https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/movie-interview-brie-larson/id493179090?i=164349638&mt=2
(0:50) I am not a movie critic, I am just a guy who likes movies. I wanna put a film on your radar. A film that's probably right up there - one of the best films I've seen all year. It's an unapologetic movie, it's even unapologetic in its title: Short Term 12.
And to talk about it, the two actors that helped bring it to life are in-studio right now: the lovely Brie Larson, and the lovely John Gallagher - thank you guys so much for being on the Movie Interview.
Brie: Thank you.
John: Thanks for having us.
Leo (laughs): You know, I gotta say: seeing so many movies, it's easy to get jaded. When I walked into Short Term 12, I didn't quite know what I was going to walk into, and it was just such a moving experience. I wanna start with both of you: way, way back, you know.. You two are actors who get good material sent to you, so you probably each of you have a respective stack of scripts that you have to go through. Where were each of you, individually, when you got the script for Short Term 12? Ladies first. Brie, where exactly were you?
Brie (laughs): I was in Athens, Georgia, at the time, and I was shooting another film called "The Spectacular Now"?
Leo (sighs happily): Oh!
Brie: And it was sent to me along with a note that said, "You will want to read this right away, so you should probably read it right away."
Leo: Who says... who has that little note to you that nudges you?
Brie: It was my agent. He had read the script and was a fan of the script before, and had been talking about it for awhile - that it was just this incredible script and this incredible part, and, um... it magically came my way. So I read it within - I think I didn't even finish it, I think I maybe got about halfway through - I just said, "I have to meet this person. I have to meet the person that has written this and is directing it."
Leo: What if the second half sucked?
Brie (laughs): There's no way! This first half was too strong. I was in at that point.
Leo: Wow. How about you, John?
John: Uh, very, very similar. I was in bed in New York City (laughs), where I live, and I rolled over and checked my email--
Leo: Is it like work, or is it exciting? What is it for you when you have to read a possible gig, a job?
John: It's, you never know. That's the kind of glory of it, is that you never know until you start reading it. You never know if you're going to, you know, strike gold or not. And, um, it was a similar thing - we are at the same agency, and through communication, it had been sent over to my agent like, you know, "Brie Larson is signed on to this, we want to send this to John, take a look at it, there's this other great part." And, um, there was kind of this "check this out, I think you're going to like this" - a similar kind of note on mine. And it was absolutely almost the same: halfway through the script, I had already cried about five times at different moments, I was so moved. And I emailed my agent and I was like, "Absolutely," like, "get me on the phone, I'll fly to L.A., I'll do whatever it takes, I gotta meet the director." And, yeah. So I knew from the get-go that it was really special.
Leo: We're talking about Destin Daniel Cretton. And... what was that first meeting like?
Brie: Mine was-- I think we both did Skype, actually... you did too?
John: Mmhmm. Yeah. We were Skyping.
Brie: Mine was a Skype-- I think the next day after I said, "I have to meet with him." Because I was very paranoid that he was going to find somebody else, and so I wanted to get in as quickly as possible. And--
Leo: You still doubt yourself?
Brie: Oh, of course. Every day!
Leo laughs.
Brie: I take too long to pick out what I'm going to eat for breakfast, are you kidding? Um... and I just-- I had never played a character like that, I had never played-- I feel uncomfortable saying lead, but that, you know?
Leo: Mmhmm.
Brie: And, um... I was concerned that he would find me underqualified because I didn't have any past material that was anything like this, which to me was a selling point, but I didn't know if some directors would feel more comfortable knowing that there is material on film that is very similar to what the character is that they are trying to portray.
Leo: Mmhmm.
Brie: It's a safer bet. So in order to try and impress him, I applied for a couple of volunteer jobs to work with kids while I was in Georgia, because with the way that the two films-- the film that I was doing and the way-- the start date for Short Term I didn't have a lot of time. So I applied to those jobs, and met with him. And we spoke for not very long, actually - and I was so instantly (laughs) so impressed and enamored by him because... he Skyped me from his bedroom and it was a mess. Like, he hadn't even made his bed. And I thought, "I, I just adore this person." (laughs)
Leo laughs.
