Actress Lily McInerny knows it sounds a little weird coming from a rising actress of her caliber, but it’s true, she “wasn’t a very outgoing kid.” But even her early inclination to work behind the scenes couldn’t quite kick what was always stirring in her: she wanted to tell stories. Acting? That fit the bill.
As the Indie Spirit nominee told IndieWire during a recent interview, she always loved fantasy tales (books, stage, screen), and that love for magical escapism naturally led to an interest in the theater and beyond. Also of assistance: An overall McInerny clan affection for “The Simpsons” (the gateway for her sense of humor), plus her dad’s love of sci-fi and horror (“Creature from the Black Lagoon,” “The Invisible Man,” and the original “Planet of the Apes” films were all staples while she was growing up).
She even made her own little films (thanks, iMovie!) as a youngster, and by age eight, she was acting in elementary school productions. At age 13, she got into New York City’s “Fame” high school, Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts. By 19, she booked her first role in Jamie Dack’s “Palm Trees and Power Lines,” which ultimately earned her that Indie Spirit nod.
For only her second feature film, McInerny continues to do some heavy lifting, taking on the leading role in Durga Chew-Bose’s sprightly “Bonjour Tristesse,” an adaptation of Françoise Sagan’s 1954 novel, which was previously adapted by Otto Preminger in 1958 (with no less than Jean Seberg playing McInerny’s role of Cécile).
The role, of a spoiled young teen working her way through some very complicated feelings around her dad’s new lady love, is thorny and complex and unexpected, allowing the actress to tap into some decidedly “un-lady-like” tendencies. Even better? Said new lady love is played by the inimitable Chloë Sevigny, a fellow performer that McInerny has long wanted to work alongside. It’s another dream come true for the actress, who has plenty more where that one came from.
The following interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.
IndieWire: You went to a performing arts high school, so you clearly started thinking about acting as a career early on, what went into that thinking? It’s wild to think anyone needs to start plotting a career at age 14.
Lily McInerny: I understood from a very early age the reality of this industry and the statistical improbability of succeeding in it. I always had a grounded perspective as to the challenges someone might face just trying to get their foot in the door. What really drove me to apply to a performing arts school was just my passion for the act itself.
The fact that I’ve been able to now get my foot in the door and be able to build a career out of something that just started as my favorite form of expression is something I don’t take for granted whatsoever. I always fantasized about making it a reality, but I never did it for that outcome, if that makes sense. I did it because the act of transporting in that way was really healing and inspiring and exciting for me at 14. It almost became kind of like a therapeutic outlet, because I was able to express myself in a way in an environment where all emotions were celebrated.
In both “Bonjour Tristesse” and “Palm Trees and Power Lines,” you are playing slightly younger characters. What was useful about having a couple of years up on Lea or Cécile when it comes to playing them?
I was also thinking back to that, how interesting it is that the two feature films I’ve done have been revisiting similar eras of a young woman’s life. Obviously, there are so many different distinctions between the two characters, but there is a level of age regression in each of those. It was cathartic in both experiences, on both projects, but for different reasons.
With Lea, it was a reconciliation with certain injustices or wounds that maybe hadn’t been healed, or I just had the opportunity to sort of retroactively stand up for myself or show compassion for myself.
Whereas with Cécile, I was much more the perpetrator in the violence. I’m far more antagonistic. Reconciling with some more ugly, shameful guilty parts of a young woman’s coming of age was really exciting to me. Embracing the less virtuous, traditionally feminine ideals and sort of facing that inner “ugliness” head on and accepting it and integrating it as a crucial part of a person’s identity was really empowering for me, and something that kind of changed me as an adult working through that character.
Well, it’s funny because obviously they’re both very different, but they both think that they know best.
[Laughs] Yes, absolutely.
Did you read the novel or did you watch the Preminger film before taking in “Bonjour Tristesse”?
Yes to both, but only after being attached to the film. I wasn’t aware of the novel before booking the role, and immediately picked it up and devoured it. I read all but the final pages leading up to the shoot, and then I read the final pages in real time as we were shooting that scene, just because I wanted to see what it was like.
This was my first time working on an adaptation of a novel, and I wanted to see what it was like to sort of experience reading the thing in real time as I was shooting and preparing for the scene, just seeing how that worked into my process as an actor. I was sort of experimenting with it on this shoot, which was exciting. But I chose not to watch the Preminger film until after we had wrapped so that I wouldn’t in any way try to imitate subconsciously Jean Seberg’s incredible performance.
I can’t imagine watching that movie and then being like, “Well, I’ve got to do this.”
And I already had so much pressure from myself to do the character justice and really do justice to such a important character and such a beautiful, iconic novel by Francoise Sagan. I never felt pressure from the outside. Durga was so incredibly supportive and trusting in me from the very beginning, as were the producers, as were the entire crew and cast. Everyone was so trusting of me that really the only pressure I felt was from myself. Yeah.
And then you’re acting opposite Chloë.
