Moviefone Editorial

Tag: Dianna Agron

  • ‘Clock’ Interview: Writer and Director Alexis Jacknow

    Writer and director Alexis Jacknow on the set of Hulu's 'Clock.'
    Writer and director Alexis Jacknow on the set of Hulu’s ‘Clock.’

    The psychological thriller ‘Clock’ marks director Alexis Jacknow’s feature-length directorial debut. The film starring Dianna Agron is now streaming on Hulu.

    What Is The Plot Of ‘Clock’?

    Directed and written by Alexis Jacknow (‘Again’), ‘Clock’ is based on a short film by the same name, also directed and written by Jacknow. The short premiered on Hulu in 2020 as a part of its “Bite Size Huluween” lineup. The feature film is focused around Ella, a woman who has enrolled herself in a clinical trial to try and fix her seemingly broken biological clock after facing the pressure to have children from friends, family, and society.

    nui9pnRFUjvEC0i2hmaLT

    Who Is In The Cast Of ‘Clock’?

    ‘Clock’ stars Dianna Agron (‘Acidman’, ‘As They Made Us’) as Ella, Melora Hardin (‘Self/less’) as Dr. Elizabeth Simmons, and Jay Ali (‘The Illegal’) as Ella’s husband Aidan. The film also stars Grace Porter (‘Spoiler Alert’) as Shauna, and Saul Rubinek (‘True Romance’) as Ella’s father Joseph.

    Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with writer/director Alexis Jacknow about her latest film, expanding the story from a short film, her own experience facing the societal pressure to have children, and what attracts her to the horror genre.

    'Clock' writer and director Alexis Jacknow.
    ‘Clock’ writer and director Alexis Jacknow.

    Moviefone: Alexis, this movie really hits close to home, and I think that many women who will be seeing this are going to feel the same way. Can you talk about your creative process and your writing process for the movie?

    Alexis Jacknow: Yeah. Well, the movie was initially based on a short that I made a couple of years ago, but it took over a very different storyline once I was asked to develop it into a feature-length. And it was an incredibly personal story for me. I struggled for many, many years about whether or not I wanted to have children. It was absolutely the thing that was keeping me up at night and tormenting me, and I just felt that that was a really great place to write a horror story from.

    MF: Let’s talk about the short, because it’s based on essentially the same experience and the theme surrounding the “biological clock”. Can you talk about the biggest challenge you had taking that idea and that short film and expanding it to feature filming length?

    AJ: Well, the short was really about the moment that a woman’s “biological clock” kicks in, and I know nobody can see us. We keep putting that in air quotes because, and I know that that’s actually not a real thing. It’s something that some man made up in the 70s. The short is about the moment that a woman’s biological clock kicks in, and then really the compromises she has to make between family and career. But to sustain it as a feature, I was really more interested in exploring something that was a little more personal to me, which was the idea of a woman who didn’t want children and was shouldering the burden of what society was throwing at her, what her culture was throwing at her, friends, family, et cetera, and having to unpack that over the course of 90 minutes.

    Dianna Agron as Ella Patel in Hulu's 'Clock.'
    Dianna Agron as Ella Patel in Hulu’s ‘Clock.’

    MF:  At any time during the writing process, did it feel almost therapeutic putting it on paper and making it into this other tangible thing that is a film?

    AJ: I think the cathartic thing for me has been the audience response actually because I’ve had so many people reach out to me on social media or just after having seen the movie coming up to me in the world and just saying, “Thank you so much. Because I feel less alone now and I feel seen and I haven’t seen this character or this point of view represented in a movie before.” To me, that was the cathartic part, because art is not my therapy. Therapy is my therapy. So the catharsis of this movie for me personally was knowing yes, I can make features. I can direct movies. Great. Let’s keep going with this career. But I think on a larger scale, the best catharsis, the best good feeling coming through all of this has been seeing these people that have felt really marginalized or felt really alone, saying, “I feel less alone knowing that there is a community of people out there that feel the same way I do, and that it’s okay to talk about that.”

    MF: Is that what you want the audience to takeaway when they see this movie?