Brie: There was no pretense, you know. There was no egos, there was no pretense, we were talking about this thing and I felt like he was a true collaborator.
Leo: Did he calm you down? Calm your nerves down, Brie? You're the one--
Brie: It's so funny, is now we've all-- through this process have all been more open about the leading up to filming, and all of us were kind of pooping our pants a little bit out of fear, and all of us felt underqualified, Destin included. He was apparently reading a bunch of director's books before and was really questioning himself, but the two of us looked at him and thought, "Ohh. He's just-- is so sure of himself. He knows so much. I just really looked up to him."
Leo: Mmhmm.
Brie (laughs): But instead he was looking to us, kind of figuring it out together.
Leo: Did you hit it off with him on Skype too, John?
John: Yeah. Through the script, and I watched some of his previous material. Through that, I just felt like-- I felt his heart and soul was just so present in what he did as a filmmaker, and so I was not surprised at all when I Skyped with him to find that, you know, there was kind of a simpatico thing. Like, almost the minute we popped up on each other's computer screens, it was kind of like (casual) "Hey." "Hey." "What's up?" It was this very... kind of laidback and easy and we totally hit it off. Yeah.
Leo: Incredible.
[break]
(8:30)
Leo: To the person listening right now going, "What the hell is Short Term 12?"
Brie: (laughs)
John: Yeah.
Brie: Well, it's the name of a short term foster care facility that John and I, we play characters that are line staff at the facility, and these are kids that are at-risk youth. They don't have a family, and they're here for a year, about, in kind of a transition stage - figuring out where they're going to go next.
Leo: So you went Daniel Day-Lewis on this.
Brie (laughs): It's funny you say that because I've been making the joke that I am actually Daniel Day-Lewis. This is Daniel Day-Lewis's most impressive performance as a young female. (laughs)
Leo: I like it. So you volunteered to work with kids in preparation to play Grace from Short Term 12.
Brie: Uh huh.
Leo: Is there a kid, anonymously, that sticks out in your mind that you met and you talked to and even connected with?
Brie: There were. I mean, all of the kids that I got to have the honor of spending time with really changed my life and really informed this character.
Leo: Really.
Brie: They're absolutely remarkable. It's a true testament to how-- the perseverance of the human, and that we really-- it's amazing that these kids are as smart and as talented and level-headed as they are considering these backstories that they've gone through that you just-- you can't even believe it in our wildest dreams. It seems more awful than anything you could ever imagine. And then it goes to show what love can do as part of the healing process - how important it is for them to have these people that are guiding them and that are constantly with them day after day, showing them what a family is like. That we're not all going to just wake up one morning and decide, "Nah, I don't wanna be a parent."
Leo: Wow. How about you, John? Did you get a chance-- I know you have a really busy schedule. How much did you have a chance to dive in for Mason?
John: Yeah, I got to shadow at the same facility that Brie went to, and follow a line staff member - somebody that does what my character does for a living, and I got to spend some time on the floor with kids that were, you know, living day in day out in a place - in a facility much like the one portrayed in the film.
Leo: How do you gather information? Are you a fly on the wall, or are you asking a ton of questions?
John: I kind of a little bit went fly on the wall. I just tried to kind of stay out of the way and observe. Because especially in the beginning, you know, the kids are very wary of strangers and people coming into that environment, because it is home for them - it's a protected place. And so when a new person comes in, you know... immediately I had people coming up to me going, "Are you new? Are you going to work here? Are you going to take care of us?" And they were immediately sensing that there's an outsider coming in here and we have to size him up. So I didn't wanna make anyone uncomfortable. So for an hour or so I just kinda kept to myself, and eventually once I could feel that the kids were getting a little bit more comfortable with my presence, that's when I kind of started to engage them, and get to talk to them, and find out about what life was like in there, and get to know a little about, you know, their history and stuff and...
You know, what struck me immediately was, um, how sweet they all were. They were just really all kind of kind souls. There was, you know, one young guy who just, you know, immediately had every board game out on the table and was going to teach me how to play about ten board games--
Brie: At the same time.
John: At once. (they laugh) Exactly.
