Miss You Already delves into familiar territory, telling a story about a close friendship between two women (Drew Barrymore and Toni Collette) that is rocked by a breast cancer diagnosis, but it also surprises you with its honesty, humor and all-too-real way this disease affects the people it touches.
But first and foremost, it’s a story about women, directed and written by women, and it’s empowering. ScreenPicks sat down with director Catherine Hardwicke to talk about making Miss You Already and how she’s standing up for equal rights for women filmmakers!
Step 1: Find the project
“I really hadn’t thought about the subject. Of course, I’ve had three friends who have gone through this, my dad’s gone through this, so there’s nobody that’s been exempt from this. But then this beautiful script came from the producer. I met him in 2003 with Thirteen and he said he was riding his bike in London and my face popped into his head. And he thought, ‘Maybe Catherine would be the one to direct this.’ So I started getting drawn in, coming up with little changes, things I wanted to do. Met with the writer [Morwenna Banks] who was very open to it.”
Step 2: Bring humor to the situation
“We didn’t just want to gloss over it, like it’s all fun and games. Of course, its not. But what I love the idea that these two friends have this sense of humor, they have this rapport. So that when one of them goes to this low point, the other one can zing a joke in there. ‘Come on, Franken-tits…’ Or the husband can joke, ‘You got too many teeth!’ Just that sense of humor keeps it buoyant and keeps that human spirit alive.”
Step 3: Work with Drew and Toni
“Oh my god, there are so good. I read that when she was little girl on E.T. She improved some of her lines, and she did that here too. Once she and Toni found their groove, they were just in it. Bantering, throwing crazy stuff out. I loved that organic thing, it felt real because it was real. They were cracking each other up…” Collette and Barrymore met for the first time on set. “I was saying pleeeease let them get along that first week of rehearsal and it was beyond my expectations! Their families got along great, they have little kids and they traveled together. So that’s pretty cool.”
Step 4: See how cancer affects people in different ways
“That was kind of important. The idea that somebody gets an illness, it affects everybody. Your husband, your children, your mom, your job, your whole life! Everyone is trying to figure out, ‘How do I deal with this?’ It’s awkward and crazy and difficult. And how does it affect your sex life? That’s what I thought was pretty fascinating. Because that was a big deal for Milly. Her sex life, her sexuality, her hair, her breasts, all that. She cared about it. That mattered to her and how was she going to deal with it. She says, ‘I’ve spent a lot time and money on me.’ She admits it.”
Step 5: Have a conversation about the disease
“We did have meetings with caretakers, oncologists, nurses. We went to some clinics, spoke with survivors and people going through it, in different stages. To get some real information. Reading beautiful, honest blogs about it. That was one level of it. And then we tackled the emotional intensity. When we rehearsed all these scenes, Drew, Toni and I would try to just be there, present and in the moment. Like how would we really feel about. These girls had a particular character and a particular way they would approach life that weren’t exactly like Drew or Toni. But they infused their own uniqueness into it. But we wanted to be honest and true and feel each moment as it happened. I feel like Drew and Toni were so in the moments, so living it. They were able to add their own dialogue in that felt organic and real.”
Step 6: Watch Collette shave her head
“Toni did tell me it took her awhile to recover from this. Look at what she goes through. She really shaved her head in this. No effects or anything. That was British actress Frances de la Tour [of Harry Potter fame] doing that, shaving off Toni’s hair. And that’s really Toni, looking at herself in the mirror, feeling what it feels like to just let that go. I think she’s sooooo good in that scene. Toni knew she had to do this and with Toni, she dives 100 percent. She’ll swim in that water, she’ll do it, throw herself into a role. So I don’t think it was even a question for her. She was like, ‘I’m doing it.’ It was a bonding moment for the four women in that scene. Drew was there and Jacqueline Bisset as Milly’s mom. It was very intense that day.”
Step 7: Make your voice heard about women filmmakers
“I am excited about it. I’m going to go in and give my testimony at the EEOC. I’m also getting excited that people are getting inspired to do it. Awesome journalist like you are talking about, shining a light on it. So I think this issue cannot be ignored anymore. We’ve hit a tipping point where everyone cares. The most brave and awesome Jennifer Lawrence about equal pay, Meryl Streep about the Rotten Tomatoes critics, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Patricia Arquette. It’s huge, beautiful symphony of voices that cannot be ignored. And I think the public is getting excited about it, too. People are like, ‘Yeah, we want more diversity!’ You see someone like Jenji Kohan with Orange Is the New Black and people LOVE that show! Every kind of woman is in it, it’s beautiful. Every study… Google just came in and they brought people to do their training in that unconscious gender bias and it transformed their company. It made the culture better, made it exciting. And their profits went up and productivity! You bring in this inclusive idea, rather than exclusivity. It’s a new world. I love the idea that the early adapters, the companies, studios, agencies that take the lead, saying they’re going to take the vow. 50/50 gender parity. A studio who has a list of 10 men to direct a movie saying they also want a list of 10 women. Make it a goal. Be on the right side of history. Millennials want companies that have values that are theirs, so let’s support these values and put our money where our mouth is.”