Part Two of The DVD Club interview with Grown Up Movie Star director Adriana Maggs.  

AH: The story is deeply personal and unflinchingly honest.  Was it challenging to write?  What was the original inspiration for the story?
 
AM: I get asked that autobiographical question constantly.  I never know what it means, like, "Is your Dad gay?"  A lot of the elements of the film are personal to me, but they are not exactly true, they are manipulations of scenes I've been confronted with in my life.  A lot of the conversations are true -- when the dad lights the magazine on fire when he's smoking in the house -- that's a true story.  There's a whole bunch of things I've actually heard people say.  When Susan's character is talking about how you can't change the name of your World Vision kid like you can your cabbage patch kid -- that is verbatim.  I can't tell you who said that, she'd kill me.  Be careful what you say around me!  When I was at York, I used to write screenplays by listening to my customers at the bar.  Sherri (White, best friend and collaborator) and I write stuff together, and you don't know how ridiculous you are until a friend points it out and wants to write about it.  Like I used to use underwear as coffee filter.  She picked that out as weird.  I was like, really, is that weird?  So it’s in our next project.

AH: The search for Ruby and Rose:  The two young actors are fabulous.  How did you find them and what was the casting process like?
 
AM: With Julia Kennedy who played Rose, we hardly looked at anyone else.  She was just perfect.  The script did make her a little uncomfortable, as it's pretty heavy material.  She came in for the auditions and rehearsals, and I had no idea what a teenager she was, as every time I was around her she was such a great Rose.  We could leave the camera on her for hours.  I appreciated her even more as an actor when I found out how different she was in her own life.  
We were looking at younger girls for Ruby for a while because I wanted to make sure that, while I didn't want to be exploitative of a girl's body, I needed to capture some kind of danger.  We needed that baby fat that's not quite gone, the danger of a child’s body exposed.  We didn't want to sacrifice that.  But the complexity of the character was difficult as a lot of people would read the script and say that Ruby was not likeable.
 
We were so lucky to find Tatiana (Maslany), who can transform her mannerisms into those of a child.  She'll probably go to Hollywood but I'll still force her to work for me.  
AH: You found so much humour in the film despite the desperate situations of the characters.  You were sympathetic in your portrayal of all of them.  I'm thinking of the GPS game in particular.
 
AM: The GPS Game was something my producer Paul used to do at the airport. I wanted to play with the idea that sometimes the things that are the most fun are the most dangerous.  
I also wanted to play with the idea that I don't know anyone who is evil.  We all walk the line between being selfish and selfless, I didn't want any villains, I wanted everyone's actions to be understood.  
AH: There was a gritty and honest examination of sex in all its forms, mostly "forbidden" in the case of this story.  It was really brave work on everyone's part.  Did this present some challenges on set?
 
AM: I cried before I directed the scene with Ruby and Stuart -- the “was it rape or not?” scene.  I felt, Tatiana has this normal happy life and why am I asking her to go to these depths?  She was amazing, but I have to give the credit to Jonny Harris in that scene, as he's such a gentle, kind person, and made her feel so comfortable.  I loved the crew so much; they were so respectful and dedicated.  They had all read the script, and they all knew what was going on, they were all comfortable with the material.  
 
I always say there are three genders in the world.  Man, woman, and the woman that male directors in Hollywood have created.  I love seeing movies made by women, and seeing honest depictions of relationships from a female point of view.  I like it with novels too -- I went through a period where I didn't want to read novels by men.  I wanted to sink into a female world, there is something so beautiful and dark and mysterious about it.  Except I have little boys so we watch Dodgeball and School of Rock.
 
AH: I loved that the father/daughter relationship between Ruby and Ray was central, and the recurring image I have of him is of folding laundry, and at his most beleaguered, Rose jumps on his back to play.  I enjoyed that the mother was represented by the image of the microwave in the driveway.  There was so much pathos and juxtaposition of images.  Did these images emerge while shooting or were they ideas you had while writing?
 
AM: You have to say you like the microwave, as my producer Paul wanted me to cut it, he said it was so Film School 101.  The Variety review talked about the microwave, and Paul was like – “I won!”  I just love the image of a woman carrying a huge heavy microwave in high heels on ice, because it has sentimental value to her.  It wasn't supposed to be sentimental; it was a reminder of how ridiculous Lillian's character is (played by Sherri White).  
Having boys, you are just getting them off you like leaches half the time, and I love them and want them to climb all over me, but sometimes it's so overwhelming to be a parent.  That’s what I wanted to capture with Ray. 

AH: What events in your career and life led you to creating this film, giving you the confidence to write and direct your first feature?
 
AM: I act, but I really don't like memorizing, I don't like taking time out of my day, my time is so precious to me, I would never be going around auditioning for stuff.  Unless people ask specifically or if I'm in the writing room, then I might go on set.  I always feel like I could be getting so much more done while I’m sitting in the makeup chair.  It’s also hard to make yourself so vulnerable as an actor.  
I think I'm really a writer, and I don't know how easy it would have been to direct the film had I not written it.  I had so many questions from the actors, I was shocked.  I knew the answers to the questions, as the main character was a lot like myself.  I'm glad I was directing my own writing.

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