Writer/Director Josh Margolin & Actress June Squibb talk to The Inside Reel about approach, intent and relatability in regards to the digital home entertainment release of their film: "Thelma" from Magnolia.
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Short filmTranscript
00:00What's your plan for the day?
00:14The usual.
00:15What?
00:16Oh my god.
00:17We are crazy.
00:18What?
00:19I didn't say anything.
00:21And so people really brought, I think, a sense of generosity and earnestness to it.
00:26And I think the fact that everybody got along well and the fact that there was trust and
00:29ease that formed, which isn't always the case, but I was lucky to feel that we had that in
00:36not too labored of a way.
00:37I think created space for people to come together.
00:40And I think that's what we're trying to do.
00:42And I think that's what we're trying to do.
00:50I think created space in a way to let actors like June and Fred and the gang find that
00:55comfort, find that ease, find that familiarity.
00:58Because on some level, when you're going into making a movie, you have a very specific sense
01:03of how you want things to look and feel and be and the rhythms and all of that.
01:08But sometimes on the set and in the day and in the moment, the best way to get there can
01:12be to give the...
01:15It's not necessarily about the specific note as much as it's about creating an environment
01:19where people can play, as you said, and exist and feel comfortable to bring themselves to
01:25the parts.
01:38Let's just talk.
01:45Everybody wants to talk.
01:47My God, I just needed your scooter.
01:50Please be a doll and don't make a fuss.
01:53My grandson's parked a block away.
01:56I don't have much time.
01:57You left your grandson in the car?
01:59He's 24.
02:01Please don't make me go through you, Ben.
02:04No, you couldn't.
02:05I got a titanium hit.
02:06Well, shall we put that to the test?
02:08June, you know, because the thing is that a lot of the scenes, like even going through
02:12that antique shop where you break a glass and she's like, don't clean it up.
02:17There's just sort of these great character moments.
02:20Is that just about playing the...
02:23Do you have to look purely at the reality of this woman or do you have to look at the
02:27irony of this woman, you know, in terms of how she lives?
02:32I think it's reality.
02:34I think to me, that's what good acting is, is as real as we can be.
02:40And to me, that's what it is.
02:43I just, when I read a script and especially a script as well written as this one was,
02:49that I just want to be true to it.
02:52I want to make it all as real and honest as I can.
02:56I love that fact that you watch Cruise and there's that ode to Mission Impossible.
03:00Did we get it?
03:01We got it.
03:02You know, those things, you know, do you sort of like to play into those?
03:07I mean, are you a fan of action films?
03:09I love action films.
03:11Yes.
03:12I have a son and he always loved this.
03:15He was growing up, you know, action and science, sci-fi and everything.
03:19So I had quite a menu of action films in my youth.
03:25But I just think it's so, I think it's funny.
03:30I mean, I think it's so beautifully funny that we can do that.
03:35And I still laugh every time I see the flames come up behind Richard and I.
03:41It still just tickles me.
03:43It's my grandson.
04:00What's them?
04:06Oh, we can't make that.
04:23That is interesting.
04:27What do you think of the reaction?
04:30I mean, the fact that people are bringing, you know, I've heard like,
04:34you know, the older crowd would come and then they'll bring their kids and
04:37then they'll bring their grandkids.
04:39It's generational.
04:40That's very hard to create with a movie.
04:43And yet this film has done that.
04:45It's doing it.
04:46Yeah, it's doing it continually.
04:48Could you talk about that and why you think it crosses so many generations?
04:53Is it just because of the familial connection?
04:56What do you think?
04:57And I'll ask Josh this as well.
04:59Well, I think that it's, I don't know.
05:02Maybe it's the fact that Josh has honestly looked at age,
05:07but he's also honestly looked at the youth.
05:10I mean, you know, Danny's age.
05:12He's in his 20s.
05:14And I think that it's all very honest.
05:17And I do think this is one thing that people are relating to,
05:21because I think they see themselves.
05:24They see their families.
05:27And I cannot tell you how many people have said, oh,
05:31I can't wait for my grandmother to see this.
05:34You know, and it is, that's kind of wonderful and loving.
05:56And if you want to wrap out, Josh,
06:14what does that mean to you hearing that,
06:16but then also seeing that because it's an ode to,
06:18it's obviously an ode to June,
06:20but obviously an ode to your grandma as well.
06:22Yeah.
06:23It's been really,
06:24really wonderful and really cool to just see people getting excited about
06:28it and responding to it and wanting to bring other people to it.
06:30And I think, I think to piggyback on June's point, like,
06:33I do think people there's just,
06:36I think probably a lot of touch points to see yourself in there there's
06:39whether you're relating to Daniel or the parents or Thelma or Ben or,
06:42or, or Malcolm, I guess, potentially.
06:44But I think, I think, you know,
06:48it is a very personal story to me,
06:50but obviously told through the lens of something a little bit bigger than
06:55that. And so I think somehow maybe that fusion of,
06:59of kind of a classic revenge movie mixed with these really personal family
07:04dynamics that I think a lot of people seem to be connecting to that,
07:08that alchemy seems to be speaking to people in a way that I,
07:13I, you know, it would, and I, I dreamed it would, and it's,
07:16but it's still been really surreal and wonderful to see people seeing
07:19themselves in the movie. And it's, it's been really special. And,
07:22and I'm very grateful people are, are, are coming to see it.
07:26She doesn't eat. She doesn't sleep.
07:28She just keeps that laser focus until the task is done.
07:33I'm Thelma, Thelma Post. You might recognize me
07:39from the telephone.
07:42I got scammed.
07:45I'm going to get it back. I need a ride.
07:50She's a little faster than you would hope.
07:54Thelma!
07:55Son of a bitch.