Ladies, how are you doing?
Hey, wonderful, how are you?
I'm good. I don't know
if I've annoyed people in the press room because I have an eight o'clock deadline,
because the Great British Bake Off starts tonight.
So I was like, get me and talk to them now so I can go, what's the show?
So I understand, that very, very much.
It's like one of my favorite shows.
So that's one of the PR ladies that as well.
She was like, oh my God, The Bakeoff's starting again!
I have to wait a year to say in the US.
And I was like, What?
Yeah, VPN! I didn't say that. Yeah.
Where's where's your film, showing?!
Amazon Prime that's online, isn't it?
It's the one thing we get in the UK before the U.S.
Usually it's the other way around. Usually we have to wait for things to
You also get Love Island before us!
So congratulations on the film, guys.
Thank you. We enjoyed it.
I was just talking to your lovely director before about about the project
and about everything else.
And she said that you guys were kind of attached before she got on board.
So I just wanted for both of you, when you read the book for the first time,
what was it about these characters and then working with your director,
that made you really excited to get stuck into this one.
I was I was actually shooting with Sara
one when I first read the book or when my manager first told me
about the book, so we were already
working together and got to even talk about it way back when.
And I mean, there's
so many different themes that I was really interested in exploring
female friendship, you know, the sexual awakening,
and also with my character of how she kind of copes with
trauma and loss and her own tragedy and and kind of at
the end of it finds her own strength and peace with it to some degree.
So is this like a lifelong journey?
But exploring those themes was what I was really interested in doing.
And I was already working with Sarah and I loved working with Sarah.
So I was already and then Diana was attached to Ultron.
So that was just I was really looking forward to that.
Yeah. For yeah. I mean, Christine was saying
I hadn't worked with either one of them before, but my
manager at the time
was just speaking so highly of Sarah and of Christine.
And he had said that, you know, we think we could get Amazon to
to make this happen.
And I think it'd be really it could be a really special project.
And I was like and he was like
he's like the script is going to be different from the book.
And I was like, OK, so do I read the book, too?
And I was like, did we have the script? And I was like, OK.
So I did not actually read the book because I was like told not to,
because I joined in so much later.
I think you guys had already been
developing it and like Sarah Nordmann working the script.
By the time it came to me
and I read the script and I was like, oh, this is cool.
Like, I loved, I love, I love Gates arc and just how
she starts off with such high morals and just like whatever she
what she's willing to do to be the best completely deteriorates that.
And and all the while, she's figuring out her place in the world,
her or her, what you I mean, her sexual identity.
I mean, all of these things that come to the surface
when you are that age, I mean, for the rest of your life, really
are things that Kate explores throughout the film and
ultimately, you know, has this friendship with RN and
this whole emotional life with them.
And interestingly, saying that the theme of like redemption
was such a strong point for Kate that she eventually does get that redemption,
even though she makes a lot of questionable choices throughout the film.
Yeah. And I mean, for you guys as young young actors,
I mean, we're in a position now
with films where obviously with Amazon and all in other place,
you can go and tell these stories where sometimes you wouldn't get to tell them,
you know, you won't get the financing for all that kind of stuff.
But also stories, especially about women and about young women
dying over the um, book Smart. And there was other films like this.
How excited are you to be part of that generation that slowly
but surely you are getting to tell these stories
that maybe 10, 15 years ago weren't really there?
And I feel so lucky.
I get so crazy. I'll get like messages on Instagram, like in my like
I you know, we all read those, by the way, like we do read those
and these like I get you messages from like teenage
girls just expressing how films that I have been so lucky to be
a part of have impacted their lives and like so positively.
And, you know, I, I
when I was growing up, we had a lot of like like rom coms,
like Mean Girls was kind of that film for like for our generation.
And but there was not many, you know, like there's like that's like
the one film I can think, oh, my gosh, we'd need girls.
And that was that was it.
And it's called mean girls, you know, I mean, it's crazy.
So to be part of this this generation where it's like female
directors, female storytelling, female projects like
female centered, female driven is like it's really empowering.
And it's cool that like one day, you know, if I ever have a daughter,
I'll be sure we get to grow up in a world
where like there's so there's so many things, stories
to watch that she can be like, wow, I feel like empowered
and I feel like I can do anything I want because like these stories are being told
that's powerful. Now, you said it really well.
I mean, even just from when I started five years ago, the scripts and sides
and stuff that I was getting
then was all about the girl just helping out the guy in the movie.
And that's valid, too.
But it was always just like the pretty girl next door
or the descriptions of the character were always Supro.
You know, it's about appearance, and there was never really much depth.
And it's like female characters
written to serve the purpose of the male protagonist. Yeah.
You know what I mean?
Whereas this is a story, there's two female protagonists and like
that's there's two female protagonists, you know, in
and who are even going into the themes of like in the dancing world.
These I mean, and I guess in society as a whole, females have always been
put up against each other to kind of win the man and ballet.
I did not know that.
But like the man is such a huge part of of, you know, succeeding in that world.
And I thought it was mostly about the women, but that was I
am comes in and tells Kate that it's like it's not about him like a.
It's not about the guy like this is about us, you know?
You are more important to me than the prize, than the man
then, like whatever society says is like the most important thing in the world.
And that's like super powerful. Yeah. Yeah, 100 percent.
As a final question, and
Donna, this is kind of to you, but to both of you, really.
But I've read since
I've seen interviews with you
about auditioning for Steve Carell, which is obviously a big kind of deal.
I just wondered in terms of this film
and all this in front of Steve Carell audition in general
for both of you, which was which is more difficult, this movie,
of all the things that encompasses all kind of auditioning. Auditioning
is a funny, funny game.
Of a game process like,
oh, my God, this is a funny game.
I just think it's interesting.
Like it's not the same right now.
You know, it's super weird, right?
Yeah. I, I actually love auditioning and so much fun.
Like I love going in there and working with a casting director
and like getting feedback in the room and like you kind of learn more about it.
And like you you like meet other actors sometimes.
And like I mean, it's a community in a weird way, you know, but like,
hey, this is great, too.
Not having to like it's it's great to.
I mean, this is the first time in my life that someone's come to me
and they're like, oh, we're going to make this film.
Like, do you want to be part of it?
And I was like, oh, wow. OK, I'm me.
Are you are you sure? Are you sure? She says, our bookstore.
And I was like, OK, that's.
Are you still are you sure you want me to be?
I was like I was in that movie for like two minutes.
Are you sure you want me to like be a film?
So that's the best way. Yeah.
But it's they're just different, you know, like ultimately can't
wait to be back in like a room again with like people, like actual people.
I did that once during the pandemic and it was like such a fulfilling experience.
And I can't wait to get back out there and like things
to like return more and more and more than just Zoome like group.
Zoome auditions are so weird.
How do you feel?
What do you think?
No, I agree with you.
I miss being in the room and getting to collaborate.
I mean, hopefully that is the experience.
You know, it varies. But I think self tapes are hard.
I do them over and over and over again.
And so it's nice to be in the room
where you can get notes on the spot and kind of adjust and
and get their take on it, because,
you know, you're just doing your own interpretation and that's all you can do.
But it's just better to be on the spot and also just feel bad for my sister,
who has like a cave, like poor thing. She has a life.
I'm just like, I need your help.
She's like, I'm literally busy.
I'm like, I don't care.
I get something that I have a hard line.
And the camera set up. Oh, my God. Ring lights.
Like I feel like a like a YouTube or with my ring like oh
on ladies. That's my time
up, obviously, because it's open to you by saying so much of the time
after watching the show, I should some with the big guys enjoy the.