Review: 'The End of The Tour'
Often times, when an iconic figure in history, and specifically pop culture, is recreated for the purpose of film, we can't help but have preconceived notions of the subject, who will either live up to our standards, or be a flimsy caricature of said person. While I had heard of author David Foster Wallace before reviewing The End of the Tour, I was not as familiar with him as were the other attendees at the film's screening, where I soon realized that I was sitting amongst a crowd of literary conscious NPR members. The early and scattered premature uncertainty of Jason Segel's performance as the beloved D.F.W. didn't go unheard by me, and yet any question or doubt this room had going into the film was answered by the end. Not only is Segel mesmerizing, The End of the Tour stands as an early contender for a Best Picture Oscar nomination.
The End of the Tour is based on real-life journalist David Lipsky's critically acclaimed memoir, Although Of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself: A Road Trip with David Foster Wallace, which chronicles the highs and lows of his 1996 five day journey with his interviewee-author. Jesse Eisenberg plays Lipsky, himself a novelist with a fasciation with Wallace. While working as a reporter for Rolling Stone magazine, Lipsky convinces his boss to let him join Wallace on the last leg of his book tour for the post-modern masterwork, Infinite Jest, scoring a days-long exclusive with the writer dubbed genius.
Lipsky, a fast-talking and socially awkward man, first meets the reserved, introspective Wallace at his home. Subtle humor is sprinkled throughout this first "getting to know you" scene, and it's here where the tone is set for the rest of the film. As the days go by, the bond grows stronger between Lipsky and Wallace, and what was initially a more formal and awkward Q&A evolves into a free flowing and revealing, conversational interview.
A neatly wrapped package with stand out performances, this is an example of what really good filmmaking looks and, more importantly, feels like.
Inevitably, as a journalist who also happens to be a fan, Lipsky gets too close to his mesmerizing subject to stay objective. Yet the breaking of this ethical code is what it takes for Wallace's emotional walls to come down, as he begins to bare his soul to a man he just met. Pretty soon, we, as well as the characters on screen, step back and ask ourselves, who is interviewing who?
It is easy to chart where Wallace's-depicted personality breaks through and wins us over. The thoughtful dialogue between both characters is sharp and tactful, one of my favorite lines being "reading you is another way of meeting you," but the minutes-long monologues are where Segel really shines. His honesty and disenchantment with fame is a refreshing perspective on life, and his humility is applaud-worthy. He observes that American life has us programmed to want to achieve everything, but there is nothing wrong with ultimately wanting to stray from the mainstream and be left alone. This is the inspiring path Wallace is choosing to take, but can't help but let his "Lone Wolf" lifestyle, depression, and loneliness get the best of him.
Segel and Eisenberg's performances are magnetically matched, the intensity of their relationship growing stronger throughout the film. Much credit is due to screenwriter Donald Margulies, who himself is a Pulitzer-Prize winning writer. He tackles The End of the Tour with stark realism, highbrow humor, and bittersweet insight. This is evident in the film's final moments, which ends with a single, affecting word.
Director James Ponsoldt's big break into mainstream cinema came in 2013 with the coming-of-age film, The Spectacular Now. Avoiding many of the stereotypical pitfalls most young-adult stories fall victim to, Ponsoldt captured sensitivity and poignancy that left a lasting impression on audiences. The Miles Teller-Shailene Woodley starring film paved the way for this next feature, and it is with this same attention to detail and wistfulness that The End of the Tour is greeted.
Meditative and thought provoking, The End of the Tour captures the complexity of one man's life through a delicate lens. A neatly wrapped package with stand-out performances, this is an example of what finely-crafted filmmaking looks and, more importantly, feels like. One thing to note–there is a hidden gem if you stay through the end of the film that delights, just like how I'd imagine David reacting to this surprise if the film was to continue on. It will bring a smile to your face and lead you to tip your hat to the creativity and talent of Ponsoldt in insightfully capturing the essence of a brief yet honest, and almost magical, moment in this reclusive genius' life.
