Geena David and Lois Smith Discuss Their New Movie 'Marjorie Prime' | In Studio - video Dailymotion

Hollywood Journal

The stars of 'Marjorie Prime' stopped by THR offices for a candid conversation about the sci-fi movie.

Transcript

00:00Hi, this is Mariah Gullow from The Hollywood Reporter and I'm in studio with Gina Davis

00:04and Lois Smith.

00:05Thank you so much for being here.

00:08A pleasure.

00:09Let's talk about your new movie, Marjorie Prime.

00:11So Lois, you've spent some time with this film as well as the play before.

00:17I did the play, some time went by, I did the film, and then the next morning I went into

00:23rehearsal for the play again.

00:24Amazing.

00:25Yes.

00:26Literally.

00:27Yeah.

00:28So can you tell us a little bit about this movie and your experience with it?

00:35Maybe a little bit about your character, Marjorie?

00:39Marjorie has some problems remembering and isn't terribly well, has a long in years.

00:51She has a companion who is an AI, basically a hologram.

00:59It takes a little bit, places a little bit in the future, not so far in the future.

01:04And that's how, that's how the story begins.

01:11It's a, a, the piece is deeply about memory.

01:15And while there is a sci-fi element because these, these AI companions are not yet on the market

01:24or in existence.

01:26They are not so far away as what we hear.

01:29But it's, it's the human beings who are the center of the piece and what, as human beings, who we are,

01:37what we want to be, what we remember and don't, and what we say to each other and don't.

01:43And that's, the prime listens very well, is programmed to be sympathetic and empathic.

01:56And it's also, since it knows only what it's been told, it learns as it learns more because people tell it things.

02:06So, and your, the prime who is your husband, who has passed away.

02:13Yes, my deceased husband, who is at, at, in his forties, instead of, he was much older when he passed away.

02:21Right.

02:22But that's the, that's the prime I choose.

02:24And it's played by John Hamm.

02:26By John Hamm.

02:27Oh.

02:28Good reason for choosing such a.

02:29Yes.

02:30Very good reason.

02:31Yes.

02:32Yes.

02:33Yes, John is known as just a, a beloved actor in the entertainment world.

02:38Indeed, yes.

02:39For good reason.

02:40Yeah.

02:41Yes.

02:42What was it like working, working with him?

02:43Well, hence, also, I get to have John Hamm as my dad.

02:48Yeah.

02:49Yes.

02:50Very.

02:51John Hamm and I are Gina's parents.

02:53Yes.

02:54That's right.

02:56But it all makes sense in the movie.

02:58Yeah.

02:59And this movie at its core is about generations of women in the same family.

03:04What was it like having that mother-daughter relationship?

03:07It's quite an interesting mother-daughter relationship.

03:10Not peaceful.

03:11No.

03:12Not, not resolved.

03:15Not resolved.

03:16Not resolved.

03:17And, you know, to, to be 60 and still have passionate interest in, in having a connection,

03:26you know, finding a connection you feel like you lost or were robbed of with your mother

03:33is, you know, it's very, it's very interesting and very fraught relationship.

03:38One of the scenes I really like, Gina, is when you are with your husband, Tim Robbins, and

03:45you're talking about memory, how memories fade away in your life.

03:52Right.

03:53What would, what was that scene like for you to film?

03:55Well, that one, Lois knows, that one has really stuck with me because my character talks

04:04about this, this theory that memory is, uh, uh, like that, that each time you remember

04:13something you're remembering the last time you remembered it rather than the actual event

04:17so that it fades like a Xerox of a Xerox.

04:20And, uh, uh, I'd never heard that before and I don't like that idea.

04:25I don't know.

04:26Is that a real, is this a real scientific theory or was it?

04:28Oh no.

04:29Yeah.

04:30It is a real, I'm not, I don't know, you know, I haven't really researched it.

04:33That's the only one, but I choose to think that there's a different theory.

04:37I just, it really stuck with me now.

04:40Yeah.

04:41Um.

04:42The things they make an actor say.

04:43I know.

04:45If only I hadn't had to think about that, it would have been better.

04:49Yeah.

04:50Yeah.

04:51But it, it, it's an interesting idea.

04:52Yeah.

04:53Yeah.

