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In the 07/25/2020 edition:

Red, white and askew: Actor Barry Watson sees the present in ‘THE CURRENT OCCUPANT’

By Preston Barta on Jul 24, 2020 05:37 pm

Preston Barta // Features Editor

Long associated with mysteries and horror, mental hospitals have been a locale for evil happenings in psychological narratives fit for midnight terror. These institutions’ reality is bleak and controversial – and horror, when done right, uses this setting as an opportunity to capture broader social concerns. 

In Into the Dark’s new entry on Hulu, titled “The Current Occupant,” a patient named Henry Cameron (Barry Watson) believes he is the President of the United States wrapped up in an evil plot. Directed by Julius Ramsay (The Walking Dead), the horror movie anthology episode digs into many thought-provoking themes. It also eerily has a lot in common with the state of the world today.

Fresh Fiction recently spoke with actor Barry Watson (7th Heaven and Showtime’s The Loudest Voice) about the odd parallels and how he tried to supply his own light during the show’s darkness.

Preston Barta: The first question that comes to mind after watching this film is, are you OK?

Barry Watson: “What’s interesting is, usually after you do something as dark as this episode was, you have time to detox out of that world you put yourself in. But because of the whole pandemic, we stopped production, and everything got pretty much shut down a week later. So, I didn’t really have time to let go of this. I think with the circumstances, I just went from that to a similar dark place that we all are kind of in.”

“I guess I’m doing OK. I need to have some light, fuzzy job for my next gig, something a little more comedic. But it was challenging. Everybody always asks my wife, ‘How was he when he came home from work at night?’ I guess I was OK. She’s been with me on so many different projects, so I’m usually always focused, whatever the genre or material. It’s sort of all a dream to me in some weird way.”

Yeah. There’s that line early on in the movie where you say, “My life has become a series of endless routines.” When I hear that, I’m like, “This is literally what we’re all going through right now.”

“I know. It’s eerie how precedent this is at this time in this world we’re in right now. I was talking to Julius Ramsay, the director, about it. I was like, ‘This is just so bizarre that we did this movie, and then this is the aftermath of us finishing production and airing it around the same time.’”

Would you say that the story has taken on new meaning since reading the original script? How do you think you would perceive the script now reading it from when you first read it?

“That’s a really good question because I haven’t really thought about it in that way. I probably would approach it differently, and I don’t think that would necessarily benefit the movie. I’m not even sure how I would approach it differently, but I know my mindset is different right now than when I first started the project. I’m not sure I would take on the same tone that we did then, but I don’t know. I mean, I can’t really say that. I definitely would probably read it a little bit differently, and I’m sure there would probably be some things changed within the script as well, possibly, I don’t know, with the higher-ups, the big bosses.”

INTO THE DARK — “The Current Occupant” – Episode 210 — Trapped in a mysterious psychiatric ward, a man with no memory comes to believe that he’s the President of the United States and the subject of a diabolical political conspiracy. As the asylum’s soul-crushing forces bear down on him, he fights to preserve his sanity and escape so that he can return to power. Dr. Larsen (Sonita Henry) and Henry (Barry Watson), shown. (Photo by: Patrick Wymore/Hulu)

Seeing how this film walks the line between fantasy and reality, what did the reality of Henry Cameron teach you about your own reality?

“There’s a part of me that’s a part of Henry. I’m an actor, I get to play make-believe all the time. For Henry’s reality, or what he perceives is his reality, I approached it the same way I approach my own reality. When I approached playing Henry, there was no way I could play that role without being convinced that I really am the President of the United States. So, every time I went into work, I was Mr. President. I mean, that was stuck in my mind.”

“Once he hears that he’s possibly the President of the United States, he’s going to take on that role from there on out. I think that was the only way I could actually pull it off, as an actor, is to really, truly believe that I’m the President of the United States. If I question that, then I don’t know. I think it’s not going to play as well throughout the film, and it’s not going to be able to make the audience do the back and forth that I hope that we were able to accomplish with going, ‘Is he? Is he not? What is going on here?’”

