WEBVTT - Language Lessons and Plan B with Natalie Morales 0:00:00.240 --> 0:00:01.520 So you convinced these Zulu people. 0:00:01.600 --> 0:00:04.160 Yeah, I convinced the Whola people and now and then 0:00:04.160 --> 0:00:05.080 we're going to make a movie. 0:00:05.080 --> 0:00:07.080 And then they're like, oh yeah, IRUs. 0:00:07.360 --> 0:00:10.799 We were like fully prepping. Our shoot date was like 0:00:10.880 --> 0:00:15.280 March fifteenth, twenty twenty. We were ready to go, and yeah, 0:00:15.320 --> 0:00:17.720 we got shut down, which was very depressing for me, 0:00:17.760 --> 0:00:18.680 but like, also. 0:00:19.000 --> 0:00:20.720 You know where we going to survive? What was going 0:00:20.760 --> 0:00:21.400 to happen, the. 0:00:21.360 --> 0:00:21.959 Whole world was. 0:00:22.560 --> 0:00:23.680 It was very crazy. 0:00:24.000 --> 0:00:26.720 And then sometime in June we got totally shut down. 0:00:26.800 --> 0:00:29.760 And so in May Mark was like, what are you doing. 0:00:30.040 --> 0:00:31.760 I was like, I don't know, sitting in my house, 0:00:31.760 --> 0:00:34.479 what are eating? And He's like, I had this germ 0:00:34.520 --> 0:00:35.879 of an idea. What do you think of it. 0:00:35.920 --> 0:00:38.600 He's like, I've been taking Spanish classes online and I 0:00:38.600 --> 0:00:41.040 thought maybe we could make a movie about that. And 0:00:41.080 --> 0:00:44.239 I was like okay, And so we wrote it. We 0:00:44.240 --> 0:00:45.519 didn't know what it was going to be, but we 0:00:45.520 --> 0:00:47.519 were like, let's figure this out and we shot it 0:00:47.560 --> 0:00:48.720 in four afternoons in. 0:00:48.680 --> 0:00:49.280 Like one night. 0:00:50.440 --> 0:00:51.200 The whole film. 0:00:51.240 --> 0:00:54.400 The whole film, Yeah, I know. 0:01:02.720 --> 0:01:04.959 Welcome to more than a movie, a podcast that gives 0:01:04.959 --> 0:01:07.160 you a behind the scenes look at your favorite movies. 0:01:07.440 --> 0:01:10.600 I'm your host, Alex Fumeroro. Last season we did a 0:01:10.640 --> 0:01:13.560 deep dive on American met This season, I'll focus on 0:01:13.560 --> 0:01:17.640 a different movie. Each episode, feature interviews with the biggest actors, directors, writers, 0:01:17.640 --> 0:01:20.200 and producers behind them, and tap into the history of 0:01:20.280 --> 0:01:33.000 Latinos in film. It's twenty twenty one and the world 0:01:33.120 --> 0:01:36.479 is shut down by COVID. A lot of us get 0:01:36.520 --> 0:01:40.720 really good at baking bread and killing plants, but my 0:01:40.840 --> 0:01:44.440 guest today had a much busier year than most. In fact, 0:01:44.680 --> 0:01:47.240 she did something that I've kind of never heard of before. 0:01:47.920 --> 0:01:51.720 She had a dual directorial debut. It's kind of like 0:01:51.960 --> 0:01:54.480 when back in the day people would release double albums 0:01:54.680 --> 0:01:57.440 like The Wall by Pink Floyd or Melancholy and the 0:01:57.480 --> 0:02:01.320 Infinite Sadness, Except Natalie Morale is a lot less emo 0:02:01.400 --> 0:02:02.800 than Billy Corgan, and from what. 0:02:02.760 --> 0:02:04.720 I've heard, a lot easier to work with. 0:02:05.520 --> 0:02:07.880 I asked her here today to talk about those two movies, 0:02:08.080 --> 0:02:11.080 language lessons and Plan B and how the fuck she 0:02:11.120 --> 0:02:13.359 managed to make two movies in one year. 0:02:17.280 --> 0:02:17.440 Hi. 0:02:17.880 --> 0:02:19.720 Hi, I'm Natalie. 0:02:19.800 --> 0:02:23.120 Hi, Hi Natalie, what's up? You and I have some 0:02:23.200 --> 0:02:23.880 things in common? 0:02:23.919 --> 0:02:24.320 We do? 0:02:24.720 --> 0:02:28.160 You are from Miami. Yes, I'm also from Miami. Where 0:02:28.160 --> 0:02:29.120 did you grow up in Miami? 0:02:29.280 --> 0:02:32.640 Westchester? That's how I say. 0:02:32.840 --> 0:02:35.600 I spent a lot of although, like, listen, whoever is 0:02:35.639 --> 0:02:36.359 updating Miami? 0:02:36.919 --> 0:02:37.440 Not Miami? 0:02:37.480 --> 0:02:39.640 Be my Wikipedia, which I don't know who it is 0:02:39.639 --> 0:02:41.320 and I don't know how to do it, says Kendall. 0:02:41.360 --> 0:02:43.080 And so everyone thinks I'm from Kendall and I'm not 0:02:43.120 --> 0:02:43.720 from Kendall. 0:02:43.960 --> 0:02:45.320 So you're growing up in Westchester? 0:02:45.520 --> 0:02:47.680 Was it like, from a little girl you wanted to 0:02:47.680 --> 0:02:48.520 be an actress? 0:02:48.560 --> 0:02:48.880 Oh? 0:02:49.000 --> 0:02:51.960 No, No, I didn't know even that I could, right. 0:02:52.120 --> 0:02:54.919 I mean, I think there was always a performance aspect 0:02:55.120 --> 0:02:58.640 to me. I used to do magic for my family, 0:02:58.760 --> 0:03:00.800 used to make them sit and watch me do magic. 0:03:01.320 --> 0:03:05.320 And I remember begging my mom. I saw like something 0:03:05.560 --> 0:03:08.680 for an audition for some kids show. I don't know 0:03:08.680 --> 0:03:10.200 if it was a live show at play, I don't 0:03:10.200 --> 0:03:12.760 know what it was, but I saw a poster somewhere 0:03:12.760 --> 0:03:15.480 that said like kids show auditions whatever, and I begged 0:03:15.520 --> 0:03:18.240 my mom to take me. And then my mom's not 0:03:18.280 --> 0:03:20.079 a show mom. She was like, okay, it's at this time, 0:03:20.240 --> 0:03:23.239 we'll go there. And they were like, okay, what song 0:03:23.240 --> 0:03:25.360 are you going to sing? And I was like what 0:03:25.639 --> 0:03:27.680 and they were like, did you not prepare any song? 0:03:27.800 --> 0:03:29.400 And I was standing on this stage and I think 0:03:29.400 --> 0:03:31.920 I was like seven or eight, and I didn't know 0:03:31.960 --> 0:03:32.359 that you had. 0:03:32.560 --> 0:03:34.520 I didn't know. I had no idea that. I just 0:03:34.560 --> 0:03:36.520 was like, I'm here, what do you want me to do? 0:03:36.840 --> 0:03:38.080 I'm funny with my family. 0:03:38.480 --> 0:03:40.560 And they were like, okay, you don't have anything prepared, 0:03:40.600 --> 0:03:42.640 and they told me some Spanish song that I didn't know, 0:03:43.000 --> 0:03:44.600 and then they were like, okay, why don't you just 0:03:44.600 --> 0:03:45.840 sing I will love Youse Love. 0:03:45.760 --> 0:03:46.640 You by Whitney Houston. 0:03:46.680 --> 0:03:49.880 And I was like, oh, just that okay, And of 0:03:49.920 --> 0:03:52.480 course I didn't remember it and botched it. 0:03:52.520 --> 0:03:53.960 I was like seven, I'm not a singer. 0:03:55.720 --> 0:03:57.520 And they were like okay, thanks, And I remember that 0:03:57.600 --> 0:03:59.320 being like, I guess I'm not a performer. I guess 0:03:59.400 --> 0:04:02.400 that's not for me. But that was like the extent 0:04:02.480 --> 0:04:03.440 of it when I was a kid. 0:04:03.560 --> 0:04:07.800 Yeah, what a way to like almost ruin your entire life. 0:04:07.880 --> 0:04:12.240 Yeah yeah, I just set the bar super well. Yeah, 0:04:11.680 --> 0:04:12.840 yeah exactly. 0:04:13.360 --> 0:04:17.040 And then so I read that you eventually go to 0:04:17.040 --> 0:04:20.440 a high school that has like a performing arts program 0:04:20.520 --> 0:04:24.560 or just I went to Southwest Southwest Okay, yeah, what 0:04:24.760 --> 0:04:26.680 school did you go to? I went to Ransom Everything. 0:04:27.000 --> 0:04:29.400 Yes you did, yes, yeah, yeah. 0:04:29.200 --> 0:04:30.400 We all wore ascots. 0:04:32.440 --> 0:04:36.839 So you went to Southwest But like you did productions there? 0:04:37.120 --> 0:04:37.920 Yeah, they did. They. 0:04:37.960 --> 0:04:40.200 I was never cast in anything. I mean that's not true. 0:04:40.240 --> 0:04:42.599 Not for a while, not for a long time. I 0:04:42.600 --> 0:04:44.159 had to beg to be cast in things. I was 0:04:44.160 --> 0:04:46.440 never cast in anything at FYU when I was at 0:04:46.560 --> 0:04:48.440 FIU Theater ever, So. 0:04:48.440 --> 0:04:51.479 Like, do you have formal training or are you just 0:04:51.560 --> 0:04:56.960 one of those horribly obnoxious people with innate talent training? 0:04:57.000 --> 0:05:00.360 And what film? It's going to be the latter, But filmmaking, No, 0:05:00.480 --> 0:05:01.839 I don't acting. 0:05:01.880 --> 0:05:04.680 I feel like you could just be talented. But like filmmaking, 0:05:05.200 --> 0:05:08.440 there's like a lot of elements to that. Ye that 0:05:08.480 --> 0:05:11.760 are technical. Yeah, so how do you When do you 0:05:11.839 --> 0:05:14.360 start to learn those elements? 0:05:14.400 --> 0:05:17.159 It was really just being on set as an actor 0:05:17.279 --> 0:05:21.560 and just paying attention and watching and honestly reading books 0:05:21.600 --> 0:05:24.360 and being a really big Buster Keaton fan and learning 0:05:24.400 --> 0:05:26.359 a lot about the history of film. And yeah, I 0:05:26.440 --> 0:05:29.920 just like for so long was like always asking questions 0:05:29.960 --> 0:05:32.240 on every department of why they did things and what 0:05:32.279 --> 0:05:34.120 they did things. And there's still a lot I don't know, 0:05:34.320 --> 0:05:37.320 and I'm like, I need to know that. There's things 0:05:37.320 --> 0:05:39.120 that I'm like, yeah, you got that. I'm focusing on 0:05:39.160 --> 0:05:41.039 this other stuff and I'm fine with it. I don't 0:05:41.080 --> 0:05:46.960 really feel like my lack of knowledge in some technical 0:05:47.000 --> 0:05:50.040 parts that are not my department prohibits me from directing. 