Leo: It's just so incredibly sweet. So, with those two experiences respectively, what did you pull from it, and what did you pull from it, John and Brie?
Brie: Well, there's certainly an overall feeling. It's a different balance to describe other than if you watch the film, it's exactly like how the film is portrayed, which is something I think we're all really proud of. Especially since this movie has been seen by people who have the same job John and I play, along with, like, very big people in the foster care world who really have been struck by how honest an interpretation it is.
But for me personally, and this just-- this has extended into Brie life...
Leo: Wow.
Brie: It's letting go. That was the one thing that really struck me is, this woman I was shadowing - she was so tough, and so loving at the same time, and gave everything to these kids. And you can't believe how much happens in a day with them. I mean, there was multiple-- in the one day I was there, there were multiple kids that got kicked out of school and you're fielding all of these emotions and therapy sessions and taking them to church or to dance lessons or whatever it is they want. And it's a lot. And I was so overwhelmed at a certain point by it, and I said to her, "How do you do this?" You know, how do you get to the end of the day and then get back up and do it again? And she had been doing it for 20 years.
And she says, "You let go." She said, "You're here, you're on the floor, you're with these kids, you look them in the eye, you guide them, you fight for them, you do what they need. But then when you go home, you don't keep fighting for them. You fight for yourself. You do the things that remind you of you, whatever your hobby is - whether that's knitting, or watching "The Bachelorette" - for me it was going home and cooking myself, like, really cheesy pasta and watching "South Park."
But it's those things that ground you and bring you back. And you laugh. There's a lot of laughter that happens and it becomes an important part of this process, and it's interesting because you think for me that my life I enjoy serving, I enjoy giving to people, and it's a strange new concept for me to understand that you do actually have to at a certain point say, "I'm going to leave one cookie for myself," because it's also important for me to take care of myself the same way that I'm taking care of everyone else.
Leo (hushed): Wow. And John?
John: Yeah... absolutely. A similar thing. Just the kind of being so knocked out by the people who do that with their life, their ability to go and be on call all day and then be able to go home and have a life and still come back the next morning. And the guy that I followed around, he had been doing it I think for 15+ years or so, and he was amazing. It was effortless, the way he dealt with the kids was so impressive. And then he brought, like, a mixture of kind of like being a disciplinarian and authority figure, but also, like, he was clear that he was a favorite. He made them laugh, he made all the kids feel at ease - that was one thing that he said to me that I kind of took into the character was just "keep it light, you know, keep it light with these kids. They've been through so much, and having someone they can laugh with and feel comfortable around is gonna make a huge difference."
Leo: Ahh. We're talking in-studio. Brie Larson is here, along with John Gallagher, Jr. And it's about Short Term 12, a fantastic film. I wanna go back. When you talk about playing social workers... I read in the press notes that it was something like $12 an hour. So each of you have an educated opinion now on social workers. Is that even remotely fair, their compensation for what they go through?
Brie: No, but I personally find the whole financial system to be rather... strange, and skewed in weird ways that I just don't understand. There's a reason why I'm not an accountant, and it would probably infuriate me. (laughs)
But that actually-- that conversation was one that we had on this first, kind of date that we had that Destin set up for us.
Leo: Can you set it up for us?
Brie: Sure! We had a-- it was like a couple days before shooting. We had decided to have a time to meet up and talk before we started shooting--
Leo: So this is a faux-date. So you're supposed to be a couple when you don't really know each other in real life.
John: Yeah.
Brie: Yeah, we never met before.
Leo: Isn't that strange in itself?
Brie: Well, we're creating this mythology because these characters have been together for many years, and they work together, which is another element to it. And no one is allowed to know that they work together. So, um, we went on this-- we went out to dinner, and as John was leaving for dinner there was an envelope just placed on his doormat, and it said "Do not open until dinner," and so he showed up at the restaurant with this thing saying, "Hm, I don't really know what this is." And so we sat down and opened it and there was a sweet little note from Destin basically saying, "I don't know, but I hope this helps." And inside was another smaller envelope with a bunch of little pieces of paper that were conversation starters. And they were just little bits of things to get us going, and this dialogue. Things like, talking about our childhood, our happiest childhood memories, our hopes and fears when we become parents, and the mythology--
Leo: So as you guys are working through this, it's not John and Brie, it's Mason and Grace? Is that what you're doing?