    AJ: Yeah. I mean, I just want people to feel less alone because it’s not a movie saying that women shouldn’t have children. It’s not a movie saying women should have children. It’s a movie saying, “We should leave women alone and let them choose their own paths and either support them along the way. Or if you can’t do that mind your own business.”

    Dianna Agron as Ella Patel in Hulu's 'Clock.'
    Dianna Agron as Ella Patel in Hulu’s ‘Clock.’

    MF: So let’s talk about your lead for the movie, Dianna Agron, who is absolutely fantastic and is in literally every single scene. Can you just talk about her performance and your experience working with her?

    AJ: Dianna was nothing short of a dream to work with. I got incredibly lucky with her. The thing that you pointed out about her being in every single scene and the performance that she gave becomes even more impressive when you understand the context of our movie being green-lit. Then we started prep two weeks later, so she got the script maybe two or three weeks before we started shooting. To take on 90-plus pages of that material, which is a wild ride for any actor, it’s a lot to chew on that part. To show up every single day in nothing short of a great mood and just fully committed to everything was a miracle. I mean, I just got so lucky to have her as my partner. I was very blessed to have her on this project.

    MF: What were the most challenging scenes for Dianna both emotionally and physically?

    AJ: She just went for it and there was nothing she wouldn’t do. She pushed me. Many times I said, “No, no, I don’t want you to do that. I have a safety concern about it. Or let me just take care of that in post.” She would very kindly ignore that and then do the thing. I think that the one thing that she didn’t love or that bothered her a little bit was the moment where she had to run towards the cliff and we had a great stunt team. We had her attached to a line and everything was obviously very safe, but that was the one stunt that she didn’t love doing. But you asked her to put her head two inches from a live tarantula. And she’s like, “Yeah, no problem.” So to each their own.

    Dianna Agron as Ella Patel in Hulu's 'Clock.'
    Dianna Agron as Ella Patel in Hulu’s ‘Clock.’

    Related Article: Female Directors: Iuli Gerbase Talks ‘The Pink Cloud’

    Moviefone: So the scene where she goes essentially diving off the side, that’s her?

    AJ: Well, we have a stunt performer, Joy (Dashnaw), but there are many shots of Dianna running towards the cliff, Dianna stopping short of the cliff. And then there is one take where no spoilers, but we did have a stuntwoman involved for one of those shots. Yeah.

    MF: There are a few really creepy elements in this movie.  Can you talk about creating the creature’s look and shape?

    AJ: I wanted her to be very looming. I mean, she’s really larger than life. The concept of her is larger than life. She’s taken over this idea of lineage and heritage and this idea of Judaism being passed through the mother. So to me, she had to be literally elongated and this long mouth, it’s almost like her past was trying to shout something to her to really be heard. And just the horror of feeling like you’ve maybe let down your ancestors who have been through so much and it just feels outsized to me. So that’s how the very tall woman came to be outsized as well.

    Writer and director Alexis Jacknow on the set of Hulu's 'Clock' with actresses Grace Porter and Dianna Agron.
    (L to R) Writer and director Alexis Jacknow on the set of Hulu’s ‘Clock’ with actresses Grace Porter and Dianna Agron.

    MF: I also love the way you played with color in this film. Everything was super vibrant including the way all the characters dressed until the third act when things get more muted. So what inspired you to approach it that way?

    AJ: Well, I knew that I would be directing it. So when I began writing it, I asked myself, “Well, what do you have in your tool belt visually as a director? What can you take away from her as a career woman to show that, because she’s betrayed herself, her career’s going to go down the tubes.” I thought about color, and that really played into my decision to make her an interior designer and not only an interior designer, but the “Color Authority.” That’s her jam. That’s what she’s known for as her eye for color. That was something I knew I could take away from her, which was not easily done because we did it both practically and in color. But if you look, like the first time we see her in the kitchen, she’s over this beautiful red pot with color everywhere in the kitchen. Then the second time we see her in the kitchen with Aiden, we’ve removed all the color from it. Everything’s replaced with black and white, et cetera. So a lot of that was done practically by my production designer, Kristin Gibler. Then the rest we took care of in color with my brilliant colorist Kath Leish.

