ComingSoon.net talks with Michelle Monaghan
Warning: Contains Spoilers - (Link to full interview below)
CS: This role is obviously manna from heaven for an actor, getting a script like this. I know James had been working on this for a long time, so were you involved with it from the beginning and how did you get the script?
Monaghan: Yeah, I basically got involved in it about a year before we started. We went into production in August of last year, and it was the summer before that that James sent it to my agent. It basically happened the old fashioned way. My agent said, “You know I think you’ll really like this.” I read the script then I just sat it down in my lap and was just stunned for about a good hour. I met with James I think the next day, and I immediately attached myself to it. I had never read such a unique female character, and the opportunity to play her was just undeniable. I had to do it. These are roles that actresses long to play, someone who’s not one-dimensional, and it’s just a very honest character, a very honest look at a woman.
CS: Knowing that this was a first-time director and a lower budget than some of the other movies you’ve been doing, were there any worries about that?
Monaghan: No, not at all actually. That’s what sort of drew me to it, to be honest, that it was such a low budget. I mean, we made it for $1.5 million, I think less than, and we shot it in 18 days, and the idea of doing that certainly was daunting, because it was going to be a really big push, but incredibly exciting, because when somebody signs up to do something like that, whether it’s a cast member or a crew member, people are there because they want to do it. You’re certainly not doing it for the money, and you don’t even know if you’re doing it for glory or anything like that. You’re doing it because you believe in it, and it’s a labor or love truly for so many people. That for me was really exciting, and it sort of felt like we were in high school putting on a production. It was really awesome. There’s something about working at that pace, that everything’s constantly on the surface and the energy from that is just incredible. I couldn’t even really sleep at night because everything was just so palpable really. I just loved it. I want to make more films like that! I really do.
CS: I’m not sure if your agent or manager would like that.
Monaghan: (laughs) No, exactly! They’re going to pelt me for saying that. (laughs)
CS: There’s a lot of layers to Diane, so was all of that on the page? What was it exactly about her that jumped out at you and made you want to do the movie?
Monaghan: Well, certainly she’s a very complicated character, and when I first read it, initially what struck me about her was she’s fiercely independent, and that she wasn’t necessarily likeable by most people’s standards. She makes choices that most people wouldn’t, and I liked the prospect of playing someone who people don’t necessarily identify with initially. My goal was to portray this character—not that you’d necessarily like her in the end but you would understand her, and you’d understand the choices that she makes, so I knew that was going to be the challenge, and I knew that there would have to be a lot of layers to her to understand why she is, and why she makes the decisions she does.
CS: That leads into another question I had. I talk to a lot of actors and they say that they’re never able to judge their characters they play or they have to find some way to understand them. She does a lot of questionable things, especially with Nathan Fillion’s character, so did you have any of your own judgments on her?
Monaghan: No, I didn’t judge the character at all. I think that was the most important thing not to do. I think if you find that you’re making a judgment on the character, than your audience will make a judgment on the character. I wanted to play her as fair as I could, objectively. I don’t know how you do that.
CS: We do see a lot of sides of her through the different characters in her life, and I think that helps a lot.
Monaghan: Absolutely, and that’s certainly a testament to James’ writing. Listen, I only played a character that he wrote. He really created this character and certainly, I was able to add some color to it, but he’s the one who really established her. It was only through us sitting down and working really intensely on the writing and everything, and us throwing out ideas together that we really were able to really create this character. We had very little time to do it, so there was an implicit trust that we had to have with each other right away. I have never really worked with someone who was so open to my ideas and so welcoming, and it really meant a lot, and it gave me a lot of confidence to just try anything and be okay for failure and things like that.
CS: Was there a lot of rehearsal involved or was a lot of it on the set before shooting?
Monaghan: There was really no rehearsal actually. I think we had a couple of days where Jimmy (Bennett) and I went over a few scenes, but essentially, there was no rehearsal.
CS: Jimmy’s pretty amazing in this because I’ve seen him in a lot of big movies and this was definitely something different from him.
Monaghan: Oh my gosh, are you kidding? That kid’s got a longer resumé than I do! (laughs)
CS: This is very different for him though, so did you get to spend a lot of time with him when you weren’t shooting? What did he bring to your performance and vice versa?
Monaghan: Oh, he’s great. First of all, I can’t say enough about him as a young boy. He’s just a really down to earth kid, and on top of that, he’s incredibly present and talented. I guess that’s why I was a little bit shocked because I hadn’t really worked with kids before, but when I say “present,” he’s just right there in that moment with you, and the great thing is that he would change it up every now and then. He would really react to what you were saying. If I changed it, he would make the appropriate response, and he was totally great, and he always remembered his lines. He couldn’t have been better. It breaks my heart in that damn scene with Benjamin Bratt, I could just die.
