The Cast & Creator of 'Bunnylovr' Discuss a First-Time Director's Process | THR Studio at Park City - video Dailymotion

The Hollywood Reporter

Katarina Zhu, director, writer and lead actor of 'Bunnylovr,' visits the THR Studio at Park City with her co-stars Rachel Sennott, Perry Yung and Austin Amelio. They shine light on the creative process with Katrina's "dream cast" and how their paths have crossed over the years.

Transcript

00:00It just happened really naturally.

00:02I said, will you please be in my indie film?

00:04And she said, get in line, honey.

00:07I said, call my team.

00:14We both went to NYU together.

00:16We studied acting at Stella Adler's studio within Tisch.

00:21We met freshman?

00:23Freshman year, 2014.

00:252014.

00:27And then we were roommates junior year,

00:30and we've been best friends ever since.

00:33When you were putting this movie together,

00:36what did you envision for the characters

00:41that we're now seeing here?

00:43What kind of person were you looking for?

00:46Oh, gosh.

00:47If you remember from that.

00:50I feel like I wasn't envisioning exactly anyone.

00:55It was more of a feel.

00:56I was sort of the essence.

00:58I was thinking about the feeling

01:01that I would want to get from these people,

01:05and I feel like they all...

01:06This is my dream cast.

01:08I'm so grateful to my casting directors

01:10because they really put together the cast of my dreams.

01:14I feel like everybody is so perfect in their roles.

01:19No, I mean, seriously.

01:21So talented.

01:24I think it's an amazing mix of people, too.

01:26Was there a role or a project

01:30that you'd seen any of these folks in

01:32that was the thing that made you say,

01:34Oh, this is why they'd be good?

01:36That's such a good question.

01:37I saw Austin in a short film.

01:42I forget who the director was,

01:43but you were playing an ex-convict?

01:47I probably just looked like one.

01:50No, I was playing a guy.

01:54He was in purgatory, right?

01:57Like a laundry?

01:58No, no, no. It wasn't that one.

01:59Oh, no, it was the other one.

02:00You were talking to a parole officer?

02:02What was that one?

02:04Yeah, I was playing a convict.

02:07Yeah, yeah, yeah.

02:08I thought he was so brilliant in that.

02:11I feel like there were so many different shades.

02:15There was such a range within that one short,

02:18and that was the thing that I saw Austin in,

02:21where I was like, okay, he has to be in this film,

02:24and I think he would serve the character so well.

02:28Perry, I watched, what was the Eddie Huang film?

02:33Oh, the Boogie.

02:35Boogie, yes, I saw you in Boogie,

02:36and I was like, okay, done.

02:38Well, I saw, honestly, I saw a headshot of you,

02:40and I was immediately like, okay, Catelyn,

02:42you can cast him immediately.

02:44Rachel, I saw in...

02:47Her.

02:48Yeah, yeah, yeah, it came together.

02:50In The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire.

02:54Oh, my God.

02:55Oh, my God.

02:56We were in the worst play ever.

02:59The worst play ever in college

03:01was called The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire play.

03:03Play was in the title.

03:05I can't remember what it's about.

03:06Yes.

03:07And it's, we die in the first, like, 30 seconds of the play,

03:12but then we have to stand on stage during the play as ghosts,

03:16so you can't pee, you can't drink water,

03:19and you have to be present,

03:20because then you come forward and you go like,

03:23I was, my name is Sarah, or whatever.

03:27It was, yeah, so she saw my work in that.

03:30I feel so lucky that she said yes.

03:33Of course, I feel lucky.

03:34I feel lucky to be, like, a part of this,

03:36and, like, I just think, well,

03:38Katerina and I, like, have been friends for so long,

03:41and we've always, like, sent each other our scripts.

03:44Like, Katerina was one of the first people to read Bottoms.

03:47Like, she's read everything.

03:49She's read things that no one will ever read,

03:52because they're short.

