- 2 days ago
Gaffigan and Oyelowo are joined by Jillian Bell, Rhianne Barreto, Zawe Ashton and Griffin Gluck for the actor panel live at Sundance 2019.
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:08So to introduce you to the actors who are with us today, we are starting with
00:13Zowie Ashton who's here with a film called Velvet Buzzsaw. She's an English
00:21actor and director and she's a new face to a lot of people in the U.S. but I
00:26think you'll be seeing a lot more of her. Next to Zowie is Griffin Gluck who's here
00:31with the movie Big Time Adolescence. You might know him from Just Go With It or
00:38American Vandal. He is I think the youngest person on our panel. This is his
00:43first Sundance. Welcome. Sitting next to Griffin is Rian Barreto who is here with
00:52the movie Cher. She's in every scene of the movie. Also someone who might be kind
00:59of a new face to you. She's also in the upcoming series Hannah on Amazon. Get to
01:05know her. Sitting next to Rian is someone you probably know pretty well, David Oyelowo.
01:10You may know him from Selma or United Kingdom or King of Katwe. He's here with the movie
01:17ReLive which he also produced. Welcome David. Sitting next to David is Jillian Bell. You
01:26may know her from Workaholics or 22 Jump Street. She's here with the movie Brittany
01:30Runs a Marathon. She is Brittany. She did a lot of running. You're gonna see it
01:33later this week. Sitting next to me is Jim Gaffigan. You may know him. You may know him
01:41best from his stand-up work which it's weird that laziness is a theme of your stand-up work
01:46because you're here with three movies. You seem to be quite busy. The three movies
01:50are Troop Zero, Them That Follows, and Light from Light. So welcome everyone. Welcome to
01:55our panel. I want to start off by asking so who here is at their very first Sundance on
02:02the panel? I know Griffin is. Wow a lot of folks. So for those of you who've been to
02:07Sundance before what is your one piece of advice for our newcomers? I would say try and
02:13smoke crack. It'll make you more confident. You'll get along with people. But other than
02:26that... No, no don't. We're gonna take... David do you have a similar piece of advice having
02:34been to many Sundance? I'll just jump on the end of that and say thermals. Thermals. I'm
02:41wearing some now. I'm nice and toasty and I feel lovely. Right. Or long underwear as
02:47Americans as we call them. Oh, yeah. Oh, I see. Yeah, yeah. Long underwear as a good tip.
02:52Nice. Very good. To start off, a question about how you decide what kind of projects you'd like to do.
03:03For some of you on the panel, you have been doing this for a while and you have some options.
03:08For
03:08other people, you're sort of just sort of breaking in. When you're looking at a script, Jillian,
03:13let's start with you. What makes you... Great. What makes you look at a script and say,
03:19okay, this is something I want to sign on to. I want to get a board. This was my first
03:24real drama
03:26drama and... or dramedy. And it wasn't like anything I've ever done before. I usually
03:32do comedies playing insane women, which I love. But this one had a lot of heart and I related
03:40to the character a lot. And I just thought it was a beautiful script. At first, it terrified
03:46me. And then I read it a couple more times and I was like, I really want to do this.
03:50And I was lucky enough to get to do it. Mm-hmm.
03:55Zowie, I remember when you and I were talking upstairs, you said you had kind of decided that
03:59you were going to not act anymore. You were maybe interested in directing when you got this
04:03role in Velvet Buzzsaw, which brings you here today. Yeah. So what... tell us a little bit
04:08about that and what was going through your mind when you read that script and thought about
04:11that film? It was one of the best scripts I've ever read, hands down. I... the reason
04:18why I wanted to maybe stop acting is I started when I was six. So this is my 28th year
04:24as an
04:24actor. Thanks, guys. Thank you. So externally, I'm a newcomer, but internally, I'm very much
04:32ready for someone to throw me a retirement party. So it was just... I just had a moment where
04:39I just thought directing is what I want to do. If I'm not going to Sundance Film Festival
04:43with films, then I should just direct. And then this script came across my path, as is
04:49always the way, usually when you have decided to step away from something, something very
04:52magical sometimes happens. And Dan Gilroy has just written something so strange and funny
05:01and complex about the relationship between art and commerce. It was... I just couldn't put
05:08it down. It was so... it was so visceral, the experience of reading it, which I'm terrible
05:15at reading scripts. Like, I would read the script for Friends and be like, it'll never work.