Brie: It was-- no, I mean, we were ourselves while we were talking.
John: Mm-hmm.
Brie: But we were kind of discussing... you know, if you imagine us as being these kind of upper puppet masters to these characters, it's our job to do right by them: to understand them and to play them honestly and appropriately, and do our best to not do what we would like them to do but what they would actually do, which can be very hard and conflicting at times, especially when you grow to love these characters that you play. You want to do the thing that is empowering and helpful to them, and instead you have to feel them get hurt from time to time.
So we had had these conversations, which then led to things like income, and we started getting-- we got a calculator out and started thinking, "Well, we're working ten hours a day about, and $12 an hour and what does our monthly sum look like, and-- so that might be a reason that we-- maybe we moved in together really quickly due to financial reasons... maybe that's why I ride a bike, um... what does that mean for our daily activities? What are-- you know, that in itself created a whole other conversation and structure to this that was really helpful.
John: Yeah. And you take that into filming and then it's just there. You know, you have that kind of skeletal structure of the history of the characters, and then it's always kind of there for you, you know... just having that I think makes such a difference when you go into something like this.
Leo: In Short Term 12, the movie we're talking about, Brie Larson, John Gallagher, Jr. in studio, Grace is the tip of the spear. She's the fearless one. Now that you look back at it, I'm sure fondly - who is Grace? And what are people in store for when they see her on screen?
Brie: Um... well, the thing that I actually find-- that I love the most about Grace is the fact that I don't find her to be actually gender-specific?
Leo: Mm-hmm.
Brie: That might sound confusing to someone who hasn't seen the movie because she's most definitely a female dealing with female problems. But it's not so much about her specifically as it is about the kind of general feeling that she's going through - this period of time that we're catching her in where a lot of things in her past are coming up, and she her entire life has learned to not deal with them, not think about them, and therefore has lived this life of service and believes that if she puts more into these kids, that it will help her. I think that in a way she finds herself broken and not fixable, but if she tries hard enough, she can save these kids from feeling the pain that she feels. So while she's battling that and keeps throwing herself back into this work, it's just each kid is like a mirror reflecting something about herself that she hasn't looked at and is a reminder of something that she needs to deal with.
Um, and the general feeling of being afraid of being unlovable. Being afraid of letting love in and being happy, which I do think is sometimes a really difficult thing to come to terms with. I've found myself getting extremely depressed because I'm in a wonderful period of time in my life, and yet afraid that things are going to crumble and therefore we make them crumble.
Leo: Incredible. John, cool guy I'd like to hang out with, have a beer with.
Brie: (laughs)
Leo: Mason.
John: Yeah.
Leo: Tell me about that guy. He's so cool.
John: Yeah. There is just something that struck me immediately halfway through the script about how selfless he was. He's such a giver, he's such a caretaker, and such a nurturer. You find out, you know, later in the film - you learn more about his backstory, and his life prior to where the film-- the time period that the film takes place in, and it all starts to kind of emerge and kind of make sense as to why he's so good at that, why family is so important to him. And, um, yeah, I fell in love with the character immediately. Someone who deflects, who, you know, uses humor - not as a coping mechanism, not that you're not-- not to not deal with what's going on, but just kind of lighten the load that the kind of pain that just comes from kind of day to day existence. And I just thought that he was so smart and so sweet, and-- it just immediately felt like it was all there, like it was all really there on the page.
So much of it was just kind of imbued with Destin's kind of sensibilities. He's just-- you meet Destin, our director, he's just such a sweet person, and he's such kind of a giver and a caretaker. And whether or not he wants to admit it, I think that there's a lot of him - in probably all the characters, but in particular there were elements of his personality that I thought shone through in Mason. So, yeah... it was just so much fun to play a character that, you know, was that honest, and upfront, and put such a focus on taking care of people - making sure that everybody is happy and feels loved and feels like they can be honest about whatever it is that they're going through.
