Following yesterday’s yap with Keri Russell, here’s an interview with Waitress’s Nathan Fillion. Look out tomorrow for a yap with Cheryl Hines. Waitress is in cinemas now. Click here to watch the trailer.
What is the film about from your perspective?
Nathan Fillion: It is a great film about people looking for fulfillment in life. Even though it deals with pregnancy and motherhood, I don’t see this as a women’s movie. I don’t see this as being about motherhood either or about being pregnant. It is about people trying to be happy. It looks at what kind of choices people make and whether we make easy choices or more challenging ones, that might be more rewarding in the long term.
Can you talk about who this guy is, on the face of it, it is outrageous what he does, having an affair with his pregnant patient, how did you perceive him?
He’s hardly a dog, he is not a bad guy at all. We have two people here and they are both being unfaithful to their partners, yet we forgive them. We forgive Jenna very easily, because she’s obviously in an abusive relationship, although it is harder to forgive my character, it is true. From what we see of Dr Pommater’s relationship, his wife is beautiful, she’s a doctor, she’s affectionate, they seem affectionate together too. But we all know couples like that don’t we? You can never really tell what is going on behind closed doors. But really, who are we to say how hearts communicate and what might either draw people together or pull them apart. It is all about people who are obviously searching for something to fill a void within themselves and make choices to try to be happy. These two people came together because they see a chance of happiness and love.
What was the appeal of this film for you?
Well first of all I thought it was a very pretty little story, I thought it was a very cute little slice of life tale. I had no idea how emotional it might be when I started the project. I didn’t have the vision that Adrienne obviously had about what these characters have to say. In some ways, the story seems to be larger than life, yet it is really just a simple, tiny little story. I love it because it speaks to me so clearly I think about my own daily choices every day in terms of how to find happiness.
What are your memories of Adrienne, of working with her and knowing her?
My most vivid memory about Adrienne is the first time I ever met her, which was in a little diner on the lower east side of New York. I remember how tiny she was sitting in a little booth and how she had an easy smile and was so friendly. And even in times of stress or pressure when we were filming, she always had that energy that drew people towards her. She was wonderful. She always wore hats – which is an excellent metaphor, because she wore a lot of hats in this movie as an actor, director, and writer. She was very talented. I was, in a scene with Adrienne and Cheryl Hines, right at the end of the movie so I did get to act with her, which was wonderful.
Can you talk about your co-stars?
One reason I wanted to do the movie so badly was that I wanted to work with Keri Russell and Cheryl Hines. Andy Griffith was a latecomer to the movie and that was exciting too. I couldn’t believe I got to work with him. I had known Jeremy Sisto before; we used to play beach volleyball together. I’d seen his work but I’d never actually had the chance to work with him. So that was a thrilling prospect for me too.
How much medical research did you do to play the gynaecologist?
Zero, if you notice when you see the film, I never had to do anything technical or complicated at all, or anything difficult. I moved around a sonogram at one point and that is about it. Really, all I had to do was to put on a white coat and be awkward and embarrassed, which is how my character feels a lot of the time.
What was it like working with Keri?
Great, I’m very proud of the job we did. What we wanted to do was communicate an attraction, a passionate feeling. These are two people who need and long for something grand and passionate in their lives and obviously they can’t express that in their current relationships, which is why they come together. Together they have some magnetic chemistry that is romantic and intense and passionate. Keri is absolutely wonderful and we just had a great collaboration. The sex scenes can be difficult and embarrassing, it was supposed to be awkward, because our characters are relative strangers, but she’s just so wonderful and easy to be with. All you want to do in those passionate scenes is be comfortable, in what can be a very awkward situation.
Do you have especially emotional feelings about the film? Audiences and critics are really enjoying it.
It seems to be hitting people in just the right spot. What makes it hard for me is that Adrienne not able to see just how much people love her film. I think she knew she was doing a good project, she was putting her heart into it obviously and it meant something to her. But I don’t think she could ever imagine how much it would affect people so deeply.
What was it like on the set, what sort of director was Adrienne?
Here’s what I’ve learned about writer-directors. It often works very well because there is less lost in the translation between what the writer’s trying to say, and what the director’s trying to translate visually. On top of that, Adrienne was an actress, so now you have a director who can communicate in that language of emotion in the same way that wine tasters live in that realm of sense and smell and taste, and they have those words and that language that they use.
Do you have an example of that?
I remember there were times when she asked me to do something but I had no real idea why she wanted it done in a certain specific way. And I didn’t learn until I actually got to Sundance and saw the film. It makes perfect sense, and it’s amazing.
Did she like to do a lot of takes?
She was one of those directors who was happy once you ‘got it’ and grasped something but she didn’t chase it. Everything was fast. We did not have a lot of time. We had to film it so quickly. It was a real team effort to complete the film. It was very collaborative — the crew, everybody doing their very best to make it work.
Posted by Thin White Duke