The End of the Tour opens at the ArcLight Hollywood and Landmark Theaters this Friday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqUa5sYHC9s
Morgan Neville & Robert Gordon on 'Best of Enemies'
In 1968, ABC News featured two high-profile intellectuals of different political parties, Gore Vidal, and William F. Buckley, Jr., to participate in 10 live debates with each other. What resulted created a new format for pundit television. The documentary Best of Enemies tells this incredible story, and I had the opportunity to talk exclusively with directors Morgan Neville and Robert Gordon about their unusual approach to making this film, the incredible Sundance screening, and how Kelsey Grammer and John Lithgow's "rare, mid-Atlantic accents" blew them away. We begin:
You both have successful musical backgrounds within filmmaking, were you hesitant to approach a "political" film?
MN: I feel like this film is about culture, and my culture films are about politics. A film like 20 Feet From Stardom talks a lot about race, civil rights, and gender. I don't see these things as being so distinct. To me, I find a great story and that's what excites me.
RG: I would say that our music films only use music as an angle into other, bigger topics– social and cultural topics. I understand why people think of this as a departure, but it wasn't intimidating in that way.
For our review of Best of Enemies, click here.
I have to say, I thought the music in the film was great. A mix of piano, some jazz, it is a pretty intense soundtrack.
RG: We wanted the music to reflect these two men, and they were both classical aficionados, so that was the starting point.
MN: Our big challenge in terms of the filmmaking was that we were making a film about two guys sitting in a room talking, how do you make that cinematic? I felt like we had to use every tool we could to make it feel big, and music is a major part of that. We felt the drama of what was going on in the conversations was operatic and the music had to match that level of drama.
What initially attracted you to this story and these people?
RG: It was the sense of the culture wars we live in being anticipated and expressed by these two guys so long ago.
MN: I just thought it was so... verbal. Haha. I just loved the language, the humor– that was the first thing that got to me. Without understanding where exactly this film would go, I was interested in all of the directions it could go.
Robert, you initially found the footage?
RG: Yeah, a friend of mine shared it with me and I was just wrapped up in it. I called Morgan and he was excited just by the notion of it. We both knew who these people were, we were raised at a time where they were part of the culture, but these debates had kind of slipped from our consciousness. All I had to do with Morgan was say their names and he was excited.
Did you have to narrow down a lot of footage?
RG: Oh yeah, there are 2 1/2 hours of raw debate footage, 10 meetings of 15 minutes each of them in verbal bloodsport.
MN: We had to [cut out a lot] because we didn't know where the story was going. Nobody had ever written a book about it. The only way we could figure it out was to just keep talking to people, and that's challenging, but the fun part too. Another big revelation for us was the ABC story, we didn't know the behind the scenes stuff. That was one of the things that just got better and better the more we went into it.
Yeah, like the roof literally caving in. You can't write that, it's too perfect.
MN: I know!
RG: Metaphorical for the network.
I read that you interviewed Gore Vidal in 2010, how long has the span of this project been?
MN: That was the beginning.
RG: Yeah, it began in May 2010. The first round of interviews were kind of a test for the movie. We both knew it was a good idea, but was it going to be affirmed by others? The people who said yes were a way of letting us know we were on the right path.
How did you choose John Lithgow nd Kelsey Grammer to read the voiceovers?
MN: It was a long thought process for us to figure out what to do. It was something we wrestled with, do we do soundalikes? Women? Children? Who reads these voices? And then, I don't actually remember how, but Kelsey Grammer is a known conservative and that kind of seemed like a natural fit. John Lithgow is a known liberal. They both have those rare, mid-Atlantic accents that completely embody Vidal and Buckley. That's one of those things you don't really know how it's gonna turn out until they do it, and they just blew us away. They brought so much to it.
Their voices sounded familiar, but they weren't distracting away from the film.
RG: They had the authoritative tone. Those Esquire articles [in the film] contained so much great interior monologue that we knew we had to get them in there.