05:2020-somethings in a flat. But reading this, I just knew that I just... I knew that I was
05:26coming back into the game if I'd got the role. And I got it. So I'm here.
05:33Griffin, kind of like Zao, you've been acting... you're sort of transitioning now from being
05:37a child actor to being a grown-up actor. It's a...
05:4118 is considered a grown-up. That's crazy.
05:43Yeah. Well, it is, actually. Technically, literally, it is. So what went into your thinking
05:51in Big Time Adolescence? What was that casting process like?
05:54It was... well, first off, as soon as I read the script, it was sort of the same sensation
05:58where it was like I couldn't put it down. And Thomas, my friend who's actually sitting
06:03right here, I've been working with him forever, and he was attached to the project. And that
06:07kind of sweetened the deal. The director, Jason, fantastic guy. It was just kind of like
06:12the dream project. It was everything I wanted to do. It was something new, something challenging,
06:16something I hadn't done before. So, I mean, how could I say now? I was like, please.
06:22Rhianne, I know in the case of your movie, there was this really long casting process
06:26for it that started in the U.S. You're English. Ultimately, the director found you, and you
06:32guys ended up shooting in Canada. Can you talk to us a little bit about your casting process
06:36on that movie? Yeah. Well, I... I just kind of left school thinking I'm not going to work
06:44ever. And then I got this email, and it was like, filming in New York, girl is like lead
06:52role. And I was like, no one's going to watch this. No one's going to press play. So I did
06:57it, sent it out, and then I had to do it again the next day, and then Skyped. And then
07:02I...
07:03She mentioned improvising in the Skype. We talked about food a lot, but improv came
07:08up. And so I improvised a scene and sent it to my agent. Like, if it's good, send it.
07:14If not, don't, because that's dodgy. And then afterwards, she flew to meet me, and then we
07:20just ate fish and chips and watched, like, great films and heard nothing. I thought maybe
07:27I'd just made a friend. And then she called me at 1 a.m. I came down from Manchester for
07:36an audition that I didn't get. And I was like, yeah, let's talk about The Shining. And it
07:41ended up being her telling me that I got the role. And I couldn't sleep, so I was scared
07:46that if I woke up, it'd be a dream. So yeah, that was crazy. But yeah, really good.
07:53So when you say press play, you mean press play on your audition that you had put on
07:57tape? Yeah, which is kind of weird, because the film's about videos. So that's, yeah, it's
08:03interesting. It's interesting how much of, sort of, I think people's popular idea of
08:07auditions is actors showing up at a place and reading. But that's really not how people
08:11do it anymore, is it? Is everybody putting everything on tape now when they do it? And
08:15is what, David, you're making a face. Is that not how you do it?
08:20No, I mean, I'm about to direct a film, and a lot of, that's how it starts. You get the
08:28tapes come in. And, you know, for me personally, as an actor, it's the most traumatizing thing
08:33is watching other people's auditions. Because literally, the challenge I set myself with auditioning
08:40is that I will audition so hard and get so many roles that I never have to audition again.
08:45I only want offers. Because it's such, you put yourself out there in such a huge way.
08:51And so now that I'm watching auditions of other actors, I'm just like, but they're so good,
08:56and I want to just say yes, and next. Oh, I'm awful, I'm awful, I'm awful. You know, so traumatic.
09:07When did you, as I mentioned, you produced the film that you have here at Sundance. When did you
09:11start producing and why?
09:15Well, basically, for me personally, and it goes back to why I choose the roles I do,
09:21I want to be scared, I want to be challenged, and the truth of the matter is that I want
09:28to play
09:29roles that defy the expectation and anticipation of who and what someone like me should get to play,
09:37or has gotten to play historically. And I mean that as a black man living on planet Earth.
09:42And so, a lot of the time, the material I would get, certainly earlier on in my career,
09:49was exactly what I didn't want to do. And so producing was born out of the necessity
09:56of knowing what I wanted, not getting it coming through to me, or getting those roles,
10:02and so therefore needing to create them. And what started to happen after a while,
10:08which is how Relive came into my world, is I bored people enough with saying,
10:14scare me, scare me, scare me. And with the fact that bring me things that, you know,
10:19I read this thing that was formative for me when I was younger, which was Denzel Washington,
10:24early in his career, said to his agent, send me everything that Harrison Ford is turning down.
