IR Interview: Ed Harris, Sonequa Martin-Green & Natalie Morales For “My Dead Friend Zoe” [Briarcliff]

The Inside Reel

Actors Ed Harris, Sonequa Martin-Green and Natalie Morales talk to The Inside Reel about approach, intent, perspective and perception in regards to their new film from Briarcliff Entertainment: “My Dead Friend Zoe”.

Transcript

00:00I would think seriously about what living in the past is worth.

00:20Why would you re-enlist?

00:21The world is not my oyster.

00:22You think the world is my oyster?

00:23I'm a black woman in America.

00:25We're the lake house.

00:26It's my grandparents' lake house.

00:27It is.

00:28Oh, shut up.

00:30It's all in the water.

00:31Not the lake.

00:44Every single one of these characters is so strong.

00:46And yet, you have to open up a little bit of empathy and vulnerability at different

00:51times in different parts of the movie.

00:53Can you talk about finding the strength in each of these characters, but also letting

00:57that little bit of sort of vulnerability come in.

01:02Oh, you're looking at me. Okay. I had a little bit of fun to

01:07play because I got to play two versions, or maybe three

01:10versions of this of this person. One, you know, when she was in

01:14Afghanistan, two after she got back from the war, and three

01:19when she was, you know, a manifestation of her guilt, and

01:23not really a real person. So it was interesting for me to try

01:27and find how to make all of those vulnerable and slightly

01:36different, but all the same person at the same time.

01:38I feel like the vulnerability, I think it was communicated just

01:42because of the pain. I think that that was my focus,

01:47bringing the story to life and bringing Merit to life and

01:50essentially Kyle's life to life. I was just so focused on the

01:55pain, how how much I was hurting, and how much I how

02:01hopeless the situation felt. And I think that, I guess

02:06fortunately, it sort of communicates itself as

02:09vulnerability.

02:10Can you promise me I won't get like messed up?

02:13Taliban can't touch this.

02:14If you ever catch me in some sort of like dopey group

02:17therapy, you have permission to kill me.

02:20So we're all here. Who wants to start?

02:23My name is Merit. Deployed to Afghanistan in 2016.

02:27Okay, okay. Aren't we better than this? Then this woe is me.

02:32Ouchie, my feelings.

02:34Let's get out of here.

02:35Be quiet.

02:35Merit.

02:39Everything okay?

02:40I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

02:44Well, yeah, I think, you know, my character is pretty much has

02:47isolated himself. I mean, his wife has passed. And he's

02:51wife has passed. His his granddaughter's hasn't been he

02:57hasn't seen her for quite a long time. And when you're when you

03:03isolate yourself that way, if someone comes into your life

03:09that you care about, and you open up to them, there's a

03:14vulnerability because you haven't been doing that at all.

03:16You haven't been giving you haven't been open to anyone else

03:20in your life for a period of time. And when you do crack

03:25yourself a little bit, it's you're vulnerable.

03:28Grandpa, I've been dealing with some things.

03:31That's what a soldier does. You suck it up.

03:38First platoon said there's a sniper out there.

03:41You think I'm scared?

03:42Where are you going? Zoe?

03:46Aspect of perspective and perception. Because his

03:49perspective and perception of the war he went through is

03:53different than, you know, merits and is obviously different from

03:57different from Zoe. Can you talk about perspective and perception?

04:00Because, you know, that's inward and outward for a character. And

04:05we've talked about this before as well.

04:07Well, yeah, I mean, I'm not quite sure how to how to answer

04:10that.

04:12Because you have to see through this character's eyes.

04:14Yeah, exactly. You always do. I mean, the experience of the

04:17Vietnam experience, you know, I've played Vietnam veterans

04:23before, was not in the war, but I knew a lot of guys that were

04:26and were suffering from it and lived with one fellow for a

04:30while. And so you do have a very strong feeling and perception

04:39about something. And then your and your perspective is based on

04:45that. But then and you look at recent situations when like the

04:51scene in the boat when I'm talking to Sonequa's character,

04:55you know, it's all I know about her experience is what I've read

05:00or seen, you know, heroes coming back from the war. They're not

05:04being spat on. They're not being mocked. They're not being, you

05:09know, blamed. So it's just this shifts, you know.

05:14You can't tell anyone.

05:18Burl. Damn, what a name.

05:19Don't say that.

05:21What? I can joke about the dead. These are my people.

05:25Hey, I didn't think, um, have you ever played Buck Hunter?

05:29No.

05:32That's a new record.

05:34Well, damn.

05:35Go away, Sonequa. Perspective and perception.

05:39Right. I actually, I really, I really love the different

05:42perspectives that we see in this film, even as it relates to

05:45being in the service. The two perspectives that Meredith and

05:49Zoe have are really fascinating. And obviously, you know, up

05:53against up against, you know, Dale's perspective. It's I love

05:57that. I love that you see three different experiences of of

06:02veterans and and how they're they're not a monolith, you

06:08know, which is something that Kyle says a lot. And that's

06:09something that all of us learned is that they're not. They're

06:12all so very different. And their experiences are so very

06:15particular. So I just appreciate that. Here you have these two

06:20these two women, these battle buddies, you know, these best

06:23friends, their friendships, you know, tried and fire, but they

06:27they see things very differently. They see the world

06:30and they see military service and war very, very differently.

06:34I appreciate that about the film.

06:43You think I'm crazy? Your mother thinks I'm crazy. But as

06:46long as you're under my roof, paper goes and goddamn six.

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