Writer/Director Josh Margolin & Actress June Squibb talk to The Inside Reel about characterizaton, reality and tone 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.
00:20Have you been amazed about how people responded?
00:34Because it's not just the older people.
00:35The older people are bringing the younger people to see it.
00:39What does that mean?
00:40Is there a certain psychology about that and how was that when you were making it?
00:44Were you thinking about how people would see it or was it just about making a fun movie
00:49for you guys?
00:51You know, the hope was always that it would be a movie for people of a, hopefully a wide
00:56range of ages, because I want, I feel like a lot of movies that center older characters
01:01often either, especially if they're comedy or they play into any kind of genre, can often
01:06feel very broad or very silly or kind of, you know, parody and, or they can skew obviously
01:11very, very heavy and, and sort of maudlin and emotional and not that there's anything
01:17wrong with either of those directions.
01:18But I think what excited me about this, this project and the way we wanted to tackle it
01:23was that it, even though it happens to be about people who are of a certain age, we
01:27wanted to treat it with a certain sensibility that felt as kind of vibrant and fun and adventurous
01:33as you would a story about characters of any age.
01:36Grandma.
01:37Hello?
01:38Grandma, it's me.
01:39Can you hear me?
01:40Danny?
01:41I got into an accident.
01:42What are you saying?
01:43You got into an accident?
01:44What happened?
01:45I'm in jail.
01:46You're in jail?
01:47Oh my God.
01:48I had a woman, she was pregnant and I, I don't know what's happening, but they're holding
01:49me here.
01:50You sound so strange.
01:51Do you have a cold?
01:52I have a broken nose.
01:53The air bag, it went off.
01:54Okay, you gotta get a call.
01:55It's okay.
01:56It's a, it's a defense attorney.
01:57Okay.
01:58He's a lawyer.
01:59He's a lawyer.
02:00He's a lawyer.
02:01He's a lawyer.
02:02He's a lawyer.
02:03He's a lawyer.
02:04He's a lawyer.
02:05He's a lawyer.
02:06He's a lawyer.
02:07He's a lawyer.
02:08He's a lawyer.
02:09He's a lawyer.
02:10Did you see my wife, she's a lawyer?
02:11She, she's a lawyer.
02:12Mr. Zelinsky, you got a call, he told me he's a defense attorney.
02:13Oh, my God.
02:14He's a defense attorney.
02:15Oh my goodness.
02:16He told me that he needs a defense attorney.
02:17Okay.
02:18He's gonna bail me out but you need to send him the money.
02:19I'm so sorry, I can't believe this happened.
02:20He's gonna call you.
02:21They're calling now.
02:22That, that's him.
02:23Pick it up.
02:24Okay.
02:25Hello, Ms. Post.
02:26Yes, this is, um, Post.
02:27My grandson, Danny Markowicz, was involved in an accident of some kind uh, he has a broken
02:35nose.
02:36his full legal name, Daniel
02:38Markowitz, Daniel Alexander
02:40Markowitz. And so the hope was
02:42always that yeah, people of many
02:44ages would clock into it. But
02:46it's still been a surprise and a
02:47really, really wonderful thing
02:48to see people responding to it.
02:50We we hope that they would.
02:53To me was at Sundance. That was
02:56amazing. Everybody I mean, just
02:59felt the love from everybody
03:01that had seen it.
03:04I mean, how did you bring your
03:05sensibility? We you and I have
03:06talked for Nebraska and a couple
03:08other things. But it's always
03:09about finding the heart. But
03:12with the humor, you know, you're
03:13able to balance that energy. Is
03:15that always how you have
03:17approached a character or has it
03:19Yeah, I think I always approach
03:22with a certain amount of humor.
03:23I mean, I think that's just a
03:25part of me. And it just comes
03:28out that way. So that's that if
03:31you get me, you're going to get
03:33some of that I think with
03:35Okay, yes, I'm looking at his
03:37file right now.
03:39What do you need?
03:40I'm going to need you to mail
03:41$10,000 to this address.
03:43$10,000 Wow, my god.
03:48Can you drive to the post
03:49office?
03:49No, I don't drive anymore. I
03:53don't have a car.
03:55How about a cab? And remember,
03:57it has to be cash. We don't want
03:58him sitting there any longer than
04:00he has to. I'm going to give you
04:01the mailing address.
04:03Okay. Yes.
04:20Was there something with them?
04:21Obviously, this is based on
04:22Josh's grandmother as well. I
04:24mean, is there certain details
04:27or certain things? I mean,
04:28there's, there's a great moment
04:29towards the end, it doesn't give
04:30it away where you basically can
04:32tell your grandson that
04:33everything's going to be all
04:34right. And there's a sense of
04:36just time in that, you know, but
04:39you had to, you know, is, is it
04:41about the journey at times about
04:43the character? Or is it about
04:45the moment she's existing and
04:46whether it be with Ben, whether
04:48it be with her grandson?
04:51I don't, I think the journey is
04:55important. You know, her, the
04:57journey from the beginning of
04:58the film to the end is
05:00important. But I think it's
05:02also, to me, that line, you're
05:04going to be okay, is one of the
05:06most beautiful lines in the
05:07film. And I'm so thrilled that
05:11you picked up on that, because I
05:13think, I don't know that
05:14everybody does. And I just think
05:17that for a grandmother to tell
05:19her grandson that is so
05:20beautiful.
05:30For you, Josh, can you talk
05:56about looking at performance?
05:59Because the thing is, you have
06:01all these great actors, and you
06:02have to let them play,
06:04especially, obviously, June and
06:05Richard, you know, there's such
06:07an ease, but ease is not easy to
06:09show on screen, it takes a lot
06:11of effort. Could you talk about
06:13that and finding sort of that
06:15rhythm? And then I'll ask June
06:16about how that rhythm sort of
06:18evolved, especially with those
06:19two characters.
06:20Yeah, absolutely. I think, you
06:22know, as you said, I, I felt
06:24very lucky to have so many
06:25wonderful actors with these
06:27storied careers and amazing
06:29performances that I admired,
06:31kind of come on board and give
06:33their time and talents to the
06:35movie. So from the get, I felt
06:37in good hands, which was
06:38something that I think, you
06:39know, there's always a level of
06:41trust to be kind of earned and,
06:43and sussed out as you start
06:44working with somebody. And as
06:45you start kind of getting a
06:46sense of how they like to do
06:48things. And we, we got really
06:51lucky in a lot of ways, because
06:52I think, you know, June and
06:53Richard and Fred and, and, and
06:56everybody really got along like,
06:58you know, June and Fred are,
07:00are, are friends. Richard and,
07:02and June were, were friends.
07:04Like we, I think we all came to
07:07the project with a certain sense
07:08of sincerity and fun and
07:10connecting to, to, to the same
07:14things in the movie. And so
07:16she doesn't eat, she doesn't
07:17sleep. She just keeps that laser
07:20focus until the task is done.
07:23I'm Thelma, Thelma Post. You
07:25might recognize me from the
07:29telephone. I got scammed. I'm
07:35gonna get it back. I need a
07:37ride. She's a little faster
07:42than you would hope. Son of a