0:05:50.080 --> 0:05:50.279 Well. 0:05:50.480 --> 0:05:53.719 I mean clearly not thank you, thank you, But people 0:05:53.720 --> 0:05:55.480 will make you feel that way. People will make you 0:05:55.480 --> 0:05:58.160 feel that way, especially if you're a woman, especially if 0:05:58.160 --> 0:06:00.360 you're young, especially if you didn't go to film school. 0:06:00.839 --> 0:06:05.080 And I really think that like good directing, it doesn't 0:06:05.400 --> 0:06:10.040 mean that you know every single lens and exactly what 0:06:10.120 --> 0:06:12.320 it looks like without looking through you know what I mean. Like, 0:06:12.560 --> 0:06:14.520 it doesn't mean that it's a lot more to it, 0:06:14.680 --> 0:06:16.159 but it's a craft. 0:06:16.320 --> 0:06:19.920 And it sounds like you learned not only by doing, 0:06:20.000 --> 0:06:23.839 but also by just being on set and being curious. 0:06:24.839 --> 0:06:27.839 Talk to me about those early I mean, you were 0:06:27.839 --> 0:06:32.880 on some pretty cool shows fairly early on, right eventually, 0:06:32.920 --> 0:06:35.280 I mean like Parks and rec you know, but there's 0:06:35.320 --> 0:06:39.520 like The Grinder, Santa Clarita, diet films like Wall Street, Money, 0:06:39.520 --> 0:06:42.960 Never Sleep, Yeah please, So you're on these sets with 0:06:43.360 --> 0:06:47.080 incredibly talented people, I mean, including Frekin Oliver Stone. Talk 0:06:47.120 --> 0:06:51.080 us for someone that doesn't know how the evolution of 0:06:51.120 --> 0:06:54.599 an acting career works. How did you go from someone 0:06:54.640 --> 0:06:58.760 who wasn't getting roles at FIU to like, suddenly your 0:06:59.400 --> 0:07:05.920 parks and rec Bravado, Bravado just walk in and you're like, yeah. 0:07:05.320 --> 0:07:07.000 Flag that Bravado. 0:07:07.200 --> 0:07:09.440 I will say that Bravado has gotten me a lot 0:07:09.520 --> 0:07:12.800 in my life. But I really did have like a 0:07:12.840 --> 0:07:13.200 why not? 0:07:13.400 --> 0:07:13.920 Why not me? 0:07:14.160 --> 0:07:16.440 And then I really did fake it till I made it. 0:07:16.560 --> 0:07:19.720 I guess I lied up and down on my resume. 0:07:20.000 --> 0:07:22.760 Any anything I could exaggerate on my resume I did. 0:07:23.720 --> 0:07:25.040 I was like, I just need to get. 0:07:24.880 --> 0:07:26.480 In the door. I just need to get in the door. 0:07:26.560 --> 0:07:28.800 Once I'm there, I can do the thing. But if 0:07:28.960 --> 0:07:31.040 anything's going to prevent me from getting in that door, 0:07:31.240 --> 0:07:33.360 that I could change that, No one's gonna double check 0:07:33.480 --> 0:07:34.240 why not do it? 0:07:34.600 --> 0:07:35.000 Sure? 0:07:35.400 --> 0:07:38.920 I can parachute, Sure I can I skate, Sure? 0:07:39.120 --> 0:07:40.800 Why not? I never got those jobs? 0:07:40.800 --> 0:07:43.360 But I think everyone does that on the resume. But yeah, 0:07:43.400 --> 0:07:46.240 my best friend Serena and I moved out here. She's 0:07:46.240 --> 0:07:49.400 still my writing partner and my performing partner, and you know, 0:07:49.480 --> 0:07:52.040 my life partner and anyways, but we moved out here 0:07:52.040 --> 0:07:55.320 together and I had this really absurd sense of confidence 0:07:55.320 --> 0:07:57.720 where I was like, Okay, we get out there, within 0:07:57.760 --> 0:08:00.680 a month, we'll have agents, and then another month we'll 0:08:00.720 --> 0:08:02.680 be on TV and then it'll be fine. And it 0:08:02.720 --> 0:08:04.520 didn't exactly work out that way, but I did book 0:08:04.560 --> 0:08:07.400 The first thing I ever auditioned for, the first audition 0:08:07.520 --> 0:08:09.440 I did was a McDonald's commercial, and I booked it, 0:08:09.480 --> 0:08:13.480 which really kind of was like, Hey, this mentality is 0:08:13.480 --> 0:08:14.160 not far off. 0:08:14.320 --> 0:08:15.000 You're gonna do. 0:08:15.000 --> 0:08:18.000 This coming up. 0:08:18.240 --> 0:08:21.400 Natalie Morales tells us how Bravado took her from selling 0:08:21.400 --> 0:08:24.520 mattresses on Craigslist to starring in her own TV show 0:08:24.600 --> 0:08:28.080 on NBC. One thing Bravado can't do, though, is get 0:08:28.200 --> 0:08:29.280 rid of commercials. 0:08:29.800 --> 0:08:30.840 Nope, we'll be. 0:08:30.840 --> 0:08:34.160 Putting those in these podcasts until mister iHeart says I've 0:08:34.160 --> 0:08:36.640 paid him back for that thing I owe him. 0:08:36.720 --> 0:08:49.680 Until then, We'll be right back. Welcome back. 0:08:49.720 --> 0:08:52.920 We're talking with Natalie Morales about her start in Hollywood 0:08:53.000 --> 0:08:55.240 and how she landed her first leading role on a 0:08:55.240 --> 0:08:57.800 show created by Mike Shure, the same guy who did 0:08:57.800 --> 0:08:59.280 The Office, Parks and rec. 0:08:59.240 --> 0:09:02.320 And The Good Place so yeah, I mean I did 0:09:02.559 --> 0:09:04.920 have lots of weird jobs for a long time. I 0:09:05.000 --> 0:09:09.200 was a bartender and a waiter and sold mattresses on Craigslist, 0:09:09.240 --> 0:09:12.720 and I took headshots of people like I just I. 0:09:12.679 --> 0:09:13.480 Was like, hustled. 0:09:13.600 --> 0:09:16.360 Yeah, I hustled. I hustled a lot. And then yeah, 0:09:16.360 --> 0:09:18.840 I just did commercials and. 0:09:19.400 --> 0:09:21.720 I got my first guest star spot, and then I 0:09:21.720 --> 0:09:24.880 got this show called The Middleman, which was a huge 0:09:25.040 --> 0:09:26.840 break for me, and also was a thing where I 0:09:26.920 --> 0:09:29.439 was like, this is mine. Like I saw that come 0:09:29.440 --> 0:09:31.960 in and I was like, this is mine, and I 0:09:32.040 --> 0:09:33.800 was like, there's no way I'm not getting this. 0:09:34.000 --> 0:09:35.559 And I felt that way about a few roles. 0:09:35.559 --> 0:09:38.240 I felt that way about Abby's too, where I was like, 0:09:38.840 --> 0:09:41.960 obviously a role named Abby was not written for a 0:09:42.040 --> 0:09:45.080 Latina woman or me. No, but I was like, that 0:09:45.200 --> 0:09:47.000 is mine. That is a new mic Sure show. I 0:09:47.040 --> 0:09:49.440 am taking this, I am auditioning for this. This is mine. 0:09:49.760 --> 0:09:50.840 It's interesting you say that. 0:09:50.920 --> 0:09:54.120 I mean, well, first I really want to talk about Abby, 0:09:54.200 --> 0:09:57.559 so I also want to talk about roles that are 0:09:57.720 --> 0:10:01.440 quote unquote meant for you. Right, You've talked in interviews 0:10:01.480 --> 0:10:04.360 about having to having a feeling of having to like 0:10:04.440 --> 0:10:08.839 neutralize your accent. I ask about that because I feel 0:10:08.840 --> 0:10:11.520 like there was a time in Hollywood, and maybe it's 0:10:11.520 --> 0:10:13.440 still going on, maybe it isn't, and maybe there's something 0:10:13.520 --> 0:10:15.400 you can talk about, but there was very much a 0:10:15.440 --> 0:10:19.080 time where like hiding your identity almost trying to find 0:10:19.080 --> 0:10:20.280 proximity to whiteness. 0:10:20.440 --> 0:10:21.640 Well, yeah, if you could. 0:10:21.800 --> 0:10:24.000 You had definitely something I discovered, and I know exactly 0:10:24.000 --> 0:10:27.679 what you're talking about. That's definitely something I realized about myself. Honestly, 0:10:27.679 --> 0:10:30.720 in twenty twenty, I had this huge realization that I 0:10:30.760 --> 0:10:35.920 had been unconsciously or consciously sort of like code switching 0:10:36.440 --> 0:10:41.400 and making myself palatable and honestly, to be kinder to myself. 0:10:41.600 --> 0:10:43.480 It was the only way to get a job. 0:10:43.800 --> 0:10:45.839 Even though, like I knew that there were people from 0:10:45.880 --> 0:10:48.199 my community who are funnier than me, who are more 0:10:48.240 --> 0:10:50.439 brilliant than I am. But I would look at them 0:10:50.480 --> 0:10:52.520 and I'd go, you're dumb because you're not doing what 0:10:52.520 --> 0:10:53.679 they want you to do and you're not going to 0:10:53.720 --> 0:10:57.120 get this job. And instead of going, oh, the people 0:10:57.200 --> 0:11:01.520 that are casting don't have the breast of experience to 0:11:01.640 --> 0:11:04.480 know that these people are funnier, better and more interesting 0:11:04.520 --> 0:11:07.600 because always the people that are casting are white, and 0:11:07.760 --> 0:11:11.320 you know, I knew comedy, and I knew specifically, like 0:11:11.760 --> 0:11:13.880 how to land the joke in the way that they wanted. 0:11:14.000 --> 0:11:15.640 Is it necessarily the way that I would do it? 0:11:15.679 --> 0:11:18.280 Is it my comedy? Did I lose some of myself 0:11:18.360 --> 0:11:18.640 in that? 0:11:18.800 --> 0:11:19.240 For sure? 0:11:19.440 --> 0:11:21.760 Did I wear the color red ever to an audition 0:11:21.840 --> 0:11:24.840 for the first like twelve years of me being here? No, 0:11:25.280 --> 0:11:27.840 because I thought I looked to Latina, no hoop earings, 0:11:27.920 --> 0:11:31.080 no red, specifically because I didn't want to get type 0:11:31.080 --> 0:11:34.319 cast and I don't fit into the types that Latinas 0:11:34.320 --> 0:11:36.840 were cast in. I was like, Okay, how can I 0:11:36.840 --> 0:11:40.200 be this more palatable version of a Latina? I think 0:11:40.240 --> 0:11:43.120 that there are people who can get away with being 0:11:43.320 --> 0:11:47.840 absolutely themselves and uncompromising and still sneak into these like 0:11:48.000 --> 0:11:52.160 great comedies, but it is so rare is and you 0:11:52.200 --> 0:11:54.440 can't do it if you're not playing some big character. 