10:32And he kind of built the beginning of his career on that. And that just goes to tell you the
10:38kind
10:38of roles a black actor was getting then, and certainly was the case for me. And Relive was set
10:44in Ohio, written as a white guy, nothing to do with someone who looks like me. And when it was
10:50sent
10:51to me, it scared me, because the premise is incredibly layered. But also, you know,
10:57when it was going to be me, I said, let's shoot this in LA, we ended up shooting in South
11:02Central,
11:02and the cast is far more diverse than it would have been otherwise. And that's something else that is
11:07a big priority of mine, is making sure that the world in the films that I do as a producer
11:13and an actor
11:14looks like this.
11:17Yeah, I mean, one area where David's been really ahead of the curve is in working with female directors
11:24who are still really in small number, unfortunately. And it's interesting to see that that's still the
11:31case after we've talked about it in spaces like this for a long time. What is the role, and this
11:36is for anyone, what is the role for an actor in conversations like that about inclusion? What can
11:43you do? What do you do? If anyone wants to tackle that? Well, I would say similar to David, I
11:50look
11:52for roles for white guys, too.
12:02There is, you know, the inclusion, it's interesting, you talk about female directors, but I would say of
12:07the last seven films I did, five of them were female directors. And so that's, in some ways, that's,
12:18that's more the norm for what I've encountered. But, you know, in talking about inclusion, I don't
12:26know, it's weird, because obviously, you know, I did this film, Them That Follow, which is, you know,
12:34and, you know, snake healers in Appalachia, that really doesn't, you know, it has to be kind of like
12:41poor white people, you know what I mean? And then if you look at what's so great about Troop Zero,
12:47which is
12:48something that has this, the cast is very diverse, but it's almost, I mean, this might be my takeaway,
12:55I feel like the film is a commentary on class, as opposed to, you know, races involved in everything
13:02in America. But it's, so like, that was, again, directed by Bert and Bertie, two women. So it's,
13:09you know, the inclusion, it's weird, because that's all I know is this, maybe because I've only gotten
13:15jobs for two years, but it is the inclusion. But, well, that's, that's great to hear. One thing
13:24that a lot of you have in common on this panel is that you have live experience, either as a
13:29stand-up,
13:30in Groundlings, doing theater. And I'm curious, what do you think that helps you with when you get to a
13:38film set? Maybe Jillian, you can talk a little bit about coming from the improv world.
13:41You know, usually, the films I do, like I said, are comedies. So they look for that. They're hoping
13:47for you to come. And we usually do the scene two times as is. And then you, they just let
13:53you run,
13:54and improvise a ton. And I do love that. And this was the first film where I didn't have that
14:00as much.
14:01You know, the director is also the writer. And he was like, I think it'd be interesting to try to
14:07just
14:08stick to the script. And if there's anything where we feel like, and I'm like, hmm, that's interesting.
14:14No, no, no. But it was a beautiful script. And I was almost scared to improvise in that scenario,
14:20because he had written her so well, he knew her personally. It was based off of a real
14:27woman who was his best friend and roommate back in the day. So for this, it was the first time
14:35I was
14:35sort of just like, I was sort of stripped from that. And I actually really liked it. I thought I
14:43would be terrified because, you know, if you're so comfortable in something, I'm so used to being
14:48comfortable going and improvising. And if the cameraman's shaking, you know, you're doing a
14:54good job. But with this, I was like, are we, was it good? Like, you're crying. You're like, did we
15:02do it?
15:02Did we get it? Yeah, no. So yeah, I had to rely on the director a lot. Is that, Jim,
15:08I mean?
15:08Well, you know, I think doing comedy or even doing a live performance, obviously, there's no fourth wall.
15:14But, you know, the three films I have here are dramas. And I don't know, I think that doing a
15:22comedy is fun. But it's not the same concentration that's required in a drama. Whereas like when you're
15:31when you're doing a comedy, we're horsing around, you know, the camera guy is, you know, laughing,
15:36you know, whereas in a drama, you're like, you know, you're involved with the crew. And there's almost
15:42kind of you're dealing with this moment of grief. And they're, they're respectful of the grief that
15:48you're going through. But it's hard to measure it. Because as comedians, you're spoiled by feedback,
15:53right, particularly with live performance. There's the immediate feedback. So but I love the dramas,
15:59you know, it's, I find it more rewarding, actually. Hmm. So you've done a lot of theater. And you also,
16:05I know, have done some like poetry slams, and, and similarly, in an environment, we get a lot
16:11of audience feedback, what do you bring from that when you're doing a film or a TV show?