“I think that Henry’s reality is that he’s not crazy, that he is what he is. I like to think that our realities are similar in some way. Obviously not, as I’m not locked up and licking people’s boots and cleaning toilets and all that. I think that that’s the only way I could’ve approached it. It’s not this dream, but I wanted it to feel like it was a dream or like it could have been.”

I hope they put some sweet flavor on that boot for you to lick.

“[Laughs] By the way, everybody who’s seen that was like, ‘You could never do that during our times right now.’ That was my first day of work, too – that day of cleaning toilets and licking boots. That was my very first day on the show. Then, it just went on from there, going, ‘OK. We’re going to try to make this as raw and gritty as possible.’ But no, they didn’t put any flavoring or anything like that on the boots. I just made sure I watched the props clean it very, very well before I did it, and they were a brand-new pair of boots as well.”

Well, that’s good. When you’re dealing with a character that’s as complex as this, is it difficult to map that headspace out if it’s not shot in chronological order?

“It is. It’s really difficult. With these, you don’t have the amount of prep time as you’d like to have, obviously, and maybe that’s a good thing. I researched people with amnesia, but that’s as far as I really went with it, just to see how their ups and downs go. So, I was like, ‘Oh, OK. I just need to bring some ups and downs of just not knowing who I am, and that frustration that people must feel, and try to put myself in that situation.’”

“So, yeah, that first day of shooting, for me, on anything I’m working on, because you’re not shooting the first scene of anything, that’s the night I don’t sleep. I come back home from work, and I’m like, ‘Did I do any of this right? Is this going to work through here, here, and how I’m trying to build this part of the character up and where he’s at?’ Starting that far into it is not easy to do, but it helps you. I put my stamp on it that first day, and then this is how I have to go about it, and I’m sort of stuck with it at that point.”

“I’m sort of stuck with going, ‘Oh, OK. This is where I’ve got to be mean. This is how I played it here, so this is where I’ve got to build it up to this.’ So, it’s hard. But after that first day, Mr. President sort of gets in my body, and I roll with it. It almost becomes this weird dream sequence for myself, as a human being, outside of me being an actor, putting myself in this. It’s almost a dream state, for something like this, I put myself in. So, hopefully, that all paid off.”

Yeah, I would say so. And that’s interesting because one of the things I was going to ask you about is because this character is wrapped up in mystery, do you color in any of those gray areas that we may not necessarily see, but maybe can feel?

“Oh, yeah. That was the one thing I told Julius when we were working, I said, ‘Look, these little moments or these little things are big things. They’re always big things. Every little thing is something bigger than it says on the page.’ I think, at times, some of the producers were like, ‘What are these guys doing?’ Because we were not rewriting the script or anything like that, but just creating as much as we can out of moments. I don’t know if I can pick anything out because, as an actor, I always find the smaller moments are still the bigger moments in a performance. You see on a script it says, ‘Oh my God. This is going to be such a huge moment.’”

“Well, that’s what the writer was hoping for, but that might not be what the reality is of what you’re doing on that day of shooting. So, that was a great thing. You don’t always have the luxury of having that great connection with a director (and his brother, Alston, who was the writer), where we could talk to each other after work or in the middle of the night or email. We’d be shooting something the next day, but it would change. We would change it just to amp it up a little bit or make it work more for the whole story. It’s truly what filmmaking is supposed to be about when you have that connection and that back and forth with the other creative people in the process.”

“So, it was a short shoot. We definitely had our bumps and bruises, but then we got on a really good path of really all coming together and going, ‘We’re going to make this the best Into the Dark that they’ve ever seen, if we can, if at all possible.’ That’s always the goal with everything, and it’s nice when you come together with the filmmaker and the writers and the rest of the cast and producers, and the goal is just to make something the best it can be. I think we did that.”

Barry Watson in INTO THE DARK. (Photo by: Patrick Wymore/Hulu)

It’s nice that it was an organic process because I’m really invested in this journey as part of the audience. I really like institutional horror films. I’m constantly wondering where this is going to go, and I like where this one goes. But would you ever bail on a movie if you loved the journey, but didn’t love the ending?