0:11:55.080 --> 0:11:56.760 And I was like, I want to be the girl 0:11:56.800 --> 0:11:57.040 in this. 0:11:57.200 --> 0:11:58.840 I want to be whatever I can do in this, 0:11:59.000 --> 0:12:01.040 and to do that, I have to know what they want, 0:12:01.080 --> 0:12:04.320 and what they want isn't authentically me. But I'm an actor, 0:12:04.400 --> 0:12:06.400 so I'm gonna do it. Anyway, because I know what 0:12:06.480 --> 0:12:09.840 they want. And it was this really weird realization that 0:12:09.920 --> 0:12:11.920 I had because I felt sad about it, and I 0:12:11.960 --> 0:12:15.240 felt that it was something that was necessary for me 0:12:15.360 --> 0:12:16.920 to do in order to get to where I am, 0:12:16.960 --> 0:12:19.360 and that also was necessary for me to realize I 0:12:19.400 --> 0:12:21.480 was doing it so that I could stop doing it 0:12:21.600 --> 0:12:25.480 now that I feel like I am well known enough 0:12:25.480 --> 0:12:28.080 at least among my peers. And by the way, it's 0:12:28.080 --> 0:12:29.880 not a huge difference. I'm not putting on a voice 0:12:30.000 --> 0:12:32.160 right now. This is how I actually talk. But like 0:12:32.200 --> 0:12:34.320 I wear red and I wear Hooper rings all the time, 0:12:34.360 --> 0:12:35.959 and I'm like, you're wearing red right now. 0:12:36.040 --> 0:12:37.439 Yes, I am wearing red right now, and I'm wearing 0:12:37.480 --> 0:12:38.400 hoop peers. 0:12:38.880 --> 0:12:42.800 And I'm not afraid to be you know, quote unquote 0:12:42.800 --> 0:12:45.600 to Latina because that's not a thing for me or 0:12:45.640 --> 0:12:49.560 for anybody. And I want to sort of trojan horse 0:12:49.640 --> 0:12:53.079 that into Hollywood and into the roles that I've had. 0:12:53.160 --> 0:12:56.319 I've like snuck in here and been like in all 0:12:56.360 --> 0:13:00.480 these mainstream comedies as the you know, hap to be 0:13:00.600 --> 0:13:01.640 Latina actor. 0:13:01.800 --> 0:13:03.440 Right, So that's kind. 0:13:03.360 --> 0:13:05.120 Of what I want to talk about, is like in 0:13:05.160 --> 0:13:08.880 that trojan horsing you find your way in how then 0:13:09.080 --> 0:13:09.440 do you go? 0:13:09.520 --> 0:13:09.840 Okay? 0:13:09.920 --> 0:13:12.160 We wrote this role Abby for someone who was not 0:13:12.280 --> 0:13:14.480 like me. I would like this to be more like me. 0:13:14.760 --> 0:13:15.440 How does that work? 0:13:15.520 --> 0:13:15.679 Yeah? 0:13:15.720 --> 0:13:16.400 I mean luckily. 0:13:16.559 --> 0:13:18.520 The people that I worked with on that show were 0:13:18.800 --> 0:13:23.640 awesome and Josh Melmouthen and Mike sure like, we're so 0:13:23.960 --> 0:13:26.960 responsive to making this character real. For example, there's an 0:13:26.960 --> 0:13:30.880 episode where where they find Abby's male and they realize 0:13:30.880 --> 0:13:34.800 what her real name is, because again, Abi Gail is 0:13:34.840 --> 0:13:35.120 not a. 0:13:35.120 --> 0:13:37.920 Name you would really hear, but if you did. For Cubans, 0:13:37.960 --> 0:13:40.640 that's how it would be pronounced, which is awful. 0:13:41.640 --> 0:13:44.200 So they had written this storyline about her dad and 0:13:44.240 --> 0:13:47.600 her having a fraught relationship with her dad, and I 0:13:47.679 --> 0:13:50.439 was like, I love the idea that he named her 0:13:50.559 --> 0:13:53.880 after himself, and he has arguably one of the funniest 0:13:53.920 --> 0:13:56.240 Cuban names, which is Abe Laddo. And I was like, 0:13:56.320 --> 0:13:59.640 if her name is Abe lad that's so funny to me, 0:13:59.800 --> 0:14:01.920 and I think that that's a hilarious name to find 0:14:01.960 --> 0:14:04.720 out that your friend Abby is named Abe Ladda, which 0:14:04.760 --> 0:14:08.160 is what we named it. They were awesome and I 0:14:08.200 --> 0:14:10.560 did audition for the part. It wasn't written for me, 0:14:10.679 --> 0:14:12.880 nor was it offered to me. But I think once 0:14:12.920 --> 0:14:15.160 they pictured me in it, they wanted to make it 0:14:15.200 --> 0:14:17.719 as me as possible. And they also saw it in 0:14:17.760 --> 0:14:19.480 the same way that I did, which is like, it's 0:14:19.560 --> 0:14:21.600 just one part of her, just like the character was 0:14:21.640 --> 0:14:24.120 also by. It was the first by lead character of 0:14:24.160 --> 0:14:26.760 a show openly by, and it was like that was 0:14:26.840 --> 0:14:28.720 just one part of her. She's also a veteran, that's 0:14:29.000 --> 0:14:31.280 just one part of her. But mostly she's just Abby, 0:14:31.280 --> 0:14:34.120 a friend to these people at this bar. And I'm 0:14:34.120 --> 0:14:35.920 glad that they saw it like that because I think 0:14:36.000 --> 0:14:39.880 so often, especially honestly, when it's white creators of a 0:14:39.920 --> 0:14:43.680 show making a show about LATINX people or about non 0:14:43.680 --> 0:14:48.760 white people, the stereotyping and the like extraness of like 0:14:49.320 --> 0:14:55.720 how to overdo the Latinidad of them is grading to metally. 0:14:55.920 --> 0:14:57.440 I'm very glad that they saw it. 0:14:57.400 --> 0:14:57.760 Like I did. 0:14:58.000 --> 0:15:01.520 Do you feel like I mean the show was camped unfortunate? Yes, 0:15:01.600 --> 0:15:03.760 and de for Crystal A. Lonzo talk about this, I've 0:15:03.760 --> 0:15:06.760 heard other people talk about like they make these shows 0:15:06.880 --> 0:15:11.880 and then they don't necessarily get the same promotional support. 0:15:11.920 --> 0:15:14.120 Well, they did, it just got no promotional support. 0:15:14.240 --> 0:15:16.720 So the person who bought the show, the president of 0:15:16.760 --> 0:15:18.600 NBC at the time, left and then two new people 0:15:18.640 --> 0:15:20.840 came in, and they didn't want the stuff that the 0:15:20.840 --> 0:15:23.120 old guy bought, so they kind of like buried it 0:15:23.280 --> 0:15:27.680 and let it die, essentially, as like they couldn't immediately 0:15:27.720 --> 0:15:30.640 cancel something Mike sure did, but that was it. 0:15:30.680 --> 0:15:31.880 They didn't give it a shot. 0:15:31.960 --> 0:15:33.040 Yeah, so I'm curious. 0:15:33.040 --> 0:15:37.640 So you have this imaginably frustrating experience being the lead 0:15:37.680 --> 0:15:40.960 actor of a show. Did this in any way kind 0:15:40.960 --> 0:15:43.120 of drive you to focus more on wanting to be 0:15:43.120 --> 0:15:45.880 behind the camera and making your own work, directing, writing, 0:15:46.000 --> 0:15:47.560 controlling that aspect of it. 0:15:48.080 --> 0:15:49.400 I mean I always wanted to do that. 0:15:49.440 --> 0:15:53.440 I was always working towards that, but certainly, I mean, 0:15:53.800 --> 0:15:57.560 certainly it did, and then twenty twenty hapned. Yeah, but 0:15:57.560 --> 0:15:59.240 but yeah, it's always been part of the plan. 0:15:59.280 --> 0:16:01.040 I think, you know, I was directing before that. 0:16:01.120 --> 0:16:04.520 I started directing some short films, music videos and funnier 0:16:04.560 --> 0:16:06.720 die stuff, and then I did TV. I did some 0:16:06.760 --> 0:16:10.040 episodes of Room one O four on HBO before Abby's, 0:16:10.200 --> 0:16:12.440 so I was already going in that direction. But certainly 0:16:12.480 --> 0:16:15.200 this made me go, like, Okay, what else can I 0:16:15.240 --> 0:16:17.080 do here? Although like, I don't want to be an 0:16:17.080 --> 0:16:18.800 executive at a studio. I don't want to be a 0:16:18.840 --> 0:16:21.040 studio head. I want to create things, but what we 0:16:21.080 --> 0:16:22.400 need is people. 0:16:22.720 --> 0:16:24.680 But how do we get from that kind of state 0:16:24.720 --> 0:16:27.800 of like I'm directing TV, I'm sort of propelling myself 0:16:27.800 --> 0:16:30.840 towards a directing career to like, finally I'm attached to 0:16:30.960 --> 0:16:32.400 a project that I'm excited about. 0:16:32.560 --> 0:16:32.800 Yeah. 0:16:32.840 --> 0:16:37.200 So I got the script for Plan B and I 0:16:37.280 --> 0:16:42.400 was like, there's something really good in here, and I 0:16:42.800 --> 0:16:44.800 think I can make And it was all honestly the 0:16:44.840 --> 0:16:47.520 first script that I got to consider to direct, the 0:16:47.640 --> 0:16:51.000 very first one, huh, And I had never gotten anything 0:16:51.040 --> 0:16:52.720 like that. It was like, you have to meet with 0:16:52.760 --> 0:16:55.840 the producers. And I told my agents and my manager. 0:16:55.960 --> 0:16:58.400 I was like, I don't have the experience for this. 0:16:58.400 --> 0:17:00.360 This is a big movie and it was going to 0:17:00.360 --> 0:17:04.080 be Hulu's first theatrical release actually, and so they were like, 0:17:04.200 --> 0:17:05.920 just take the meeting. It's good for you to meet them, 0:17:05.920 --> 0:17:08.199 even if you're not like qualified. Maybe they'll remember you 0:17:08.240 --> 0:17:10.080 for the next thing, or you know, keep you in mind. 0:17:10.400 --> 0:17:12.240 And they met with me before I went, and I 0:17:12.280 --> 0:17:13.439 was like, there's no way I'm going to get this. 0:17:13.560 --> 0:17:14.919 So what I'm going to do is going to I'm 0:17:14.960 --> 0:17:18.359 going to say everything I would actually do and like 0:17:18.680 --> 0:17:19.520 really pitch it. 0:17:19.560 --> 0:17:21.240 And it's critical of what's. 0:17:21.119 --> 0:17:23.399 Here, but it's hopeful of what could be here, and 0:17:23.520 --> 0:17:26.200 like I have ideas for it that aren't necessarily what 0:17:26.359 --> 0:17:28.119 they want to do, and I have other things. And 0:17:28.160 --> 0:17:30.159 it was like a really high reaching thing where I 0:17:30.200 --> 0:17:33.120 just kind of went into this meeting like Hi, here's 0:17:33.119 --> 0:17:34.719 what I think, and here's what I would do, and 0:17:34.800 --> 0:17:37.680 here's you know, why I think I would be good 0:17:37.680 --> 0:17:40.000 at this, and here's how I see these very specific things, 0:17:40.000 --> 0:17:41.480 and here's how I think the comedy should be. 0:17:41.680 --> 0:17:43.160 And it's a subject matter that is. 0:17:43.760 --> 0:17:46.760 Like a hard R comedy dealing with something actually very 0:17:46.920 --> 0:17:49.960 serious and very real in America, which is like lack 0:17:50.000 --> 0:17:53.320 of access to contraception for women and women's rights in 0:17:53.359 --> 0:17:53.960 this country. 