Talking about #Tully with the Cast

I mentioned recently that I went on a trip to Los Angeles with Focus Features to see Tully and interview the cast of the movie. I had a fantastic time at the reception provided by Refinery 29 and LOVED the movie. You can read my Tully review here. It spoke to me on so many levels. I could not wait to talk to the cast and especially Director Jason Reitman.

The interviews took place in Beverly Hills. While the hotel we were at was swanky on the outside, the room we had the interviews in was very cozy and it felt really down to earth just chatting with the stars among my fellow bloggers and writers. Along with Jason Reitman, we also got to speak with Mackenzie Davis, Charlize Theron, Ron Livingston, and Mark Duplass.

Before I get into the interviews I wanted to say that most people have been spoiled about the twist on the internet and have possibly read some bad press. I read many of those comments and articles and its clear that those people did not even see the movie. They were just passing what they “heard” from someone else. That is what I get mad at working in the entertainment industry. So many people give up on great things because they hear from their friends that they are bad or the reviews weren’t good or they didn’t make good money. If it looks good to you, give it a chance. Don’t read the comments.

The cast was asked how they kept the movie tone walking this perfect tightrope between comedy and content that is serious and devastating. Jason Reitman immediately said that it is all Diablo Cody. That is how she writes with the drama and humor intertwined. “She’s found things that could easily be considered tragic or dramatic. I mean, I even remember when I was making Juno and I would tell people, I’m making a movie about teen pregnancy and they would go — ohhh. I’d say, no-no-no. It’s a comedy. It’s going to be funny. Really? And they’d be confused”

I dont like just posting in the questions and answers but this one was from me and I think it needs both to be understood well.

Question: Charlize, I read your interview with Chelsea Handler and you gained a lot of weight for this film and you said that you experienced a bout of depression yourself. In the film it’s “Girls Heal — No They Don’t.” That was a very significant line when you talked about postpartum depression. What do you want people to take from that line? How do you think people should feel from that?

Charlize Theron: I think it lives in a gray area for all of us. Right? It’s different for all of us. I do kind of agree with what Chelsea said in that interview, that we hurt differently than men and I think we carry pain differently to men. You know, I love that line. I loved saying it. It felt so right for Marlo. But when I think about myself, I don’t necessarily know that I believe that wholeheartedly. I don’t know if what we experience isn’t just part of building who we are — and is that a bad thing?

Does that mean you’re broken? Is that the part that never gets fixed? I don’t know. I kind of like not knowing, too. I think that it’s going to be something that I’m going to experience more, as my journey continues as a woman and as a mom. But I do love concealer.

Something about that line just resonated with me. Tully says, “girls heal,” and Marlow replies, “no they don’t. They just wear a lot of concealer” And I agree. We patch ourselves up with concealer and hide the scars but do we heal? Some of us may but it takes wonderful movies like this to show how much it happens to other people. It is not just you. It happens to other moms. Charlize also talked about how growing up in Africa that there is a saying, it takes a village to raise a child. And that is how she grew up and when she became a parent that was how she always wanted  to raise her children. There is no shame in needing help sometimes.

I don’t think that this movie is trying to scare people off from having babies and neither does Jason Reitman. He said, “I think there is a current in our culture that we’re not really supposed to tell our kids about sex because then they’re going to want to do it and we’re not really supposed to tell them about child-rearing because then they won’t want to do it. But I feel like they’re going to do it either way, whether you tell them not, so you might as well.” I think this movie shows the real side that people don’t really talk about. I think it shows that everyone has some issues and everyone has things they don’t show.

There are other interviews from that day that focus on other questions or other reactions to their responses. You should definitely check out the #Tully hashtag for more!

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