and you just can't believe a person could be so perfect and um and it's like it just doesn't work with with with everyone you know like it has to be really specific so that was some that was huge for us the cast it was everything the whole kind of social media trap I guess in the instagramming and the kind of likes and they're looking for approval thing was that something that you I mean I'm sure you responded to it in the script but did it reflect in any way your kind of Engagement with it or people that you saw around you because it gets really toxic really fast but you can see why Ingrid herself social media yeah I mean I just remember so um we had Ingrid Goes West at the festival and um I was doing the Q a with um Aubry and Matt spice the director and I think the afternoon of it I just tweeted that you were coming and I used your Twitter handle which is evil hack evil hack and I got bombarded with messages like is Aubry coming please confirm she's going to be there and it was got a little bit Sinister and it wasn't even about me so I just don't know if your experience of that whole world is something that you then wanted to kind of talk about or reflect in the film yeah I mean I think the film is like man it was like ahead of its time Instagram like influencer culture was kind of just beginning I think when we made this movie like um obviously social media was a thing but the in the but how it is now is like in the movie really is it's scary how much it kind of came true um and I wasn't really involved in social media at that time like neither was Elizabeth Olsen we were not we didn't even have Instagram at that time and we were I was I was really against it I was feeling but we never wanted the movie to be like an indictment on social media it wasn't meant to have some like you know political message or anything like that but um but it was more like kind of Ingrid to me was kind of the personification of of this like urge that I think most everybody has which is like the urge to be on social media and to um whatever that urge is that that kind of like dopamine hit that you get when you come here when you get break on and you get liked or you like things and it I don't know like it's to me that the character was like relatable in that sense because it felt like this is like she's like represents an entire generation of people that have this urge to like I don't know like do that um and I always felt like I was bad like like it was bad there was something bad about it and I guess we were right I mean I don't know but it seems like it's gotten completely out of control and then after you've got an Instagram account I know that's the thing that is so ironic and it's kind of scary is that I never had Instagram until I started promoting the movie and I almost did it ironically um I got on Instagram to promote that movie um and I'm still on it now I'm trapped and it's a prophetic movie and I can't believe it yeah I mean I think there's like a per there's a thing that happened with it that's a this kind of professional it's like it's my own you know it feeds on itself it's like it's as a as a professional you know as a producer honestly I I view it as a tool you know it's a way to show people the things that I'm doing you know um I like that aspect of it but all the other stuff I really I really don't like and uh and I think about just quitting every day but I don't because I'm just you know I just want that dopamine ahead I don't know I mean talking about using it as a tool like as a producer given it like you said it was the first one you really wanted to have a big impact on what's what were the massive challenges that you faced on because you know I think any independent film is almost like a bit of a miracle at times right just to get the money and the people and everything about it so what were the things that really hit home for you about the challenges about just doing that step into the production side um every day was a disaster I mean pretty much everything that could have gone wrong went wrong I mean I could probably say that about every movie that I've produced but um but that's just how it that's the fun of independent filmmaking it's like that's what's fun about it I mean it's so hard when you're in it but um there were crazy things you just can't especially shooting in Los Angeles I don't remember because I'm not on the Press store for that movie now but I don't remember um how many days we shot that movie but it wasn't much I would guess 23 days 24 days I have no idea um maybe we got a little bit longer than that but um shooting in La is Pretty Tough you know it's really expensive um and um there was yeah there was just so many unforeseen obstacles and I think uh it was the first time too that uh yeah that I was really taking on that role really and then also you know playing Ingrid and uh having to kind of toggle back and forth um and that was that was that was a lot because um it's kind of switching you know literally taking my wig I wear a wig in that movie as well and literally just taking the wig off at the end of the day and kind of putting my producing wig on and um and then dealing with the next you know what disasters are we trying to prevent the next day but then also you know understanding that I have to be I have to be in it but but but it was Matt Spicer on that movie was great because he allowed me the space you know during the day when we were