Julia Stiles is a woman whose attempts to stay sober are challenged by her dysfunctional family in Chosen Family. The Golden Globe and Emmy nominee first found success with her performances in numerous modernizations of William Shakespeare, including starring Heath Ledger. 10 things I hate about youEthan Hawke Hamlet and Tim Blake Nelson ABOUT. Since then, her star power has only grown, including starring in the original. Born trilogy with Matt Damon and Dexter Season 5 as Lumen.
Stiles plays the lead role Chosen Family as Clio, the sister of the film’s protagonist Anne, who has just emerged from her latest stint in rehab after years of battling various addictions. Returning to her hyper-religious father and eccentric mother, Clio becomes increasingly frustrated with her sister’s overbearing nature, making sure she doesn’t go back to rehab while their parents continue to support her with various ideas about the business she wants. form, including creating a combat yoga class, much to Ann’s chagrin.
Connected
Ensemble with Styles Chosen Family The cast includes Heather Graham, who also wrote and directed the film, as Anne. RENAULT 911!Thomas Lennon, Oscar winner Odessa Ray, Tremor veterinarian Michael Gross Tulsa KingAndrea Savage and Ella Grace Helton. With some unexpected dramatic changes amidst the lighthearted comedic trappings, the film proved to be a touching and well-acted return to the director’s chair for Graham.
Waiting for the movie to come out, On-screen rant interviewed Julia Stiles to discuss Chosen Familyhow she fell in love with both Graham’s script and the character she was to play, the aspects of her serious character that she related to, how she tapped into the emotions evoked by the story’s more dramatic elements and her thoughts about it. potential return to Born franchise.
Stiles was”really excited“Working with Graham as a director”
“It was very funny and made me laugh out loud”
Screen Rant: I think so Chosen Family such a cozy little romantic comedy. What about it really spoke to your desire to be a part of it? Was Heather coming to talk to you? Was this your character?
Julia Stiles: It was everything, all of the above. I was really excited about Heather directing and I wanted to be a part of it. Her script was really very good. It was very funny and made me laugh out loud. And I also found a character, Clio – I think I’m starting to gravitate more and more towards roles where you can act out things on screen that you can’t do in real life. So, no matter how irreverent and – I don’t want to say brash – unapologetic Clio’s demand for attention and behavior, it was like, “Cool, I want to do this. I’m not allowed to do this in real life. ” [Chuckles]
It’s interesting how cinema can actually be a kind of liberation for some people. So, since you mentioned that you won’t have to do some things for Clio in real life, how do you connect with her?
Julia Stiles: There were things that were none of my business, but I think what I leaned on and what Heather allowed me to lean on is that Clio says all the things that people might think that we’re not allowed to say. She seems to cut through the bulls. What I like about her (and in many ways she is incorrigible or insufferable) is that she evokes a kind of passive-aggressive politeness in the rest of the family. She tells the truth and breaks it down like it is. It’s not in the nicest or most enjoyable way, but that’s what makes it fun.
Graham did it”really easy“For Stiles to find a sisterly understanding with her.”
“She has a clear vision, but creates a sense of collaboration…”
So what then created a sort of sisterly rapport with Heather, since most of your story in the film relates directly to her rather than to your characters’ parents?
Julia Stiles: It was easy, Heather made it very easy. She made work a real pleasure every day. She puts everyone at ease, she was very open about how much it was inspired by her own life or her own family, and I think because we have similar experiences, just being actresses in the industry for a while, it was very easy feel welcome on her set. She is also a very kind director. She has a clear vision but creates a collaborative feel so naturally it works well with me. It calms me down, so it was pretty easy.
I like it. So did you have to improvise a lot during your scenes with her? Because when I was talking to Thomas the other day, he mentioned that he has to improvise a little bit here and there.
Julia Stiles: Well, Thomas Lennon is the king of improv, so of course he has the right to improvise. It’s like, “What other jewelry is he going to throw away?” It would be stupid not to let him do his thing. [Chuckles] But I improvised a little bit, and Heather—even though she wrote the script, and she wrote a really good script, I felt like I just had to service it—let me do it.
And there were a couple of lines where I was just saying something, and I didn’t think it would make it into the final version in any way. There were some lines that I think she kept, like in the alley when she caught me trying to buy drugs. I think I said something like, “That was my sponsor, dumbass…” or something like that. It was a Julia Stiles original, but everything else was hers. She wrote a really good script.
Stiles did not realize the gravity of the film’s dramatic turn until he began filming it.