Leo: The scene in Short Term 12 that is just so-- one of the scenes that is just so moving - is a scene where Mason takes Grace to a party. And it's a 30th anniversary of his foster parents'. And the toast.
John: Yeah.
Leo: I thought Vince Vaughn was the king of toasts.
Everyone laughs.
Leo: But I'm telling you, John Gallagher, Jr.: I don't know where you went to to get it up or to get that perfect crest of emotion, but it really was such a perfect movie moment.
John: Thank you.
Leo: Tell me about it.
John: Yeah, we shot that scene our last night filming. That was the last-- that whole party scene was the last couple hours on the movie. It was on the 20th day of shooting and that was-- it was a wrap shortly after that. And that scene is an oasis in the movie. It's a moment where time stands still, and everything's going to be okay - is the feeling that happens in that scene. And because so many beautiful moments happen between, you know, my character and my family, and also, you know, bringing Brie's character Grace, you know, my character's girlfriend, into the fold, and-- it just feels like this great familial moment.
And it felt like that for us. Because we had created this family over the last couple weeks of shooting. And I was already feeling the weight of the emotion of saying goodbye to everyone, and how special it had been to make the film, and I remember Destin just coming up to me and saying, "Just, you know, talk to your parents, and talk to all of our parents."
Leo: What great direction.
John: Between that and just the feeling of love that I already had in my heart about everybody that was making the film, it didn't-- it didn't take much. And fighting back that well of emotion in that toast was definitely real, you know, I didn't-- all I really had to do was just speak the line that Destin had written and the rest of it just came naturally and did that work, you know, performing. So I think that's why it's kind of a real moment, and I'm so glad you were moved by it. That's great.
Leo: Really fantastic. And also, you know, we can't do this interview without shedding some light on the kids in the film, who were just-- you know, you talk about perfect casting - you know, Marty McFly from "Back To The Future," you know, Geoffrey Rush in "The King's Speech" - but these kids were really wonderful, starting with Keith Stanfield as Marcus.
Brie: Mmm.
Leo: Again, so Destin went on a search and found him, so tell me about... I guess he was in the short film before and now he's in the real film? How was this guy's-- not really used to being on film sets, but really just nailed it.
Brie: He's just-- first of all, just an incredible person, and extremely smart and the more time I've gotten to spend with him - which has just been recently, because... I don't know he knew how to do this, but before-- this was his first film. This was only his second acting job. His first was in the short film that was in 2009, and when Destin was able to proceed with the feature he was trying to find Keith, because he had auditioned so many people and there just wasn't an actor he was finding that had that quality that had come from a place that understood that pain that Marcus needed.
And so he was-- kept emailing Keith, every email was getting sent back, none of his phone numbers were the same... we tried to call his agent. He had left the agency. And in the process, Destin was starting to get extremely stressed out, his hands were peeling... and finally, Keith, who was just palling around in the desert, trying to grow an avocado tree - which failed miserably because it was in the desert - FINALLY checked his email, because he says he never checks it because there's nothing ever in there... (laughs) Finally checked it to find just a slew of emails from Destin, and he read it and was like, "No way! I wanna be in that." And so he drove - I think it was about two hours - to Destin's living room, and Destin put him on tape and the second he read the sides Destin started crying and it was then submitted to the producers and they all felt the same way, and by the time I had met him, he was already started to get into it and came up to me before we started shooting and said, "I just want you to know that I'm sure you're nice, but my character does not trust you and so I won't be spending any time with you during filming."
Leo: Wow.
Brie: And he stayed true to that. Down to the very last day. We were breaking for lunch on our last day, and there was only spot left at a lunch table and it was the same table as-- it wasn't even near him - it was the same picnic table, and I sat down, and he got up and stormed away.
Leo: That's very strong-willed.
John: He went Daniel Day-Lewis.
Brie: Yeah! He went really far-- but his performance is so incredibly moving and it's been a pleasure through this experience of promoting the film and getting to travel around with him to know who he is now, which is really not Marcus at all. And none of the kids are. That's what I think is even the more impressive part about it, is to find these 13-year-olds - is about the average age, 13-15 - that really understood where these characters were coming from and wanted to play them, obviously, and do right by them. But they have fantastic parents, and are just these bubbly, wonderful, lovely children.