“Hmm. You know what? There are so many powers in this business nowadays. I think every project I work on, I have that moment. I’m not an actor that’s trying to be difficult just to be difficult. I’ve worked with a lot of those actors that are just being difficult for no reason. It’s not creative. It’s not anything. But, for me, I don’t sit there and just go, ‘OK, give me the script. I’ll show up. I’ll say my words and go home.’ I’m invested. I don’t sign up for something just to half-ass anything. It’s my face up there, it’s my work. I want it to represent what I want to bring to it, and sometimes it always doesn’t go in my favor because the powers that be have other ideas of how it should play out.”

“I sometimes have a little more control over that, and sometimes I don’t. So, I just have to go, ‘OK. Do my part, let it go, and just let whoever’s in control of this to put out the best product possible.’ I will say the director’s cut of this was the best director’s cut I’ve ever seen of anything I’ve done. Usually, the very first cut of something I see, I’m like, ‘Oh, God. They need to put this back in. Why did they edit that so quickly?’ or, ‘Why didn’t they just let that play out a little slower?’”

“Julius, coming from an editing background, knows how to edit something. The way he was shooting it and the style and the vision that he had, he put together a really, really wonderful director’s cut. Unfortunately, it’s a time thing with so many of these things. So, things have to be trimmed down. What’s a drag about that is so many of these moments that need to take their time to play out end up getting cut on the editing room floor. It’s a shame, but that’s just how it goes. There’s a lot of really cool stuff from this movie that didn’t make it in. It really would’ve tripped people out. But you know what? I think it still turned out good. I think it plays.”

I hope that one day we get to see that cut. That’d be really cool.

“That would be pretty cool. They should do an Into the Dark director’s cut version.”

The Haunting of Hill House had a physical release where it had extended cuts of the episodes. Something like that would be really cool. Pricey, I’m sure, to do the entire Into the Dark collection, but I would pay for it.

“Yeah, of course. Right? I know. I think Into the Dark fans would get a big kick out of that, but I’m not a producer on it. I’m just a talkie, actor guy.”

For my last question, I’d like to ask you something that I asked the director when I interviewed him. I knew that he had a history of working with the Clinton family, and I asked him if he could share this film with any political figure, who would he pick? And he picked Bill Clinton. So, I’m going to toss that ball in your court: What political figure, living or dead, would you like to watch this film with?

“Well, I’d love to say Donald Trump, but I don’t think he has the patience to sit through it. I don’t think he’s there, but I would really love to sit in that theater with him, whether he’s watching the movie or not. I’ve got so many questions, but Gosh, I don’t know. Bill Clinton, that’s a good one.”

“I think I’d say Richard Nixon because he’d probably have the patience actually to watch it. You almost don’t even know what year the movie is set in. So, it could almost play in the ’70s or something like that, and that’s what I think is so cool, visually, about it.”

“The Current Occupant” is now available to watch on Hulu as part of the second season of Into the Dark.


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Love on the rocks: ‘MARRIAGE STORY’ enters Criterion, Paramount produces new collector’s editions of library titles

By Preston Barta on Jul 24, 2020 03:03 pm

Preston Barta // Features Editor

Whether you’re searching for a quality romance to send you crying into a box of tissues, get you hot under the collar, make you laugh, or leave your heart feeling full, love is in the air with this week’s home entertainment releases.

MARRIAGE STORY

Rated R, 137 minutes.
Director: Noah Baumbach
Cast: Adam DriverScarlett Johansson, Laura Dern, Ray Liotta, Julie Hagerty and Alan Alda

Available today on Blu-ray through the Criterion Collection. (Critic’s tip: Take advantage of Barnes & Noble’s 50% off Criterion sale by picking this up at a reduced price.)

Welcomed into the Criterion Collection this week is Noah Baumbach’s stinging drama Marriage StoryThe Squid and the Whale filmmaker brings a bona fide and terrifying perspective of divorce to the cinematic plate. It doesn’t shy away from the consequences of marital conflict and custody disputes, but it also doesn’t drive the audience so far into the ground that coming up for air seems impossible. Marriage Story is an incredibly human experience, with surprising bursts of humor, that movingly illustrates the transition of love.

