How does one put into words what it’s like to create a story you dreamt up with artists you’ve admired and watched your whole life? I really don’t think I can, but I will try.
Kristin Davis is everything you’d expect her to be and more. Dynamic, on point, extremely talented, funny and most of all – the hardest working artist you’ll ever meet. Seriously. The woman is a work horse. We had an impossible schedule and she never complained, never batted an eyelash. She knew what we were up against (no time and little money) and was down for the ride. The woman is not afraid to work, and work is what we did! 17 DAYS BABY! At times we wondered … will we make it? Will we be able to pull this off? She saved me many times. “Annie, this line here. You know, I was thinking, I could say this. What do you think?” Every time she did this I found her idea to be a stroke of genius in addition to carving me extra minutes here and there. One day the sides (this is a packet of scenes that are handed out every morning to be shot that day) were so thick that when I greeted her in her trailer that morning she looked at me and said, “Annie, really? I think this is the thickest set of sides I’ve ever been given. Are we really doing this today?” I nodded and said yes. She laughed and said, “Okay!” Can you even believe it? The reason why the sides were so thick is because we had one day left in the house and nearly 17 pages to cover. We shot a whole bunch of “oners” (Clint Eastwood style) while my 2nd Unit Director, Jonny Zeller, grabbed a bunch of little things I knew we absolutely needed to close out scenes. It was a TREMENDOUS effort by the whole team. A miracle really and somehow we pulled it off. If I didn’t have Kristin’s heartiness and work ethic we would have never made it.
Thank you Kristin. Love you forever and ever. I learned so much from you. You are brilliant in the film. Stunningly brilliant. Thank you for being patient with me and understanding what we were up against, and for getting behind this character and material. I will NEVER FORGET IT. I owe you so much. How did I get so lucky?
On top of this we had the wonderful Dermot Mulroney, who is also as steady as they come. He surprised me too. He knew the script forwards and backwards upon arrival. Shocked me really. He knew why we were there and what this whole thing was about. I’m confident in saying, I think he understood the material probably more than anyone on that set and wasn’t afraid to let everyone know why we were there. Can I just express to you how refreshing this was? Here’s an incredible actor, playing a role where he is not the center of attention (ahem, hollywood …) and is not only totally okay with it, he is uplifting the team and supporting us females in a way that is awe inspiring and noble. Seriously. DERMOT MULRONEY will go down in my personal history book as one of the greatest actors of all time because of this. What he did for us, by coming on board and supporting this type of material, is ultimate hero status. THANK YOU Dermot. KD, Greer, Shanola and I admire you and adore you for as long as we shall live. You are brilliant in the film!
Two brilliant legends together … sigh.
I hope we can do it again.
This is a phrase your heart says after you’ve wrapped, but you know deep down inside it will never happen. Which is saddest part of the whole thing.
Film sets are like summer camps – friendships to last a lifetime even if you never see those friends again. Tragic, yes. But also the truth.
They are a special ride. When you’re in it – it’s yucky and muddy, and you don’t even think you can do it. Then somehow you make it to the other side.
And the whole damn thing feels like one big dream.
Man, what a dream it was to work with these two legends. An ABSOLUTE DREAM.
XX,
AEJ