03:54It's, like, so many things,

03:56and then when she sent me Bunny Lover,

03:58I was like, oh, my God, this is so good.

04:01Like, I just feel like it's so,

04:04it's such a specific point of view.

04:06It's so her voice.

04:07It's so her, and, like, that was already there

04:10in all the shorts she was making,

04:12but, like, I just, like, felt like, whoa,

04:16this is, like, really cool,

04:18and then just, like, during the process of, like,

04:22I guess the, what is making an indie film,

04:26which is just, like, sort of, like,

04:28everyone's saying no to you a million times,

04:31and then I was like, I would love to, like,

04:34be a part of it if I can,

04:36and it just happened really naturally.

04:37I said, will you please be in my indie film,

04:40and she said, get in line, honey.

04:43I said, call my team.

04:46No.

04:47It was perfect.

04:48No, I mean, like Rachel said,

04:50I feel like we've been, like,

04:52nothing has changed about the way that we collaborate

04:54and, like, share work with each other,

04:56and, like, I feel so lucky to have, yeah,

05:00such a supportive and, like, creatively

05:03collaborative relationship with one of my best friends.

05:05I read in your, I think it was in your director's statement,

05:08talking about, like, your time on, like, LiveJournal.

05:13Were you a LiveJournal girl?

05:14Oh, my God.

05:15Okay, yes.

05:17The truth comes out.

05:18I was obsessed with Twilight,

05:21and specifically, like, Twilight fan fiction,

05:24and then I also, that, like, got wrapped up

05:27in an obsession with Robert Pattinson,

05:29and there was a LiveJournal that was dedicated

05:31to Robert Pattinson called, like, Our Pats Daily,

05:34and so I was on this LiveJournal every single day,

05:37like, checking for updates.

05:39Were you posting or just you were rehearsing?

05:42I did try to write fan fiction at one point,

05:45and I think that's, like, where my love of creative writing was.

05:49And that's where writing came in.

05:51Exactly.

05:52But, yes, so I was on LiveJournal in that capacity,

05:55but I was never, like, posting anything.

05:59Well, I was curious whether anyone else here

06:01has, like, an Internet history, PG-13 rated, of course,

06:05but, like, what was your, what, did you guys ever find yourselves

06:08in any corners of that, like, chat rooms,

06:10AIM, LiveJournal, Tumblr?

06:13No, no, I mean, I think that's kind of what drew me

06:16to the script was that I was just, like,

06:20sort of fascinated by the relationship

06:24that me and her have in the film,

06:26and it was, like, something I'm not familiar with

06:29and I don't know anything about,

06:31like, sort of an old man in that regard.

06:34Very offline.

06:35Yeah, and so, yeah, no real experience with that stuff.

06:40I sort of missed the boat.

06:42Maybe it's a good thing.

06:43Yeah, whatever.

06:44Yeah, I'm, like, I missed the boat on that one, too.

06:47I mean, I'm actually the older character in the film,

06:50so it's just, like, what's the Internet, you know?

06:53How do I update my contacts?

06:54I'm one of those fathers in the film, so.

06:57But it was a fascinating story.

06:59Like Rachel said, when I first saw the script,

07:01I went, oh, my God,

07:02there's something about the script

07:04that is not like other scripts that just want to be made.

07:06There's something about the script

07:08that's screaming to be made in a smoldering way.

07:12Yeah.

07:13You know, and I went, this is on my desk,

07:15and I get to actually have a say

07:17and want to be in this?

07:18I'm like, hell yeah.

07:20So it was amazing.

07:21Are you a dad in real life?

07:23I am a dad in real life.

07:24I assume you're nothing like...

07:28You know, there's a little yin and yang to everyone, right?

07:32So I get to play the dad that I'm not in real life

07:36in this film, which is an amazing thing, you know?

07:39And I see the opportunity in this film

07:42because, you know, this film is about love, right?

07:45And there's a lot of love in the world.