The film opens by having protagonists Nicole (Scarlett Johansson) and Charlie (Adam Driver) share a list of strengths shown in their partner to a mediator. (These very lists can be found inside the six-panel Criterion packing, complete with messy handwriting and page wrinkles for a lifelike replication.) Charlie, a low-key theater director, calls attention to Nicole being “infectious” and “competitive,” as well as being someone who knows how to push him and give him space. Nicole, a site-specific actress, highlights how “annoyingly good” Charlie is at being a dad and how he takes all of her moods steadily and doesn’t make her feel bad about them.

Through this, it’s evident right away that Baumbach isn’t taking sides. Although it may seem like much of the story is devoted to Charlie, he isn’t free from his marital failures. Sexual infidelity and ignoring each other’s needs contribute to their marriage’s demise. Baumbach treats both spouses with understanding and insight. Neither is perfect, and neither is evil.

Marriage Story explores all aspects from both sides, including the household’s split, the effect on their son, Henry (Azhy Robertson), and their upended social lives. Additionally (and arguably most powerfully), the film examines how a couple’s behaviors and interactions can be stored away and used against them in divorce. (Look out for one heartbreaking courtroom scene and the already memed argument sequence.)

Like any movie that involves the emotional upheaval of divorce, the words fly like swords, but they also comfort. Without spoiling the conclusion, there are realizations and expressions of love that enter the atmosphere to soften the blow. As much as Baumbach removes the Band-Aid, he gently sticks it back. Because of this, Marriage Story deserves an honored place in the pantheon of films about family and the legal system. Thus, making Criterion the perfect home for it.

Grade: A+

Extras: The Criterion Blu-ray pack release is a sparkling marriage of audio and video with an insightful assortment of bonus material. The extras include a remarkable feature-length making-of that captures the emotionally powerful set, from Baumbach’s direction and the blocking of scenes to navigating the characters’ psychological motivations.

The remaining supplements consist of many interviews. What’s striking about these conversations is that they don’t merely feature the talent and filmmakers fawning of Baumbach’s genius. They touch on various topics, including why Baumbach does multiple takes and how they worked together to create a claustrophobic atmosphere for the film’s story.

Lastly, novelist Linn Ullmann contributes a pleasant short essay commenting on the film’s depiction of marriage and divorce.

PARAMOUNT PRESENTS COLLECTION

For any classic movie collectors out there, Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment has recently launched a new way to market library titles under “Paramount Presents.” They include remastered discs, new featurettes and discussions, and a consistent packaging to make your shelf look appetizing.

AIRPLANE! (1980)

Rated PG (though PG-13 is more accurate — don’t forget about the brief scene of nudity), 87 minutes.
Director: Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker
Cast: Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, Leslie Nielsen, Robert Stack, Peter Graves, Lloyd Bridges, Lorna Patterson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Barbara Billingsley

Celebrating its 40th anniversary this year is the 1980 spoof disaster movie Airplane! It cemented star Leslie Nielsen’s place into the comedy hall of fame and arguably changed the face of comedy altogether. It also managed to cram a staggering number of jokes and sight gags into its 87-minute runtime. Lines like “Don’t call me Shirley” have been quoted so often that anytime anyone mentions the word “surely,” you can’t help but punctuate the moment with the Nielsen zinger.

Although some elements probably wouldn’t pass muster from a 2020 standpoint, you cannot deny how massive its influence is. It spawned the Scary Movie franchise and an entire cycle of films and television shows that match its stirring of density and dexterity. Who knows if The Simpsons and Family Guy‘s carnivalesque sensibilities would be around if the Airplane! model didn’t land first? Few comedies cast a full shadow, which is ironic considering we’re talking about a movie holding up as something singular when it’s an amalgamation of other works of entertainment. That’s a sign of fine art — and yes, surely, I’m being serious.