shooting to just be the character and just focus on the performance to be honest I wanted to ask you that because as far as I can remember everything you've produced you've been in as well right yeah in movie-wise so was there ever a sense on any of those projects but particularly with that because it's your first one it's like why didn't I just act or why didn't I just produce this or was it like come on just bring it on no no I mean I no I mean that that's the fun of it I think is is having control over the parts that I get to play because I'm not you know I fought to get that movie and to get masked by sort of let me do it and stuff like um and not and you know I'm just not the kind of person that likes to sit around and wait for the you know perfect thing to fall into my lap so I think part of the reason why I want wanted to produce all of those movies is also as an actor because I want to play the part um and I want to have control in the outcome of the movie like I want my opinion to matter um contractually did you feel like in earlier projects even if you were a lead there's a real risk that that doesn't that your voice doesn't get to kind of have the influence it should have was it kind of from those experiences okay right if I produce then I can kind of shift that balance yeah I mean totally you know I have really great ideas um and so it's nice to to um to really get to yeah change the the final product to really have an effect on the final product of the movie you know I I love it I'm such a huge I love movies like more than anything so I'm just such a nerd I I just love every part of the process all of it so okay that's that's hopefully a really good way to queue up the next film we're gonna look at and talk about which is a film called Black Bear have people seen black bear yeah I'm again amazing book because I guess it's about creativity and the creative process as well but in a really amazing and strange way so I won't say too much about it um could we run the next clip from black bear please thanks okay you Allison yeah you're Gabe that bag has wheels oh it's fine it's like so you're a film director I told you that oh meet him right no Mike didn't say anything just the vibe I'm picking up oh that's funny what else did he tell you about me no nothing he said uh used to be an actress and now you're a director I swear I swear to God why'd you give it up acting I didn't I think people sort of stopped hiring Me Maybe but I'm actually happier doing what I'm doing at least now I can eat cookies sometimes what was it were you difficult man you're nosy I don't know maybe maybe I just wasn't attractive enough oh yeah Mike mentioned that you like to fish around well that is not true I do not like compliments I don't think that's why I stopped you really don't need to prove anything to me I I prefer weak sickly men is that what your husband's like I don't have a husband no Mike said that your husband was going to be joining yeah I thought you told me everything you said about me I don't have a husband no one's joining me Gabe I'm all alone in this world okay happy any other questions oh a few bad okay I was happy to have a go at summarizing angry Goes West I couldn't for the life of me do the oh God 25 word pitch of that Blackberry how do you describe that I describe it as for me it's like two nightmares combined into one Mega nightmare um it's like I mean that's kind of what it is for me honestly but it's it's about the creative process I think it's about kind of um yeah it's about the uh Madness of making Independent films and the complications that arise when you are married to the director um that's one way to describe it yeah I mean it's first of all it's a great film and so clever and interesting and really messes with your head but watching it again just before this it just seemed like an incredibly grueling performance well pair of performances for you because you again I don't want to give it away for people who haven't seen it but your character all the characters actually go through a complete transformation sort of Second Time Around um I'm just interested in how the experience was because as you say you're drawing on presumably things that you've experienced yourself making films with collaborators you know the difficulties but it's all up there as well and I'm just fascinated how that whole experience was for you at times you're like what you know what are we talking about yeah no I mean it's like it's honestly it's like uncomfortable to even talk about it it was really painful um and grueling is definitely a word for it um we shot in a very remote location in the Adirondacks about half like basically kind of like 30 minutes off of a main road at the lake house we had no money um very little money and you know small crew and um no cell service and the threat of actual bears and um and just again disaster but every day just some kind of production disaster but I'd say the grilling part for that movie for me more was the psychological element to it I think it was such an immersive shoot because we were kind of living in the environment that we were shooting in and the lines were real blurry being able to kind of yeah kind of exist in in that environment and then shoot in that environment and if you haven't seen the movie there's you know two parts to the movie and the second part is we introduced kind of the crew that's making the movie some of the some of the