16:16I think the main thing that live performance gives me personally, is this
16:23you have you have to work from the inside out, rather than the outside in, when you start doing
16:30film, you realize just how many departments there are, who are going to make you look amazing. There
16:36is a whole video village, like there's a DOP is going to make things look exciting and dynamic. And
16:43there's hair and makeup and wardrobe and sparks. And there's people doing so many different incredible
16:51jobs to build the whole picture that you kind of enter into when you start the job, you know,
16:58people have been going for months, usually before you arrive on film. And, and I feel like sometimes
17:05that can get me into a habit of being a little more self-conscious, you know, what's the shot?
17:10What am I doing? How am I lit? 10 different things, you know, where, where am I looking?
17:19Am I looking at this tiny bit of green tape over plastered on a wall rather than someone's face? Okay,
17:24I'm going to try and invent that person from, from my imagination. Whereas in theatre, as soon as you
17:30walk out on that stage, it is so bald, and it is so raw. If you don't have a character,
17:37you will just,
17:38you will just fall over. Like you'll just be like a cardboard cutout. You'll just go like that,
17:42because there's no frills. And so it's always like really delightful when you go, maybe from doing a play,
17:50and you've worked a character so much from the inside. And you know everything about them,
17:56you know, their past, you know, their history. And then you go into a film where the pressure's off a
18:01little bit, but you still have all of that bubbling inside. I always find it really, really satisfying
18:08when I go on a film set, and I'm still working that, that character muscle, rather than getting involved in
18:15all the other stuff, which, you know, is brilliant. But it, you can find yourself sometimes acting from
18:21like the naval arm. That's just me. Maybe I'm just a very lazy actor.
18:27No. Well, let's talk about finding a character. Rhianne, I know that for your film, you play an
18:33American teenage girl. You're English. She's a basketball player. Did you play? No.
18:38We don't have it. We do netball. Netball. Which is not basketball. And you don't move when you have
18:44the ball. So it's very different. But I did tell them, I was a bit sneaky. I was like, yeah,
18:49I'm familiar with balls. I did netball. And it came out really well. But it's very, that was really,
18:58I mean, that's not good. Yeah, that was bad. But, um, clickbait. Yeah. You've just outed me.
19:11Um, so yeah, I can't remember the question.
19:16Finding your character. Yes. Was it helpful to you as you were trying to figure out who this girl is
19:21and how you were going to play her to learn to play basketball, to master the accent? Were those part
19:26of
19:26the things that helped you? Right. Yeah. Because yes, um, it's weird. Like I would watch
19:32Hollywood Reporter round tables to prepare while I was doing press ups and playing basketball. I
19:38would like listen to the American accent more than I'd hear my mum talk to me or like my siblings
19:44because I don't leave the house. Um, so it was a lot of listening to like my favorite murder and
19:50like
19:51try like crime podcasts. Um, because my character, I don't want to spoil anything,
19:57but it was just more about realizing what I'd lose as an American than, than what actually happens
20:03because I just had to, with film, it's very different. I had to, I only could know what the
20:09video looked like when we'd done the shoot of the video and nothing had happened until I stepped onto
20:13that set. So I couldn't prepare in that way. And also the director asked me not to, to just learn
20:19an American to be American, which I'm very much not. Well, you fooled me. You did. I did. Thank you.
20:28Griffin, in your film, you play a kid who's kind of going through a transition where he's realizing
20:32someone he looks up to is maybe not someone he should look up to. Yeah. Tell, tell us a little
20:39bit
20:39about how you got to know this character and sort of start to understand him. Um, well, I had a
20:45lot of
20:45conversations with the director, uh, Jason about this and him and I got along. He answered like
20:49every question I had. And for me, it's just useful to know everything you sort of can, um, and get
20:55in
20:55that head space. But I could also see a lot of myself in the character, which I find a lot
21:00of the
21:00times helps a lot because then you can kind of draw from somewhere more personal. And, um, it's kind of
21:07fun to, you know, imagine your life. If it wasn't the same and it was like this, how would it
21:11be? And then
21:12that's sort of where, you know, you draw, I, or me personally, I draw things from.
