What did you like about this script in particular?
I liked that I was able to play something dark, that wasn’t a comedy.
It’s funny, though.
Right? It’s funny as hell. But it’s so dark.
The person I saw it with last night said she would laugh and then feel bad about laughing and then laugh again … That really is one of the hardest things to pull off…
It’s so great that you said that. Oh God, it’s so great you said that. It’s such a fine line, like you said, to make someone feel bad about laughing.
And a lot of times you can feel these types of movies, dark comedies, trying to be a cult film from the outset …
Right, right, right.
Which this one does not.
We didn’t know if people were going to laugh or not. We thought it was hysterical. We didn’t know how people were going to respond. I asked Dan [Gilroy, the writer/director, and also Russo’s husband since 1992] how people responded last night, because I didn’t stay, and he said there was a lot of laughter. And I felt so relieved [sighs].
There was a lot of laughter, actually.
Oh great. Danny has a strange, weird, bonkers sense of humor.
Related: Nightcrawler Review
You’ve been an Angeleno for a long time. How does Los Angeles play itself in Nightcrawler? I’m in Los Angeles, too, and I kept seeing my neighborhood where crimes were happening …
[laughs] That’s so funny. It will be different for people that live in LA. It’s cool because I’ve lived on the outskirts before LA was so sprawling. There weren’t many communities past the mountains and so it felt like you were in this bowl. And the wildlife from the mountains would venture down at night. I’m a California girl and even though LA has expanded there’s still a certain wind and spirit in this town that’s familiar to me. Where were you raised?
All over. But mostly in Boise, Idaho. I’m a westerner at heart.
Oh so you just live in California! I was born and raised there and Dan is from the east coast, but he captured an LA that I now. Nights in LA are very different from anywhere else. Well they’re [Raymond] Chandler-esque. I think Dan captured the Chandler type of night on film.
Yeah the nights are strange and still. It’s also one of the only movies I can think of that is set in LA and there’s a lot of driving, but there’s never bad traffic. And those big highways are rather empty at night.
It’s a strange and eerie vibe. I can’t say it’s bad, but it’s odd. It can be a little cold and distant.
In a way, though, it’s appropriate because California was the end of expansion. It was the furthest that people could go.
Exactly. But I need an open sky and to be away from people.
It’s a premium on personal space.
Yes. Exactly.
I mean everywhere we are for these interviews in Toronto we’re 20 stories up and it’s kind of bizarre coming from LA, because LA is huge but it’s personal space, not stacked on top of each other.
True. I love the energy of New York. But I cannot live in New York for that reason.
My girlfriend brings up New York. I feel like I’m reaching an age where I missed it.
Oh no, you’re young! You can do it for a year or two. Go see some plays! It’s a whole different vibe.
Actually, saying that I am starting to feel extra pressure because I’m 32… Something that I felt from Nightcrawler that it doesn’t come out and say is that, because Jake is around my age, maybe just a year or two older, but if you don’t have a defined career by that age you’re kind of in quicksand. And he is so eager to work and climb the ladder. And he talks about career to everyone he meets. It’s this weird in-between stage where people are less likely to give you a chance because they think you didn’t know what you wanted to do, or you’d expect too much money, or …
Right! I am so glad that you felt that. Because that was Danny’s intent. Absolutely. He is so afraid for kids coming out of college and older. Everyone is expected to work for nothing. Or if you didn’t do that earlier it’s harder to actually make something later. He wanted to make a movie that appealed directly to kids your age. Well, [laughs] you’re a kid to me. But he thought that people of your generation would go into this movie and give Jake’s character a chance. Which no one else does. That you wouldn’t judge him as harshly because he’s earnest.
Interesting. I also think that my generation, being the last that wasn’t actually born with the internet and cell phones, is fascinated by digital video in a different sort of way. Like we didn’t grow up documenting everything, but later learned to.
Ah yes! Yes! [laughs] This is so exciting! [a PR representative walks into the room to indicate that our time is up] Oh no, I want this to keep going!
Well, I guess you already got a little more time than most… You must be very important. Who do you write for?
CraveOnline.
Oh I haven’t heard of them.
I hadn’t before, until I met the editor at one of these junkets, and at the time I was working for free, and I asked him if they paid…
[laughs] Oh my God, just like this movie.
So yeah, I came to Crave.
I’ll have to come to Crave, too.
Brian Formo is a featured contributor on the CraveOnline Film Channel. You can follow him on Twitter at @BrianEmilFormo.
