You probably still think of her as Juno's best friend, but Olivia Thirlby has so many roles coming up, playing so many different characters, that you're guaranteed to know her name before too long. And it'll take a lot of strength not to fall in love with her in The Wackness, the hilarious and sweet independent comedy coming out July 3. Thirlby plays Stephanie, the daughter of an Upper East Side psychiatrist (played by Ben Kingsley in a crazy wig and a New York accent) who befriends one of the social outcasts from her high school, Luke (Josh Peck), one hot summer. In the meantime, Stephanie's dad and Luke are embarking on their own weird kind of friendship. But, like any summer lovn', Stephanie and Luke's young romance isn't exactly built to last.
Thirlby sat down with a small group of New York journalists to talk about her work on the film, a lot of which included spoilers that won't be found here. But she has a lot of thoughts on both the character and the movie itself, and it's easy to see that she connected with the story-- even though, on its surface, it's just a boy's coming-of-age story. It's fun, and rare, to find an actor as enthusiastic about a movie as the journalists are, which made the conversation just that much better.
The movie seems to be resonating with people like yourself, who don't even remember 1994. Was that something that appealed to you? What appealed to you about the script?
It started with the fact that it was extremely well-written. Jon is a fantastic writer. He's not just a fantastic director-- he wrote that. The script was really ncredible. Every time you read a good script, it's titillating as an actor. If you read something and you read a role that you respond to just in your head, it's the most exciting feeling on the planet to say-- this, I could really play this role. I knew as soon as I read Stephanie that I was just perfect for her. Maybe it's a New York thing. I think even younger audences, kids that were born in 1994, will be able to relate to this. That time period is when hip=hop music first started seeping into more mainstream culture, and certainly when it started influencing white youth. That hasn't ended, that's just progressed. That's kind of the music of my generation, and I was 10 years behind the curve. But the slang that's in the movie, a lot of that wasn't even in the script. A lot of that was stuff that Josh and I, being ourselves, brought to these roles. It's time period correct. I think a lot of it has to do with New York City. I think there's a very specific kind of vernacular that develops in this time. I guess it hasn't changed that much.
Jonathan has said he wrote Stephanie as kind of an “f-you” to all the girls who had dumped him, but he didn't see that in your portrayal. What did you see in her that made her not an “f-you”?
For one, Jon is really underestmating himself. The character he wrote was this multi-faceted, really dynamic, really interesting girl, though maybe he didn't fully intend her to be that way. I wanted to make Stephanie forgivable. I think she is. She doesn't handle the situation as maturely as she possibly could have, but that being said, her and Luke are coming from totally different places. She's a girl who's really used to casual sexual encounters. And he's so caught up in her that he's not able to just relax and have fun.
This was sort of a role-reversal, because it's usually the girls you see all heartbroken about relationships.
I think that's just how they portray it in films. Honestly, I think this is really accurate. Girls and women of that age are vastly more intelligent than men of the same age. In my experience, girls are often having the first sexual experiences.
Can you tell us about working with Sir Ben?
It's the kind of thing that young actors dream of and dread at the same time. They're such a role model, somebody whose work you so admire. And at the same time, it's so intimidating to not know what you're doing, and have to act wth somebody who really, really knows what they're doing. But he is the most regal and wonderful fellow. He's really generous, and really kind. He carries around no pretense of his accomplishments and his talent. He's genuinely excited to do every role he does. I think it speaks volumes about the kind of person that he is, that somebody of his status would come make a tiny independent film with a second time director and really young actors as his co-stars. He does it so graciously, and he comes out to support us every time. He came to the after-party of the premiere last night, and he came from Boston, where he left Martin Scorsese's set early to come celebrate with us.
Did you find yourself leaning on him, asking him questions about acting?
I didn't want to burden him with having to feel like he had to look after me at all. But every now and again he would give a tidbit or a piece of encouragement. I would always ask him, do you have any suggestions for me? And most of the time he would just be very encouraging and say, “No, darling, do what you're doing, it's excellent.”
Did Jonathan leave room for any improv on the set? I'm thinking particularly of the scene at the end at the elevator. [Don't worry, no spoilers here!]
He was fine with improv. That scene at the elevator, that was a really crazy nght. We had been filmng all day. We were using that location for the roof deck, as well as the hallway and the front door. We had overstayed our welcome, because it was a slow day, and the owner of the apartment had told us that she was going to alert the authorities if we were not gone in five minutes. So we had literally five minutes to shoot that scene, and on a film set, nothing happens in five minutes. We just kind of ripped out a couple of takes, and it was probably about 90 degrees in that hallway. My hair is a halo of frizz.
How close is your character to your high school days?
Well, you don't really see Stephanie in school, which I was happy about. I think one of the reasons she was able to develop this friendship with Luke is because she was out of the confines of high school. I had an idea in my head of where Stephanie stood in her high school social world. I don't think she was ever lonely, which is maybe one of the reasons she wants to hang out with Luke. It's possible that if all of her other friends were around, it never would have happened.
You and Josh are in another movie together, Safety Glass. Did that happen before or after The Wackness?
< It happened after. [The Wackness] was in August, and we found ourselves together again in November in Vancouver, filming Safety Glass. And our character had nothing to do with each other. Our characters ddn't really interact, but we really, I think, became even closer.
You've been gifted in the last few years with a lot of work.
Yeah, I'll say. Dumb luck.
And you're the new focus for a lot of attention.
People keep saying that...I'm trying not to let it mean anything to me.
How do you keep yourself out of the eye of the paparazzi and all that stuff?
Paparazzi don't... It's so easy to fly below the radar. Just don't do outrageous things. Stay at home and live a normal life. I see paparazzi all the time. And I'm like, you have no idea who I am, thank God. I don't live a very ostentatious lifestyle. I'm really lame. I don't even go out. I just do that, and nobody cares. I don't know why people would care. I'm really not that interesting. I love being recognized for the work I do, and I love doing this kind of thing and supporting a film that I'm proud of. I almost find it a lttle sad when other people care so much about who someone's dating.
So you don't read Us Weekly?
I admit, I do look at the covers when I'm in the drugstore. Checking it out, like, “Oh, Brad and Angie...”