people people that are on the screen were actual crew members that I yanked on screen and gave them lines and they never they were the crew but then all of a sudden they're in the movie um so it was meta on meta on meta and there were times um that I didn't know that I couldn't even figure out what camera was real because there was a fake camera that the movie crew was using to shoot me playing the actress or you know shooting the movie within the movie and then there's the real cameraman the real crew and at a certain point I just I just kind of gave up and surrendered to that and uh I'd say that was the first and also you know my character in the movie um there's a turn in kind of halfway through or a little bit maybe more than halfway through where she decides to get very very drunk and very drunk and I we shot Knights for about three weeks straight and for I would say like a large half back portion of the movie my character is extremely drunk and extremely upset and I'm shooting a movie um at the same time so I'm going in and out of kind of being playing really drunk and then also acting in a fake movie within the movie and while I'm also having complications with my husband who's shooting the movie um and that was a lot it's like like psychologically about so physically because I remember um I had to kind of really just fling my body around like for weeks like date nights after night after night and um it was a lot it was just I I pretty much just yeah totally broke down and um and I just kind of surrendered to the whole to the whole process and it was probably one of the first time that I felt like I had real kind of transcendent moments when I was shooting where yeah I just yeah it just felt real at some points it was just like it was really happening well I kind of wondered if there was any sort of cathartic element to it because some of it feels so raw like even that scene when he's asking you know why didn't you act anymore it's like well maybe they didn't like me you know I'm just wondering if you kind of deliberately were drawing on things that you'd experienced heard felt about yourself because it all it feels like it's just everything is up there you guys didn't leave anything behind in terms of your own maybe experiences of working in independent for More film in general yeah I mean I didn't write the script of black bear um Larry Levine wrote it who directed it who's also married who's married to an actress and he he's made films with his wife and uh the film was kind of um born out of some discussions that we had had about how complicated it is to work with your partner so you know some of that stuff was was Larry's stuff and some of that stuff was my stuff and it was kind of a combination of and I'm really heightened extreme version of stuff but I would say in general like every movie for me is a catharsis every movie for me is an opportunity to work out some kind of issue some kind of something in my life that's part of why I love acting is because it means it's more than just a job for me it's a way to make sense of my life I mean if anyone hasn't seen black bear I'd highly highly recommend it it's uh it's a bit of a head it's great in a good way no I just I remember it definitely is um it kind of brings us on to the film that you're here with the festival with Emily the criminal which I guess is another sort of departure I mean we talked about a little bit at the beginning it's really like a kind of gritty social Thriller I guess yeah um what was it I mean I guess you read the script and then you felt that this was something you wanted to be and produced because it is there an element because you haven't done something like this before or is it just responding to the material are you also kind of thinking yeah this is like there's there are some funny lines in it but it's not a comedy which I think like people who know your work may be surprised at yeah it was It was kind of the same thing as Ingrid goes to us where um I read the script it's an excellent script um it's man it's such a good read um and I remember just I was given the script by a colleague of mine uh who I was working on a different project with um and he kind of just gave it to me because he thought I'd like it and I had the same feeling that I had with Ingrid where I saw the whole movie in my head I just saw the whole thing and um what excited me at first was just the potential to make a great movie um I just felt like if we shoot the script if we somehow you know shoot the script like this is undeniable it'll be good um and then secondly the character was definitely something a character that I haven't played before and I really like the idea of um you know playing someone from New Jersey doing an accent I'd never done that before I'd never worked with a dialect coach before and kind of doing a character that's more physical I haven't had you know many opportunities to do that either and I like the genre kind of Thriller of it all like I love those kind of movies and so it just kind of checked off all the boxes for me um it's like you said very physical role right there's car chases fight scenes I mean what else like stalking people it's pretty awesome yeah it's fun um did you there's a very interesting whole sort of subject I mean it's not even subtext I guess it's text in that she is a young woman who's accrued a huge amount of debt from college or studying and because she's had a sort