When you approached them with this movie, were they familiar with the debates?
MN: They knew the men, John knew Gore and Kelsey knew Buckley. Neither of them knew them well. Most young people in 1968 were not home watching TV and because there were no VHS tapes or YouTube, it was something more of lore more than what people actually remembered.
What was your first thought after getting accepted into Sundance?
MN: Yay!
RG: Time to buy some galoshes!
Laughter
MN: This was a five year labor of love and whenever you do something like that, you always wonder if anybody is going to like it. Especially when you work on it in a small, dark room for years. Knowing we got into Sundance was huge, but the first screening at Sundance was probably the pinnacle moment of this whole ride. It was the first time we had proof that what we thought was working, actually was working. The laughter and conversation afterwards exceeded our expectations.
RG: I gotta say, in terms of a Sundance moment, the acceptance was great, but in that first screening in front of 500 people when we had only ever showed it to like 5 or 10 people at once, and never the finished cut to anybody, it was hitting me in my very core. There was a sense of elevation; this is working, the audience is laughing at everything they're supposed to laugh at. Even the small stuff! It's sort of like an alchemy moment, we've turned this thing and these ideas into something tangible.
Review: 'Best of Enemies'
In the '60s, American society had the utmost confidence in its TV news. It was held to the highest of standards, reporting only the truth with no sidebar commentary or other funny business. By 1968, ABC was considered a laughing stock in the television news world, with jokes like, "The way to win the Vietnam War is to put it on ABC and it'll be canceled in 3-4 weeks."
With the large scale media event of the Democratic and Republican national conventions approaching, coupled with being dead last in the ratings, ABC had nothing to lose and took a chance by featuring two high-profile intellectuals of different political parties, to participate in a live debate with each other. What resulted created a new format for pundit television and news stations everywhere, a format we reproduce to this day.
Academy-Award winning director Morgan Neville (20 Feet From Stardom) and Robert Gordon (Very Extremely Dangerous) bring to the big screen the infamous and provocative debates between Gore Vidal and William F. Buckley Jr in the documentary Best of Enemies. Vidal, a Democrat and cousin to Jackie Onassis, had also gained notoriety from his works as an author. Pushing the boundaries of societal "mainstream," Vidal always liked to shock his audience. His most notable book, Myra Breckinridge, explored pansexuality and "free love," a concept that was seen as taboo at the time.
While the older generations who have lived through these debates may enjoy this film slightly more than millennials, it is an entertaining watch nonetheless.
William F. Buckley Jr., on the other hand, was a cornerstone of the modern conservative movement. A stark difference from Myra, Buckley founded the editorial National Review, and counted Ronald Reagan as a supporter. Two completely different ideologies from individuals who truly despised each other, clearly there was no lack of drama from the very beginning of this relationship.
A majority of the film consists of found footage from the debates, but we also get an exclusive look into the private lives of both of these men. They speak with an eloquence that gives them away as members of the upper class, yet their cunning dialogue and petty insults make them relatable. Sharp banter is flung, all the while keeping fake smiles on their faces. These moments in the film are organically humorous, and provide a magnetic point of interest for the audience.
While older generations who have lived through these debates may enjoy this film slightly more than millennials, it is an entertaining watch nonetheless. Neville and Gordon have managed to make politics funny and interesting for the audience at large. Comparable to the notorious banter between film critics Ebert and Roper, Vidal and Buckley truly were "Best of Enemies."
Best of Enemies opens at The Landmark this Friday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzgfQvB2dvA
Review: 'The Look of Silence'
In 2014, director Joshua Oppenheimer's divisive and powerful documentary The Act of Killing, which explored the lives of former Indonesian death-squad leaders, was nominated for an Academy Award. While it ultimately lost out to 20 Feet From Stardom, the film left a lasting impression on many. Now Oppenheimer is back with an equally bold companion piece, coming from the perspective of the victims, in The Look of Silence.
