In her feature debut, talented director Jen McGowan gives veteran actress Juliette Lewis a deliciously realized starring role as Kelly, a punk-rocker turned suburban mon. Kelly is nostalgic for a life she can no longer have and uncertain about a future she doesn’t yet fit into. Meanwhile, 17-year-old Cal (Jonny Weston) is frustrated by his lack of control over the hand he’s been dealt. When the two strike up an unlikely friendship, it’s the perfect spark needed to thrust them both back to life. With a few complications. “My intention for this simple but vibrant film,” McGowan said, “was to express the universal themes of identity, maturity, and regret through the graceful, sometimes peculiar, and always compelling characters and imagery of Kelly & Cal. Written by Amy Lowe Starbin, the film also stars Cybil Shepherd, Josh Hopkins, and Margaret Colin. I sat down with Jen McGowan in Los Angeles.
Danny Miller: It was such a delight to see Juliette Lewis in a role that was really worthy of her talents. How did she get involved with this film?
Jen McGowan: You know, she just responded to the material — and to me which was great because as a first-time feature director you’re just asking a lot of people to take a chance on you. And Juliette did. She’s the kind of person who does whatever she wants to do and she wanted to do this film which was great!
The chemistry between her and Jonny Weston’s Cal was so perfect. I don’t think the film would have worked if that wasn’t there. Did you do an old-fashioned “chemistry read” between the two of them?
We did! We knew how important their chemistry was going in — you’re right, it would have totally ruined the movie. We saw a lot of guys for Cal and we eventually narrowed it down to four. Juliette was so awesome, she totally participated in that which I’m very grateful for because it was key. But the second Juliette and Jonny said hello, I thought, “Okay, this is it!”
I know some people are going to hear about the different ages of the characters and freak out but I found their attraction totally believable — what high school kid wouldn’t have fallen in love with Kelly? But while the two of them flirt with the boundaries, this is simply not that kind of story. Were you surprised by some of the reviews that make it seem like they’re carrying on some kind of intense sexual relationship?
I just wondered what movie they watched! I read those and I was like, “Really? That’s what you saw in this film?” But what can you do, it’s impossible to control anyone’s reaction to a movie.
What I love about Juliette Lewis’s performance is that we really see her struggling with her feelings. We see her process — she’s trying to figure things out but it takes her a while to understand what she’s going through.
That was so interesting to me, too. Whatever the character is, I want to understand them 100 percent. With Kelly, there are times when you’re watching her where you start to think, “Okay, I understand what’s happening and I can see how she got there but she should’ve taken a different course a little earlier.” And with Cal, we go along with him some of the time and then there are these key moments in the film when we get that he’s just a child. That dynamic was super important to me. I wanted us to go along with Kelly at certain times and then seriously question her behavior at others.
I also love in films like this when the “bad guys” are not one-dimensional. It would have been so easy for Cybil Shepherd’s mother-in-law character to be the most grating, horrible woman on the planet but no matter what she does, we really see her (and Lucy Owen who plays the sister-in-law) as a real human being. I was so impressed by Cybil Shepherd’s lovely performance.
Cybil Shepherd is just awesome. I am so grateful for these women taking a risk on this film and on me. Cybil can do anything she wants, just like Juliette, they certainly don’t need to make a film like this, and it was such a privilege working with them. I felt that way about everyone in the cast — I had a very, very fortunate first feature experience!
With actors as talented and as experienced as Lewis and Shepherd, did they have a lot of ideas about their characters?
I think when you cast people at that level, you just let them do their job and you do your job which is very different. Actors need directors and directors need actors but we do very different things. A lot of times it involves just giving them the space to do what they do. I didn’t need to tell these women how to create their backstories or anything like that. They each had their own process and I was only concerned about what was happening in front of the camera.
I assume with a small film like this you don’t have the luxury of being able to do a lot of takes?
We were moving extremely fast — we only had 20 days! This being my first feature, I didn’t fully realize what that would mean. “Sure, I can do that!” I said, but it was pretty insane. The only scene we shot over and over was the kiss. Too much one way and it doesn’t work, too much the other way and it doesn’t work either. There was so much that needed to get communicated in that moment so that scene took a lot of time.
I know back in the day Juliette and Cybil both had a slight reputation for being a little “difficult” — probably because they were women who dared to express an opinion.
Oh God, that was not my experience at all!
Not that I’m asking you to diss your actors in any way—
I know, but I swear, if I agreed with that thought even a little bit I would have just skated over the comment. I absolutely loved these women and they were incredibly professional in every way. I would be so grateful to work with them again.
Since it was your first film, how tough was it to get it off the ground?
Amy Lowe Starbin wrote the script and I developed it in less than a year. The following year I found our producers — actually, they found me online which was totally crazy — and the year after that we shot it. From my perspective at the time, I was like, “Oooh, why is that taking so long?” But everyone around me was saying, “Are you kidding? This is fast!” We finished the film before Christmas and we were at the SXSW Festival in March.
You’ve already seen that some people are going to have emotional responses to this topic. Will you read all the reviews?
It’s been a really interesting process. At first I was reading them all but once I understood what the different angles were, I stopped. It helped me understand who our audience is — and they just love the film. And then there are people who just don’t get it and that’s fine, this doesn’t have to be a film for them. To be honest, there were a few reviews that hurt my feelings, but I’m over that now. On to the next one!