“Heather was also very emotional in this scene…”
Talking about her script, I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but the second half of the film takes a sharp turn towards the dramatic side as we learn more about their past. What was it like to make this turnaround after, as we said, it had been a fresh comedy up to this point?
Julia Stiles: Until we started shooting the scene, I didn’t even realize how pivotal that scene was, where Heather’s character tries to take Clio back to rehab and I resist and she kind of runs away. out of the car and starts running to the playground. It’s a really interesting setting too because then details about their past and childhood come out. But I was so focused on the funny comedic moments that I think by the time we got to that scene I was like, “Oh, wait a minute, when I think about what I’m saying, it’s kind of cute.” [heavy]”And Heather was very emotional in that scene too, so I think that really made me focus in a different way.
Do you find that when you have such a difficult scene, it is easier for you to give in to the other actor’s emotions in such a scene? Or do you find your emotion for your character in advance?
Julia Stiles: I think it’s difficult because I would like to say that usually it’s the interaction with the other actor and your scene partner or whoever, but it’s really difficult because in a film everything is so granular and you do one side coverage and then rotate the camera. There is a lot of waiting between them. But I would say that in this situation, what I saw in Heather kind of grounded me and made me focus on, “Oh, this is the tone that she’s trying to set in this scene.” I think I was also looking in that particular scene, it occurred to me, “Oh, this explains so much about the character that it’s important to make this a moment.”
There were several practical reasons for Clio’s image
“It was a very low budget production, so yes, we had to bring some of our own clothes.”
I also wanted to talk about Clio’s look because I love that she still has that 90’s grunge look. In a conversation with Thomas, he mentioned that sometimes everyone brought costumes to the set from their own wardrobes, because it was a small production. What can you tell me about creating Clio’s character for the film?
Julia Stiles: A couple of things. It was a very low budget production, so yes, we had to bring some of our own clothes. I don’t dress like Clio, so I had nothing to offer. [Laughs] But yeah, I think the idea behind her costume was that she’s still stuck in the past. And I was, it seems, three months pregnant.
I was very early in my pregnancy because by the time I signed on to do independent films a few years ago, it had taken a while to finance everything and get everyone’s schedules in order. Surprise, I found out I was pregnant and we had to hide it. So there are bags and fanny packs that I kind of put on my belly to keep it a secret. I have to say, I love tights under shorts. I think that was probably my favorite memory.
So what do you really expect people to take away from this movie when it comes out?
Julia Stiles: I think this movie is very easy to watch. There are some really silly moments that I think we just need right now. We just need that release of “I can laugh and not worry about what’s going on in real life.” Again, this is very relevant. I think that even if you come from a very functional family, there are some aspects of these exalted characters that may seem familiar to you.
Stiles won’t go”Hold my breath“For her potential Born Come back
“…I’m so happy to be a part of this franchise, and it’s been that way for most of my adult life.”
Before I let you go, I also wanted to ask you very quickly: Besides the movie, I’m a big fan of Born franchise. I’m still heartbroken over Nicki’s stalking. Jason Bourneespecially now that Matt is in talks for another one. If they somehow magically found a way to bring Nicky back, would you be open to returning to this franchise?
Julia Stiles: I just had déjà vu because I feel like I’ve been having this conversation for the last 20 years, and this conversation has happened before every previous version. I was like, “What?” This should be some kind of prequel. I don’t know. I’m not going to hold my breath, but I mean, I’m so happy to be a part of this franchise, and it’s been that way for most of my adult life. So I was very lucky to travel the world and be part of a cool action movie, which I’m very grateful for.
ABOUT Chosen Family
Anne (Heather Graham) is a yoga teacher struggling to achieve inner peace, even though her family is driving her crazy and her dating life is terrible. She doesn’t know how to say no and wants to solve everyone’s problems. Meanwhile, Anne tries her best to save her sister Clio (Julia Stiles) from addiction, with disastrous results. With such high expectations, Anne turns to her good friends Max, Frances, Roz and Ella for support. They, in turn, introduced her to a handsome divorced father, Steve, who has an adorable 7-year-old daughter. When Anne meets Steve’s daughter Lily, she immediately falls in love. But Lily doesn’t feel the same way, and as Steve and Anne grow closer, Lily becomes increasingly jealous and competitive. When Lily begins to misbehave, Anne sees that Lily can do no wrong in Steve’s eyes – she is fighting the battle of her life with a 7-year-old.
Follow our others Chosen Family interview with:
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Heather Graham
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Thomas Lennon
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John Bratton
Source: Screen Rant Plus