04:54Um, what was it like filming in the location?

04:56Cause it's kind of, I mean, the, the location is so kind of beautifully bleak and isolated.

05:02And timeless.

05:03Um, and the ocean has a lot to do with it.

05:08Um, the, the Buddhist belief that the mind is an ocean and the thoughts are like waves.

05:13Um, so what was it, what was that like kind of filming in that environment?

05:18Yeah.

05:19This is the view of, I think, Michael Almereta who adapted and directed this film.

05:25Uh, the water is important to him.

05:27The choice of the ocean as, as the, uh, he wouldn't speak of it in symbols, but, but as,

05:34as what?

05:35Givens as, as, uh, yeah.

05:37Yeah.

05:38Yeah.

05:39Right.

05:40Yeah.

05:41That was his, he chose to set it by the ocean.

05:43It wasn't necessarily intended that way in the play, but, uh, uh, and I think, I think

05:50it is meant to give a feeling of timelessness and, and there's a lot of weather in the movie

05:56as well, there's lots of wind and waves and, uh, rain and then ultimately snow and, uh,

06:04and I think that's meant to give a sort of timeless feel as well.

06:09The passage of time.

06:10Yes.

06:11Yeah.

06:12Yeah.

06:13When you had to, uh, dig into your characters, um, and I was talking to you about this earlier,

06:19Lois, do you find it helpful to have like a very involved backstory or are you finding

06:25yourself kind of playing in the moment off the, the other person?

06:29Um, does it feel right to kind of dig into the memories of this other, this character or

06:36does it feel more right to like really be present with your, with your scene partner?

06:40It's not one or the other.

06:42No.

06:43Is it?

06:44It can't be.

06:45First of all, as I think I said to you, the writing in this, in this piece is strong

06:49and is giving you, me, the, us and the audience a lot of, of, um, emotional location.

06:58Uh-huh.

06:59So, um, we already know a lot about what we know and don't know.

07:08Uh-huh.

07:09Um, and it's, it is an interesting question because what, what's left out of the story?

07:17Each character knows and believes or passes on or it is the substance of it.

07:24It's, that's a lot of what the piece is about.

07:27Uh-huh.

07:28Really.

07:29Yeah.

07:30Um, this movie plays around with the idea of memory suppression.

07:35That, you know, if you were speaking to, uh, a hologram, uh, a prime and you're downloading,

07:43you're downloading your information to them, maybe you might leave off some things.

07:48Some memories that you would rather.

07:49Or polish it things up or something.

07:51Yeah.

07:52Yeah.

07:53Right.

07:54Change movie every once in a while.

07:55Um, is there anything, not to dig too personally into your own lives, but is there anything that

08:00you would leave out of your life if you were talking to a prime?

08:04Hmm.

08:05Ooh.

08:06Something you'd like to just.

08:08Never thought about that.

08:09I know.

08:10I don't mean to be too heavy with it.

08:13That's a really personal question.

08:16I know.

08:17I'm sorry.

08:18It's a really personal question.

08:19Uh, how about a memory you'd like to, you would like to experience?

08:23Something that you would like, uh, you know, perhaps you wake up in the morning and

08:27Jon Hamm is sitting there on your couch and, and he's.

08:30On the couch.

08:31I find you have a great memory of your life.

08:33Like, what would you choose?

08:34Oh, that is so interesting.

08:38Yeah.

08:39Because part of what happens in this, in this early scene is very much that.

08:46There are, uh, he is prompting Marjorie about memories that she doesn't have.

08:53Mm-hmm.

08:54And yet, she likes to play with the, uh, the facts and the memories.

09:01Right, right.

09:02Yeah.

09:03So.

09:04And then, you know, you're, you're kind of happy to have things massaged around a little

09:09bit.

09:10Yeah.

09:11And make it a better story.

09:12I probably want him to talk about my pets.

09:14Oh.

09:15Just have somebody to say, you know, wasn't Puffy great?

09:19You remember Puffy was so wonderful?

09:21And, you know.

09:22Actually, we do that in this, in this piece.

09:24Yes.

09:25Yeah.

09:26We do.

09:27We do.

09:28Um, for this, uh, this is such a character driven piece, um, do you ever, uh, kind of

09:34pull from inspiration from other actors of the past?