As in The Act of Killing, The Look of Silence's roots stem from the 1965 Indonesian genocide and execution of perceived communists. The film explores the emotional aftermath that has never been publicly expressed. One family in rural Indonesia who lost their first born son to the hands of these "gangsters" had always tried to bury the past, not wanting to confront the real identify their son's killer. However, their youngest son Adi Rukun, an optometrist, takes it upon himself to figure out what exactly happened to his big brother many years ago, exposing the perpetrators along the way.
Adi makes house calls as an eye doctor and confronts some of his brother's murderers. He boldly asks them why they carried out such heinous crimes. It is a tense situation for everyone, including the audience. While Adi confesses to his 100-year-old mother and 103-year-old father that he could forgive the killers if they truly felt remorse, not one of the alleged gangsters demonstrate any sense of responsibility or guilt. "In the afterlife, the victims take revenge," Adi is told.
The Look of Silence brings the ferocity to the big screen with a delicate lens, and this juxtaposition is the reason why I would claim this is one of the best documentaries of the year.
While there are many moments in the film that leave one speechless, a major revelation shocks Adi to the core. He discovers that his uncle was a guard for the "Death Squad," indirectly participating in the killing of his brother. With a heavy heart, Adi shares this information with his mother, which is understandably devastating to her. It is a tough scene to get through with dry eyes.
Oppenheimer effectively captures a stunning moment in history in The Look of Silence. Back on board as executive producers are documentary heavyweights, Werner Herzog and Errol Morris. Cinematically, the look of the film is sharper (likely due to a camera upgrade since his previous film), and the story is more condensed. The graphic nature comes mostly from the killers' own mouths, describing mutilation such as how they cut off women's breasts, killed men by shoving wood up their anus until it hit their throat, and drinking the blood of their victims to, in their words, "stay sane." Oppenheimer reverts back to his unique edit of cutting back and forth between television screen and an emotionless protagonist fixated on the images. Instead of Anwar staring at his performance in The Act of Killing, it is now Adi watching an interview with two murderers describing how their victims "screamed, cried, and begged for mercy."
The Look of Silence is far from a light film, with the weight of all the victims who went without a voice for years, resting on it's shoulders. Oppenheimer has done a groundbreaking job in exploring an act of terror not widely known, and getting into the mindset of the killers to try to understand "why." He then comes full circle, focusing on the innocent victims and how they have been affected. The Look of Silence brings the ferocity to the big screen with a delicate lens, and this juxtaposition is the reason why I would claim this is one of the best documentaries of the year. It is not rash to call this film another Oppenheimer masterpiece.
The Look of Silence opens today with a national rollout to follow.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aA_ZHAs4M9k
Anders Holm on 'Unexpected'
I meet Anders Holm at the SLS Hotel for our exclusive interview about Unexpected, the new indie flick starring Holm and Cobie Smulders of How I Met Your Mother fame. Holm, himself a notable comedian for his show Workaholics (in which he co-stars, writes, and directs), is quick to crack a joke (If only his character "John" in the film was as entertaining as Anders is in real life). With a monotone cadence, Holm rides the line of being either sarcastically hilarious or completely serious. It is a style of comedy which I'm personally a huge fan of, so our interview is no doubt a very fun 15 minutes. We initially cover the film, but then can't help digressing for the rest of the interview to other important subjects such as: proper telemarketing etiquette, his daily routine, and his dreams of wearing a speedo one last time. We begin:
How did you become attached to the project?
I became attached after reading the script and falling in love with it, and then meeting Kris Swanberg. Not falling in love with her, but loving her and wanting to work with her. So between the script she wrote and then just Kris herself, I was like I wanna be a part of this.
In Unexpected, you play the perfect boyfriend. When fans of Workaholics see you in this role, what will they say?
They're gonna say, "Woah, Ders is a total bitch in this movie, but I like him." You know as I get older, and I am, it's no longer like "fresh out of college." It's more like oh, this guy's in his 30s and just had a baby and proposing and getting married. Hopefully my characters can evolve with my actual self.