21:17Um, so yeah, that's, uh, I kind of forgot the question. I'm running off two hours of sleep.
21:22That's okay. You're doing great. You're doing great. Thank you. Um, well, you mentioned
21:27the conversations you had with your director. I'm curious when you are talking to the director
21:32and you're not on the same page, maybe you get a note that doesn't make sense to you.
21:36How do you handle that? Does anybody have experience with that and sort of
21:41how do you, I think, uh, for me personally, uh, you know, because I had the opportunity to have
21:48my own show where I was an executive producer and I had been on the other side of, you know,
21:55watching
21:55auditions and, uh, having people question, uh, something in this, in a script, I was very, um,
22:04aware of the value of showing up and being a good soldier on a film set and, uh, also being
22:13flexible
22:13because I, I was shocked when I was on the other side as an executive producer, some of the demands
22:19or some of the unnecessary stubbornness. So I was, you know, I think it's so fun to discover a
22:26character or the, to understand some of the motivations because often the, the, uh, director,
22:31you know, has written the script and sometimes they've thought of stuff and sometimes they haven't,
22:36but I think it's the, the actor's responsibility to, you know, to, you know, you, to be a good soldier,
22:44you know, and that was something I learned from having my own show. But, uh, so I don't know.
22:50So I, I'm kind of like. So you roll with it. You take it. I, I think you gotta, you
22:54know,
22:54you can have the debate, but in the end it's the director's call. David, what do you think? Since,
22:59you know, you're going to be in that position of directing, what do you, how do you feel actors
23:04and directors best communicate? Well, I, I, I completely agree with Jim on that. I think our,
23:10our job as actors and, and I really learned this in the theater is to serve the character,
23:16serve the director, serve the audience. You're there as a servant really, which is probably not a very
23:21popular thing to say as an, as an actor, uh, in Hollywood. Um, but, uh, but, but that is actually
23:27the job. Now, having said that, there have been instances for me where you can tell a director is
23:35at sea and they are lost and maybe they have stuff going on politically, the money's fallen out or
23:41whatever. And as an actor, you feel the need to protect yourself. And it's the worst thing you
23:47can possibly have on a film where you feel like, okay, I've just got to survive this without looking
23:52bad. And that, that hasn't happened many times in, in my career personally, but there are instances
23:58where it's, it's a miracle every time a film actually comes together, gets made is actually makes
24:04sense and then an audience likes it. Um, um, and so when you think of all the mitigating factors,
24:11so you, you know, sometimes that, that, that does happen, but going back to what we were talking about
24:15with theater, I, I, I truly believe that that is, you know, even in this room now, there is something
24:23happening energetically between us and you that a different group of people, it would be a different
24:28energy and there would be a different atmosphere. And so you personally, I've learned in the theater
24:34to respond to that, that there are things that are going to happen by me being attentive and open and
24:41responsive and in a place of service to this. And a director who understands that, that's where the
24:49real, in my opinion, magic happens. So your performances that have surprised me have been when I've had a
24:58director take me to places I didn't anticipate, I didn't see in the script. Um, and then you watch
25:04the film and then an editor comes in and puts it together in ways that you also didn't anticipate
25:09and they make you look way smarter than you actually are. So, you know, giving yourself over to that
25:14process can reap beautiful dividends. When did, uh, each of you know that you wanted to be an actor?
25:23What was the moment that you said, this is the gig for me? Hmm.
25:29I can go. Oh, you about to go? Oh, go. No? Okay. Um, I, in, um, England, we have like
25:36year six
25:37leavers productions and my sister was the lead of that production. And somehow I got my hands on the
25:44script and like younger years play chorus, like opera singer number six and orphan number five. Um,
25:50um, and I'd learned the whole script somehow as a child and someone went on holiday without telling
25:55the school. And then the school went into meltdown frenzy, like what are we going to do? Um, and I
26:01stood up and was like, I know the script. So, and then I just got on stage and was loud.
26:07And I think,
26:08uh, like when you're 11, any parent that can hear is like, she's, she's, she got something where it
26:15probably wasn't a good performance, but it was just very shouty. So, um, I think that feeling of
26:21just like, I could do anything on this stage right now. Um, but I'm going to obey the words. It
26:28was like
26:28this freedom to play in this kind of playground. Um, that was very exciting for me as an 11 year
26:36old.