    MF: I really love those touches. Even from the food, to the caviar and the eggs, the details, I really enjoyed seeing all of that. Can you talk about how you paid attention to all the little things in the background?

    AJ: Yeah. Well, the thing about the eggs that really just hit us hard later was Roe (v Wade) was overturned during the making of the movie. The movie starts on images of Roe and which is, of course, Roe (v Wade). And it just lends this whole other lens that we watch it through now that I hadn’t originally intended. But here we are.

    Melora Hardin as Dr. Elizabeth Simmons in Hulu's 'Clock.'
    Melora Hardin as Dr. Elizabeth Simmons in Hulu’s ‘Clock.’

    MF: What is it that attracts you to the horror genre?

    AJ: I just think it’s a really great way to make people sit up and pay attention. Horror gets eyes, people love horror. It’s entertaining. I don’t think that if I had written this as a straight indie drama about female body autonomy and women’s choice, that it may have even gotten made or that it certainly wouldn’t have gotten the amount of eyes on it that it has. So if you hide the vegetables, people are more likely to tune in. If you make it entertaining along the way, the messaging can still be in there.

    MF: Finally, what can we look forward to seeing from you next?

    AJ: That is hard to say considering the (writers’) strike, which I very much hope is resolved swiftly, and I’m out there picketing as much as I can be right now. I’m a member of multiple unions, so just staying in solidarity in this interview. But yeah, I have a couple of projects. I have one with 21 Laps movie called ‘The Blinding,’ which is also a horror film that I’m really excited about getting on its feet at some point. I do have an indie drama called ‘The Villager’ that I have a wonderful cast attached to. I am equally excited and passionate about that subject material as well.

    ‘Clock’ is now available exclusively on Hulu.

    Writer and director Alexis Jacknow on the set of Hulu's 'Clock.'
    Writer and director Alexis Jacknow on the set of Hulu’s ‘Clock.’

    Other Movies Similar to ‘Clock’:

    Buy Dianna Agron Movies On Amazon

    ‘Clock’ is produced by 20th Digital Studio, and currently available on Hulu.

  • ‘Acidman’ Interview: Thomas Haden Church

    82Z0OckB

    Opening in theaters and On Demand March 31st is the new sci-fi drama ‘Acidman’ from writer and director Alex Lehmann.

    What is the plot of ‘Acidman?’

    ‘Acidman’ follows Lloyd (Thomas Haden Church), a reclusive man who lives in a home in the middle of nowhere searching for UFOs. He is estranged from his daughter Maggie (Dianna Agron) and has been given the nickname “Acidman” by the locals. One day his daughter Maggie arrives, having painstakingly tracked him down in order to visit with him and pass along some important news. It’s when Maggie travels with Lloyd to search for UFOs at night that she realizes how much his mental health has deteriorated.

    vBCNCq5vrvhSbhecBvVv52

    Who is in the cast of ‘Acidman?’

    ‘Acidman’ stars Oscar nominee Thomas Haden Church (‘Sideways,’ ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’) as Lloyd, Dianna Agron (‘As They Made Us’) as Maggie, and Sameerah Luqmaan-Harris (‘Mother’s Milk’).

    Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Thomas Haden Church about his work on ‘Acidman,’ juggling rehearsal time with his ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ schedule, collaborating with director Alex Lehmann, and working with actress Dianna Agron.

    Thomas Haden Church as Lloyd in director Alex Lehmann's 'Acidman.'
    Thomas Haden Church as Lloyd in director Alex Lehmann’s ‘Acidman.’

    You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Church and Dianna Agron.

    Moviefone: To begin with, what was your experience like making this movie and did you have a lot of rehearsal time before you began shooting?

    Thomas Haden Church: One of the crazy things about it is that I was sent the script in the summer of ’20 when we were all taking a big bite out of the COVID sandwich. But Alex Lehmann really felt like, “This is so small, we can do it during the pandemic. We can do it. We’ll all just get in a bubble and stay in our bubble.” But then it just kept getting push backed. Then I had this other huge project that I was also having to work on in a very fragmentary way, which was ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home.’ So logistically, it was like, “Can we do it?” I couldn’t take that much time away from working on ‘No Way Home,’ but as things kept getting pushed back on ‘Acidman,’ Dianna didn’t have anything and Alex didn’t have anything. So the beauty is that we spent nine months talking on the phone, getting on Zoom calls, seriously rehearsing, doing scene work, and doing script work.

