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”.
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Short filmTranscript
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.