26:36So yeah. What about you, Jim? Oh gosh. I, well, I was, I remember being in this restaurant,
26:44Chicken Unlimited. Wait, that's a real name of a restaurant? Yes. Chicken Unlimited. I don't think
26:52it exists anymore. I was six. I was with my brother and my mom and we had just seen a
26:58movie. And my mom
27:00said, what do you guys want to be when you grow up? And my brother said, I want to be
27:03a helicopter pilot.
27:04And I said, I want to be an actress. And so, but I always wanted, but it was growing up
27:12in a small
27:12town in Indiana. It was such a pipe dream. It was such a, you know, my family had just finally
27:19gotten
27:19to the middle class. So like saying I wanted to be an actor was the equivalent of saying I wanted
27:25to be
27:25an astronaut. It was just absurd. So, but that was, then I eventually learned that I wanted to be an
27:32actor.
27:32It takes a lot of courage to declare it depending on where you're from and what your family's
27:36expectations are. Absolutely. Yeah. I think there's a huge amount of freedom to it, especially when
27:42you're a child, because you're, you know, you're bursting with imagination anyway. And then you get
27:47to play these characters and you get to go to these places. And for me, I, you know, I did
27:52a play when I
27:53was quite young and my mom came to see it. And there was a scene in which I had to
27:58kiss this girl. And my mom,
28:01from the audience went, David.
28:08In the middle, I was like, put her down. Put her down. And I sort of looked over my shoulder
28:17and I
28:18had to keep going. Amazing. It was so liberating. It was like the only time I could disobey my mom.
28:26So, um, so yeah, not quite chicken unlimited, but similar, very similar. Gillian, what about you?
28:32Did you have a sort of moment where this, I just came clear to you always wanted to be an
28:36actress?
28:37I, I love making people laugh. I love making my family laugh, doing weird bits. My sister and I
28:44made home videos from such a young age. We made mannequin three.
28:55It's real weird because my sister's the love interest for me, but like I had a hat on,
29:03a very large hat. And I was supposed to be like, my love. And I go to kiss her and
29:08I just tilted the
29:09hat towards the camera. So it looked like we were kissing. And I go, you could hear me whisper,
29:15how long do we do this? Because I hadn't been kissed yet. But I just, I loved it. I moved
29:21to LA
29:21when I was 18, which thank God my parents let me. And I auditioned for a, my first audition was
29:28a Kelly
29:29Osborne music video. And I was like, I'm never coming back. I want to do this with my life. I
29:34didn't
29:35get in the music video, but my dreams did not die there. They did. Good for you.
29:42One thing that's interesting about the films that are represented here is that they're from a range of
29:48distributors, some looking for distribution, some are streamers, some are more traditional. And I'm
29:54curious from the standpoint of an actor, do you think about how the movie will be watched? Does it
30:00matter to you whether it's a theater or someone watching at home? Griffin, you're shaking your head.
30:04What do you think? Well, to me personally, I mean, no, because Big Time Adolescence,
30:08when I went into that movie, it had pretty much nothing attached. It was an indie film
30:13that wasn't guaranteed to go anywhere. And finding out we made it to Sundance was like the biggest deal
30:17to me. And I have, I still have no clue where it's going to go. I mean, yeah, that's one
30:22of the
30:22acquisitions. It's one of the acquisitions. Yeah. So I mean, it's kind of exciting, you know, if you love the
30:26script, and it's, which I did, and the script was such a passion project. It doesn't really matter,
30:35to me, at least, because you get to have fun doing it. And then people get to see your work,
30:40which is just the best feeling ever, hopefully, unless they hate it.
30:46David, what about as a producer? How do you evaluate these? I wish I was still like you.
30:53So lovely. I don't care where it goes. Let's see. Let's have fun.
31:01Oh, so lovely. I really care where it goes.