    Thomas Haden Church as Lloyd and Dianna Agron as Maggie in director Alex Lehmann's 'Acidman.'
    (L to R) Thomas Haden Church as Lloyd and Dianna Agron as Maggie in director Alex Lehmann’s ‘Acidman.’

    MF: Can you talk about collaborating with director Alex Lehmann on set?

    THC: Alex would talk about how he wanted to shoot a sequence and we would give our input. But we had so much time to work on it, literally nine months of rehearsal. So by the time everything came together, Alex said, “I just want to get there and I want to capture the performances as fast as we can. We’re there, we’re ready. Both you and Dianna are absolutely peaking right at the exact time you need to be.”

    Dianna Agron as Maggie in director Alex Lehmann's 'Acidman.'
    Dianna Agron as Maggie in director Alex Lehmann’s ‘Acidman.’

    MF: Finally, what was your experience like acting opposite Dianna Agron?

    THC: She was perfect. She brought me into it. Dianna was lovely, professional, prepared. And given her life story with her father, but then also listening to my story with mine, Alex, with his dad, the three of us, we could take from each other’s real paternal stories, paternal child, adult stories and use it all and just weave it into the tapestry of Lloyd and Maggie’s relationship.

    Dianna Agron as Maggie and Thomas Haden Church as Lloyd in director Alex Lehmann's 'Acidman.'
    (L to R) Dianna Agron as Maggie and Thomas Haden Church as Lloyd in director Alex Lehmann’s ‘Acidman.’

    Other Movies Similar to ‘Acidman:’

    Buy Tickets: ‘Acidman’ Movie Showtimes

    Where to Stream and Watch: ‘Acidman’

    Buy Thomas Haden Church Movies On Amazon

     

  • Dianna Agron Talks ‘As They Made Us’

    Dianna Agron and Simon Helberg
    (L to R) Dianna Agron and Simon Helberg in ‘As They Made Us.’

    Opening in theaters and VOD/Digital on April 8th is the new comedy-drama ‘As They Made Us,’ which marks the directorial debut of ‘The Big Bang Theory’ actress Mayim Bialik.

    The film stars Dianna Agron (‘Glee’) as Abigail, a single mother who is forced to care for her dying father, Eugene (Dustin Hoffman). The experience brings out hidden emotions from her troubled childhood, including her resentment towards her abusive father and over bearing mother, Barbara (Candice Bergan).

    Now, with her father’s condition worsening, Abigail must locate her estranged brother Nathan (Simon Helberg), who turned his back on them years ago, in order to bring her family back together one last time.

    Actress and singer Dianna Agron first gained attention for her role as Quinn Fabray on ‘Glee,’ but has also been featured on other hit TV shows like ‘Veronica Mars,’ and ‘Heroes.’ On the big screen she has appeared in such popular films as ‘Burlesque,’ ‘I Am Number Four,’ ‘The Family’ and ‘Ralph Breaks the Internet.’

    Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Dianna Agron about her work on ‘As They Made Us.’ The popular actress discussed her new movie, her character, playing Dustin Hoffman’s daughter, reuniting with Candice Bergan, creating a brother/sister relationship with Simon Helberg, and being directed by Mayim Bialik.

    dvDmKZIR

    You can read the full interview below, or watch a video of the interview in the player above.

    Moviefone: To begin with, can you talk about your character Abigail, and her unusual relationship to her family?

    Dianna Agron: Yeah, it’s a complex one. So, my character Abigail is kind of really enmeshed herself in all of her family’s pain and trauma and has centered herself in this world in which she takes it upon herself to try to fix so much of what is sometimes unfixable within her family structure.

    What this movie really is exploring is the issues with mental health and establishing boundaries, and grief, loss, and how that moves through a family, both singularly, your singular experience, and then the group experience and what that means and what that looks like.