0:17:54.560 --> 0:17:56.840 And I was like, here's how I think it could work. 0:17:56.880 --> 0:17:59.000 Here's how I think we could give people sugar with 0:17:59.000 --> 0:18:00.639 their medicine and not prec to the choir and not 0:18:00.720 --> 0:18:03.000 make it like this. And I left her and I 0:18:03.040 --> 0:18:05.760 was like okay, And then they called me right after 0:18:05.800 --> 0:18:07.879 and told me I got the job, which blew me away, 0:18:07.920 --> 0:18:10.440 and I was like, what, this is crazy. 0:18:10.560 --> 0:18:13.040 So this time you're little like before you're like, I'm 0:18:13.040 --> 0:18:13.840 going to get that job. 0:18:14.359 --> 0:18:15.080 I did not think I was. 0:18:15.560 --> 0:18:17.679 You were like still bravado, right. 0:18:17.640 --> 0:18:20.160 Well, I just was like, I risk nothing by telling 0:18:20.200 --> 0:18:22.200 them everything I think because I'm not going to get 0:18:22.200 --> 0:18:24.119 this is what I thought. So then they had to 0:18:24.200 --> 0:18:27.359 pitch me to Hulu as somebody, and so I was 0:18:27.480 --> 0:18:28.920 terrified of that accent, which. 0:18:28.760 --> 0:18:31.320 Is really hard because when you're talking to network exacts, 0:18:31.640 --> 0:18:34.600 the most risk averse people on the plan, yes, and 0:18:34.600 --> 0:18:37.240 they're like, so you want us to give like a 0:18:37.280 --> 0:18:39.560 couple million bucks or however, I don't know how big 0:18:39.600 --> 0:18:42.560 the bug it was To someone who's never directed a feature. 0:18:42.280 --> 0:18:45.920 Film before COVID, it was like eight million. 0:18:45.800 --> 0:18:49.359 An eight million dollar movie. To Natalie Morales who's never directed. 0:18:49.600 --> 0:18:51.840 We love her. We love Natalie, Yeah, we love her. 0:18:52.000 --> 0:18:54.600 She's a fantastic or it's like, who who is the 0:18:54.600 --> 0:18:55.640 woman from the Today Show? 0:18:55.720 --> 0:18:58.440 Do we is there someone maybe who I don't know? 0:18:58.600 --> 0:18:59.800 Have you considered this white guy? 0:19:00.119 --> 0:19:00.600 So I had to. 0:19:00.800 --> 0:19:03.800 I had to sit at this table, terrified meeting all 0:19:03.840 --> 0:19:06.600 these people who then became very lovely and friendly and 0:19:06.640 --> 0:19:09.480 wonderful to me and had to pitch myself again to 0:19:09.560 --> 0:19:11.160 Hulu and somehow I made that happen. 0:19:11.200 --> 0:19:11.560 I don't know. 0:19:11.840 --> 0:19:12.159 I don't know. 0:19:12.400 --> 0:19:14.360 I think that was more like, okay, we trust you. 0:19:14.359 --> 0:19:15.040 John Hayden. 0:19:15.480 --> 0:19:17.879 I don't know. So you convinced these Zulu people. 0:19:17.960 --> 0:19:20.479 Yeah, I convinced that Hulu people and now and then 0:19:20.520 --> 0:19:21.400 we're going to make a movie. 0:19:21.440 --> 0:19:24.399 And then they're like, oh yeah, IRUs we were like 0:19:24.840 --> 0:19:25.600 fully prepping. 0:19:25.840 --> 0:19:29.919 Our shoot date was like March fifteenth, twenty twenty. We 0:19:29.960 --> 0:19:32.080 got shut down the friday before the Monday when we 0:19:32.080 --> 0:19:34.640 were going to start, and like, you know, people's hair 0:19:34.680 --> 0:19:37.600 had been bleached, houses had been painted. We were ready 0:19:37.680 --> 0:19:39.480 to go, and yeah, we got shut down, which was 0:19:39.600 --> 0:19:42.680 very depressing for me, but like also, you know, where 0:19:42.680 --> 0:19:44.200 were we going to survive? What was going to happen? 0:19:44.359 --> 0:19:47.480 The whole world was. It was very crazy. And then 0:19:47.640 --> 0:19:50.159 sometime in June we got totally shut down. And so 0:19:50.320 --> 0:19:54.119 in May, which was I guess exactly three years ago. Now, 0:19:54.760 --> 0:19:56.960 Mark was like what are you doing? I was like, 0:19:57.160 --> 0:19:58.760 I don't know, sitting in my house, what are you eating? 0:19:58.800 --> 0:20:01.679 And he's like I had the us germ of an idea, 0:20:01.720 --> 0:20:02.479 what do you think of it. 0:20:02.520 --> 0:20:05.159 He's like, I've been taking Spanish classes online and I 0:20:05.200 --> 0:20:07.639 thought maybe we could make a movie about that. And 0:20:07.680 --> 0:20:09.800 I was like okay, and he was like, do you 0:20:09.800 --> 0:20:11.639 speak Spanish? And I was like yeah, and he was 0:20:11.680 --> 0:20:13.840 like all right, and I was like what else you got. 0:20:13.840 --> 0:20:15.800 He's like, I don't have anything else. I was like okay, 0:20:16.160 --> 0:20:18.720 And so we wrote it. We wrote it and then 0:20:19.320 --> 0:20:21.960 like shot it within like a month and shot it 0:20:22.119 --> 0:20:24.119 very experimentally. We didn't know what it was going to be, 0:20:24.119 --> 0:20:25.919 but we were like, let's figure this out. And we 0:20:25.960 --> 0:20:27.600 shot it in four afternoons, in. 0:20:27.480 --> 0:20:28.080 Like one night. 0:20:29.280 --> 0:20:30.040 The whole film. 0:20:30.080 --> 0:20:34.760 The whole film, yeah, I know, which is also such 0:20:34.760 --> 0:20:36.200 a duplas thing, such. 0:20:36.080 --> 0:20:36.800 A duplaus thing. 0:20:36.920 --> 0:20:40.160 Yes, yeah, I mean the first episode that I shot 0:20:40.160 --> 0:20:43.840 of Room one A four was a two days shoot wow, 0:20:43.840 --> 0:20:46.600 which was crazy. I mean, when you watch Language Lessons 0:20:46.600 --> 0:20:48.240 you'll know why we were able to do it in 0:20:48.280 --> 0:20:51.080 four afternoons. But yeah, I was alone in my house, 0:20:51.119 --> 0:20:53.080 you know, making it, and it was really fun. 0:20:53.119 --> 0:20:53.840 It was really crazy. 0:20:53.880 --> 0:20:56.560 So then while I was editing Language Lessons, which was 0:20:56.960 --> 0:20:58.720 more of a feat to edit than you might think 0:20:59.040 --> 0:21:00.960 because there's only two shot in the whole movie. 0:21:01.080 --> 0:21:01.399 Yeah. 0:21:01.520 --> 0:21:03.959 Then Plan B came back and I was like, really, 0:21:04.000 --> 0:21:05.920 how how are we gonna what? How how are we 0:21:05.960 --> 0:21:07.800 going to do that? That doesn't make any sense. We'd 0:21:07.800 --> 0:21:10.199 like the first production coming back. And so then I 0:21:10.320 --> 0:21:13.879 was filming Plan B in the fall of twenty twenty 0:21:13.960 --> 0:21:16.359 and editing Language lessons on the weekend. 0:21:16.440 --> 0:21:18.119 Sometimes I think I did a reshoot too on the 0:21:18.119 --> 0:21:20.200 weekends from the Plan B set. 0:21:20.320 --> 0:21:24.159 And then Language lessons went to Berlin and south By 0:21:24.200 --> 0:21:27.399 Southwest and came out that way, and then Plan B 0:21:27.520 --> 0:21:30.119 came out on Hulu in May, and then Language Lessons 0:21:30.119 --> 0:21:32.520 came out in movie theaters right after. So they're very simultaneous. 0:21:32.520 --> 0:21:35.920 They're like very helixy. The whole helixy is oh, yes. 0:21:35.440 --> 0:21:37.760 It's your melancholy and the infinite satur Yes. 0:21:38.840 --> 0:21:41.199 But people are always like it was very confusing, and 0:21:41.800 --> 0:21:44.480 they didn't know which one was my directory debut. 0:21:44.200 --> 0:21:45.359 And I was like, I guess it. 0:21:45.359 --> 0:21:47.520 It depends where you count, Like do you count when 0:21:47.600 --> 0:21:49.159 we started or do you count when we finished? 0:21:49.160 --> 0:21:50.760 Do you count festivals? Do you count which one the 0:21:50.760 --> 0:21:51.600 public saw first? 0:21:51.800 --> 0:21:56.960 Yeah? Ola, I'm sorry, who are you? 0:21:57.000 --> 0:22:01.800 What are you doing in my house? 0:22:01.840 --> 0:22:02.920 You're so dead? 0:22:03.880 --> 0:22:06.840 Such a dramatally I'm mad, I won you. 0:22:12.080 --> 0:22:12.800 Who are you again? 0:22:12.800 --> 0:22:14.760 I'm your Spanish teacher, so I have to speak Spanish 0:22:14.920 --> 0:22:15.360 one day? 0:22:15.760 --> 0:22:19.160 Well, I actually bought thee hundred lesson package. 0:22:19.320 --> 0:22:22.480 Well did you buy me a hundred Spanish lessons? 0:22:23.280 --> 0:22:24.119 Yeah? 0:22:24.200 --> 0:22:27.280 Why because you wanted to dummy? 0:22:27.960 --> 0:22:29.760 Oh? 0:22:30.359 --> 0:22:32.639 That was a clip from the trailer to Language Lessons, 0:22:32.640 --> 0:22:35.600 written by and starring Mark Duplas and Natalie Morales and 0:22:35.640 --> 0:22:39.000 directed by Natalie. At the height of the COVID nineteen pandemic, 0:22:39.359 --> 0:22:41.639 I asked Natalie to walk me through the difficulties of 0:22:41.680 --> 0:22:44.800 directing your first film at a time when getting together 0:22:44.840 --> 0:22:49.320 with your team is impossible. So let's I mean, I'd 0:22:49.320 --> 0:22:51.760 love to dig into language us a little bit. Can 0:22:51.800 --> 0:22:54.360 you walk me through a little bit? Like I'm fascinated 0:22:54.480 --> 0:22:57.159 by the writing process. So he comes to you with 0:22:57.200 --> 0:22:59.760 this kind of loose idea. Yeah, I mean that story 0:22:59.840 --> 0:23:03.120 is it's about much more than just yes, language license. 