Is that something you want to do, take on these more "serious" Hollywood roles?
No I mean it's just like realistic. It's funny, I was on set two seasons ago when I was 31 and we [Adam Devine, Blake Anderson] were chasing these girls who were underage and couldn't buy beer, and one of the actresses was 17 playing 20, and I was 31 playing 27 or whatever. It was like, alright, let's just start playing our age. What are we doing here? It's bizarre.
At least it's not the other way around, you're not aging yourself.
But isn't that society? Isn't it not right either way? I'm kidding. There's double standards and there always will be.
What was working with Cobie Smulders like?
Cobie is awesome. She's easygoing, she knows her lines. She seems like she could be a diva, like, "This girl's got it all," but she's not. She's the most fun and also just like, good. There's nothing like showing up on set and acting across from someone and thinking, "Oh, they're way better."
Did you go with the film to Sundance and SXSW?
I went to Sundance. Went to the dance, the Sunny D. Walked around with Chris Webber, who's a producer on the movie, and watched some guy pass by and say, "Was that R. Kelly?" It was very funny. I had never done Sundance before and it was just cool.
What's your daily routine?
Well now I've got a kid, so the child wakes me up. I used to wake up to Alice in Chains "Here Comes The Rooster," on my phone, but now I wake up to a 19-month-old down the hall going, "MOM. MOM. MOM" for like 10 minutes before we're like, "We gotta get up." That's zero exaggeration. It's deep and it's not "Mama," it's not "Mommy," it's "Mom."
He sounds like a teenager.
Yeah it's weird. So that gets me out of bed and then I either try and do a five minute workout or I get out the door and go to work and write all day with my best friends on Workaholics. Then I go home and open the door and the kid's like "MOM."
I'm sure with a kid you've had to master the art of fitting things in with a limited amount of time.
Yeah, well it's more of I've given up my own life, minus work. I did have some hobbies I used to do, and they no longer exist.
Would you say you're most productive in the morning, afternoon, or night?
Night, which I can't do anymore. I'm a total night person. If I was left to my own devices I would become a vampire and stay up until 4 a.m. But when you've got a kid you can't do that because you've gotta be up at 7 a.m., so I've taken to writing at like 10, maybe 11 a.m. Then I just work during the day. I don't like it as much but what am I? A child? It's time to go to work.
What is your process for memorizing lines?
Well Workaholics is cheating because two things: We wrote the episodes so I was there and read the script a bunch of times. I also have the advantage of being able to say whatever I want anyway 'cause it doesn't matter. When you get to other people's sets it matters a little more. I don't know what I do [learning lines], I'm not the best, but Jillian Bell on Workaholics taught me this thing where if you hand-write out all of your lines and also the other person's lines, it will help you embed it into your brain. It works, but I've got brain damage or something. It's never gonna happen.
You're also involved in improv comedy.
I took a couple classes after Workaholics just 'cause I was like, bored, and wanted to make sure I could still act. When you're insulated with the guys who I've just been shooting videos with and you're like "Oh other actors are going to be coming to set," it might be good to just get out there and sharpen my tools.
So when you are on other people's sets, do they allow you to improvise?
It varies, but when I did The Mindy Project we would improvise a lot. I would usually let Mindy [Kaling] go off the page before I did. It's her house, I'm not gonna walk in there and tread mud. But then at the same time it's better to beg forgiveness than ask for permission. I've begged for forgiveness a whole bunch.
If you could write/direct your next movie, featuring you, what would that be?
That's what my manager is telling me and I don't know what it is. How about it's a guy whose back is up against a wall, so he puts on his speedo and tries to make the Olympic trials.. and doesn't.
You already have the speedo experience*, right?
I do have the experience. I might as well, one last time.
What's been the worst job you've had in a non-acting context?