09:37How do you mean?

09:39That, uh.

09:40Like, do any actors from the past kind of inspire you to craft the character, the specific characters

09:46in Marjorie Prime?

09:48No.

09:49No.

09:50No.

09:51No.

09:52I don't think so.

09:53Maybe there are goodness influences that are just there.

09:57I mean, certainly admire.

09:59Right.

10:00Right.

10:01Exactly.

10:02No, but I can't, you can't say, oh, she'd have done it this way.

10:05No.

10:06Right.

10:07Yeah.

10:08Um, well, I have a line of questions called first, best, last, worst that I would like to

10:13have you answer.

10:14And.

10:15Okay.

10:16Yeah, they're, they're pretty simple.

10:17You'll see.

10:18Um, the first job that made you think I've made it.

10:22Even if you hadn't at the time.

10:24Uh, uh, well, uh, when I was 60, it wasn't my, it wasn't my first job.

10:30Uh, but, uh, when I was 16, I got hired in a department store to be in the credit department.

10:36Uh, deciding whether people could buy a refrigerator on credit, you know, or whatever, because I was very

10:43good at math.

10:44And I thought, well, I am really, I am a grown up now.

10:48Very, very responsible person.

10:49So, that's probably mine.

10:50That's great.

10:51Oh, love it.

10:52It's my turn.

10:53Yeah.

10:54I can go on.

10:55Go ahead, go on.

10:56Um.

10:57I didn't choose something from this business.

10:59No.

11:00Oh, I like it though.

11:01No, I like that you, uh, you found something that just, you know, you, you knew you had become

11:09an adult when you were able to approve lines of credit.

11:13Right.

11:14That's really great.

11:15Yeah.

11:16Lois, do you have a job from the past that, uh.

11:20My first job was a play on Broadway, which, um, ran all season.

11:27And Melvin Douglas was my father.

11:29I was a teenage.

11:30Your first job was a play on Broadway?

11:31Yep.

11:32And it was three teenage girls and Mel, Melvin Douglas was our father.

11:36Wow.

11:37Um, that was pretty terrific.

11:39But, this is what I wanted to tell you.

11:41The very last performance, my character is dressed up to go and do the school play,

11:49playing Queen Victoria.

11:50And in the third act, her last entrance, her last exit, she's telling her parents who

11:55are going to come to this high school to watch the play.

11:58And, you know, she's giving them instructions and she, and then I make an exit.

12:03And the last night of the performance in Broadway, after I exited, Melvin Douglas said,

12:10she's going to be a great actress, that kid.

12:14That was his ad lib.

12:16No!

12:17Oh, wow!

12:18Isn't that a lovely story?

12:20Yeah.

12:21And did you just go, oh!

12:22You know, I've been going, the rest of my life, I don't know what I did at the moment.

12:26I had just walked off stage, you know.

12:28Right, right, right.

12:29That's fabulous.

12:30Yeah, that was pretty great.

12:31Wow.

12:32Very good.

12:33The best story from the set of Marjorie Prime or on stage?

12:38Any good stories from one of the nights performing?

12:41Ah.

12:42Ah.

12:43Oh.

12:44Oh.

12:45Um.

12:46Oh, my God.

12:48I just thought of one.

12:50What?

12:51What?

12:52One night at the Taper, when it was the first place we performed it, um, it was the first

13:00scene of the play between Marjorie and Walter Prime.

13:04And, um, I think I know, I think I figured out what had happened.

13:11Uh, he says something, and I hesitated in my answer, and he went on.

13:17That is, he missed, I think, maybe thought I didn't know it, and maybe I didn't for a

13:22moment.

13:23Oh.

13:24But, he came back with a line.

13:29Happens that line was a great deal farther on in the scene.

13:32Oh, no.

13:33Oh, yeah.

13:34And I picked it up, and we continued to play the scene, and all the time it was going on,

13:39the wheels, I was continuing to say the lines that were next.

13:43Yeah.

13:44But the wheels were going around, because a lot of what was left out was essential.

13:49The end of the play would not have made any sense.

13:51No.

13:52And I finally realized what to do, and I leaped to back, something that took us back.

13:59Yes.

