-Greta Gerwig, thank you for coming back to see us.
-Oh, thanks for having me. -I mean, this must be so fun.
-I -- I can't -- I can't believe it.
It was -- it was amazing.
It was -- there was so much screaming and happiness,
and then I mean, I had a whole speech, which I didn't say.
I just -- -No, your speech was perfect.
It was great. You were so you and it was awesome.
I mean, "Lady Bird" won Best Picture and also,
Saoirse Ronan won Best Actress. -Yes.
-So that's fantastic.
[ Cheers and applause ]
That was so cool. -Yes.
-How long have you been -- Let's talk about this.
how long have you been working on "Lady Bird"?
-Well, I've wanted to be a writer/director for a long time,
but because I didn't go to -- I didn't go to film school.
So I sort of did it on set.
I kind of, when I was acting or co-writing or producing,
I was, like, figuring out how to get a movie from the page
to the end of, you know, it's being released.
And so I was working on the movie, I wrote the movie,
it took like two years to write. -Wow.
And do you, I mean, have you ever written a film
or just tried to write some before?
-I had co-written two other films.
I co-wrote "Frances Ha"
and I co-wrote "Mistress America"
and I had co-written a couple of other things,
but I had never done one completely on my own.
So I'd written a lot of weird plays in college.
-Yeah. -But that doesn't count.
-Yes, of course it does, yeah.
But I heard when you first wrote this screenplay,
it was like, 300 and... -50 pages.
-350 pages long.
-350, but then I reduced it down to a sleek 120.
-Yeah, which is good. That's perfect.
-Yeah, yeah. -And how did you get Saoirse
to -- to be in it? Or what, did you know each other?
-No, I didn't know her. I -- I was looking for my Lady Bird.
And then, she read the -- she was given the script.
She read the script. She loved it,
and then we were both at the Toronto Film Festival.
And we sat in a room and she read Lady Bird's part,
and I read everybody else's part, and it was like
another person had entered the room.
It was like I just knew, right away.
And she was so -- it was so instant.
And she's so fabulous in the movie.
If you haven't seen it, she's so good.
And so is Laurie Metcalf. And everyone.
-Oh, Laurie Metcalf and Beanie Feldstein's great.
-Yeah, yeah. -And we love her, too.
Laurie Metcalf is unbelievable. -Yeah.
-I was like -- but everyone's phenomenal.
Saoirse, I mean, has an Irish accent.
Not in this movie. -No, no.
-I was like, "Wait, I know her. This is phenomenal."
-I know. -I can't even believe
the amount of talent.
Laurie Metcalf, I mean... -Yeah.
I just loved -- -And Tracy Letts.
Yeah, everybody, everybody, yeah.
-You said that Laurie Metcalf, she's a real straight shooter.
-Yes. She's like -- I mean, she's --
I knew her from theater mostly.
I mean she's on "Roseanne" and she's very famous for that,
but she's a theater actor.
She's from the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago.
I've seen her in a lot of productions.
And she's just the most, like, focused actor,
so no-nonsense, like, she's yeah.
-Like, give me an example, like --
-Well, when we were in -- when we were in Toronto
with our film, I was doing Tracy Letts, me,
and Laurie were doing this thing where we're being interviewed
and then they were asking fun questions.
And they were like, "Who are your fashion icons?"
And Tracy was like, "Pass."
And then I said, you know, "Patty Smith," because,
you know, why not? -Yeah, she's awesome.
-She's the best. And Laurie said,
so sincerely and beautifully, she just said,
"Just, you know, the mannequins when I walk into Target."
[ Laughter ]
And I was like, "I love you."
And she said, they have a great return policy, and --
[ Laughter ]
-Giving little props to Target, that's fantastic.
-Yeah, and I was -- and she, she's just the most sincere --
-They have a great return policy.
-Yeah. -That's funny, yeah.
-And she just is -- meant it, meant it.
She meant it. -If you haven't seen
"Lady Bird," could you explain what it is?
It's like a coming-of-age film.
Is it loosely based on you? Is it based on you?
-Well, I was sort of, actually, like, the opposite
of Lady Bird when I was growing up.
Like, Lady Bird is, she makes everyone call her Lady Bird.
-Yes, this girl, she makes everyone call her Lady Bird.
-Yes. -Don't ever call --
just call me Lady Bird. -Call me Lady Bird.
-She's in high school. -And her real name is Christine,
but she doesn't do that. And she, like,
dyes her hair bright red. And she's kind of like, a rebel.
And I was not any of that.
Like, I never made anyone call me by a different name.
I looked like a young Martha Stewart.
[ Laughter ]
-But the part about the mom, was that -- Was that real life?
-Well, it, it definitely the mother/daughter relationship
is something that I'm really interested in,
because I feel like it's so rich and loving and complicated
and fraught and -- and I wanted to show that,
but, like, I definitely elaborate.
It was not like my mother and me,
but the heart of it is really close to my heart.
-Well, you knocked this one out of the park though.
-Thank you. -I'm so happy for you.
I want to take a look.
This is a clip here from "Lady Bird."
Written and directed by Greta Gerwig, check this out.
-Thank for you letting Lady Bird
come to my grandmother's Thanksgiving, Mrs. McPherson.
-No, no more politeness. Call me Marion.
-Oh, well nice to meet you, Mr. McPherson.
-Please, call me Mr. Larry McPherson.
[ Laughter ]
-Sit down, Danny. Can I get you something to drink?
-Oh, no I'm fine. -Hey, I'm Miguel, her brother.
I think Lady Bird wants to make an entrance.
She's mad we don't have a spiral staircase.
[ Laughter ]
-Shelly. -What?
-Is my name. -Oh, hi.
-Hi. -[ Chuckles ]
-It's funny, on my way over here I went over the train tracks.
-Oh, you took H Street. -Right, and so Lady Bird
always says that she lives on the wrong side of the tracks,
but I always thought that that was like a metaphor.
-Oh.
-But there are actual train tracks.
[ Door opens ]
Oh, hi, you look amazing.
-What the hell is in the duffel bag?
-Don't worry about it, geez.
-My grandmother will love that dress.
-[ Sighs ] Okay.
-Our thanks to Greta Gerwig.