0:23:03.200 --> 0:23:04.560 Yes, So how do you come up with that? 0:23:05.040 --> 0:23:06.720 So we tried this thing. 0:23:07.040 --> 0:23:09.320 I had this idea for how to start writing it 0:23:09.400 --> 0:23:11.800 that I really like and I'm going to keep doing 0:23:11.800 --> 0:23:14.239 it for other things, which is that we knew we 0:23:14.240 --> 0:23:15.560 were going to play these two characters. I was going 0:23:15.600 --> 0:23:16.920 to be this teacher, he was going to be this guy, 0:23:17.040 --> 0:23:19.240 and that's all we knew. We didn't know where the 0:23:19.240 --> 0:23:20.440 story was going to go. We didn't know where the 0:23:20.480 --> 0:23:22.719 conflict would come. We kind of knew we didn't want 0:23:22.760 --> 0:23:26.440 it to be romantic, and we were like, how can 0:23:26.480 --> 0:23:30.080 we make these characters collide in a way that's interesting 0:23:30.160 --> 0:23:33.080 besides just taking lessons? And so I was like, I 0:23:33.119 --> 0:23:35.200 think here's the first step, Mark, why don't we both 0:23:35.240 --> 0:23:38.360 go off separately, just knowing only that about each other 0:23:38.560 --> 0:23:41.440 and about our characters, and write a bio of our 0:23:41.520 --> 0:23:45.720 characters without discussing it with each other, and then we'll 0:23:45.720 --> 0:23:49.119 come back and share those bios and where those things 0:23:49.800 --> 0:23:52.560 like butt heads is where we'll find. 0:23:52.840 --> 0:23:54.840 Something to do. And that's what we did. 0:23:54.880 --> 0:23:58.760 So we each went off and wrote who our characters were, and. 0:23:58.680 --> 0:24:00.440 I just kind of like, let something come to me. 0:24:01.000 --> 0:24:03.240 And I named it after a friend of mine who 0:24:03.240 --> 0:24:05.400 had died of COVID, and I just kind of let 0:24:05.880 --> 0:24:09.280 whatever inspiration came to me about this character come and 0:24:09.320 --> 0:24:11.439 then we became to bet it and we tweaked a 0:24:11.440 --> 0:24:14.199 little bit, but that inspired the rest of the story 0:24:14.240 --> 0:24:18.679 really and we shot the end first before we finished 0:24:18.680 --> 0:24:20.520 the script. I didn't know what was going to happen 0:24:20.560 --> 0:24:22.080 in the middle, but I knew that I wanted it 0:24:22.080 --> 0:24:24.439 to end that way, but we wanted to keep it 0:24:24.480 --> 0:24:28.119 as real feeling as possible, so then we would improvise 0:24:28.200 --> 0:24:30.960 around those things for a lot of the scenes as well. 0:24:31.880 --> 0:24:34.879 We're gonna hear one of my favorite scenes from this film, 0:24:35.200 --> 0:24:38.520 the scene where she calls him drunk drunk in the 0:24:38.560 --> 0:24:39.400 middle of the night. 0:24:40.160 --> 0:24:42.440 You're nice. 0:24:43.480 --> 0:24:44.800 I like talking to you. 0:24:44.800 --> 0:24:46.720 You're always trying to get me to talk to you. 0:24:48.040 --> 0:24:56.880 And it was a little suspect at first, but then 0:24:57.960 --> 0:24:59.719 I don't know. I guess you're just a nice person 0:25:00.280 --> 0:25:01.600 who knew those existed? 0:25:05.280 --> 0:25:08.520 Can I Can I tell you a secret? 0:25:09.440 --> 0:25:14.639 Yeah, it's really nice. 0:25:16.040 --> 0:25:17.240 To listen to you talk. 0:25:19.480 --> 0:25:21.560 First of all, you play an excellent trump thank you 0:25:21.600 --> 0:25:23.199 to the point where I was like, did you get 0:25:23.240 --> 0:25:23.800 a little drunk? 0:25:23.840 --> 0:25:24.119 No? 0:25:24.119 --> 0:25:28.200 No, thank you? But how much of that was improvised? 0:25:28.200 --> 0:25:31.400 Because it felt so flowing and free and it really 0:25:31.400 --> 0:25:34.840 fell off the cuff, So how much of that was improvised? 0:25:34.840 --> 0:25:36.240 And then can you talk a little bit just about 0:25:36.240 --> 0:25:38.840 improvisation versus sticking to the script. 0:25:39.040 --> 0:25:41.119 You know what's funny is that's the one evening that 0:25:41.160 --> 0:25:43.960 we shot besides the four afternoons, right and we wrote 0:25:43.960 --> 0:25:46.760 that scene that afternoon. We did not know what was 0:25:46.880 --> 0:25:50.080 going to happen in that scene. And I would say 0:25:50.119 --> 0:25:54.359 that scene is probably like seventy percent written, thirty percent 0:25:54.440 --> 0:25:58.760 improv And I think for me and Mark, what we 0:25:58.840 --> 0:26:02.360 share really and we get along so well professionally. 0:26:02.400 --> 0:26:04.720 We're both lit up by these ideas. Although we work 0:26:04.880 --> 0:26:05.600 really differently. 0:26:06.240 --> 0:26:07.879 He and I really like to get to the truth 0:26:07.880 --> 0:26:10.040 of something, and we're not scared to go there with 0:26:10.080 --> 0:26:12.280 each other, and we're not scared of what the other 0:26:12.320 --> 0:26:15.080 person might think. And also, I think he and I 0:26:15.160 --> 0:26:18.280 both know that we'll never fake it, will never go like, yeah, 0:26:18.320 --> 0:26:20.560 that sounds good, because if I don't like it, I'll 0:26:20.560 --> 0:26:21.800 say I don't like it, and he will say the 0:26:21.800 --> 0:26:24.439 same thing, which is a great way to work with 0:26:24.480 --> 0:26:27.920 someone because you know that they are truly excited by something. 0:26:28.080 --> 0:26:31.520 And so for us, the improving. 0:26:31.080 --> 0:26:32.879 Was just getting because it's not necessarily like what you 0:26:32.880 --> 0:26:35.640 think of as improv in like a comedic way. It's 0:26:35.720 --> 0:26:38.719 just like you know, someone says something and you respond, 0:26:38.760 --> 0:26:41.399 and much of it is dramatic. But yeah, that scene 0:26:41.400 --> 0:26:44.439 in particular was I think mostly written and somewhat like 0:26:44.520 --> 0:26:47.119 just a little in betweens, a little like something to 0:26:47.160 --> 0:26:49.840 bring it life and yeah, yeah. 0:26:49.480 --> 0:26:52.040 And how did you decide which scenes would be more 0:26:52.560 --> 0:26:54.960 sort of set in that way and this would be 0:26:55.000 --> 0:26:55.880 more free. 0:26:55.600 --> 0:26:59.000 The ones that are, particularly because Mark knows some Spanish 0:26:59.040 --> 0:26:59.960 but not a lot. 0:27:00.400 --> 0:27:02.360 He was Yeah, he's really good. 0:27:02.440 --> 0:27:04.760 Yeah, we really wrote those out, the lesson ones where 0:27:04.760 --> 0:27:08.640 he's like learning more. It was kind of like really structured, 0:27:08.800 --> 0:27:12.040 and then all the bits in between were imprised, you know. 0:27:12.119 --> 0:27:14.160 But it also sounds like maybe the pace at which 0:27:14.160 --> 0:27:17.239 you wrote and then performed sort of still added some 0:27:17.320 --> 0:27:19.800 of that like vitality. Yeah, yeah, because it's like you 0:27:19.840 --> 0:27:22.800 don't really have that much time to like polish and 0:27:23.000 --> 0:27:23.679 edit and rethink. 0:27:23.800 --> 0:27:27.159 Yeah, and we also with the openness and freeness of 0:27:27.840 --> 0:27:31.040 trying anything, Like you said, that pace of writing it 0:27:31.080 --> 0:27:36.320 and then almost immediately performing it was like just testing 0:27:36.320 --> 0:27:38.040 out what you were writing. You know. It was like 0:27:38.440 --> 0:27:41.040 if two actors are writing something, they kind of like 0:27:41.200 --> 0:27:43.680 act it out while they're writing it anyway, So that was. 0:27:43.640 --> 0:27:47.720 What it was. It was a really fascinating experiment. Also, 0:27:47.720 --> 0:27:50.920 because it was like, you know, very virtual. Yeah, most 0:27:50.920 --> 0:27:52.240 of the time. So it was interesting. 0:27:54.080 --> 0:27:57.879 Natalie's character in the movie, Garino is really charming and 0:27:58.160 --> 0:28:01.040 nice on the surface, but she'll so has this darker 0:28:01.119 --> 0:28:05.040 side that she's very protective of, especially when Mark Duplas's 0:28:05.080 --> 0:28:07.320 character Adam starts to pry. 0:28:08.320 --> 0:28:15.560 What uh huh, okay, what's what's the what's the narrative 0:28:15.640 --> 0:28:17.040 you've created? 0:28:19.840 --> 0:28:22.120 I don't have a narrative I've created because I don't. 0:28:22.880 --> 0:28:24.840 I'm an adorable. 0:28:24.359 --> 0:28:28.280 Little free spirit with a with an abusive ex husband. 0:28:29.119 --> 0:28:29.520 Is that it? 0:28:32.840 --> 0:28:35.639 I don't know. Because you don't share with me. I 0:28:35.680 --> 0:28:37.200 only have bits and pieces. 0:28:37.240 --> 0:28:38.440 But because you're. 0:28:38.360 --> 0:28:41.840 Not my friend, you're my student, I don't need to 0:28:41.880 --> 0:28:46.840 share anything with you except for some verbs in Spanish. 0:28:47.200 --> 0:28:49.800 You know, I've read you right that you don't love 0:28:49.920 --> 0:28:52.360 talking about your personal life or didn't for like a 0:28:52.400 --> 0:28:55.240 long time, that you're not really you're not interested in fame, 0:28:55.360 --> 0:28:57.520 but that you seem to be more of a private person. 0:28:58.040 --> 0:29:01.600 Kaarino is similar, like she's holding back the whole time, 0:29:01.640 --> 0:29:03.960 and you can feel it, you know. Is that something 0:29:03.960 --> 0:29:06.719 that you brought to the story sort of consciously? 0:29:06.960 --> 0:29:10.520 I think we were really aware of making a white 0:29:10.520 --> 0:29:14.640 savior story at least I was, and Mark became aware 0:29:14.640 --> 0:29:18.800 of that also, and so we really wanted to subvert 0:29:18.880 --> 0:29:22.239 that in a way and go like, she's aware of that, 0:29:23.040 --> 0:29:28.040 and she's also mistrustful of people and men and rich people. 