Grade: A-

Extras: The Paramount Presents Blu-ray contains a new filmmaker focus segment with writer and directors Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker. Additionally, there is a new Q&A (filmed this January), an isolated score and an archival audio commentary with the filmmakers.

GHOST (1990)

Rated PG-13, 126 minutes.
Director: Jerry Zucker
Cast: Patrick SwayzeDemi MooreWhoopi Goldberg, Tony Goldwyn and Vincent Schiavelli

Interestingly enough, screenwriter Bruce Joel Rubin was initially dismayed to learn that producers planned to hand his supernatural romance over to Airplane! director Jerry Zucker. He thought the filmmaker would turn 1990’s Ghost into a slapstick comedy. However, Zucker steered the drama toward a well-mixed tearjerker and madcap farce. It enabled Whoopi Goldberg to turn in an Oscar-winning performance as con-artist psychic Oda Mae Brown. So, it worked out for the better. And we have 30 years of swooning, thanks to Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, a pottery wheel and the Righteous Brothers’ love jam “Unchained Melody.”

Like Airplane!Ghost is equally as groundbreaking for redefining what constitutes a summer blockbuster. The romantic fantasy, about a murdered Manhattan banker trying to communicate with his lover beyond the grave, extinguished surefire winners like Total RecallDie Hard 2 and Back to the Future Part III at the box office. The ghostly weeper was also crowned the top-grossing film of 1990, and for a good reason. It brings together many different themes and genres (the shadowy demons that pull wicked souls to hell are scary) while featuring well-drawn characters you can root for.

Buy, watch and fall in love all over again.

Grade: A-

Extras: The Paramount Presents Blu-ray contains a new filmmaker focus with Zucker and vintage features such as a filmmakers’ commentary, a making-of, a theatrical trailer and a study of the famous love scene.

PRETTY IN PINK (1984)

Rated PG-13, 96 minutes.
Director: Howard Deutch
Cast: Molly RingwaldJon Cryer, Andrew McCarthyHarry Dean Stanton, Annie Potts, James Spader, Jim Haynie, Gina Gershon and Andrew Dice Clay

Late filmmaker John Hughes built an impressive career out of exploring teenage archetypes. 1986’s Pretty in Pink, which he wrote but didn’t direct, examined slightly different patterns compared to his other works, with the inclusion of a nerdy outcast, a rich prince and a determined young woman. There are ingredients similar to Hughes’ other movies, but the way they are put together and cooked makes Pretty in Pink worth owning and sharing.

Making its debut on Blu-ray with a 4K remaster, Pretty in Pink is a charming slice of reality. (It also happens to be one of the best-looking filmic 1080p transfers that I’ve seen yet.) The beautiful rendering is supported by a narrative decked with wonderfully specific oddities, substantial character dynamics and a stellar soundtrack. Even though its creator may have been imperfect (see if Sixteen Candles holds up), and its successes may have been happy accidents, it sure carves out a lot of relevant stuff about teen romance and coming of age.

Grade: A-

Extras: The Paramount Presents Blu-ray contains a new filmmaker focus on director Howard Deutch, an isolated score and vintage features (the original ending and original theatrical trailer). However, these extras are mostly about how the finale was changed, and Hughes came up with a fast solution.


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Fashion forward: ‘CLUELESS’ turns 25, and Mona May’s kicky costumes dazzle with Blu-ray crispness

By Preston Barta on Jul 24, 2020 12:40 pm

Preston Barta // Features Editor

This week marks the 25th anniversary of Clueless, Amy Heckerling’s seminal teen comedy that paved the way for kids to ditch their grunge getups in favor of fashion findings akin to Cher Horowitz. Alicia Silverstone’s iconic character may live up to the film’s title regarding love, politics, and world affairs. However, she’s far from it when you look at popularity and the latest styles. 

With Clueless celebrating its milestone birthday, Paramount Home Entertainment has released a dapper Blu-ray SteelBook, coated with a design that tips its black beret to the work of Mona May. The Polish costume designer has lent her immense talents to films such as Romy and Michele’s High School ReunionThe Wedding Singer and Enchanted. But there’s no denying May’s plaid blazer and skirt designs, hat game and various accessories found in Clueless put her on the map. 