She’s the best. She had been one of my dream actors to work with far before this project came into my life, so when I found out it would be Chloë who would be our Anne, it was just, it was definitely a pinch-me moment.
When we first met on set, I had to give myself 10 minutes to just fan out. I had to give myself a designated window of time to freak out. It’s Chloë Sevigny. But as soon as we started acting alongside each other, it was so easy to look past even my extreme admiration and lock into the scene and to our imaginary world.
She doesn’t need to go as far out of her way as she does for [younger actors], but it means the world. It’s so empowering as a young actor. This was only my second feature, and I would not have been able to perform as well as I had if it weren’t for her trust and graciousness and generosity. She’s just the best.
I always hate these questions because I can never think on the spot of names, but you mentioned that Chloë had been on your list of sort of dream co-stars. Who else is on that list?
I know, isn’t it funny how you can stay up at night fantasizing, and as soon as it’s asked to you, you immediately draw a blank? Well, but let me think. Certainly Chloë. I’d love to act alongside Willem Dafoe. I just really love everything he does, and I really love his face. Who else would I love to act alongside? Julianne Moore, Natalie Portman, Isabelle Huppert. I always love subconsciously manifesting. I believe in planting little seeds and hoping.
Are you someone who is able to easily slip out of the character or the story?
Absolutely not. I’m always impressed by people who have that kind of light switch effect of on and off, in and out of character with such ease. I aspire to reach that, but I’m somebody who really carries the character and the emotions of the day with me as I get back home. When I’m in the midst of a big project like “Bonjour Tristesse,” it never really feels like I’m out of it. Even in my downtime and my rest time, it just feels like a moment of suspension before going right back in.
But in the case of “Bonjour Tristesse,” that wasn’t a bad thing, because even though there are some dark themes, I really enjoyed the way they were handled through the writing and through the character. It wasn’t always easy, but it was always told with such beauty. I felt really happy and comfortable, it was a really pleasurable experience throughout, on set and off. Also, we were shooting in the most gorgeous place imaginable. I spent two months on the French Riviera.
Not too bad.
Yeah, it was not too shabby.
Do you watch your films afterwards?
So I always watch my films once they’re completed. I’m somebody who hates to even see myself on the monitor on the day [of shooting], because I really like to build that fourth wall, I really like to remove all reminders that this is make-believe, and this is a movie that we’re making. I don’t really care to know too much about the technicalities unless it’s after the fact. I just try to create an environment where I’m as un-self-conscious as possible, and thinking about the way that I’m being perceived can sometimes inhibit that.
Maybe that’s a rookie move. Maybe one day I can get to a point of proficiency where I can watch the dailies and watch myself like a football player and perfect my form, but that’s just not my style right now. I don’t like to watch myself, but I like to enjoy the work of everyone else on set, like the costumes and the DP and the sound and the scoring.
So I always watch my films once they’re completed and as few times as humanly possible. I didn’t watch “Bonjour Tristesse” until our premiere at Toronto. That was actually my first experience watching the film, because I wanted to see it on a big screen with an audience, and that was a really magical experience.
Your path to acting involved an obvious love and affection for the entire process. Do you want to pursue writing and directing at some point?
Yes, yes, absolutely. I always studied and practiced writing kind of alongside my performing arts education, and I think the two kind of go hand in hand for me. For the past several years, it’s just taken everything I’ve got to sort of move my acting career forward. It is a really demanding career, so I haven’t spent as much time nurturing that side of myself. But, yes, I’m really looking forward to eventually writing and directing for screen and possibly stage.
You have only made two films so far, but they’ve both been directed by female filmmakers. That says something about your taste and what attracts you.
I don’t know if it’s just a matter of coincidence or whether there’s something about the female experience that I’m really excited about representing and telling stories around, but I’m really grateful. Whether it’s just a matter of coincidence or not, I’m super grateful that that’s been the case.
There’s some people who have not yet done two movies with female directors and have been in the industry for a very long time, so you’re already one up on a lot of people.
I know, unfortunately. I’m really excited, hopefully, to see the tides turning in a better direction and to see more women’s names on those screens.
My last question is another one of those, “Wow, this is breaking my brain” ones. What do you want to do next? Whenever I ask people this, most people say they want to do a musical, if that helps.
God, if only I could sing to save my life. No musicals for me, unless they have a budget for a vocal coach. In which case, I too would love that. That’s such a tough question for me, because it’s all so dependent on the people behind it. I don’t even have a set genre or vague subject matter that I’m attracted to, because it’s so dependent on the writer and director’s vision.
I think I always want to be challenging myself and pushing myself and stretching myself as a performer. So things that push me out of my comfort zone, whatever they may be, are always the things I’m most attracted to. And possibly a sci-fi fantasy role thrown in there, given my background, my childhood affinity toward that.
Well, we can put that out into the universe as well.
Let’s do that. Let’s plant that seed.
A Greenwich Entertainment release, “Bonjour Tristesse” is now in select theaters.