I mean, I did telemarketing and so did Adam DeVine. What I did was tele-fundraising. Instead of calling you and saying, "Hey I've got a product," I would say, "Hey, there are some whales that are getting murdered off of the coast of Japan. Do you want to give money to make those whales not murdered?" It sucks. Asking people for money, on the phone, sucks. You're hooked up to a computer so as soon as a call is over and you hang up, it dials another one.
Ok, so I have to ask, what is the polite way to say "No thank you" to these calls?
Yeah exactly! So now when I get one of these calls, I let them get out their main thing, and if they do say "How are you," I'll say, "Hey I'm good and I appreciate your call but I'm not interested. Thanks and good luck." You've gotta be sweet. I don't know why people... I think it's a power thing. If you have no power in your day-to-day life except for when someone calls and you can just shit on them, people will. But my life's ok so I can just talk them down.
*Anders was a varsity member of the swim team at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
For our review of Unexpected, click here.
Review: 'Unexpected'
30-year-old Samantha Abbott (Cobie Smulders) looks like she has it all, a doting live-in boyfriend, a nice house in the suburbs, and a steady job as a high school teacher at an inner-city Chicago school. As news circulates that the school will be closing due to budget cuts, Samantha seems relieved to be able to pursue another, more fulfilling job at a local museum. She soon finds, however, that her plans must now take a back seat when she realizes she is pregnant.
Instead of embracing this news, like her boyfriend John (Anders Holm) does, Samantha is anything but optimistic. She continues to teach despite the ever present morning sickness, which does get the better of her one day as she ends up puking in front of the entire class. But it is then that she notices another pregnancy in her classroom. A high school senior Jasmine (Gail Bean), who is one of her most promising students.
The result is a special bond that forms between Samantha and Jasmine that far succeeds the typical student/teacher relationship. From prenatal yoga to sharing milkshakes, they embark on the journey of unplanned pregnancy together, sharing their concerns, their surprises, and their joy.
As far as performances go, Smulders does a fine job of working with the material she was given.
While the premise is interesting, Unexpected, a film from director Kris Swanberg, lacks conflict from the very beginning, leaving our protagonist, Samantha, extremely flat. There is no real backstory to her character and she goes through virtually no real struggles, yet we are supposed to feel sympathy for her? Sure the pregnancy was unplanned, but her boyfriend is overtly supportive, literally proposing to her over a pancake breakfast the day after he learns the news. And from the looks of her "danish modern" furnished apartment, Samantha appears to be sitting comfortably in the middle class.
If there is anyone we should feel sympathy for it's Jasmine, a pregnant teenager whose boyfriend left her, and who spends her nights working in a grocery store to help her family. With the support of Samantha, Jasmine even pursues college and her drive is commendable, while Samantha on the other hand, complains that her pregnancy is holding her back from her "dream job," and claims that she does not want her identity to be "Only somebody's wife and mother." It's doubtful that the film's intention was to spotlight the stark contrast between the class difference and racial treatment in Chicago, but that is exactly what it does. In this film, the ironic phrase "White People Problems" rings true in a cringe-worthy way.
As far as performances go, Smulders does a fine job of working with the material she was given. Had there been more depth to the script, I'm sure she would have given Samantha more layers. Holms has very limited screen time, but what he does bring is solid. Ultimately, the biggest fail seems to be the script, and as we know, one cannot have a good film without a good screenplay. Expect Unexpected to have a limited shelf life.
Unexpected opens at Sundance Cinemas and the Laemmle Playhouse 7 this Friday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9ANgqpiIzU&feature=youtu.be
Review: 'Twinsters'
Anaïs Bordier and Samantha Futerman were complete strangers on February 22nd, 2013. Bordier was a fashion student from Paris studying in London, and Futerman was an aspiring actress in Los Angeles. On February 23rd, however, everything changed.
In what can only be described as a real life Parent Trap situation, Twinsters tells the incredible true story of identical twins who were separated at birth, only to discover each other through social media 25 years later.