Leo: Wow.
Brie: And then the second these cameras were rolling, they would kind of... get internal.
Leo: The Mason/Marcus thing. You did the most generous thing, John, by just letting yourself be, your character be.
John: Mmm.
Leo: And just let the guy-- the guy just shined. And you'll know that scene with Marcus and Mason when you see it. Talking about movies with Brie Larson and John Gallagher. As actors, do you like a lot of takes, or do you like just one or two takes?
Brie: Depends on the situation. I think-- I found with this film that my first take was usually the best one. It usually went right straight out of the gate was the best, second one was some usable stuff and third one was might as well not even do it - was kind of the feeling. Because I had to put on-- every scene was about me putting on headphones and listening to Norwegian black metal and getting me into this sort of otherworldly, intense negative headspace and then throwing myself into a situation and feeling conflicted and surprised by what would take place... by trying to take care of kids while having horrible thoughts in your head. And so the first take was always when I was, I think, at my most intense in my head, and the most surprised.
Leo: How about you, John? Just as working general, maybe this film, or working on "The Newsroom"... do you like a lot of takes or a few takes?
John: I think it's different for every project. I kind of try and go into each new thing with an open mind, and you kind of start to learn the rhythms of, you know, your director, and the crew, and how things are working, and the other actors, and... we didn't do a ton of takes for a lot of the scenes in "Short Term 12." You know, you have to get coverage, you have to shoot it from different angles, and so in that way sometimes a scene might take longer than others, but in general, I seem to remember the shooting process going pretty quick on "Short Term 12."
And that's something that I tend to like. I tend to-- I enjoy when things kind of have a movement to them, and an energy and a rhythm and kind of keep going... it always kind of keeps the focus and the energy kind of elevated. But, um, sometimes that can be because you don't have a lot of time, and you don't have a lot of money - you have to keep things on a certain schedule. And then other times you have the luxury of being able to do a lot of takes on different projects, and um... I think that there's merits to each and every way of doing it. And I always look forward to that moment where you kind of start feeling how is it going to work on this set? And then also taking responsibility and being able to, you know, stand up and say, like, "I think I need to do that one more time" and just give you this. And maybe it'll be wrong, but at least, you know, it'll be there and I'll have done it, and then you can have it.
Leo: Cause once it's done, it's done.
John: Yeah, you know, you relinquish a ton of control after it wraps. You now have very little say in what happens after that.
Leo: Let me go back to "Short Term 12." And I'm going to butcher her name, who played Jayden. Kaitlyn Dever. Is that right?
Brie: Mmhmm.
John: Yeah.
Leo: So, she plays young, troubled Jayden, I think 15 or 16, and again, another standout, knock-it-out-of-the-park performance.
Brie: Mmm.
Leo: I guess the scenes with you, Brie, were just so fantastic. What was that give-and-take like? What did you learn from her, because I could see that it was like a mutual kind of a thing.
Brie: Oh, absolutely. I saw a lot of myself in her just naturally, which really worked for the film, and I think she's just so talented and so smart, and I feel so happy to be in her presence that it just worked-- we worked naturally very well together.
But the thing that I really took from her that impressed me every day was her ability to get into character and get out. There was this scene-- one scene in particular where she has a huge temper tantrum meltdown and we have to restrain her, and it's really a lot of energy, it takes a lot of effort to do something like that. And she would just go all out, thrashing, we'd be holding her down and she's crying and screaming, and then we'd yell "Cut!" and she'd wipe her tears and look up and say, "Was that good?!"
Leo: Mmhmm.
Brie: And we did it many times. And she just wanted to keep doing it. She loved it. At one point I said to Destin, you know, "You can't keep making her do this, we've done this like five times, she's going to get so tired." And so Destin went up to her and he said, "Kaitlyn, you okay?" And she said, "I can do this many more times! Can they keep up?" And it changed everything for me. I had come from this feeling that you had to stay in it - if you're in a dark head space you stay in it, you stay focused in that world. And for her it's just... you go to that side of town, you come back.