    Moviefone: Can you talk about the experience Abigail has taking care of her dying father, and what was it like working on those scenes with the legendary Dustin Hoffman?

    DA: My father’s been unwell for more years of my life than he’s been well. So, there was a lot of personal truth I was able to bring to the character. It’s very hard to witness your parent’s cognitive and physical downfall, especially when you have experienced them in whatever way you’ve experienced them and that is not something that you want to be confronted with.

    Ultimately it just takes so much strength, and you deal with it as best as you can. So, I think having that experience myself, it definitely helped bring that sense to the character.

    Then working with somebody like Dustin is so incredible because he is on from the moment he steps in the room. I remember our first rehearsal, we were reading through something and tears were falling from his eyes, and I just thought, I’m really going to have to bring this. We are not playing around.

    I think being surrounded by such incredible actors that just really know how to draw all kinds of emotions out and surprise you in scenes is just the biggest gift. It was so wonderful to be working with Candice again. I had done a film with her about 10 years ago where she had also played my mother, so that was a really fun additional bonus in this film.

    Dianna Agron and Dustin Hoffman
    (L to R) Dianna Agron and Dustin Hoffman in ‘As They Made Us.’

    MF: Since you had experience playing Candice Bergan’s daughter in another movie, was it easy to recreate that dynamic with her on this project?

    DA: No, because I think 10 years is a really long time, and when I shot that other film where she played my mother, I was such a small part of that cast. So, I wouldn’t say that we had an enormous amount of time to really get into the weeds of a friendship. We were just making this indie film where everything was fast and furious. So, while I had such a great fondness for that experience and her, this movie was really our chance to get to know each other so much better.

    That was the other thing that I enjoyed so much, with both Candace and Dustin, their storytelling is just the most compelling thing. You can ask them about every aspect of their career and working on specific projects. We would ask about some of the discoveries that were made along the way that really left lasting impressions in all of our minds, and all of those characters and films. So, I really relished every day that I got to go to set and ask anything that I wanted to.

    MF: What was it like working with Simon Helberg on the unusual brother/sister relationship between your two characters?

    DA: I think it’s interesting. I have a brother and we are incredibly close, and yet there are times, just be it work, life, et cetera, where we will go surprisingly a few weeks without talking to each other. Those few weeks sometimes feel like a year depending on what is going on in our worlds. I think kind of pulling from that aspect of having my own sibling that I care so much about, we are so different, and how we move and pass each other in our own life experiences, that was helpful.

    Then Simon’s just such an incredible actor and we really, I think, trusted each other. I mean, speaking from my own experience, I really trusted him. So, I was so pleased to always play and see what that felt like. That friction always felt so monumental when it was there. The love felt so palpable when it was there.

    There’s one scene in particular that I think is one of the hardest scenes. It was one of the hardest scenes to shoot in the movie and one of the ones I’m most proud of, and it’s the scene with Simon. I have such love for this whole team and that experience. It was really rewarding.

    Simon Helberg, Candice Bergan, Dustin Hoffman, Mayim Bialik, and Dianna Agron on set
    (L to R) Simon Helberg, Candice Bergan, Dustin Hoffman, Mayim Bialik, and Dianna Agron on the set of ‘As They Made Us.’

    MF: Finally, can you talk about working with director Mayim Bialik and watching her execute her vision for this film?

    DA: We first met on a Zoom meeting, and she was very generous with her own personal stories and why this movie meant so much to her. We both shared in that way very deeply, and very quickly. That is just how she is. She comes to set and while she knew everything that she wanted to achieve in every scene, she’s very open and can really help you understand everything that needs to be achieved in those scenes and what was very meaningful to her.

    There were also moments that I really loved where we would set up the camera in a wider shot, and there was not going to be any cutting between the scene. In that sense, those experiences and those moments felt much more like stage work, which is incredible because you think, okay, I’m bringing this bag of tricks. I know what my character wants in the scene. I know what they’re trying to achieve. I know where the emotional core has to hit from.

    Then you really have to focus and access all those things and know that that take that you just shot might be the one take that’s used in that moment, and that’s really thrilling. I loved that she added that aspect of filmmaking into our project.

    GItA7idJ9yIjLzsPkIkoj7