It was Anaïs who watched a YouTube video starring Samantha, and couldn't help but notice the striking similarities between each other. Growing up in France as an only child, Anaïs was rightfully confused, but curious. She contacted Samantha on Facebook, not knowing where it would go, or what it even meant.
She contacted Samantha on Facebook, not knowing where it would go, or what it even meant.
Soon the girls realized that they had more in common than facial features. They were both adopted out of South Korea as babies, and they shared the same birthday, but were never aware of being a twin. Both of their adoption records made no mention of a sister, but in their hearts they knew something was missing. The girls took it upon themselves to get an official DNA test to prove the validity of their assumptions, and were elated to find out the results.
A heartwarming and emotionally moving film about love and family, Twinsters takes the audience on an incredible journey. We see first hand the impact of nature vs nurture, and the power of the internet. From the first sighting on YouTube, to the initial messages on Facebook, we see their relationship evolve quickly. Awkward first Skype sessions turn into inside jokes and witty banter in texts. The girls even make a point to visit each other in their respective countries, bringing along their friends and family who also couldn't believe the situation they found themselves in.
Twinsters has an honest intimate feel, as if we are reading their diary. Samantha took to making this film as a creative outlet, most likely as a way to process this major life event. Not only is her directorial debut a success– winning a Jury Award at the SXSW Film Festival earlier this year– her approach to making this film and its ultimate execution is very inspiring for future documentary filmmakers. So if you're in the mood for an uplifting family story, definitely check out Twinsters.
Twinsters opens in Los Angeles at the ArcLight Hollywood this Friday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1txduZwL2Yg
Kitana Kiki Rodriguez and Mya Taylor on 'Tangerine'
Mya Taylor and Kitana Kiki Rodriguez arrive to their interview at the Redbury Hotel full of confidence, and with good reason. The amateur actors have been receiving nothing but praise for their work in Sean Baker's micro-indie Tangerine, in which both Rodriguez and Taylor play prostitutes on the notorious Santa Monica and Highland junction of Los Angeles. With two beautiful and poignant performances, it's hard to believe that this is their first time on screen. Mya Taylor, both in the film and in person, is the quiet leader of the group. She speaks softly and carries herself with poise. Kitana Kiki Rodriguez, on the other hand, is more of the sharp-tongued firecracker, I notice her subtly tap her acrylic nails together while forming her responses. Both women are fiercely strong, there's no denying that, and during our interview they talk about the struggles of being trans women of color, the idea of falling in love, and the one scene they almost didn't shoot. We begin:
As first time actors, were you nervous signing on to this project?
MT: I'm pretty confident in everything that I do, I'm not nervous before interviews of anything... No, you know what? That's a lie.
Laughter
KR: Thank God, 'cause girl! I was gonna be like, 'I don't know about you...'
MT: I just did another movie the week before last and I was nervous not about the performance, but about the voice of the character because she has a very [raises her voice] "distinct voice like this," and I had to talk like that the whole film. I was very nervous because I don't sound like that, my voice is much lower and sexier.
Kiki, is acting what you want to do now?
KR: I did musical theater for one semester in college while majoring in psychology. I've always had an acting bug, but I didn't want to tell anybody about it. [Getting cast in Tangerine] I was like, 'Stuff like this doesn't happen every day.' I didn't believe it. We had filmed the whole movie and got paid and I was like 'Ashton Kutcher is somewhere.'
Laughter
As an Angelino, the locations (Santa Monica & Highland) in the film were perfect.
KR: Yeah, this is the area where some of the transgender community is located and where they might be living. Life really imitates art as far as [the location]. It was as realistic as Sean [Baker, director] could get.
MT: We've been around all of those people for quite some time, so it really wasn't hard to "act like the scenery." It was very important for many reasons. I guess I have to throw this in if you know the stories about transgender street workers– and that's what most of that area consists of– and me personally, I had applied for 186 jobs in one month and I did 26-27 interviews that month, 3 a day. I did not get one job, and I actually caught people discriminating against me just because I'm trans. Not so much because of the way I look of course [coyly smiles], but to see my ID and still see that it says Jeremiah instead of Mya. It leads to a lot of transgender girls doing street work, and that's what I want people to see in this movie. It's very, very serious.