07:47There's different kinds of love.

07:49And this film covers romantic love, family love,

07:51friendship love, and this character navigates

07:54all the different facets of love

07:56in very different ways, and it's complex

07:58in all those different ways.

08:00And especially with our storyline

08:03of father and child love is very complicated

08:06in a traumatic way when there's a kind of addiction

08:09in the parent.

08:11And so this character finds a way to go,

08:13you know what, that's trauma.

08:15How do I turn the poison of trauma into medicine?

08:18And that was the beauty that I saw in her story.

08:21God, I'm asking everybody the same couple questions,

08:24and I'm going to ask you guys if you remember

08:26the first time you were starstruck.

08:28I was walking down the street.

08:30Oh, should I?

08:31No, you go ahead.

08:32Lafayette and Houston Street and Broadway.

08:35I was walking down the street and Parker Posey

08:37just walked this way.

08:38The 1994.

08:40Whoa.

08:42That's incredible.

08:43Yeah, yeah, yeah.

08:45I remember outside of our dorm,

08:47or my dorm freshman year,

08:49seeing Alex Troposki from Girls,

08:52and I was like, I love Girls.

08:54And he was like, word.

08:56And that was it.

08:57But it was, I remember I watched,

08:59I was like touring colleges,

09:01like seeing if I was going to go to NYU,

09:04and I watched some of Girls with my dad,

09:06and he was sort of like,

09:07I think this is a show for you to watch without me.

09:10But I was like, that's going to be me next year

09:14at NYU.

09:15And it was.

09:16And then it was.

09:17Wow.

09:18So, yeah.

09:19Okay, for me, we were just talking about this.

09:21So I briefly lived in L.A. in 2021

09:23for like six months.

09:25The first time there, Rachel's like showing,

09:27she's like showing me the town.

09:29Showing me the town takes me to Erewhon.

09:32Yeah, yeah, Erewhon.

09:33And Miley Cyrus walks up to me

09:37and is like, I love your tattoo.

09:39I have like a little tattoo on my arm.

09:41And I mean, I fucking grew up watching Hannah Montana.

09:44I love Miley Cyrus.

09:45She's the best.

09:46Also, I was like, of course, Miley comes up to you.

09:49Miley's like, hey, babe, how are you?

09:51But no, but that was really cool.

09:54I wasn't even like starstruck.

09:55I guess I was starstruck.

09:57I was like, oh my God.

09:58Like, yeah, it's, thank you.

10:01You know, that was my.

10:03We love Miley.

10:04Yeah, I don't think I've ever, ever been starstruck.

10:07Yeah, no one.

10:08Oh, like I haven't seen like all the people that I like

10:11or passed away or something.

10:13So.

10:14Wow.

10:15Everyone who you've worked with is like, um, hello.

10:18No.

10:19No, I mean, there's, there's people that I admire

10:22and things like that, but I've never been like.

10:24Who, okay.

10:25So who of the people who are no longer with us, like.

10:28Would it be?

10:29Yeah.

10:30Who would be your person that like, if you saw them, you would.

10:31I don't even know if I'd want to see them.

10:33Never meet your heroes.

10:34Yeah, I don't think so.

10:38Yeah.

10:39Yeah.

10:40Yeah.

10:41Yeah.

10:42Yeah.

10:43Yeah.

10:44Yeah.

10:45Yeah.

10:46Yeah.

10:47Yeah.

10:48Yeah.

10:49Yeah.

10:50Yeah.

10:51Yeah.

10:52Yeah.

10:53Yeah.

10:54Yeah.

10:55Yeah.

10:56Yeah.

10:57Yeah.

10:58Yeah.

10:59Yeah.

11:00Yeah.

11:01Yeah.

11:02Yeah.

11:03Yeah.

11:04Yeah.

11:05Yeah.

11:06Yeah.

The Cast & Creator of 'Bunnylovr' Discuss a First-Time Director's Process | THR Studio at Park City

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