Dentler Takes the Stairs: One on One with Greta Gerwig

When I saw HANNAH TAKES THE STAIRS at SXSW, I wrote:

What I love about Joe (Swanberg)'s work is that he finds moments.  Incredible, intimate, directly real, undiscovered moments of human clarity.  And he discovers these moments inside a larger canvas that is in some ways just about an idea or an emotion...And lead actress Greta Gerwig (the first time Swanberg has really had a lead in what had been traditionally interwoven ensemble films) is a knockout.  She's the reason that Independent Spirit Awards were created.

Now, with HANNAH's theatrical premiere just around the corner (via IFC First Take), Matt Dentler is interviewing the film's principals and a number of film blogs, including my own, are handing over the reins for a moment to Dentler's HANNAH project.  So, without further delay, here's Matt Dentler's interview with lead actress Greta Gerwig:

On the eve of the theatrical debut of Joe Swanberg's SXSW 2007 hit, "Hannah Takes the Stairs," I wanted to check in with each of the film's principal collaborators. The film has been documented as a successful collaboration between acclaimed film artists from around the nation, each one offering their own trademark influence on the final film. "Hannah Takes the Stairs" will open at the IFC Center in New York, on August 22, as well as be available on IFC VOD the same day. As part of an ongoing series you can find throughout the film blogosphere, here is an interview with "Hannah" star Greta Gerwig (also the co-star and co-director of Swanberg's next project "Nights and Weekends"):

Dentler: How did you first get connected to "Hannah Takes the Stairs?"

Gerwig: Although I had appeared in "LOL," Joe and I didn't actually spend time together in person until the film premiered at SXSW in 2006. After that, we reconnected at a few other film festivals. When we were in Philly, he walked me to the bus stop, and right before I got on the New York bound Fung Wah, he officially asked me to be in "Hannah." I said "yes," and ran onto the bus. I was so excited that I cleared my entire summer. I was prepared to live in Chicago for four months.

Dentler: What do you remember most about the shoot in Chicago?

Gerwig: One moment. All of us dancing to Hall and Oates in the living room on a brutally hot day. I think it was a historic heat wave. We had no air conditioning and were dancing in a way that avoided air mattresses and lighting equipment. I didn't really know what I had done right in my life to lead me to that moment, but I felt such overwhelming joy watching Andrew Bujalski bust a move. And then Mark Duplass said "you can just HEAR their beards."

Dentler: How did the production process differ from your own other projects, or projects you've acted in before or since?

Gerwig: Joe and I have talked about the fact that you only get to not know what you're doing once. And what a uniquely special experience that is. As far as acting in film, I gave that experience to Hannah. Not that I'm some sort of jaded professional now, but I truly was without a net when we started to make Hannah. The second day we were there, Joe and Kevin set up the equipment outside and told Kent and me to start talking. And that scene made it into the movie. It was naive in the best way. Since then, I've worked with Joe again, the Duplass brothers, and Paul Harrill, and each one has stood out in a different way. Paul's movie ("Quick Feet, Soft Hands") was the most structured, the Duplass movie ("Baghead") was somewhere in between, and the second movie Joe and I made ("Nights and Weekends") was terrifying. Terrifying in that I was aware how much courage it takes to plunge into something without knowing what outcome we are striving for or even what the process should be. If I had been aware of that during the making of "Hannah," I don't think I would have been able to contribute in the way that I did. I said to Paul Harrill, it's like writing a free verse poem versus a sonnet. Both are valid and difficult and creative, but they tap into different abilities. And in case it wasn't obvious, "Hannah" = free verse.

Dentler: What are your thoughts on the issues of sex and relationships that come to the forefront of the film?

Gerwig: I think that the film is difficult for a lot of women to watch, mostly because it highlights the uglier parts of what women, or particular kinds of women - I don't mean to generalize - can do to gain power over other people in order to fill a need in themselves. I've gone through incarnations of feeling either positively or negatively about issues of sex and relationships in the film. At first I was charmed by it, focusing on it's comedy and it's sweetness. Then it became very difficult for me to watch because all I could see was a girl who was always manipulatively performing. Now I'm somewhere in the middle. Relationships and sex and figuring out yourself can be both deeply endearing or deeply unattractive. I think the movie deals with both, and depending on the state that I'm in, I can see both.

Dentler: Ever been in a love triangle?

Gerwig: Um, yes.

Dentler: Did you ever work with "the stairs?" Any thoughts on why they didn't make the cut?

Gerwig: Actually, Ry Russo Young and I made a short film on Super 8mm on the stairs. That is, the back stairs of the house we lived in. It's awesome, and I'm naked (of course). DVD extras, maybe? 

Comments

[Rebecca]

I saw this movie, and although it had its moments of great writing/direction, the actress playing Hannah grated on my nerves to such a great extent that I had a hard time making it through the film. There was such a sense of affectation and falsity that completely worked against the story and the other performances. Looking forward to seeing more of the directors work with different actors, though.