Tangerine is coming at a perfect time, with Orange is the New Black's Laverne Cox and Caitlyn Jenner making major headway in the trans community. What do you want people to feel as they leave the theater?
MT: I want people who are either trans or who can just relate to us, to know that they're not alone.
KR: I want them to get an understanding of the trans community and a small part of who we are, and a realization of what some people go through. Another thing I hope people get from it is if they see something they don't like, they'll change it. It's a blessing to not only be trans but be trans and a minority and have the opportunity to show people a different side of the world, our life from that point of view!
MT: And it's very important for that area. That area is very... iconic! I've seen so many people come and go, fighting for their lives and even a few people get killed. It makes you wonder, 'Why were they out here doing this?' I just told you why.
Do the other people in the film actually work in that area?
MT: Every person that appeared in the film wasn't necessarily a sex worker. We're not even sex workers. But, there were a few, I'm not going to say any names.
What were your thoughts on seeing the completed film?
MT: I thought it was funny.
KR: I thought it was beautifully edited and shot. When you have that much passion, you see why people do the things they do. It really impresses me that people have that much talent.
This was one of the most buzzed-about films at Sundance, did you have any expectations about its success?
MT: Haha, no not at all! I thought I was just going to be doing just a regular project, I had no idea that it was going to be this. [Before I was cast] I was sitting in the courtyard and I saw Sean and Chris Bergoch [co-writer/co-producer] approach many other people other than me and they we being so shady and so mean, I was like, 'Who the... are you?' Then they came over to me and I was very sweet to him because I'm naturally a very sweet person, and I feel like being sweet gets you a long way!
Laughter
And here I am today. Sucks for [the other girls].
The film is an interesting look at love vs lust in Los Angeles...
KR: There's an interesting dynamic of love in the trans community, and when you're in the area surrounding the film, people there have an interesting idea of love. I'm a goodie-goodie two shoes now, but being younger and dealing with love and being trans, I had guys that didn't know what to do. There was gay, straight, but then what do we do with you [trans]? They'd say, 'I don't want to hold your hand, that's too gay. I don't want to kiss you, that's too gay.' I thought that doing "other things" must be love. One day I talked back to myself about what I was doing and thought that didn't sound right. I shouldn't be getting treated that way. I should be getting treated the way they would treat anybody else. That's what changed my mindset and I became the goodie-goodie two shoes I am now. I took out all my piercings, I never had tattoos. [Love] is a weird experience for girls like us.
Can you talk about the final scene? That must have been hard to do.
MT: You guys are so cruel.
Laughter
Sean brought the idea to us and immediately we said no because I don't come out of my 28-inch hair.
KR: We don't come out of our "hair-acture."
MT: Then I thought about it, and knew it would be really, really sweet because she's supposed to be my best friend and she is mine. This [pointing to Kiki] is my bitch. If she fights, I fight, and that's how we have been.
KR: I didn't complain about nothing the whole time until that scene came. [On set ] I wanted everybody to be quiet and nobody to see. But I knew I had to be a trooper. I was so not ready for it, for any of that scene. However, it shows that when people go through any act of unkindness it can bring people back together because there's always that closeness [between friends].
Your characters are so strong throughout all of their hardships. Are there similarities between them and you?
MT: When you're going through everything that these girls are going through in the film, you have to be positive. All the time. I personally had a pretty hard life ever since I was 18 all the way up to 23, and I'm 24 now. I just feel like you have to have fun, you can't let [negativity] get the best of you. All of the personality that's inside the movie is actually how we are. It's just for this interview, you have to present yourself in a certain way, haha.
KR: When people live a certain lifestyle like the girls in the film, full of negativity, you have to have humor. [You don't need anything] but a smile. By being an ostracized person, you have nothing but to make joy out of what you want to do.
For our review of Tangerine, click here.