of a minor criminal record there's just so many strikes against her in the system and it's just like almost impossible for her to kind of get on and so that's why she sort of resorts to this opportunity is that something that you could have observing is more and more of a problem in the states particularly but just you know the you know there's just this the system is kind of stacked against a lot of people nowadays yeah I mean the system is broken you know it's just broken and it has been for a long time um I think uh you know this movie was written a long time ago um to a lot of people's surprise because it feels so timely unfortunately it just still is timely because we're still we're still in that that place in our country um but um yeah I mean there's an entire generation of people that are just drowning in in student loans and you know and um and and with no way out you know and um I think it's just the the movie's great because it um it's it's so specific it's it's about something very specific that I think a lot of people can relate to but it's not again it's like Ingrid it's not trying to have some kind of political message but I think it does really speak to like a major issue which and it's just it's it's timely that Biden you know came out recently to to forgive um you know certain amount of student debt but that which was crazy that the movie was also in the theaters at the same time but it just shows you that like you know we're still there because John uh Ford who wrote the script and directed it he wrote it a long time ago and he wrote it because he uh graduated from art school with a ton of debt and uh did the job that my character does catered catering jobs and just different jobs to try to get his head above the water and so you're going to say credit cards wow um he just knows how to do it and so do I but um but I wouldn't uh no we wouldn't do that unless we had to unless things don't work out what did she make of the character because she's really fascinating because one she's always the you know a Survivor but her sort of affinity for these kind of where she goes and and the sort of the sort of dark side of the the journey that she goes on what did she make about it like morality wise or just as a sort of fascinatingly complex figure um yeah it run it kind of like really reminds me of um the movie straight time you know Dustin Hoffman so 70 is La movie but um I think about that movie a lot because um not too many about that movie but what's so great about that movie is that when it's you know you see someone get out of jail and you think like okay this movie's gonna be the story of this guy going straight you know getting a normal job and um you know existing in the system and then and then you realize at the end of it that um he could have done that but but he's going to do crime again because that's just who he is and that's kind of like Emily it for me um you you kind of realize as the movie goes on and after you see the decisions that she makes that like you know she's surviving she's doing the best she can she is you know doing these things for money but also there's something else going on Brewing underneath and um you kind of get the sense that this is just who she is she's just she's just natural really drawn to criminal activity it's just some people are some people you know it's quite a rush you know um the adrenaline the whatever it is and she's good at it so it's kind of it's a character study I think in some ways yeah absolutely um it feels like again such a departure even from things like black parent in regards West and I just it just seems that you're kind of constantly finding completely different projects um so you've got a guy Richie action film coming up as well is that right yes and actually I shot that before Emily the criminal so technically yeah so technically that that's like my first action movie but okay it hasn't come out yet but it will a bit more comedic maybe definitely yeah definitely more definitely definitely a comedy yes I've seen it it's very funny and I mean do you because of the producing and you know having a bigger voice in the projects you're working on this directing feel like a kind of natural Next Step given that that's the sort of you know the the final voice a lot of the time right yeah definitely um yeah I want to direct um I'm just very precious about it because um and I've been offered to direct a lot at this point but I just feel strongly that I want to drag something that I wrote written myself and I have done I have written something that I will direct but um it's just you know I'm just very busy you know I just really don't have the time right now but um but I'll get there I wanted to finish off by just saying please just tell us everything that you know about Francis Coppola's megalopolis that you're in if you can just do that for us that'll be great spill it all okay so Adam Driver play I don't know I'm not allowed to talk about I haven't even shot that movie I'm scared I don't want to get fired before I even start don't don't don't you all right get me in trouble now okay um we were going to throw some questions open to the audience it's yeah I mean it's interesting you asked me that now because I feel like watching angered that clip from Ingrid Goes West was like actually like I wanted to cry I like well it's I felt very like oh um I think I I would say if I had to if I had to pick if I up against