0:29:30.000 --> 0:29:32.680 I'm mistrustful of rich people, so that probably comes from me. 0:29:32.840 --> 0:29:36.040 But she's also right, like, she also doesn't owe this 0:29:36.160 --> 0:29:40.160 person anything and he's just her student. I liked exploring 0:29:40.200 --> 0:29:43.680 the kind of thing of like a relationship, where a 0:29:43.680 --> 0:29:46.600 friendship only happens if you actually give in to it, 0:29:47.040 --> 0:29:49.120 and she's well within the rights to be like, you're. 0:29:49.200 --> 0:29:50.000 Just my student. 0:29:50.240 --> 0:29:54.160 Back the fuck up, like I'm sorry that I happened 0:29:54.160 --> 0:29:56.680 to catch you after your husband died, but doesn't mean 0:29:56.720 --> 0:29:58.920 we're best friends. I was just there for you like 0:29:58.960 --> 0:30:02.080 a decent human, and don't attach yourself to me like that, 0:30:02.280 --> 0:30:04.920 you know. But does she give into that side of 0:30:04.960 --> 0:30:07.840 herself that is soft, that wants that connection with him 0:30:07.920 --> 0:30:08.120 and that. 0:30:08.120 --> 0:30:10.280 Will allow herself to be helped, right, Because That's what 0:30:10.320 --> 0:30:12.680 I think makes it for such a great dramatic premise 0:30:12.680 --> 0:30:15.760 and scene, is that you have the other actor also 0:30:15.840 --> 0:30:16.800 making great points. 0:30:17.080 --> 0:30:17.280 Right. 0:30:17.600 --> 0:30:20.360 It's not that scene where it's just like the inversus 0:30:20.360 --> 0:30:22.640 a white savior, where you have like the wise brown 0:30:22.680 --> 0:30:24.600 person who's going to tell you how it is. He's like, no, 0:30:24.760 --> 0:30:27.440 quit that bullshit. You don't want help, you don't want 0:30:27.440 --> 0:30:30.360 to let me in. Yeah, and that's the problem, and 0:30:30.400 --> 0:30:31.200 it's going to kill you. 0:30:31.800 --> 0:30:34.080 Yeah. I think that, you know, for women in particular, 0:30:34.520 --> 0:30:36.880 at least for me. But the optics of a situation 0:30:36.920 --> 0:30:40.120 are always important. Yeah, and the optics have to do 0:30:40.200 --> 0:30:43.160 with your own experience. I think the scariest thing for 0:30:43.240 --> 0:30:46.400 a woman is trusting that a man will help her 0:30:46.600 --> 0:30:47.360 in the way that she. 0:30:47.320 --> 0:30:48.080 Needs to be helped. 0:30:48.560 --> 0:30:51.960 Yeah, that's very, very scary, Like it literally is so 0:30:52.240 --> 0:30:57.360 scary to go, Okay, I relinquished, I relinquish everything. Fuck, 0:30:57.680 --> 0:30:59.760 it's up to you. And the reason that is scary 0:30:59.840 --> 0:31:00.880 is from experience. 0:31:00.960 --> 0:31:01.360 Yeah, you know. 0:31:01.960 --> 0:31:04.600 Unfortunately, I don't mean anything against you. I just mean it. 0:31:04.640 --> 0:31:05.479 I doesn't mean it is. 0:31:05.600 --> 0:31:07.800 It is scary, and I think, especially like. 0:31:07.720 --> 0:31:11.120 With a strange, white rich man who lives in another country, 0:31:11.520 --> 0:31:13.640 why the fuck would she trust that, you know? 0:31:13.760 --> 0:31:15.000 And I think it also. 0:31:14.840 --> 0:31:18.080 Gives her depth because I was like, you don't know 0:31:18.120 --> 0:31:20.000 what she's been through before that moment. And I think 0:31:20.040 --> 0:31:24.720 that so many people have these assumptions of like little 0:31:24.720 --> 0:31:27.720 sweet Latino women and that they are you know. 0:31:28.160 --> 0:31:31.480 It's either that or they're complete, like just blow torches 0:31:31.720 --> 0:31:32.440 right right. 0:31:32.480 --> 0:31:34.320 And I think that you know, if she's like this 0:31:35.000 --> 0:31:37.480 teacher who wears braids in her hair and wears little 0:31:37.480 --> 0:31:40.680 flowers on her clothes, you kind of assume that she's 0:31:40.680 --> 0:31:43.240 a sweetheart. And I liked the idea that she was 0:31:43.320 --> 0:31:45.840 like a drunk who like didn't give a fuck. And 0:31:46.360 --> 0:31:49.280 as a writer or as a creator, I'm interested in 0:31:50.120 --> 0:31:52.800 the things that I haven't seen a bunch of times, 0:31:52.840 --> 0:31:57.080 and characters that might connect to people that haven't seen 0:31:57.120 --> 0:31:58.440 themselves on screen before. 0:31:59.120 --> 0:32:02.560 That's that's evident in you in your work. And yet 0:32:02.560 --> 0:32:06.880 I love that it never feels preachy, thank you, because 0:32:06.880 --> 0:32:08.000 I think it can. 0:32:08.400 --> 0:32:08.600 Right. 0:32:08.760 --> 0:32:11.080 It's actually really hard to not make it sound preachy. 0:32:11.480 --> 0:32:13.440 I want to talk about this stuff, but like, yeah, 0:32:13.520 --> 0:32:16.800 how do you Is it something you're cognizant of going 0:32:16.840 --> 0:32:18.520 in directing and writing completely? 0:32:18.960 --> 0:32:21.360 Yeah, so Cognizantough, how do you fight against it? 0:32:22.320 --> 0:32:27.680 Anxiety? I hate things that are preachy. I hate things 0:32:27.720 --> 0:32:29.840 that preach to the choir. I don't need to see 0:32:29.880 --> 0:32:32.760 things that isolate people. You know, I've talked to my 0:32:32.880 --> 0:32:35.400 friends about this, which is like a heady question, But 0:32:35.400 --> 0:32:37.680 I have these like lists of questions on my phone 0:32:37.720 --> 0:32:40.320 that I just ask people when we're bored that I 0:32:40.360 --> 0:32:43.080 just like write down. And one of the questions is 0:32:43.400 --> 0:32:45.840 what is your purpose? Like what do you think you're 0:32:45.880 --> 0:32:48.440 here to do? And if I really think about it, 0:32:48.440 --> 0:32:50.680 what I really boil it down is that one of 0:32:50.680 --> 0:32:53.360 the things I feel really called to do. That's always 0:32:53.400 --> 0:32:57.440 a primary important thing to me is to make this 0:32:57.480 --> 0:33:01.719 group of people understand this group of people and vice versa. 0:33:01.760 --> 0:33:06.120 I want to facilitate connection, which is so important. In 0:33:06.160 --> 0:33:08.720 the last few years, it's really tested that for me 0:33:08.960 --> 0:33:13.000 is that I know that we are more connected than 0:33:13.000 --> 0:33:16.080 we are divided, and so that is always what I'm 0:33:16.120 --> 0:33:17.840 thinking of. I'm always going like, I don't want to 0:33:17.920 --> 0:33:19.960 just be like I'm only talking to the people who 0:33:20.000 --> 0:33:23.239 agree with me. I'm talking to everybody, and there are 0:33:23.280 --> 0:33:26.120 points all around that need to be talked about and said. 0:33:26.400 --> 0:33:27.760 There are points that I agree with, and there are 0:33:27.800 --> 0:33:30.280 points that I don't agree with, but there's still people 0:33:30.360 --> 0:33:33.320 and there's still a way of thinking. And so that's 0:33:33.360 --> 0:33:36.400 how I try to fight it. How I do it 0:33:36.400 --> 0:33:39.840 in movies is I really make sure that the actors 0:33:39.880 --> 0:33:43.440 and the characters feel real. They would react the way 0:33:43.440 --> 0:33:46.320 that anybody would react, and so then they can go 0:33:46.400 --> 0:33:50.400 on all series of adventures because life itself has different tones, 0:33:50.800 --> 0:33:53.760 and life itself is tragic and funny and sad and 0:33:53.800 --> 0:33:55.440 weird and sexy and. 0:33:55.440 --> 0:33:56.320 All those things that want. 0:33:56.400 --> 0:33:58.320 So I really do believe that they can all be 0:33:58.400 --> 0:34:00.760 in one movie, because one day of your life can 0:34:00.800 --> 0:34:03.320 be all those things, you know, And as long as 0:34:03.520 --> 0:34:07.480 I know that that character feels real, then I know 0:34:07.520 --> 0:34:08.560 I can get away with everything. 0:34:10.120 --> 0:34:12.759 Plan B is full of this kind of realness, for 0:34:12.880 --> 0:34:16.080 better and for worse. This next clip from the movie 0:34:16.120 --> 0:34:19.799 represents an all too real experience teenage girls across the 0:34:19.800 --> 0:34:23.799 country are still facing today, especially since the repeal of 0:34:23.960 --> 0:34:24.920 Roe versus Wade. 0:34:25.400 --> 0:34:28.160 Okay, what can I do for you, my dear? 0:34:29.120 --> 0:34:33.719 I need the Plan B pill. I love you the 0:34:33.760 --> 0:34:36.359 Plan B pill. Do you have any ID? 0:34:37.320 --> 0:34:38.200 Yeah? 0:34:38.600 --> 0:34:42.000 Yeah, oh you're seventeen. I'm sorry, but I declined to 0:34:42.080 --> 0:34:44.480 offer you the Plan B pill. I have a nice day. 0:34:45.120 --> 0:34:47.399 What why you can't do that? 0:34:48.040 --> 0:34:50.920 Yes I can. It's a little thing called the conscience clug. 0:34:51.160 --> 0:34:53.960 I'm sorry, but my hands are tied morally speaking. 0:34:54.880 --> 0:35:00.719 Loupe, played brilliantly by Victoria Moroles, deals with fears of 0:35:00.760 --> 0:35:04.240 coming out as queer, yes, and a conservative Christian family. 0:35:04.360 --> 0:35:04.800 Yeah. 0:35:04.840 --> 0:35:07.520 In twenty seventeen, you wrote a piece for Smart Girls 0:35:07.600 --> 0:35:10.839 mm hm amy polish website coming out publicly at least 0:35:10.840 --> 0:35:14.520 as queer. Can we talk about what that moment meant 0:35:14.520 --> 0:35:18.200 for you and what sort of the reaction of your 0:35:18.320 --> 0:35:20.399 people was back home? 0:35:20.760 --> 0:35:24.920 So I was out to everybody for many many years 0:35:24.960 --> 0:35:27.279 that were my friends and people out in LA and 0:35:27.320 --> 0:35:30.160 I was just living my life normally. My mom didn't know, 0:35:30.440 --> 0:35:33.000 and like my family really didn't know, but I didn't. 0:35:32.800 --> 0:35:36.160 Think they needed to unless I, like, I don't know. 0:35:36.239 --> 0:35:38.120 I had this idea that I was like, oh, unless 0:35:38.120 --> 0:35:40.799 I really end up in a very serious, long term 0:35:40.840 --> 0:35:43.279 relationship with a woman or with someone who's not a man, 0:35:43.520 --> 0:35:46.400 then I'll tell them. And I had instances where I 0:35:46.440 --> 0:35:49.520 came sort of close to it, but it never got there. 