August 8, 2008

Interview. Olivia Thirlby.

Olivia Thirlby "When Juno exploded into the pop culture in 2007, it catapulted a young actress named Olivia Thirlby from the indie world's best kept secret into an overnight success," notes Sean Axmaker, introducing his interview. "Her performances in the ensemble drama Snow Angels and the coming-of-age dramedy The Wackness are enlivened by the same spunk and warm glow that made Juno crackle, but the dimensions are shaded in ways that dramatically differentiate these characters from the happy-go-lucky Leah. What's interesting is that both of these films were shot before Juno had been released. Which means that this young actress landed each role without any name recognition or public track record, but merely by the force of her auditions."



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Posted by dwhudson at August 8, 2008 9:39 AM

Comments

Good interview, Sean. But I would ignore Olivia's advice and rent her first film THE SECRET -- which makes its DVD debut tomorrow, 8/12. She notes that filming it was an amazing experience; well, the movie is a bit of an amazement, too. A kind of "Freaky Friday" for adults (but with only one body, post-switch), it is very strange and very sexual and very sad. Thirlby gives a masterful performance for her first time out, and despite a couple of miss-steps, the film is definitely worth a watch. Plus, it's also toplines David Duchovny and Lili Taylor, and Vincent Perez (the hunk from "Queen Margot") directs.

Posted by: James van Maanen at August 11, 2008 4:42 PM