Interview with “Bad Behaviour” Actress/Writer/Director, Alice Englert

Full transcript of Interview with “Bad Behaviour” Actress/Writer/Director, Alice Englert.

0:01KT: From being in front of the lens to directing short films, Australian-New Zealand Alice Englert steps onto the scene with a feature directorial debut, Bad Behaviour, which is about a former child star who attends a spiritual retreat in search of enlightenment and filial reconciliation. Alice, thank you so much and welcome to the For Your Reference Podcast.

0:23Alice: Oh, thank you so much. And thank you for that intro. And I love the word filial. I didn't even know about it until I read it somewhere else.

0:30KT: I had to go on the internet because I'm familiar with familial, if you'll pardon the pun, but filial, I was like, Oh, okay, we're learning. We're getting some words. It's great.

0:44Alice: I know. I know. I feel like. There's a lot of people who are smarter than me and sometimes, you know, the, the film's travels. I'm, I'm definitely, yeah. I'm like, Oh, thank God for other people.

0:56KT: Well, we're talking about the best people. We're talking about you. Congratulations on your feature directorial debut. I do want to talk a little bit about, I guess, your journey into directing, but first off, congratulations. The idea of making a film seems like a lot of work.

1:12Alice: It is, yeah. It takes ages. It takes ages. And then it's, then you've done it and then you talk about it for ages.

1:19KT: Are they gonna say you do it and then you die and then that's it? Yeah, and then you're dead. Yeah. It really, it very much fits the tone of Bad Behaviour as well. Um, I would love to know what the process was going from acting to directing. Do you feel like it helped in some sort of ways or did it kind of refine your lens on what you were looking for?

1:47Alice: Yeah, I think it really, it really, um, was a huge part of it, um, also because I've been able to watch other people work much my whole life because I also grew up around it and then Being an actor, just seeing how, seeing how it all functions and kind of being a stowaway in other people's, you know, little universe drama and, and getting not drama in the bad way, just in the life way, it's incredible. Like I feel really, really lucky and seeing what, seeing what works. Um, I mean, one of the things that I know really works is not, um, not being. Not trying to waste too much time telling people what's not working.

2:43KT: Well, it must have been really intimidating to, like, see Jennifer, like, notes, right? It must have been very intimidating to be like, um, can you do it again?

2:52Alice: I know, I know. Um, yeah, it feels like, I mean, for Jennifer, it was kind of amazing because everything she did felt, um, um, Extraordinary and valid. Right. And I mean, I, I think I got to work with a really incredible cast and I think I just feel insanely lucky and spoiled to be honest. Like they were very, very, um, very professional, very funny and adorable. And so, you know, not, um, not incredibly, you know, No, no one, I don't even know what to say. I love actors. I think they're so amazing. And making the film made me love actors even more because they take like your kind of sideways glance at a character and then expand it into this whole universe. And they know things and feel things that actually you'll never know you'll in some ways, and beginning to get to the point where if I watch the film, I'm like, what? Is going on with Lucy! Like, I just, Jennifer just, you know,

4:10Alice: like, she, she took it over and it's like, uh, such a beautiful thing watching, um, the kind of exorcism that actors do on things. Yeah, oh, shh, sorry, I was gonna swear, I don't know if I can do that, uh, that's right, the question was, did Mickey acting get, yeah, you know what? Also just knowing that the lines have to eventually be said by somebody and in a script you know where like there's a lot of potential for chunky monologuing and there's a character who is also in some ways occasionally performatively speaking it was important to be able to um that I felt like people could really say what they were saying that it um that they could take it somewhere else if they wanted to and that they weren't going to be sort of Trapped, um, in the Tower of Speech.

5:06KT: The Tower of Speech? You're a wordsmith of words as well, Alice.

5:11Alice: Giving it my best shot.

5:12KT: I think that was, um, like my main sort of takeaway for watching the film is you can imagine that it would have been very fun to perform the roles. Um, which kind of goes into my next sort of question. Um, it's really cool to be able to interview filmmakers because when you're watching things, you're like, hang on a second. Like, there's an opportunity to talk about that. And like a common sort of question that we ask is, you know, there's the talking of balancing from a story, from a tonal, from a pacing point of view, you know, like refraining a character for a higher sort of impact, um, you know, later on in the film. Yeah. This film from the start is full guns blazing, which I, which I really appreciated, but it was interesting because you know, all those intricate sort of questions of like, how do you balance the tone? You're like, nah, we're in. We're just gonna go straight for it. What, I guess my question here is, keeping that in mind, what or how wild was the first draft compared to the final cut that we got?

6:20Alice: Yeah, I mean the first draft of the script, like I It was very, yeah, there was a lot, everyone on the retreat, the retreat and the different characters of that world, you know, like I, I wanted to know all of them and I wanted to know all their cousins and I wanted to know their first kiss and, you know, I, we couldn't,

6:41KT: hopefully not a kiss with the cousin, but no,

6:44Alice: yeah, though that could be something could talk about on the retreat, a different retreat.

6:48KT: Yeah. Yeah.