31:05Yeah. No, no, the truth of the matter is, we are at an amazing time in our business, where
31:12there are so many ways to watch content. There are so many ways to find films. You know, I've had
31:19films that didn't do so great theatrically, but did huge streaming. And you go all over the world,
31:24and people have seen the film. And at the end of the day, that's what you want. Now, I'm not
31:30going to
31:31lie and say, everyone doesn't want the brass ring of, oh, it did that at the box office,
31:36and all that kind of stuff. Because as a producer, that's what enables you to do another one, and
31:42another one, and another one, maybe do them on a bigger scale, you know. So, but at the end of
31:46the
31:46day, the dirty little secret as an actor is that you just want to tell stories. You just want to
31:52be
31:53moved, and hopefully that moves other people. And the more you can get back to that, the greater the
32:00chance you actually do that. Our business is very bad at nurturing that. But I do think some of the
32:07new places that are putting work out have figured out that to nurture artists, to enable them to have
32:15creativity, and let them go do their thing is actually creating better work. And that's an amazing
32:21thing for us as actors, producers, directors, and writers. Yeah, Jim, how do you look at it?
32:26Well, I think it depends on the situation and the project. I mean, I personally, for me as an actor,
32:35I feel like I've spent the last 20 years attempting to prove that I can act. So it does really
32:42matter
32:42where it goes, and if people see it. So whether it ends up on a streaming service, it also depends
32:49which streaming service. Because one of them, which starts with an A, has a big theatrical release.
32:56So that's different from it just ending up on their streaming service immediately. But I don't know,
33:02for me, I feel like I'm always attempting to prove that I can act as a comedian working against that
33:11kind
33:12of perception. And so I want movies to come out. I also want them on airplanes, because I travel so
33:20much, and that's when I get to consume things. So I'm like, get it on an airplane. Because even if
33:24it's
33:25on Netflix or Amazon Prime, it's like people have to make a commitment to look for it. Whereas when
33:31you're on an airplane, it's right there. And you're like, all right, I want to watch this.
33:35It's interesting to hear you say that you've spent these years proving that you can act. What does
33:42that look like for you? Well, look, I'm very grateful to have the, but I've also been doing
33:49this for so long. And I was in a film, I think it was in Tribeca in 2005, which was
33:58Great New Wonderful,
34:00which was a drama. And Tony Shalhoub was in it, Maggie Gyllenhaal. And I was like, finally,
34:06I've proven that I can act. And it was bad timing. It was about 9-11, the year after 9
34:11-11,
34:12and essentially people were like too soon. So I got buried. And so proving that I can act,
34:17that's why I'm so excited for people to see Light from Light or Trip Zero. Because selfishly,
34:22as an actor, I want the great roles. And so that's why I want, that's why I care whether
34:30they're released in a theater or on a streaming service. Eventually, I would definitely want them
34:35on a streaming service. It's such a balance between art and business, what you guys do for a living.
34:42Gillian, how do you sort of think of those two things in your head when you're mapping out your
34:46own career and your own sort of ambitions? What does that look like for you? It's tough. I feel like,
34:54I'm going to say with age, but I'm, you know, I don't mean it like I'm some old woman, but
34:58I,
35:00I feel like I've been more like, what do you want to do? Like, what is it that you want
35:05to put out there?
35:06What do you want, hopefully, people to remember you by? And it ranges from this character that I just did
35:14that completely changed my life to like playing a witch in a movie. Like, I would love to do that.
35:20You know, I want to play someone big and bold and fearless and just funny, powerful women. And,
35:29and being able to do this drama, I hope it gets to change my career a little bit and opens
35:34it up
35:36to more opportunities. That's what I'm hoping. But yeah, you constantly have to think like,
35:41what, what will anyone want to see me do? And usually, it's the same type of thing you've already
35:46done. And it's about trying to be smart and not always choose that because it is easy to do.
35:56And just looking for things that change up the path of your career. What was it about, you said,
36:03playing Britney changed your life, the actual playing of it, what was it?
36:08One, doing a drama, getting to do that. I didn't know, to be honest, if I would like it. I've,
36:14I've always been scared of it. And I really enjoyed it. It's so different, like you said, and rewarding.
36:23But I also for the film, like, they did not ask me to, but I wanted to do the journey
36:29of the
36:29character. And throughout the film, she loses 40 pounds. So I did that. And it was physically very
36:35challenging. Yeah, I bet. But I wanted to be able to say I, I did as much as she did
36:42during the film
36:43and, and relate to the character because I already did on such a base level. And just doing something
36:51sort of empowering and challenging mentally, physically, and definitely emotionally.
36:58Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Well, thank you all so much for being here with us today. Thank you guys.
Comments