0:35:49.640 --> 0:35:51.640 But really the reason I did it was because I 0:35:51.719 --> 0:35:55.160 was promoting this movie Battle of Sexes, where I played 0:35:55.239 --> 0:35:57.560 Rosie Casowles, who was as open as you can be 0:35:57.600 --> 0:36:00.239 about being a lesbian in the seventies, and who was 0:36:00.320 --> 0:36:05.480 Billy Jean King's doubles partner, And this movie is about 0:36:05.520 --> 0:36:08.480 Billy jin King discovering her sexuality. And I was about 0:36:08.520 --> 0:36:10.160 to do all this press for it, and I felt 0:36:10.200 --> 0:36:14.520 so disingenuous, being like I'm an ally and I felt 0:36:14.600 --> 0:36:17.040 just kind of like, it's my personal life. 0:36:17.040 --> 0:36:18.240 No one needs to know who I'm dating. 0:36:18.320 --> 0:36:21.759 And then I thought about myself as a kid and 0:36:22.080 --> 0:36:25.200 Latino people and just stuff that I had gone through 0:36:25.239 --> 0:36:28.120 and been like, I wish that I had someone to 0:36:28.160 --> 0:36:30.680 point to to my family and be like, she's. 0:36:30.520 --> 0:36:33.759 Fine, She's doing okay, nothing bad, it's happening in her. 0:36:33.960 --> 0:36:37.040 She seems stable and like good and she's living her 0:36:37.040 --> 0:36:40.640 life and that's okay. And so I thought, Okay, I'm 0:36:40.640 --> 0:36:42.319 not going to tell people who I'm dating, but I'm 0:36:42.360 --> 0:36:45.080 gonna be open about this because I think if it 0:36:45.440 --> 0:36:50.680 helps anybody, a child, a parent, a friend, anybody to 0:36:50.800 --> 0:36:55.120 feel a little more understood or a little more understanding, 0:36:55.680 --> 0:37:01.000 than it's worthwhile. And it'll also relieve me from feeling 0:37:02.239 --> 0:37:05.479 disingenuous when I talk about queer things, you know, which 0:37:05.560 --> 0:37:07.520 I think are increasingly more important. 0:37:07.200 --> 0:37:08.879 To talk about, and to normalize. 0:37:09.040 --> 0:37:11.000 You're creating connection, which is right. 0:37:11.080 --> 0:37:13.399 Right, And so what I did was I wrote that 0:37:13.560 --> 0:37:15.560 and before it was published, like the week before I 0:37:15.560 --> 0:37:18.520 was published, I sent it to my family and. 0:37:18.400 --> 0:37:20.640 That's how they found out via email. 0:37:21.160 --> 0:37:23.120 Yeah. I was like, I'm sending you something you need 0:37:23.160 --> 0:37:27.960 to read, and they all were so supportive without sounding 0:37:28.040 --> 0:37:30.920 preachy and like self serving. I hope I've gotten so 0:37:31.000 --> 0:37:33.480 many responses to that throughout the years. I still get 0:37:33.520 --> 0:37:36.759 people writing to me, parents and kids writing to me 0:37:36.800 --> 0:37:39.799 about that and talking about like what it. 0:37:39.920 --> 0:37:40.439 Did for them. 0:37:41.080 --> 0:37:44.080 Some people were like, I made my parents read this 0:37:44.160 --> 0:37:45.239 and then I came out to them. 0:37:45.480 --> 0:37:45.680 Yeah. 0:37:45.840 --> 0:37:48.160 And some people were like, I'm never going to come 0:37:48.160 --> 0:37:48.560 out to my. 0:37:48.520 --> 0:37:51.479 Family, but I'm glad someone gets what I'm going through. 0:37:51.880 --> 0:37:54.000 And some people were like, I live in New York, 0:37:54.040 --> 0:37:55.799 this is not even an issue anymore. And I was like, well, 0:37:55.840 --> 0:37:59.080 you don't understand the rest of the world. Maybe you 0:37:59.120 --> 0:38:03.319 know when people may LGBTQ, queer media or characters like that. 0:38:03.400 --> 0:38:05.200 I think in LA and New York were kind of like, 0:38:05.360 --> 0:38:07.240 is it that crazy to come out to your parents? 0:38:07.320 --> 0:38:09.080 That's like what happened in Plan B. Like, I feel 0:38:09.120 --> 0:38:10.920 like so many people feel like it's old news and 0:38:10.960 --> 0:38:13.759 they don't consider the rest of America and how it 0:38:13.840 --> 0:38:15.919 is still crazy for a lot of people, and also 0:38:16.040 --> 0:38:18.800 the rest of the world. It's not super acceptable anywhere. 0:38:19.000 --> 0:38:22.640 Uganda just criminalized it. Yeah, so like it is continuously 0:38:22.680 --> 0:38:26.280 important to, like you said, provide that connection to people 0:38:26.400 --> 0:38:29.000 and talk about it and be an example of it. 0:38:29.040 --> 0:38:29.439 I think. 0:38:29.680 --> 0:38:35.360 Yeah, So, how did these personal experiences influences some of 0:38:35.400 --> 0:38:39.359 the characters in Plan B the Father right, Like, yeah, 0:38:39.640 --> 0:38:41.600 the writing is sort of one thing, and I'm curious 0:38:41.680 --> 0:38:44.160 at how you get that into the script. But when 0:38:44.160 --> 0:38:48.120 you're directing, right, when you're directing Loupe, how do you 0:38:48.160 --> 0:38:50.239 communicate these things? How do you have these discussions, how 0:38:50.239 --> 0:38:52.360 do you communicate them? How do you bring those to 0:38:52.480 --> 0:38:53.640 life in scene? 0:38:54.600 --> 0:38:58.400 You know, I think it was I'll be very candid. 0:38:58.600 --> 0:39:01.880 I wrote all of Lupe because we had to recast. 0:39:02.080 --> 0:39:03.239 It was sunny and ling ling. 0:39:04.080 --> 0:39:07.640 It was an Asian character, and so we recast because 0:39:07.640 --> 0:39:10.920 we lost our actress in Covid not she's fine, she 0:39:11.000 --> 0:39:14.040 just had another job, yeah, and she's wonderful. But we 0:39:14.160 --> 0:39:16.880 cast Victoria and she was incredible. But they were like, 0:39:16.920 --> 0:39:19.560 we don't have any money to hire a new writer 0:39:20.160 --> 0:39:22.640 and you're a Latino, and so I wrote all of 0:39:22.719 --> 0:39:28.239 Lupe like you couldn't tell Yeah, So I think that 0:39:28.280 --> 0:39:31.239 it was on the page, and I think that, I mean, 0:39:32.040 --> 0:39:35.480 Victoria is incredible, and really there's there's two parts. 0:39:35.320 --> 0:39:35.680 In that movie. 0:39:35.680 --> 0:39:37.000 There's a few parts in that movie that I make 0:39:37.040 --> 0:39:40.360 her cry still Sonny asking for her mom, Lupe talking 0:39:40.400 --> 0:39:44.160 to Logan in the car and going like, fuck it, 0:39:44.160 --> 0:39:47.000 I'm just gonna kiss you. It's such an expression of 0:39:47.360 --> 0:39:53.480 joy that I know so many people like desired and wanted. 0:39:53.239 --> 0:39:56.160 And she's so dynamic and charming that like when she 0:39:56.320 --> 0:39:58.080 says it, you're like rooting. 0:39:58.000 --> 0:39:59.560 Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're really rooting for her. 0:39:59.600 --> 0:40:02.680 And then when her dad says a nice pin to her, 0:40:02.840 --> 0:40:04.560 it wasn't in the script, and at the last minute, 0:40:04.560 --> 0:40:05.960 I was like, hey, can you just say that's real 0:40:06.040 --> 0:40:08.279 quick and just say it because I just want to 0:40:08.280 --> 0:40:10.799 see if it'll work. And then it like breaks my 0:40:10.880 --> 0:40:13.600 heart because it kind of leaves it open. If you're like, 0:40:13.640 --> 0:40:15.799 does he know what that means? I think he knows 0:40:15.800 --> 0:40:18.080 what that means, and he's kind of leaving the door 0:40:18.080 --> 0:40:20.120 open for her whenever she might want. 0:40:20.440 --> 0:40:23.000 Let's listen to a little bit of that heartfelt interaction 0:40:23.120 --> 0:40:25.239 between them. I think you kind of have to hear 0:40:25.280 --> 0:40:28.200 it to understand why it's so special. 0:40:29.120 --> 0:40:29.440 Dad. 0:40:31.280 --> 0:40:37.000 Yeah, promise me you'll never kick me out? 0:40:37.520 --> 0:40:40.239 What what do you mean? Why would I do that? 0:40:40.560 --> 0:40:45.279 I don't know. Just you know sometimes parents do that. 0:40:46.960 --> 0:40:52.040 Oh me, you, my little Lokita. It's not my job 0:40:52.040 --> 0:40:52.520 to judge you. 0:40:52.560 --> 0:40:58.000 It's my job to be your dad, no matter what's Dad. 0:40:59.239 --> 0:41:05.480 I love you to me, nice pin. 0:41:07.040 --> 0:41:08.080 It just meant a lot to me. 0:41:08.239 --> 0:41:11.239 Like I said before, it's to just show parents that 0:41:11.280 --> 0:41:14.960 it actually could be this easy, you actually could be accepting. 0:41:15.160 --> 0:41:17.200 And the same thing for the sunny storyline, when you 0:41:17.239 --> 0:41:19.520 know she's so scared that her mom is going to 0:41:19.560 --> 0:41:21.960 be so upset with her, and her mom's like, wait, 0:41:22.400 --> 0:41:25.719 someone said no to you. No, you know, like she's like, 0:41:25.760 --> 0:41:27.840 you're still in trouble, but I'm going to protect you 0:41:27.960 --> 0:41:29.239 and I'm going to fight for you. 0:41:29.880 --> 0:41:33.080 That was more important to me than I think. 0:41:33.200 --> 0:41:35.719 There's so many sob stories about minorities, of course, and 0:41:35.760 --> 0:41:37.680 I didn't want this to be one of them. 0:41:38.160 --> 0:41:40.760 Yeah, and to show that there's like a possible model 0:41:40.880 --> 0:41:44.960 for how to deal with these things without ignoring the obstacles. 