Julia Stiles is a woman whose efforts to remain sober prove troublesome amid her dysfunctional family inChosen Family. The Golden Globe and Emmy nominee first found success with her turns in multiple William Shakespeare modernizations, including the Heath Ledger-co-starring10 Things I Hate About You, Ethan Hawke’sHamletand Tim Blake Nelson’sO. Her star power has only grown since, including starring in the originalBournetrilogy with Matt Damon and inDexterseason 5 as Lumen.
Stiles stars inChosen Familyas Clio, sister to the film’s protagonist Ann, just released from her latest stint in rehab after years of struggling with various addictions. Moving back in with their hyper-religious father and eccentric mother, Clio becomes consistently more frustrated with her sister’s overbearing nature of making sure she doesn’t go back to rehab, while their parents continue to support her with her various ideas of businesses she wants to form, including forming a fighting yoga class, much to Ann’s chagrin.
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Alongside Stiles, the ensembleChosen Familycast includes Heather Graham, who also wrote and directed the film, as Ann,RENO 911!’s Thomas Lennon, Oscar winner Odessa Rae,Tremorsvet Michael Gross,Tulsa King’s Andrea Savageand Ella Grace Helton. With some surprising dramatic shifts amid its breezy comedy trappings, the movie proves to be a heartwarming and well-acted return to the director’s chair for Graham.
In anticipation of the movie’s release,Screen Rantinterviewed Julia Stiles to discussChosen Family, how she fell in love with both Graham’s script and the character she was being eyed to play, the traits she related to of her no-nonsense character, how she tapped into the emotion of the more dramatic elements of the story and her thoughts on a potential return to theBournefranchise.
Stiles Was “Really Excited” To Work With Graham As A Director
“It was very funny, and made me laugh out loud.”
Screen Rant: I think thatChosen Familyis such a cozy little rom-com. What about it really spoke to your interest to want to be a part of it? Was it Heather coming to talk to you? Was it your character?
Julia Stiles: It was everything, it was all of the above. I was really excited that Heather was directing it, and I wanted to be a part of that. Her script was really, really good. It was very funny, and made me laugh out loud. And I found the character, too, Clio — I think I’ve more and more started gravitating towards roles where you get to act out things on screen that you can’t really do in real life. So, as irreverent and — I don’t want to say bratty — unapologetically demanding attention and acting out as Clio is, it was like, “Cool, I want to do that. I’m not allowed to do that in real life.” [Chuckles]
It’s interesting how film can really be a sort of release for some people. So, since you mentioned not getting to do some things in real life for Clio, how did you find you related to her?
Julia Stiles: There were things that I don’t relate to, but I think what I leaned into and what Heather let me lean into is that Clio says all the things that people might be thinking that we’re not allowed to say. She kind of cuts through the bulls–t. What I like about her, and in many ways she’s kind of irredeemable or insufferable, is that she calls out the rest of the family on their sort of passive-aggressive politeness. She tells the truth, and she breaks it down like it is. It’s not in the nicest way or the most palatable way, but that’s what makes it funny.
Graham Made It “Really Easy” For Stiles To Find Her Sisterly Rapport
“She has a clear vision, but she makes it feel very collaborative…”
So what was it then developing the sort of sisterly rapport with Heather, since so much of your story in the film is directly tied to her more so than your characters' parents?
Julia Stiles: It was easy, Heather made it really easy. She made work really fun every day. She puts everybody at ease, she was very open about how much this was inspired by her own life, or her own family, and I think because we have similar experiences of just being actresses in this industry for a while, it was very easy to feel welcome on her set. She’s a very kind director, too. She has a clear vision, but she makes it feel very collaborative, so naturally, that works well with me. It puts me at ease, so it was kind of effortless.
I love that. So did you get to improvise a lot during your scenes with her? Because when I spoke with Thomas the other day, he was mentioning how he got to improvise a little bit here and there.
Julia Stiles: Well, Thomas Lennon is the improv king, so of course he gets to improvise. It’s like, “What other gems is he going to throw out?” You’d be foolish not to let him do his thing. [Chuckles] But I did improvise a little bit, and Heather — despite the fact that she wrote the script, and she wrote a really good script, I felt like I just had to service that — let me have at it.
Stiles Didn’t Realize The Gravity Of The Movie’s Dramatic Turn Until Filming It
“Heather was very emotional in that scene too…”
So speaking of her script, I don’t want to give spoilers away, but there is quite a flip towards the dramatic side near the latter half of the film as we learn more about their past. What was it like making that flip after, like we were saying before, it being a breezy comedy up to that point?
