Within the new time-travel comedy My Previous Ass, Maisy Stella and Aubrey Plaza play two variations of the identical character, Elliott: One is a younger, assured teenager, and the opposite is her older self.
The 2 actors don’t actually seem like picture-perfect matches. However My Previous Ass director Megan Park stated that she was in search of one thing past only a superficial lookalike in casting two sides of a single character.
“Aubrey requested me, I keep in mind in our first name, ‘Would you like me to actually research her and attempt to choose up on her mannerisms? How a lot of this do you need to be making an attempt to imitate?’” Park tells Polygon. “And I used to be like, ‘I don’t suppose that’s essential, as a result of a lot time has handed and I believe as a lot as you are feeling like it is advisable to get into the characters.’ After we first all met and frolicked and had dinner collectively, I might inform she was actually taking Maisy in and doing that work for the character.
“However we attempt to not focus as a lot on it being an imitation of each other as a lot as simply there being this chemistry and this rapport, which was fairly instantaneous. Aubrey has youthful sisters who’re near Maisy’s age, and Maisy has an older sister. So there was sort of this pure sisterly factor in addition they fell into fairly simply they usually simply actually adored one another instantly, which was useful. It fortunately occurred pretty organically.”
The timey-wimey plotline kicks off when younger Elliott takes a complete lot of psychedelic mushrooms, and through her journey, finally ends up encountering the older model of herself. It’s performed fairly ambiguously as as to whether there’s precise time journey concerned or if it’s all in her head. However regardless, younger Elliott — who’s brash, daring, and really positive of herself — will get a number of her preconceived notions challenged by her older self. It was essential for Park that Elliott convey a really particular kind of power.
“I hadn’t seen a number of younger ladies in films who have been very cool and grounded, however have been additionally very vivid and cheery and optimistic and kind of sparkly,” Park says. “I don’t know why I hadn’t seen that quite a bit, however I used to be actually in search of someone who embodied that power and was very weak and open and loving, and it was tough to search out. It was sort of tough to search out that magical mixture.”
Touchdown on Plaza was slightly trickier, however as soon as the artistic crew narrowed in on what they have been in search of and separated from looking for a whole lookalike (“We spent a number of time getting caught up in [which potential actors] have blond hair”) all of it clicked collectively.
“At a sure level it’s like, Who can we need to see sitting on that log collectively bantering and having that sort of rapport?” Park says. “As quickly as Aubrey’s title got here up, it was like, Oh shit, that makes excellent sense.
“It’s additionally a lot funnier to me that [young Elliott] thinks [Aubrey Plaza] is so previous and he or she’s not even 40,” she provides with fun. “And it added a complete different layer of comedy that I actually cherished.”
My Previous Ass is out in choose theaters now, and in every single place on Sept. 27.
RelatedPosts