6:51Alice: It was, I really. It was kind of, it is interesting, kind of heartbreaking, like, when you realize that to tell a story you have to start finding some people less important. I just resisted everything as long as possible. You know, it was just an experiment. I really wanted to just see how, um. I didn't feel like it was going to work for me if some people didn't know who their character was while we were shooting, because if the camera was on them, you know, I didn't want them to feel caught out, I knew that there was the way that Lucy was feeling, I knew that the way the retreat would feel, we, we did need For all the characters to have, to know why they were there and like where their politics were on what's happening at the retreat. How aware of it or how completely in their own experience they were. So, basically, I got really, yeah, I was obsessional and indulgent about everybody and then, um, yeah, and then edits were done and now you've got the much. The much more consumable, digestible, you know, version of it.

8:10KT: Well at least the Englert cut.

8:12Alice: But it was like, yeah, I loved it though because you can feel, or at least I hope you can, like, I think you can... You can get away with having the sense of real people, with having like a good character description, because the casting was so much fun. Yeah. People are talented if you give them a character brief that doesn't just say like, Busty mid thirties, like, um, no, but yeah, I'd love to be called that I'd love to be reduced to that as well, quite flat, but, um, flat mid thirties. Flat 29 year old. Um, but, um,

8:58KT: I think we've got our duo. We've got this. Let's take it on the road, Alice. Yeah, you're right, you're right. We did it. We did a thing. We did the thing. Um, I also love how you're burying the lede as well because you're talking about all of these great actors and you're a part of it as well. Um, I, I want, I definitely want to talk about the dynamic between mother and daughter, but I also want to hear about what was it like, wasn't, you just couldn't resist. You needed to be like in front of the camera as well. What was that? What was that like?

9:33Alice: Um, yeah, I think when I first thought about The story, um, cause I was like 24, you know, I, I wanted to, I wanted a chance to kind of perform something where I kind of could relate to the physicality and the creatureness of, of their, their, their presence a little bit more. I feel I've had the absolute pleasure of playing some seriously femme roles in my time and. Um, it is something I feel I dress up for, and it is something that, like, in life I feel I dress up for as well. And I love As opposed to being? I, I, yeah, in my own self, I don't mind dressing up for it and being it. I can feel it. But it, for me, it's a, um, it's... It's beautiful. I love it. It's, it's not the only temple I want to make offerings at.

10:33KT: It's part of the parts that make us who we are. Exactly. But it's not wholly who we are. I get it.

10:39Alice: Yeah, and I think I just wanted some more space for the goblin person that I also feel and also even like the kind of just androgynous asexual. Almost asexual seeming but horny person that I think is often in the world and I really wanted to, to play someone who felt sexual and is wanting things from life without necessarily looking, um, without necessarily. Getting out of their sweatpants, you know, or not necessarily, um, being, I, I really wanted also Dylan to feel like a stowaway in, in life as well. She is. Um, kind of trying to be enjoying like kind of invisibility and being just a part of it. Um, I, I feel, yeah, there's, cause she gets to see things and watch and feel the world. And, um, I liked that and I really wanted. I really wanted to be a part of it and so I just kept saying like, and I'm gonna play Dylan and seeing if people would tell me not that I wasn't allowed and then nobody did so it got to the point where I was like, Oh no, like I will have to do it. I will definitely do it now. Um, and I just completely loved it. I feel so happy that I got away with getting to be in the film, um, as well. It's not something I, like, feel I need to do all the time. It was just this one was just, yeah, I wanted her.

12:26KT: Yeah. There's such an importance in the character and I think there's that, uh, sort of duality. There can be comfortability as well as sexuality.

12:34Alice: Yeah. Yeah.

12:36KT: You can hoist them as well, but you Exactly.

12:40Alice: Yeah. I think You know, and the, and the other thing as well is like, in the mother daughter dynamic of it all, I felt like I... Could look after Dylan without, um, overprotecting her, without trying to make her, um, a pure, you know, um, So I'm thinking about the housewives and, you know, like, you know, you're playing the victim role, you know, everyone wants that. That's like the safest. It's such a strange way that human behavior works. I knew I could protect, love her without just protecting her.

13:19KT: Yeah, absolutely. Um, I wish we had more time, um, because I believe in therapy, but the swaddling babies is a bit too woo woo, but unfortunately We were talking too much about bosoms, and I'm absolutely here for that as well.

13:36Alice: I'm here for that too, I'm a fan. I'm a big fan.

13:39KT: We finished our reviews with a recommendation, so what would you pair with Bad Behaviour as a double feature?

13:45Alice: Oh my god, that's such a, that's such a beautiful question. Um, I got to see... When I was in Sundance, Passages, um, Ben's also in it, and I think it's an incredible film. Um, Ira Sachs made it. It made me laugh and cry. Otherwise, Jaws, um, just because I think very different. Um, but yeah, I think if you were actually, yeah, Passages is incredible. And, and Ben Whishaw's transformation from sweater wearing retreat guru to just the most beautiful, um, kind of elven woodland creature. But, you know, in Paris in a love triangle is, is, um, is it's unreal. Like, yeah, it's unreal. Yeah.

14:34KT: Beautiful. What a delightful fest of films. Alice, thank you so much for your time.

14:39Alice: I just thank you so much

14:41KT: Thank you so much.

14:42Alice: Thank you. Bye.