CS: How much of the eighteen days did you spend working or hanging with him?
Monaghan: Damn near all of it, really. I really bonded with that kid. I really like him a lot, and I have to tip my hat to his mom, too. She let him get in that truck with me… On the freeway, dude, on the 10! They were pretty trusting, and I really appreciate that, because we shot probably 10 pages a day? We shot a lot. A couple takes and we had to move on, so we really worked fast, so we were together nearly every day.
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CS: I’d imagine they’d have to be very tough, because as we see in the movie, sexism is very common and you’d have to be very thick-skinned as a woman trucker.
Monaghan: You have to be really thick-skinned, especially truck stops. They’re not necessarily safe places. There’s a lot of things that go down in truck stops and a lot of things they shared with me. You’re not in this job because it’s a tough living, but you have to love the job in order to be in it, because they’re long hours that take you away from your family and friends. Often times, it’s not safe, whether you’re just on the road or in a truck stop. I really tip my hat to anybody who is a trucker. I actually miss it so much, I can’t even tell you. Yeah, it was one of the greatest things I think I’ve ever done.
CS: You’re never on set and say, “Hey, I have a truck driving license, can I drive around a bit?”
Monaghan: Well, you know, I was filming a movie called “Eagle Eye” a few months ago and we were using some trucks in the scene, and I almost asked if I could get behind and drive it around the parking lot. (laughs)
CS: When you have a movie with a $1.5 million budget, you can’t exactly insure your star, who is driving around in truck for much of the movie.
Monaghan: I sort of made a deal with myself and a deal with James that if I wasn’t able to get my truck driving license, that I wasn’t going to make the movie, and somebody else would have to. I just wouldn’t have been able. He created such an honest and beautiful character that it deserved every action to be real, and that was so important to me, so by the grace of God, I got the license. I mean, there were a couple days that were pretty questionable, so I was really, really happy when I did get the license, ’cause then I knew I could make the movie.
CS: That’s an amazing investment to make for a movie. I wanted to talk about your co-star Nathan Fillion, who I love seeing in this and “Waitress,” both which showed what a great leading man he is. Can you talk about working with him and the relationship between the characters?
Monaghan: Nathan is a phenomenal actor. He shines in everything that literally he’s in, every role I’ve ever seen him in, he sort of jumps off the screen. He kind of reminds me of old Hollywood. He’s such a leading man in my eyes… and speaking of eyes, he’s got the most amazing eyes. He’s incredibly charming and really just a sensitive man. He has a very unique way of acting, a very unique style of acting that’s unique to him. I can’t say enough about him as an actor or just as a person. I love the guy. The characters, well I love the characters, and he really played against how I thought he might play it or how an actor might play it, so that was a really big surprise to me. We certainly didn’t have any rehearsal, so we just jumped into it, and it was really exciting, everything that we did. It always turned into something greater than what we thought it was going to, and that’s really because of his choices and what he brought to the character. It really allowed me to bring so much more to the character, so I really owe him a lot. I think that it’s a great relationship, because she really, really does desperately love him, and I think that she selfishly needs him for her own ego. He adores her obviously, but there’s just something that’s holding her back. She certainly has her guard up, and it’s hard for her to be vulnerable, but I think that is when she is at her most vulnerable, oddly enough, when she’s trying not to be.
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CS: As a producer? Were you involved with “Trucker” as a producer?
Monaghan: Yeah, I got a producer credit, and listen, I wasn’t the nuts ‘n’ bolts of it, certainly not. Plum Pictures were. They were terrific in getting this movie made, but I was able to have more creative control and have access to things that I normally have not had before, as a producer. That’s definitely something where I want to get more involved in, and certainly have a lot more to learn, but it definitely interests me and I’m going to do more of that.
CS: How does it feel to be at that point in your career? Really, your name and presence in this movie probably helped get it made and seen. How does it feel to be in that position?
Monaghan: I mean, listen, I can’t tell you. It’s incredibly gratifying. To be able to make a movie like this and to be in that position where people will say, “Okay, we’ll give you $1.5 million.” It’s only $1.5 million, but we were able to make a movie for that, and I was able to act in a movie that’s one of the top few movies I’m most proud of. I’m so incredibly grateful for that. I want to be able to do more of it and I don’t care if it’s for a budget of $50 million or $1 million, as long as I can keep trying to make movies that move me, that move other people. I mean, that’s the greatest thing ever!
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