Il regista Josh Margolin e gli interpreti June Squibb e Fred Hechinger parlano di Thelma, film in uscita in sala il 18 settembre 2024 distribuito da Universal Pictures.
00:00The first thing I would like to ask is for the director, and is about how the project was developed, if you can tell us something about his roots, about his genesis.
00:11Sure, the movie is very much inspired by a real scam call that my grandma received, very much like the one in the movie where someone was pretending to be me and said they were in a car accident and my family panicked.
00:24But luckily in real life we were able to intervene before she actually sent the money, but it got me thinking about my grandma and this moment in life where she was kind of relishing her independence for the first time, but also reckoning with aging.
00:37And it honestly, I started imagining what might have happened if she had set out to get it back and what that might look like, and that was sort of an excuse to write something that was an ode to her strength and her determination and her grit.
00:54And then I, you know, I brought the movie to a writer's group, a weekly writer's group that my producers Zoe Wirth and Chris Kay do, and they jumped on board really early and we decided we're going to make this thing and then started kind of putting the pieces together.
01:09So that was the genesis.
01:11Something I found really fascinating in the movies, in the movie is that is the role of technology.
01:19So I'd like to talk about it and this technology in the movie in Thelma is not demonized, but there is also some, for example, the gunshot on the PC is very, has something emblematic about it.
01:36So I'd like to know if you can tell me something about the role of technology.
01:41Yeah.
01:42Technology in the story, I think is kind of a double-edged sword.
01:44It's, it's, it's interesting because my grandma in real life is like, you know, pretty relatively tech savvy.
01:50She uses her, you know, she's on Instagram, she texts, she sends emails.
01:54It's, it's something that in some ways she FaceTimes quite a bit.
01:57It's something that in so many ways has actually, you know, made her able to stay connected to her family and kind of be in touch with them by like adapting to that technology.
02:07But on the flip side, you know, it sometimes can become very confusing and frustrating and, and, you know, escalate to the point of something like the scam itself where it becomes totally insidious and is kind of used, used against you.
02:21So it's, in the movie, I think, you know, I tried to hug kind of the reality of her relationship to technology, which as I see it is kind of, you know, multifaceted.
02:31It's, it's, it's been a gift to her in some ways, you know, her, her hearing aid, letting her change the setting to, you know, so the microphone at the bottom is where you're talking to and then it goes right into her ear.
02:41Like we'll do that with her at, at crowded dinners sometimes in a restaurant and it helps her here and it always kind of felt like a spy technology to me.
02:50So there's ways in which, you know, she kind of takes advantage of those things in the movie and they empower her.
02:56And then obviously, you know, the, the pop-ups and the, the, the, the scam itself are, are, are obstacles.
03:02So I, I wanted to sort of, you know, find the different facets of it that felt, felt true to her life and, and let it both be an obstacle and also a tool.
03:11And now a question for Drew Squibb.
03:13How did you get on with his leading roles?
03:16Did you find any affinity with the character or what amused you about playing Thelma?
03:23Well, first of all, the script was wonderful and, uh, so I wanted to do it from the time I read it.
03:31And I just felt that I understood her.
03:34I knew who she was and I could relate certainly age-wise to Thelma.
03:39And, uh, I think I've always had kind of the grit and determination that I think Thelma has that I'm going to do this and I do it.
03:49And that's kind of what I've done through my whole life.
03:51It's kind of how we made the movie.
03:52Yeah, it is.
03:54And, uh, so I, I really, you know, there was a lot there that I could relate to, that I could feel I understood.
04:01I found that in Thelma there is an emphasis on the alienation and, um, and disorientation, uh, towards the frenzy of our times, um, which affects the elderly, but also the young, uh, likes, likes the character of Fred Hedginger.
04:19Sorry for the pronunciation.
04:20I would love to hear you, uh, to hear a comment about, uh, about these topics from you.
04:29Yeah, I mean, I think, I think a lot of the, um, there's just, I think there's a very strong connection between Thelma and Danny and, and, uh, with all, uh, a lot of it is, um, a lot of it is just about that connection.
04:48And it's, it's sort of, it's, it's, it's the, these struggles, the, the difficulties of aging, um, and having to adapt to new ways of life, um, are so connected for someone that's 20 and someone that's 90.
05:04Um, and so I think that's a big part of it.
05:06And I also think, um, both characters need a level of care and they also need a level of trust and independence.
05:15And, um, um, I know from my perspective of playing Danny, Thelma's the person that most understands that balance for him.
05:25Um, and so I think that teaches Danny and teaches me Fred a lot about how to, um, how to sort of try and give that balance to other people as well.
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