From the film’s high-low style, forward thinking, and how the landscape of clothing has shifted, May offers insight into creating a fashion phenomenon. 

Polish costume designer Mona May looks back fondly on the iconic ‘CLUELESS,’ which still looks and feels fashion forward. Photo courtesy of Paramount Home Entertainment.

Preston Barta: What stands out the most to me after revisiting Clueless are the costume details. For instance, Stacey Dash’s character, Dionne, has a Mad Hatter touch to her look at one point. Throughout all its clashes of color and textures, you find something that’s so mesmerizing to look at and informative about the character. What was the creation process like for you then versus how it is now (where everything’s in HD and often shot from multiple angles)? And were you always thinking about some of those details that we may not necessarily see on screen in its full-blown clarity?

Mona May: “Absolutely. I think that the whole project was such a creative endeavor. I met director Amy Heckerling on a pilot for another project, and (immediately) we just were like two peas in a pod creatively. She loved high fashion. I grew up in Europe, so I had a lot of experience with high fashion. Studying it and also observing it all my life. And when Amy wrote Clueless, she called me, and she said, ‘You really are the girl for this job.’ Because what was happening on the ground in the 1990s, before ’95, it was all grunge when we were prepping the movie. So, there was not any information that we would have and how to create the film’s costumes. Because if we just showed what it was then, it will be Kurt Cobain with a plaid shirt and baggy jeans.” 

“My research really had to go into the future. What’s happening on the runways in Europe, in London, in Paris and Milan, and then translating the information through the script into our teenagers’ world. We really wanted to make sure that it reflected each of the characters. If you can look at my film history, at the time, I didn’t know that my signature really is color and texture. It was something that came from me in assembly as I was designing it. But now when you look at my body of work 25 years later, it is something that I bring to the film. The femininity, the texture, the color, and the detail.” 

“And in this movie, particularly, it was so cool that I got to do it for each of the characters. So really, taking Cher and creating all the color palettes for her skin tone – her obsessiveness of everything being perfect. And then being able to jump from there to Dionne, a very funky girl, who was more experienced sexually in a way. And she was sassy. She has a different skin tone that allows me to bring a lot of bright colors on her. She can wear the vinyl; she can wear leopard and fur that I think no one else could. I mean, having the fun character of Amber [played by Elisa Donovan] and really kind of going crazy with her from head to toe.” 

“So to me, it’s like I’m a painter. My paint box is filled not with paint brushes but clothes. So actors wearing colors on a screen together is important, how the textures and colors go together. What does it represent emotionally in the scene? Let’s look at the outfit that Cher wore when she didn’t pass her driving exam. It’s very gray and monotone. So it reflects her mood. And the yellow plaid reflects the mood of the opening scene of a movie when she is the school’s sunshine. I mean, she really is the queen. How do you present that outfit in the quad when a lot is going on, and there’s a lot of green color? All of that is truly taken under consideration when we’re creating each frame, each character, each costume, and the journey.” 

That’s amazing because I feel that mood you’re communicating when watching it, but I haven’t ever broken it down in such a way to identify all the factors that make me feel that way.You mentioned that yellow plaid outfit. It certainly took on a life of its own. I mean, it’s the cover of this new Blu-ray Steelbook that’s out. Does it surprise you what gets popular, what gets forgotten, and what doesn’t find its audience?

“Absolutely. I think it’s a mystery. I think it’s like magic. No one can predict it. I get asked: Did we know that when we were working on the movie, it would be what it is? And there’s no way. We get our script and actors. We’ve got the job to do and two months to prepare it. We get this amount of money, and we’ve got to do it. We dig deep creatively to bring everything that we have to the project and the characters. I think that’s the mystery of art. I mean, why is one thing better than the other? It’s really not. It’s just kind of what takes. And what in the moment of all the forces coming together becomes popular.” 

