I came to Leighton Meester later in her career, and in a most unusual way. I had never seen Gossip Girl or any of her other roles, and happened upon her in the 2011 Selena Gomez vehicle, Monte Carlo. Even in the lightweight fare, her talent was obvious. Now she stars in actor-turned-director Frank Whaley’s wistful quasi-love story Like Sunday, Like Rain, alongside a decidedly younger Julian Shatkin. She spoke with us recently about the new film.
Paste Magazine: I usually start out by asking someone how they came to the project. But, in this case, I am especially interested to hear from you because so much of the way this movie turns out depends on your costar. What was it like reading the script and sort of imagining what the person on the other side of the page is going to be doing or feeling like?
Leighton Meester: That was really what sold me on it on from the first page. The idea that obviously Frank Whaley was at one time, a young man—a much younger man, a 12-year-old man. So he knows the psychology behind a character like that. Somebody who is complex and if you are raised in a family that doesn’t always give you everything you need, where do you look for it? I knew that was going to be really important, but I trusted Frank so much in finding the right person. And of course you think, he has to be the actual age that he is written as. Because he could go with somebody older who can maybe look younger, somebody who maybe you’ll find, “Oh he’s really mature so he can pull off the emotional range, the emotional arc of this character.”
But, the truth is Julian obviously ended up being more than the perfect fit for it. And he is. You know he is very much in that age. He is it. And within him [there is something] that so prescient and nonjudgmental and playful and easy to talk to. And yes, adult and mature, in that he is very talented and professional, but he is also a kid and has that natural talent, which is so difficult to find. At some point I am already so moved by the script—I’m so moved by everything—Frank sent me his audition tape which I cried watching. It is even more than the sad moment. It’s actually more moving to watch in the disguise or facade of the know it all, the pretense that everything is totally fine and that he’s got everything covered. [That] he is a mature adult and not having friends doesn’t bother him and the fact that his parents aren’t present doesn’t bother him. That really was moving for me. I just really love him.
Paste: There is a feel to it that reminds me a little bit of one of my favorite under-the-radar films, a film Ted Demme did in the mid-’90s called Beautiful Girls with Timothy Hutton. It was one of Natalie Portman’s first roles. The genders are reversed but there is a friendship between a decidedly of age Timothy Hutton and a decidedly not-of-age Natalie Portman, where you can sort off see that she has a big crush on him and he knows nothing is going to happen, but you can kind of see this interesting exploration of “Wow, what a cool amazing unique person.” I’m not expressing that very well … [Laughs]
Meester: No, no, no I get it! Trust me, I used it for this film. I think it made sense. Its timing is totally off, and sometimes what saves you is that you don’t have to have a relationship with this person, or be romantic with some person to love them and learn so much from them. And that is exactly what happened. I think Eleanor went into that house thinking, I’m lost, I don’t know what is next, and I don’t think I am going to learn anything. And she was saved. He saved her.
Paste: I feel that way about being married. I have some female friends of mine that I have met since I’ve been married to whom I’ve said, “I am so glad that we met after I was married, because if we met before I was married, I’d have this wild crush on you and we’d never become friends because you’d be like, “Who is this annoying guy who has this wild crush on me?” But as it is, because romance is not a possibility, it allows us to be really more intimate more quickly because it is not going to lead anywhere we don’t want it to go. You know?
Meester: I know, that is the strange thing about us humans. The people that you don’t want to be romantic with, you can be more open and honest with.
Paste: Isn’t that crazy?
Meester: Yeah, but it’s lovely, and I think it is very true.
Paste: Tell me about working with Frank. Have you worked with a director who started out as an actor, was primarily an actor and then became a director, or was that a first of you?
Meester: No, not that closely. This was a very intimate setting, with the film being so small and just centered around two people. It was very quiet; it was very close-knit. It really started out with just being able to relate to each other, especially on that level. And he’s such an actor’s director. He conveys a sense of security and trustworthiness, and then of course you can relate to him because he can say one word, and you understand what he is talking about. There is a real shorthand that comes along with an actor who is also directing. I think that is probably why he is also drawn to material like this. It sticks around characters and their relationships and interactions. It’s not high-concept, necessarily; it’s just about human relationships, which is my favorite thing to watch and portray.
Paste: I’m not surprised at all to hear you say that. I came into your career kind off late. I had never seen Gossip Girl a day in my life and missed your appearances on television and the indie films you had done. Believe it or not, the first thing I saw you in was Monte Carlo, which I thought was a really underrated little movie. I thought that movie did exactly what it tried to do—be this sort off madcap live-action Disney movie that I grew up watching on Sunday nights on The Wonderful World of Disney. I thought it was such a delightful movie.
Meester: Aww thanks.
Paste: And I was really impressed specifically by your performance. I thought, “This girl is really kind of anchoring this movie.”
Meester: Thanks, that’s so nice.
Paste: You have an emotional texture to your work that one does not always see from someone who is coming out from the type of background you came out from. There is not really a question there. I just wanted to tell you that I am excited to see where you go from here. I guess the question would be, why don’t you elaborate a little bit more on what types of materials you’re drawn to, within that idea of relationships and exploring relationships. What specifically appeals to you about things that you read that make you say, “I’ve got to play this part?”
Meester: I appreciate that a lot. I think it’s a combination of being the best version of yourself when you’re sitting across from somebody and having a conversation about something that everybody in the world has done. And you can certainly relate to the feeling of meeting somebody that you’re on a date with, or somebody you’re friends with, or somebody you’re working for or with. Those are very grounded, real-life scenarios, and how you present yourself is important and how much you show your cards and how much you hide them. Like with this, and with Life Partners, I think that the idea is that there is a lot of one-on-one, ups and downs, and being able to just react off of someone else. Being able to go into a scene with your own opinions and seeing how you can be changed by the other person.
Michael Dunaway is the producer and director of 21 Years: Richard
Linklater a New York Times
Critics Pick starring Matthew McConaughey and Ethan Hawke; Creative Producer for the “Sarasota Film Festival”:www.sarasotafilmfestival.org; Movies Editor of Paste; host of the podcast The Work; and one hell of a karaoke performer. You can follow him on Twitter.