14:00And we played the part that had been left out, and then we ended the scene.

14:03And when we got off stage, I mean, it was, it was, it was amazing, but it was, it was,

14:09it's also sort of, it might, maybe it's like, right, I'm not adventurous about things like

14:13riding a motorcycle or do, I think it was kind of like that.

14:17Boy, you were really.

14:18And our fellows, Tess and John, who were standing off stage, were paralyzed with fear about what was happening.

14:29Yes.

14:30Oh, I can imagine.

14:31It was extremely exciting and very scary.

14:34Wow.

14:35And that happened once.

14:36And you pulled it off.

14:38We did, we pulled it off.

14:39Oh, boy.

14:40To go back and then skip the part you'd already done.

14:42Oh, God.

14:43And put all the information in.

14:44We did it.

14:45We did it.

14:46And would he, when you took it back, could you read on his face?

14:50Oh, yes.

14:51He had the same look on his face I did.

14:53Oh, he probably went, oh, no.

14:55And when I did this, I think he knew, okay.

14:58Okay.

14:59Yeah.

15:00It was like butter.

15:01But it was sour.

15:02Yeah.

15:03That's a great sour.

15:04I have no comfortable story.

15:07So let's go on to the next one.

15:09Let's move on.

15:10Last time a fan interaction made you laugh.

15:19Have you been getting any good feedback from the public about?

15:25We have been getting a lot of feedback, but it hasn't been too risable.

15:32Well, there was one period where I had people saying, it was when Julia Roberts was very

15:45in the public eye and I had people say, oh, you're Julia Roberts.

15:49I think we both had big smiles or something.

15:52And I happened to be at an airport magazine shop and she was on the cover of like Vogue

15:59or something.

16:00And the clerk said, oh, you're Julia Roberts.

16:03And I picked it up and held it up and said, yeah.

16:08That's nice.

16:09Yeah.

16:10I'm Julia Roberts.

16:11Like to prove, of course, I'm not.

16:13And then she said, oh, Julia Roberts, will you sign it for me?

16:17Oh.

16:18Okay.

16:19That would put a smile on my face.

16:28Okay.

16:29Here's the last one.

16:30Worst audition story.

16:31I got cast in everything I auditioned for.

16:35I'm kidding.

16:36You don't have any.

16:37I'm kidding.

16:38I'm kidding.

16:39I'm kidding.

16:40Worst audition story.

16:42I'm sure there's been great ones.

16:43I just can't remember them.

16:44Yeah.

16:45Worst audition story.

16:46I mean, your audition for Tootsie must have been a triumph.

16:50Oh.

16:51I guess.

16:52Well, there was.

16:53Well, all right.

16:54I'll bide some time for you by telling a modeling audition story.

17:11Because I was trying to be a model early on.

17:14And I went to this go see where they said, you know, I always went full makeup, full everything.

17:23And they said, this is going to be for a commercial where they're going to splash you with water.

17:29Oh, no.

17:30And because you're having so much fun, it's all great.

17:33So they had a bucket of water.

17:35And they said, as part of the audition, we're going to splash you with this water.

17:42And you're going to smile so happy.

17:45Yay.

17:46The fun waves.

17:47And we'll take a photo.

17:48So I'm standing there on the spot ready.

17:51And they throw this cold, dense bucket of water on my head.

17:56And I went.

17:58And they took the picture and they just said, you weren't smiling.

18:03Oh, wow.

18:05Next.

18:06Out of the sidewalk again.

18:08Like, what am I supposed to do?

18:11There was a lot of stuff like that.

18:14Yeah.

18:15Lewis.

18:16No, I haven't.

18:17No.

18:18I was listening.

18:19I was listening.

18:20How could I think of that?

18:21How could you?

18:22Well, ladies, thank you so much for being here.

18:25The movie's Marjorie Prime.

18:26It's out on limited release and we'll get a wider release later.

18:29But go see it.

18:30Yes, it's been extended in New York, in Los Angeles.

18:33Yes.

18:34It's playing at the big screen.

18:35It's the hot ticket.

18:36See it on the big screen.

18:37See it on the big screen.

18:38Yes.

Geena David and Lois Smith Discuss Their New Movie 'Marjorie Prime' | In Studio

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