Julia Stiles: I didn’t even realize until we were actually filming the scene how much of a turn that scene was, where Heather’s character is trying to take Clio back to rehab, and I’m resisting going, and she kind of darts away from the car and starts running off into a playground. Which is a really interesting setting, too, because then stuff about their past and their childhood comes up. But I was so focused on the fun comedic moments that I think by the time we got to that scene, I was like, “Oh, wait a minute, when I think about what I’m saying, this is pretty [heavy].” And Heather was very emotional in that scene too, so it really made me focus differently, I think.
So do you find that when you have a really heavy scene like that, it’s easier for you to lean into the emotion of another actor in that kind of scene? Or do you find your own emotion for your character beforehand?
Julia Stiles: It’s hard, I think, because I’d like to say that it’s usually interacting with the other actor and your scene partner or whatever, but it’s really hard because in film, everything’s so chopped up, and you do one side of coverage, and then you turn the camera around. There’s a lot of waiting in between. But I would say, in this situation, what I saw in Heather kind of grounded me and made me focus in on, “Oh, that’s the tone that she’s trying to set in this scene.” I think I was also looking for, in that particular scene, it occurred to me, “Oh, this explains so much about the character that it’s important to make it a moment.”
“It was a very low-budget production, so yes, we were supposed to bring some of our own clothes.”
I did also want to talk about Clio’s look, because I love how she still has that kind of ’90s grunge look to her. In talking with Thomas, he mentioned how sometimes, the costumes were just everybody’s own wardrobe brought to the set, because it was a smaller production. What can you tell me about putting together Clio’s look for the movie?
Julia Stiles: A couple things. It was a very low-budget production, so yes, we were supposed to bring some of our own clothes. I don’t dress like Clio, so I didn’t have anything to offer. [Laughs] But yeah, I think the idea with her costume was that she’s still sort of stuck in the past. And then the other thing was that I was, I think, three months pregnant.
I was very early pregnant, because by the time I had signed onto the movie years before, with independent films, it takes a while to get everything financed, and get everybody’s schedules in order. Surprise, I found out I was pregnant, and we had to hide it. So, there’s bags and fanny packs that I’m kind of putting over my stomach to keep that a secret. I do like tights under shorts, I’ve got to say. I think that was probably my favorite throwback.
So what is one thing you’re really looking forward to people getting to take away from this film when it comes out?
Julia Stiles: I think it’s just a really easy movie to watch. There’s really silly moments that I think we just need now. We just need that release of, “I can laugh and not worry about what’s going on in real life.” Again, it’s also very relatable. I think that even if you come from a very functional family, there are bits of these heightened characters that you might find familiar.
Stiles Won’t “Hold My Breath” For Her PotentialBourneReturn
“…I’m so happy to have been a part of that franchise, and it was the span of most of my adult life.”
Before I let you go, I did also want to ask really quickly, aside from the film, I’m a big fan oftheBournefranchise. I’m still heartbroken that Nicky’s gone afterJason Bourne, especially now that Matt’s in talks for another one. If they somehow magically found a way to bring Nicky back, would you be open to coming back to that franchise?
Julia Stiles: I’ve just had déjà vu, because I feel like I’ve been having this conversation for the past 20 years, and this was the conversation that happened before each previous version. I’m like, “What?” It would have to be some sort of prequel thingy. I don’t know. I’m not going to hold my breath, but I mean, I’m so happy to have been a part of that franchise, and it was the span of most of my adult life. So, I was very lucky to get to travel the world and be a part of a cool action movie, very grateful.
AboutChosen Family
Ann (Heather Graham) is a yoga teacher struggling to achieve inner peace despite the fact her family is driving her crazy and her dating life is miserable. She doesn’t know how to say no and wants to fix everyone’s problems. In the meantime, Ann struggles to save her sister Clio (Julia Stiles) from addiction, with disastrous results. With so many expectations on her, Ann leans on her good friends Max, Frances, Roz, and Ella for support. They in turn set her up with a cute divorced dad, Steve, who has an adorable 7-year-old daughter. When Ann meets Steve’s daughter Lily, she is immediately smitten. But Lily does not feel the same, and as Steve and Ann get closer, Lily grows increasingly jealous and competitive. When Lily starts to misbehave, Ann sees that Lily can do no wrong in Steve’s eyes – she’s in the battle of her life with a 7-year-old.
Chosen Familyhits theaters and VOD on October 11.
Chosen Family
Cast
Ann, a yoga teacher struggling with family chaos and a miserable dating life, falls for Steve, a divorced dad. However, his 7-year-old daughter, Lily, grows jealous and competitive, leading to a tense battle between Ann and Lily, with Steve unaware of his daughter’s misbehavior.