the wall I would say Ingrid thorburn um I don't know why there's just something so like painful about that character and um I think I don't know it that that's that was a hard one to shake off and maybe I'd I haven't totally yet but yeah did it always end I don't I won't spoil it for people who haven't seen it but did it always end the way it does end or was there ever a discussion about a different thing because it's well I don't want to spoil it but they're interested in your thoughts if I if I remember correctly and I have a terrible memory I believe it ends how it was supposed to end in the script there were many discussions about the ending endings of films are you know so interesting when you get to that point because everybody you know has an opinion but ultimately you know it's up to the director it's their movie and they should end it how they want to end it um but there was there were definitely discussions about um how different versions of the ending for sure I I definitely um I'm very good at learning my lines and I always know my lines um I I I like I love both I I really love improv as a tool especially for comedy I'm not so much a fan of improvising drama um I've had certain directors want me to do that and sometimes it sometimes if you're trying to find the scene if something's not working it's helpful to kind of just loosen It Up and Shake It Up and and you never know what could happen and I love that about it but um but I would I love both I I really genuinely love acting and I love the process of breaking down a script and and bringing someone else's words to life like to me doing that but making it seem like it's improvised is like the goal always but um but I always am down to improvise and I think I probably always do a little bit but I also prefer to to just like do it the old-fashioned way um so I like both have you ever gone back to do improv with stand-up well you know sketched stuff since you've been doing movies and stuff and does it feel different having you know made TV and movies since I haven't really I've been I've done like a couple you know I hosted the independent Spirit Awards um two times in a row and that was actually really fun because it was the first time in a really long time that I got to do stand up in front of a live audience because it's a live award show on live television and so um I really yeah I I it all came back to me when I did when I did when I hosted those shows because I was like oh my God I'm telling jokes up here I gotta get my ass to the comedy seller and work this out because stand up is hard comedy's hard you know it's it's it's not for me like riding a bike you can you know you really have to work at it it's you have to go up every night and the people that are good at it they go up every night like they they don't mess around so um I haven't done a ton of it and um but every now and again I'll get an opportunity oh well you know cat Adams is a serial killer so that's one difference she is a serial killer who has killed multiple people she is a dangerous criminal um so dangerous that when they bring her out of jail if you remember she's wearing a Hannibal Lecter mask which is one of the reasons why I took on that part um because I was like now this character is dangerous if people think I've been dangerous before wait until you see this um so totally different um but I love that you're comparing them that's mind-blowing she's a serial killer that's my answer I just try to never compromise and I try to support uh whatever director I'm working with like to the best of my abilities so that they don't have to compromise the movie that's my main priority as a producer is how can we do this without compromising the film um because that's what happens when you make movies especially independent films so many things happen and people just they just compromise they just go all right we'll cut that scene or we'll move this location we'll change this or whatever and then sometimes you just little by little you you've changed the movie completely you don't even realize it until you get in the editing room so I'm always focused on on like remembering why we're doing it in the first place staying true to that and staying true to the vision of the movie that we want to make and then just doing everything I can to navigate all the you know because there's so much of it um at least while we're shooting anyways but um I think it's just about the people you work with too you know it's like I don't I like to work with people that um that I like that are inspiring and collaborative and I think um if you find the right people it's easier to navigate all the kind of politics of of the business side of it it's always a challenge though but it's just about trying not to compromise yeah I mean I I think it's like for me anyways like I think the best advice I was given was um just say yes and just uh do as much as you can with as many different people that you that you can because you never know what could lead to what and it's true you can be in the right place at the right time but a lot of times you're in the right place at the right time because of the work that you've done to get yourself to that place and that was true for me like I've I feel when I when I got that like kind of my big break really like when I got these really big Parts like up until that point I had done I was making my own stuff making my own sketch videos and um