0:41:44.440 --> 0:41:52.279 Right coming up. 0:41:52.400 --> 0:41:56.160 I asked Natalie Morales about representation and how sometimes just 0:41:56.280 --> 0:41:59.680 keeping things very personal is all you need. For example, 0:42:00.120 --> 0:42:02.400 I personally did not want to make you listen to 0:42:02.440 --> 0:42:05.600 an ad, but I also very personally like to get paid. 0:42:06.040 --> 0:42:07.960 So listen to this commercial. 0:42:07.520 --> 0:42:08.319 And we'll be right back. 0:42:16.920 --> 0:42:19.560 We're back with more from my interview with Natalie Morales, 0:42:19.600 --> 0:42:21.480 and we're talking about what it's like to direct the 0:42:21.560 --> 0:42:24.960 teen comedy led by two women of color. So the 0:42:25.239 --> 0:42:28.200 like teen comedies or like teen kind of sex comedies 0:42:28.360 --> 0:42:30.960 is like a it's like a subgenre, but it's rare 0:42:31.440 --> 0:42:34.759 to see like a female led I mean you have 0:42:34.800 --> 0:42:38.520 like mean girls, clueless, book smart, but like in this one. 0:42:39.000 --> 0:42:41.640 You know what stands out to me is you have 0:42:41.760 --> 0:42:46.920 to you know, non white girls correct, yeah, to minority leads. 0:42:46.920 --> 0:42:49.080 Butever you want to describe it, and I think this 0:42:49.120 --> 0:42:51.840 is the happy accident maybe of the casting issue that 0:42:51.920 --> 0:42:55.400 you had is that they end up being from vastly 0:42:55.440 --> 0:42:58.160 different backgrounds. I mean, look, South Asian and East Asian 0:42:58.160 --> 0:43:00.400 are different things. Yeah, but it's like you have a 0:43:00.440 --> 0:43:03.840 Latina of a Mexican background and you have an Indian 0:43:04.040 --> 0:43:07.239 American and they're best friends and they're both children of immigrants. 0:43:07.640 --> 0:43:11.640 You obviously know how to and did navigate the complexities 0:43:11.640 --> 0:43:15.040 of loop based character. But when you're going into a 0:43:15.080 --> 0:43:16.800 culture that's not your own right and you want to 0:43:16.840 --> 0:43:17.880 represent it well. 0:43:18.480 --> 0:43:21.000 Like how do you sort of address that? You know? 0:43:21.080 --> 0:43:23.480 Well, the writers of the script, one of them prothey 0:43:23.640 --> 0:43:26.399 was Indian, so she wrote Sonny very much after her 0:43:26.480 --> 0:43:30.240 own experience. But then also I really conference with Cuhoo 0:43:30.280 --> 0:43:33.000 and with anybody else who was South Asian and was like, 0:43:33.080 --> 0:43:36.520 does this feel real to you? Like does it feel authentic? 0:43:36.640 --> 0:43:39.200 Would it make you know your people laugh? Or would 0:43:39.200 --> 0:43:42.279 it feel like stereotypical? You know, like like how how 0:43:42.280 --> 0:43:44.120 do you feel about this? I think that's really important 0:43:44.160 --> 0:43:44.359 to do. 0:43:44.600 --> 0:43:45.719 So you're the Mike Suore. 0:43:46.040 --> 0:43:49.040 Yeah, So back to talking about the teen comedy elements. 0:43:49.040 --> 0:43:51.799 So a lot of these classics in this genre, there's like, 0:43:51.840 --> 0:43:54.400 you know, they throw crazy party, there's like getting the 0:43:54.480 --> 0:43:57.600 data problem, losing your virginity. The stakes and like the 0:43:57.680 --> 0:44:03.120 driving force of this movie are a little more political, yeah, right, 0:44:03.920 --> 0:44:07.440 but they're still grounded in these very real teen situations. 0:44:07.680 --> 0:44:10.560 When you're thinking about the story and the scenes, like 0:44:10.840 --> 0:44:13.439 how do you just balance like Okay, we're talking about 0:44:13.480 --> 0:44:17.960 kind of macro political ideas and interpersonal ideas. How do 0:44:18.000 --> 0:44:19.000 you strike that balance? 0:44:19.040 --> 0:44:21.480 Is it sort of intuitive or yeah, people are not 0:44:21.520 --> 0:44:24.160 macro political, right, you make it very personal and all 0:44:24.200 --> 0:44:28.000 these issues reach these people personally, but also thinking about 0:44:28.000 --> 0:44:30.200 it on a broader scale. All these movies that you 0:44:30.360 --> 0:44:33.600 talked about, for the most part, are set in la 0:44:33.680 --> 0:44:37.319 or New York or somewhere wealthy, and the people have 0:44:37.480 --> 0:44:40.799 money and they're mostly white, right, And so I loved 0:44:40.840 --> 0:44:43.160 Book Smart. I really did love that movie. But it's 0:44:43.400 --> 0:44:47.160 very white and everyone's rich, and the biggest hurdle that 0:44:47.160 --> 0:44:49.400 they have to get over, the big problem in that movie, 0:44:49.840 --> 0:44:51.919 or the instigating thing in that movie, is that they 0:44:52.719 --> 0:44:55.680 studied really hard and didn't party in school so that 0:44:55.680 --> 0:44:58.960 they could get into a good college. But everybody else 0:44:58.960 --> 0:45:01.160 also got into a good college, and so they're like, 0:45:01.320 --> 0:45:04.520 now we have to actually party, which is fine, it's 0:45:04.520 --> 0:45:06.520 a valid concern, but I don't know that that is 0:45:06.520 --> 0:45:09.880 the concern of most teenagers in America. I don't know 0:45:09.880 --> 0:45:12.959 that most teenagers in America are going like, oh. 0:45:12.640 --> 0:45:14.320 All my other rich friends got into a greade school. 0:45:14.360 --> 0:45:14.960 I want to party. 0:45:15.000 --> 0:45:17.320 It's great to see on screen, but I was like, Okay, 0:45:17.640 --> 0:45:19.759 this is a real concern. This is the thing that 0:45:19.800 --> 0:45:23.839 people actually need, and if they're in South Dakota where 0:45:23.880 --> 0:45:26.279 this law is a real law, and this law is 0:45:26.400 --> 0:45:29.279 in many states where it's a conscience clause law, which 0:45:29.280 --> 0:45:31.880 means that like any pharmacist can deny you any medication 0:45:31.920 --> 0:45:34.919 based on their religious beliefs, so you just can't buy 0:45:34.920 --> 0:45:36.719 it anywhere. And if you live in a state that 0:45:36.840 --> 0:45:39.960 has a predominantly conservative culture that doesn't believe in that, 0:45:40.000 --> 0:45:40.359 you're going. 0:45:40.280 --> 0:45:41.680 To have a hard time getting what you need. 0:45:42.320 --> 0:45:44.520 And that's not even talking about abortion, right, that's just 0:45:44.560 --> 0:45:47.600 talking about contraception, Yeah, which has always baffled me that 0:45:47.640 --> 0:45:50.120 people who are against abortion are also against contraception. 0:45:50.320 --> 0:45:50.960 Makes no sense. 0:45:51.200 --> 0:45:53.640 Ye, But I love the idea of setting it not 0:45:53.680 --> 0:45:56.400 only with two girls who were not white, but in 0:45:56.440 --> 0:45:59.600 a place that wasn't coastal, that was the rest of America, 0:45:59.640 --> 0:46:02.359 where the parties are not at a fancy house, they're 0:46:02.400 --> 0:46:04.400 at like a bowling alley, and they don't have all 0:46:04.400 --> 0:46:06.279 the money in the world to solve these problems, and 0:46:06.320 --> 0:46:07.759 their problems are real, so. 0:46:07.640 --> 0:46:10.439 It's like, how do we make you know, super bad? 0:46:10.480 --> 0:46:12.239 But instead of looking for alcohol, they're looking for the 0:46:12.239 --> 0:46:14.879 Plan B pill, and there's gonna be real reality in that, 0:46:14.960 --> 0:46:15.120 you know. 0:46:15.760 --> 0:46:17.480 Yeah, yeah, that's awesome. 0:46:17.800 --> 0:46:20.839 Well, look, congratulations because I think you made an amazing movie. 0:46:20.880 --> 0:46:21.279 Thank you. 0:46:21.640 --> 0:46:24.560 It really makes me want to, you know, see what 0:46:24.600 --> 0:46:28.760 you work on next. Yeah, thank you, so yeah. Natalie Morales, 0:46:29.080 --> 0:46:34.600 thank you so much for being here. That's all we 0:46:34.640 --> 0:46:36.120 got this week for more than a movie. If you 0:46:36.280 --> 0:46:39.359 like what you heard, please subscribe, follow, like, review all 0:46:39.440 --> 0:46:42.520 that stuff, and follow me on Instagram at Angry Yuka 0:46:42.960 --> 0:46:49.920 and tell your friends to listen. Finally, Finally, after hearing 0:46:49.920 --> 0:46:52.400 the word zoot suit so many times on this podcast, 0:46:52.440 --> 0:46:55.200 it starts to sound like you're drunk uncle demanding to 0:46:55.200 --> 0:46:57.720 be taken to the zoo. We are going to talk 0:46:57.840 --> 0:47:01.600 about the og play turned fee'ture film that inspired the 0:47:01.640 --> 0:47:05.560 careers of half of Hispanic Hollywood, and we're talking to 0:47:05.680 --> 0:47:09.160 the legend who set it all off, activist and director 0:47:09.680 --> 0:47:19.840 Luis Valdez. More Than a Movie. Season two was produced 0:47:19.840 --> 0:47:22.520 by Chloe taglia Ganbe with the help of Reynolds Gutierres 0:47:22.520 --> 0:47:26.000 and Veronica Hernandez in partnership with Iheart's Michael Dura podcast 0:47:26.120 --> 0:47:29.839 Network hosted by me Alex Flumetto, edited by Rose Red 0:47:29.880 --> 0:47:32.240 and Chloe Taglia GMBE with the help of Cida Caveto. 0:47:32.960 --> 0:47:36.520 Executive producers are Carmen Grattador, Rose Red, Isaac Lee, and 0:47:36.600 --> 0:47:40.880 me Alex Fumetto. Sound designed by Gonzalo Messi, original music 0:47:40.880 --> 0:47:45.279 by Golden Mines, Darko and Ieme recorded at JTB Studios 0:47:45.320 --> 0:47:48.720 and Vaudeville Sound Our. Executive producers at iHeart are Gazelle 0:47:48.760 --> 0:47:52.640 Bansis and Arlene Santana. For more Michael Durda podcasts, listen 0:47:52.680 --> 0:47:55.480 to the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get 0:47:55.480 --> 0:47:57.440 your favorite shows.