Leo: Wow. Well, uh, what I loved about it is just, uh, she was just so in the moment every single time (Brie agrees) - again, another powerful performance. You two, getting the social workers just exactly where they need to be portrayed on screen so you're paying them off in a respectful way - you actually had to learn how to restrain somebody the right way, because, you know, we don't know, we're guys, we probably would've just, you know, laid out and tackled them. But there's a certain way. Is that true? Is that correct?
Brie & John: Yeah.
John: Yeah, there's a system and a guidebook to the proper way to do it. I can't remember the name of it - it has a name and everything - but it was a system that was developed after trial and error, and getting it wrong, and using force that's unnecessary and inappropriate when dealing with children. So there's a very specific way for all of your physical interactions.
Brie: Even the hugs. The hugs have to be on the side.
John: The side hugs.
Brie: A lot of these kids have dealt with abuse or maybe sexual trauma, and so you have to be really careful. And some of the kids, you don't do any physical contact. Which was important for us in the development of our characters in the film, was sitting down with each kid and understanding what the backstory, kind of what their file, quote unquote, was.
John: Mmhmm.
Brie: So we understood the guidelines for each of them.
Leo (hushed): Wow. What kind of feedback have you been getting for "Short Term 12"?
John: It's been, like, overwhelmingly really lovely. And it never fails to move me, you know. You have people come up like, "I'm sure you hear this all the time..." and the film hasn't even come out. You can tell me a thousand times and it'll never stop meaning the great thing that it means to me. It was such an amazing experience to make, it was such a labor of love.
And you always take a leap of faith when you do an independent movie like this. You have no idea if anyone's ever going to see it - you don't know if it's going to get distribution, if it's going to come out - it might sit on a shelf for years and never be seen... even really good ones sometimes, that happens to. Um, and so you never know. And so the fact that now, you know, we have the gift of being able to meet people that it's touched and people that it's moved and hear from them about what it means to them and how, you know, it registers, you know, with them is amazing. It's incredible.
Leo: How about you, Brie?
Brie: It's been really, really moving. We've had the pleasure of getting to go to the Q&As - do a lot of Q&As for a lot of these screenings. We get to come in at the tail end, right as the lights come up, and you just see a lot of people that feel very emotionally changed, um... there's a lot of releases that happen for people in the film, and a lot of feeling of community afterward, which has been really incredible. I've-- I mean, I've wanted to be an actor since I was a little kid, and as I got older I've questioned as to why, because I enjoy the artistic process but it never felt necessarily right to me because I don't enjoy my face being all over the place.
Um, but I realized that the thing for me that I love about film is that it can be a spiritual experience in a way. It can be this dark room that you go into with a bunch of people and, um, this screen is larger than you and the sound is louder than you, and it just washes over you. And for an hour and a half, you get lost in this - in other characters and other stories and you get taken away. And you start caring and thinking about people other than yourselves, and in turn relating and questioning, and that's what I think is so powerful about film. And it becomes unfortunate to me at times when people understand that and it becomes a manipulation instead of an honest transference of energy.
So, this film has been just the most life-affirming example of the power of film and what it can do, and to have people come up to us and say that the film has changed them - and it's changed a lot of people for many different ways - and they feel specifically connected to the other people they saw the movie with, is just incredible.
Leo: Well, I'm so glad that, you know, Mason and Grace went on that faux date--
Brie & John laugh.
Leo: It's a beautiful little film and I just hope whoever's hearing my voice will go see Short Term 12. And John Gallagher, Jr., Brie Larson, I wanna thank you for being here for the entire show, and just as they say, giving it over, and come back anytime you like.
John: Yeah.
Brie: Please! I would love to talk about other films with you sometime, too.
Leo: Oh, yeah, well, we'll geek out and--
Brie: Let's get into it.
John: Let's geek out.
Leo: Oh, you know, absolutely. I'll even force the issue: it's coming out on DVD in about three months, so if you guys want to come back and push the DVD...
Brie: Let's do it.
John: Yeah.
Brie: We'll talk about our favorite DVDs.
Leo (laughs): You're always welcome.
