“The Hollars” at the Los Angeles Film Festival
John Krasinski’s newest directorial venture “The Hollars” already caught a lot of buzz at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. After getting picked up by Sony Pictures Classics, it was brought to the LA Film Festival for a special screening for LA Film Independent Members. I got a chance to cover the red carpet and speak briefly with Margo Martindale, who plays Sally Hollar, and director/actor John Krasinski who plays her son John Hollar, In the movie the two and the rest of the Hollar family learn that Sally has a brain tumor and they are forced to cope with it on top of, for John, the typical nerves of starting a new family.
First up was Margo,
Here’s what she had to say:
One of my favorite scenes was a really emotional one for the audience and it had a big moment between you and John, what was it like filming that?
I know the scene you’re talking about! It made me feel very vulnerable. John and I have known each other for such a long time, so it was extremely sweet and extremely emotional.
Yeah, it definitely made me want to go home and hug my mom!
(laughs) That’s good! I think that’s what it should make you do!
Next came John.
First, let me say, I was watching the movie and I was thinking “Wow, I love watching John Krasinski cry.”
(laughs). Oh, that’s so nice!
But then I got a little further in and I was like, “Wait! John Krasinski loves making me cry even more!”
(laughs) I guess it’s a give and take, that’s exactly what I was going for.
This is your second time directing, what did you do differently this time?
Oh man, everything! This was my first real narrative storytelling film so it was a lot different. You know, “Brief Interviews with Hideous Men” was amazing for me, but it was more of a cinematic experiment. It was just those broken down interviews.
For me, with “The Hollars,” I made sure to clear the set and make the other actors feel as comfortable as possible. Casting on this was so important. It was important on the other one as well, but when you’re shooting in Mississippi versus shooting in New York, you’re asking a lot more out of people. You’re asking them to move down to shoot. So, I just really wanted to make sure everyone was happy and comfortable.
I feel like it’s such a personal story, what was your favorite scene to just watch?
That’s such a tough question! I mean for me, I got to witness all these amazing actors doing such great work on all of these scenes. But I gotta say, I think that one of the most powerful scenes that I ‘ve seen in a really long time is Margo, as Sally, just right before she goes into surgery. That’s where the modesty and palpability really come in. It’s very rare that that comes across as well as it did and we’re very lucky that she did that for us.
You can catch “The Hollars: in theaters starting August 26th, 2016! One word of warning, bring your tissues!