writing my own sketch comedy shows and doing it you know live shows and um just meeting as many different people as I can and because you kind of just never know who you're going to meet that will then think of you for something else so I think it's like being really open is is advice that I would give to let people try trying to break in is is just be really open say yes you know just do anything do everything and also just you know as an actor anyway like show who you are because everybody is unique um and I think a trap that a lot of young actors fall into and I definitely did um is to try to be who you think everybody wants you to be or try to be something that you think like well they must want this so I'm going to be like this but if when you're just starting out it's like better to kind of be authentically true to yourself because um because then you will be unique because there's no one there's no one that's you um so I would say like yeah just do you like be you and and say yes um well I love Letterman but he's gone um and I think honestly I would have to say I would say Conan is my favorite I mean I love Stephen Colbert as well I love Colbert I love going to his show but Conan and I just we're it's like whenever I and he's like I would consider him a friend it's not like he we talk on the phone or anything I wish we would but um but he never calls but he but I feel like whenever I'm with Conan it's like we're like we turn into like little kids and it just gets really silly really fast and that's like my favorite my favorite thing I love him so I pick him uh I mean I I can't help but be like I I think you know honestly like all the I'm I guess I'm assuming you're talking about just like yeah me and talk shows and me being or I I don't know what it is but I I feel like I can't help I just can't help but be me and I definitely have there have been times when you know certain people have been like you know just you know be be more likable maybe try that or or whatever and I'm like well I think I'm likable so I don't know what you're talking about but um but I don't know I don't know I think for me it's like I guess I try to I I think I'm pretty grounded but I think the thing that grounds me is just like honestly my friendship's like I a lot of the people that I'm friends with I've known forever since I was a kid or something um so I guess I just the connections that I have and the people that I spend my time with it's like I don't I I don't ever really want to forget who I am so I surround myself with people that really know me instead of you know fake people that think they know me or whatever and um so I guess I do that but um yeah I don't know this makes sense but it's cool to be weird I mean yeah that's not fair because I have so many favorite movies for so many different favorite favorite reasons but I guess to be true to like the you know 12 year old me I will I would have to say the 1954 version of A Star is Born starring Judy Garland because that is probably I don't know one of the most that was a very very very important film to me and I was a very um big Judy Garland obsessed child growing up I don't know why I had a real connection to her I watched everything that she was in and I bought up the CD store out of all the her CDs I bought all of the compilations of her CDs and everyone was like there are no more you bought them all and I'd be like are you sure um and I don't know that movie to me is like I guess I just have to say that A Star is Born but the Judy Garland version because I love I just love Judy Garland and I love that movie and I wouldn't say it's like you know I have many favorite many many favorite movies but that that one in fact I was doing an ADR session at Skywalker post-production facilities which is George Lucas's sound facility in California and it's a really cool space and he has a private collection of posters original movie posters and I got to be in a room and there was this like one of his private collection posters of uh I think it was like an Argentinian poster of A Star is Born it was huge huge on the wall and I was so distracted by it when I was doing ADR I could barely do like the ADR that I was doing because I was just like staring at it and I was like why do I love this movie so much I don't know it's just so there's just something about it so that's what I'm that's what I ended on I know they they just remade it but if they ever did another one would you ever want to do that role yes I'll do it there we go sorted um I think we have to leave it there for now but just to say that Emily the criminal there's a couple more screenings at the London Film Festival if you are able to go on Tuesday and Thursday it's also getting a release in cinemas on the 24th of October and we should say thank you to Universal for all their help in putting this together and of course a huge thank you well thank you for being here but please give it up for Aubrey Plaza thank you thank you for coming

Channel: BFI

Views: 18,599

Keywords: British Film Institute (Publisher), British, film, institute, films, movie, movies, cinema, BFI, Aubrey Plaza, Parks and Rec, Parks and Recreation, comedy, culture, drama, thriller, Scott Pilgrim V The World, Ingrid Goes West, Emily the Criminal, Conan, Conan O'Brien, funny, BFI London Film Festival 2022, LFF 2022, London Film Festival

Id: HqXiAl0BVsM

Length: 67min 23sec (4043 seconds)

Published: Mon Oct 17 2022