“I think that Clueless’ success also – besides the movie being amazing, and the costumes and the script being great, the actors, the language in the film – is when the movie came out. The culture was ready for this. People were done with the plaid and the anti-feminine looks. The girls were ready for the clothes. Girls were ready to be feminine, to be girly, to be colorful, to have fun with it and explore themselves in clothes. They wanted to find themselves in each character.” 

Hollywood has always presented itself as a glamour industry. How much of it would you say is glamour, and how much is it long hours and the proverbial blood, sweat, and tears?

“I think it’s 100 percent glamour for the people from the outside because that’s all they see, and it’s maybe 70 percent of sweat and tears for us on the inside. We truly are the workers behind it. We have to get up at 5 a.m. We get actors really late to get them dressed. We have to create something in this crazy amount of short time and with no money. We have to deal with directors who can sometimes be impossible. We can deal with actors who are sometimes impossible. Things are very unpredictable. You could order a dress that’s going to arrive today, and it never arrived because it’s lost in the mail. And now you’d have to come up with a plan B quickly.” 

“An actor may change their mind, too, on a day of shooting. They will say, ‘Well, I don’t really want to wear this outfit today. So what do you have in the closet that we can create today?’ Or you walk on the set, and the decorators will tell you that the couch is green, and the outfit is green. And now she’s going to disappear on the couch. So, I think it’s a tough business. But I’ve stuck with it for 25 years or longer because I love it. I love collaboration, and I think that’s the beauty of this business.” 

“Working with Amy, who’s so creative and so truly genius, it was a dream to support her vision and collaborate. When she goes, ‘Let’s make more hats.’ I’m like, ‘Great! Let’s wear more hats. Let’s make it fun. Let’s make it silly.’ Oh my God, it’s like music to my ears as a creator.” 

In that early scene with Cher, when she’s using that computer program that mismatches all these different outfits, something occurred to me. One of the areas that interests me is that intersection of storytelling’s art with the technology advancements. Are there any aspects of your job that are getting easier or more economically feasible with your field’s latest technological tools? 

“That’s an interesting question because I think there is both. Certain things do get easier. Sometimes shooting digitally is quicker. But I think the harder part is that the camera becomes so sensitive that the colors are almost too intense. And the pattern strobes, not only because of the pattern but the weave of the fabric. So, there’s this advantage of it, but there’s also a loss.” 

“I’ve done a lot of CGI work. I did Stuart Little. I work on a lot of costume design with computers. And that’s fun, and that’s becoming bigger, too. So it’s an advantage for us to be able to do something on a different platform.” 

“For instance, in Enchanted, it was interesting to work through the 2-D animation with live-action and CGI characters. The characters went from a cartoon to live-action. And then the character of Maleficent turned into a dragon. So that’s really cool that now with the technology, we can swim through the different mediums in a way.” 

I know we’re about out of time, but my teenage self would be very upset if I didn’t ask about working on Never Been Kissed and all those great costumes. The prom dance with its theme… That movie was so important to me when I was growing up. 

“Drew Barrymore is one of the most creative people I’ve worked with because she’s so open. And with her creating this insane character, it was so much fun because there was so much to be exposed about her character. She was kind of the ugly duckling initially, and then the silly, crazy girl when she goes to school on the first day with the boa and the crazy purse and her white outfit. So, the journey of this character was so incredible. And then the support of the costume was –– I mean, she wouldn’t exist with what we were able to do with the costume to show her journey, emotional journey through the film. And the delightfulness that Drew also brought to that. It was one of the really great experiences working on that film because of the character’s journey. 

“It goes through so many different transformations to the end where she became who she is. She grew. In the end, she’s this gorgeous girl with her pink dress, chiffon dress waiting for him to come to the stadium. And look at femininity. Look at who she became from the beginning to the end. And that’s just kind of the dream of my job. And I think that’s what working with actors like Drew Barrymore is, and great directors who support that.” 

The 25th Anniversary SteelBook Edition of Clueless, from Paramount Home Entertainment, is available to purchase today. The special release includes over an hour of previously released bonus content, such as a trivia game, a fashion featurette, a look at the class of ’95, original theatrical trailers, and more.


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