Nicole Holofcener

After gaining some fundamental experience through stints with such notable moviemakers as Woody Allen, as an apprentice editor on Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), writer-director Nicole Holofcener next garnered attention with her short film, Angry (1991). Though that film did not immediately pave the way to success, she was lucky enough to get to direct her first foray into feature writing, Walking and Talking (1996). Today, Holofcener continues to carve a signature niche with compelling ensembles of complex characters. Her latest film, Lovely & Amazing, a dysfunctional family story that is at once entertaining and poignantly human, opens in theaters on June 24, 2002.

MM caught up with Holofcener before the film's screening at the first annual Tribeca Film Festival in New York to discuss the making of the film and her growth between projects.

Rachel Gordon (MM): Lovely & Amazing tackles some hot issues like fidelity, race and body image. Why those topics in particular?

Nicole Holofcener (NH): It wasn't a conscious decision. I sat down to write and these were the things that were foremost in my mind. It was an intuitive choice. I had a few themes in mind, like an actress who thinks she's fat. I knew I wanted to write about the three sisters; I knew I wanted the youngest daughter to be fat. It's what was important to me at the time.

MM: Yet moviemakers often tend to purposefully reach for those glaring subjects.

NH: A lot of people will ask what I'm trying to say with this or that, but I'm not trying to say anything. I can tell you what I think that character is going through, but I think I'm raising questions, not answering them. We're certainly a weight-obsessed culture. I'm not saying anything new.

MM: Was there a personal issue that inspired the story?

NH: I'm one of those skinny girls who always thought she was fat. Me and my friends, since our 20s, with that extra five pounds, were always 'How does my ass look?' 'Do I look fat?' I've never been fat, except when I was pregnant, and that's okay. But like everyone else, I'm obsessed. I'm one of those people who buys Vogue magazine, closes it, feels like killing themselves and then buys it next month.

MM: Do you literally just sit down and write?

NH: Yes, the first draft at least. Walking and Talking was more trouble throughout. It never really fell into place as well as this one did for me. That's not how I write if I'm being paid to write, but if I have the freedom to make what I want, it's different. I jot notes and let the characters talk. I'm not channeling some greater writing god; I type in what's fun, what that character would do. I know the characters really well, and if I don't, it shows. Once I write that way, I rewrite a lot because it's usually a mess.

MM: You don't think Walking and Talking held together as well?

NH: I was rewriting on the set. We would rehearse the scene and the scene wasn't interesting, or one of the actors was having a problem with it. We'd be shooting a scene and realize it was kind of like the scene we did the day before.

MM: The character of Annie (Raven Goodwin), the youngest daughter in Lovely & Amazing, combines rebellion and premature wisdom, which is challenging for a young actor. What kind of direction was involved with her?

NH: She had personality, was precocious, confident and smart. She was only eight. I'm not sure how much she understood, but certainly enough. For periods of time she could just be present and respond. Sometimes when she was trying to be an "actress" she would digress and act artificially. I encouraged her to be herself. I wouldn't say that to an adult actor because they probably would smack you with "why did you hire me?" But to a little kid, you don't have to do much.

MM: Did working with younger actors affect production in any way?

NH: The scenes in the public pool were the worst days of my life. Children screaming, splashing water everywhere. Then there was the other young overweight girl who had a scene. I felt guilty making these overweight girls acknowledge each other's weight. And people are so careless. They put "Fat Girl" on the trailer dressing room because that's what it said in the script. But I saw that and made them get rid of it.

MM: You use a limited amount of close-ups, and when you do focus on a single character, it is often in the context of placing them in a larger environment. How does that work with camera placement?

NH: We wanted to remain at a certain distance from the characters, and then as the movie progressed, get closer and intimate. That was something we consciously reminded ourselves of when shooting. I wanted shots of people off in a space. I wanted the boyfriends and husbands to pass in and out of frame, because the shot is about the sister and those men are on the periphery.

MM: About boyfriends on the periphery: In both your movies, there's an objectivity to your character's relationships, where you can't really place blame on anybody. How much do you think about that when you're writing?

NH: It is on my mind. It's more truthful and interesting when people are flawed. When Elizabeth is complaining about her appearance and her boyfriend finds it boring, well, it is boring. I also think her boyfriend isn't right for her--that she could benefit from someone who is more patient and supportive. So she is boring, but that doesn't mean she doesn't deserve love and affection. And maybe her boyfriend is a little cold, but he's tired of hearing this. To me, that's more interesting. Maybe some men will see this and think I'm giving them a bad rap, but I think these characters are whole. It's just that the story isn't about them so we don't have to get to know them as well.

MM: Do you ever receive negative feedback from women for creating female characters that make mistakes?

NH: Not really. These women at a Telluride screening didn't really get the movie. They were angry because Elizabeth was so skinny, thinking "how can she put such a skinny woman in a role that's obsessed about her weight?" They didn't get that that was the point.