Q&A: 'Room' with Oscar Winner Brie Larson, Cast and Crew
KCET's Cinema Series recently screened director Lenny Abrahamson's latest film, "Room." After the movie, host and Deadline columnist Pete Hammond moderated a conversation with members of film's cast and crew, as well as the author of both the novel and screenplay.
"Room" is the story of a mother and her five year-old son who are imprisoned in a stark living space behind their captor's home. Taking influence from recent tales of long-term kidnapping, "Room" is based on a book by author Emma Donoghue, with Brie
Larson playing the role of the mother and Jacob Tremblay as her young, imaginative child.
Listen to the entire interview with Brie Larson, Jacob Tremblay, Lenny Abrahamson, and Emma Donoghue or read highlights from their conversation below.
Emma Donaghue on the real life events in Austria that influenced her story:
"If I hadn't had kids, I wouldn't have even noticed that case. I don't go trolling the hideous True Crime headlines. But because I had children of 4 1/2 and 1, something about the notion of trying to be a good parent in a locked room just siezed me. First of all, how hard it would be, and then I thought for all of us even under the best of circumstances, there are moments when it feels like a locked room. So that plot just grabbed me."
Lenny Abrahamson, on casting Brie Larson:
"Once we realized the movie was really going to happen, we started thinking in a concrete way about casting and drawing up a very short, short list of interesting actresses of the right age to play Ma. Someone in the office said, 'By the way, you should check out this film, 'Short Term 12'. It's really good and there's an amazing actress in it.'. And I thought, well, you know, this was someone who wasn't really on the creative side. Everybody's got a casting suggestion if you're making a film. It's like, everybody's got a script, and it's the same thing. You're pretty wise to ignore most of those. But I thought, it sounds interestign. I had a couple of hours, and there was a DVD, so I watched it, and I realized what an extraordinary actor Brie is. I met her in L.A. We were supposed to talk for half an hour, and we talked for about four hours."
Jacob Tremblay, on playing Jack:
"I liked playing Jack because me and him are very similar people. You see the movie and see how he jumps around a lot and goes "Boing, boing, boing, boing!" a lot. I know usually if you see a kid that's dress up in a nice suit right now, you don't think he'd do that. But, he does"
Brie Larson on if her childhood acting career helped her to connect with young actors:
"I started acting when I was seven, but I don't think that's the reason we got on so well. I did remember, at seven, really feeling so passionate about acting and really wanting to be taken seriously and being actually very serious at that age. I didn't have the humor that Jacob has. I was very much like (deepens voice) 'Let me do my monologue right now.' at seven years old. But I think, I was the oldest grandkid and so I was always the designated babysitter. So I was always around kids and I just love it. I really enjoy being around kids. Most of the time I prefer it to being around adults. I just think their vibe is the absolute best and so, meeting Jacob initially and realizing we have the same interests and hobbies worked really well."
