One of the most poignant, funny and original films I’ve seen at this week’s Los Angeles Film Festival is Kerem Sanga’s The Young Kieslowski. Brian Kieslowski (Ryan Malgarini), a virgin and a science student at CalTech, knows that the probability of getting a beautiful girl like Leslie Mallard (Haley Lu Richardson) to fall for him is small to none — but on one very drunken night, the universe allows it to happen. Defying the odds again, Leslie soon finds out she is pregnant — with twins yet! — as a result of their one night together (even though they used protection). When she tells Brian that she wants to keep the babies, he’s too smitten with her to admit the truth: there’s no way in hell that he’s ready to become a father. In a desperate attempt to keep Leslie in his life, he pretends to be supportive, all the while hoping that she’ll come to her senses. Brian’s own parents (Joshua Malina and Melora Walters) are stunned by the news while Leslie’s dad (James LeGros) tries to strongarm his daughter into avoiding what he thinks will be the biggest mistake of her life. Loosely based on the story his own parents who had him and his twin brother while still students at Stanford, Sanga presents characters that are emotionally authentic while still being funny, outrageous and occasionally maddening. I sat down with the director and the two talented young leads the morning after the film’s world premiere. Richardson is the darling of this year’s festival — getting a lot of attention for both this film and The Well, a very different kind of move that she also stars in. The Young Kieslowski will have its final screening at the festival tonight while The Well will screen both tonight and tomorrow.
Danny Miller: What I love about these two characters is that they’re both well meaning and you can see that they care for each other, but their emotions never seem to be in sync. I found that both funny and quite accurate.
Kerem Sanga: These are people who are definitely maturing at different speeds. My guiding thought with Brian was to keep giving in to the darker impulses of how I might feel if I were in that situation.
Ryan, your character does a few things that are pretty jaw-dropping after Leslie tells him the news. As an actor, do you ever think, “Oh, no, the audience is going to hate me!”
Ryan Malgarini: Never! (Laughs.) The thing with Brian is that you can see he never does any of those things for a malicious reason. Most of the bad decisions you see him making in the film are done completely out of fear and immaturity. He’s still figuring things out! I heard Kerem say the other day that no matter how many mistakes a character makes, the audience is always looking for ways to forgive that person. I think that’s true.
Kerem: In life, too. Now that I’ve made the film, I can see that it’s about forgiveness in so many ways. I think we all have this deep-seated desire to forgive other people and to want to be forgiven for things that we’ve done.
That is certainly a thread that runs through all of the characters, including the parents.
Haley Lu Richardson: It makes me so happy when people who’ve seen the film tell us how real they think it is. I think this movie shows that nobody is perfect but that getting to see the flaws of the different characters is somehow endearing.
Kerem: I think it’s rarely the case when someone is being a jerk that they’re doing it just to be mean.
I also love the awkward moments the film presents like the very funny opening scene in which Brian’s mother is giving him “the talk” before he goes off to college. Was some of the discomfort Brian was feeling during that talk real for you, Ryan?
Ryan: I think it was actually harder on Melora, who played my mom!
Kerem: I remember after I sent Melora that scene she emailed me back and I could practically feel her blushing through the email! She loved the scene but it was hard for her — we had her saying some stuff originally that was even more audacious!
Knowing that the story was inspired by your own parents’ experience in college, what has been their reaction to the film?
My Dad just saw it for the first time last night and after the screening he said, “Total fiction!” But then he admitted that what I got right was the character’s reaction when he found out he was going to be a father at that age. How he freaked out and starting hating everyone else he saw who wasn’t in that position and wanted their lives. It’s funny, but my Dad and I never really talked much about that time in his life before.
I saw The Young Kieslowski shortly after seeing Obvious Child, this month’s other unplanned pregnancy movie! Were you ever worried about the film being judged through the lens of the hot-button abortion issue?
I certainly didn’t have any kind of agenda in making this film but I worried about that a little bit, especially because of the Christian phase Leslie is going through at the beginning of the film. I think it’s inevitable that we’ll get some feedback about that but it’s not what the film is about.
Haley: Not at all. The focus of the film is this specific person being true to her heart. It’s really a story about readiness and how people sometimes get there in different ways.
I agree, even though I’ll admit that as a parent of a teenager, there were times I wanted to scream, “Are you two out of your minds?” But by the end I was excited for them and felt that they could handle it. Sure, having kids at that age will change their lives forever—
Yeah, no big deal! (Laughs.)
I was so moved by the ending of the film. I don’t want to give it away, but the moment where we see that these two may finally be getting a little more in sync with their emotions is handled so beautifully and we can start imagining what their future might be like.
I cried when I read that scene in the script. I think we all have those moments in life where nothing is said but so many feelings are conveyed.
Kerem: Yeah, Brian finally gets the reality of what his life is in his gut.
I think watching what every person in that room goes through in that scene is like an acting class in nonverbal communication. How was it being pregnant, Haley? You did such a great job, it really looked like you were.
Haley: My pregnant belly was weighted so I had no choice but to have the body language of a pregnant woman!
Kerem: The childbirth scene was amazing because I think we did something like 30 takes and Haley gave it her all on every take.
Yikes, it must have been hard to talk the next day!
Haley: It was! And it was really hot in there that day. Believe me, all the sweat you see in that scene is me, no one had to spray me down!
Ryan: Shooting that scene was pretty scary for me because she was legitimately screaming. I think we even had a real surgeon playing the doctor, it was all very real. I kept thinking, “Okay, I’m definitely going to wait a while until I have kids.”
I guess you could see the whole movie as a kind of cautionary tale.
Haley: I do think it’s important that young people realize that this is something that could happen to them — often when they least expect it. These two kids lose their virginity to each other and they use protection but she still gets pregnant!
Stop scaring me! My daughter is heading off to college this fall. Do you realize the anxiety you’re creating among moviegoers with college-age children?
(Laughs.) Just tell her to make good decisions.
And use two condoms!
Kerem: No, definitely not two condoms! I’ve read that the friction of using two usually causes them to break.
Ugh. Okay, fine — total abstinence is the only answer!
I love that we all just collectively laughed at the very idea of abstinence!
Haley: Come on, it just doesn’t happen!
Ryan: Especially when you’re as good-looking as we are—
Or both crazy drunk at a college party!