In 2013, OONA LAURENCE took the world by storm, originating the role of Matilda Wormwood in the smash hit Matilda on Broadway. Although she had acted in short films and one-off tv appearances before Matilda, that role made everyone sit up and take notice of Oona. And it wasn’t long thereafter that she made a big move from the stage to the big screen with films like Southpaw and Damsel, before striking gold with Pete’s Dragon and the Bad Moms franchise. Although young, Oona always had a strong presence with the roles she took on and the characters she became, holding her own against not only a big green dragon but the likes of Robert Redford and Nicole Kidman. But it was Sophia Coppola’s The Beguiled that upped the ante and put Oona into a different and darker kind of film than the heart and humor found with Disney or the raucous hilarity of Bad Moms for which she was well known.
Along the way she has worked with some of Hollywood’s best directors, Sophia Coppola, Antoine Fuqua, David Lowery, and Jon Lucas and Scott Moore, and now works with first-time writer/director Jason Orley in the Pete Davidson driven comedy, BIG TIME ADOLESCENCE, a coming of age story about teenaged Mo and his best friend Zeke, an unemployed and aimless college dropout. Starring Pete Davidson as Zeke and Griffin Gluck as Mo, Oona plays Sophie, a girl at school out of his league but on whom he has the biggest crush. But bigger than Mo’s crush on Sophie is his mistake in taking relationship advice from Zeke. For the first time, we get to see Oona Laurence tackle a more mature role, but still one with independence and confidence, in a film with more adult themes relevant to today’s world. Her chemistry with Gluck is engaging and honest, and leaves you wanting to see more of this pairing of Sophie and Mo; that is until Mo starts acting exactly like Zeke.
It’s always fun to catch up with Oona on each project she does, especially now that she’s a point in her career with a body of work substantial enough for her to have developed tastes and appreciation for the craft, a production and her fellow cast and crew. Upbeat, enthusiastic, and always with a wonderful laugh, we found time again to chat in this exclusive interview, this time about BIG TIME ADOLESCENCE. . .
So good to talk to you again, Oona. Last time we got to chat was for Bad Moms Christmas.
Oh my God, was it that long ago?
It was. We were on a chatty roll there for a while with Bad Moms, Pete’s Dragon, The Beguiled. You just keep working and working. I’m so happy for you and I am so glad you did BIG TIME ADOLESCENCE. This character of Sophie is a side of you we haven’t seen before. It’s not only a more mature film but a much more emotionally mature performance. It is your performance, your character of Sophie, that really sets the stage for us and enables us to see a character shift within M0 (Griffin Gluck), and how Sophie now sees him as the jerk that he really has become. Even though you are only in a few scenes within the film, they are key scenes and Sophie serves as the film’s conscience. Sophie calls it like she sees it and your performance is so well done. What did you think when you first got this script, because obviously now you’re hitting 18 and you’re looking for that big leap away from Bad Moms and Pete’s Dragon, so what was it when you read this script, what spoke to you?
Thank you so much. I think immediately the fact it was a hilarious script. And I think when I saw that Pete Davidson was going to be in it I thought it was going to be a doozy. I was very excited because I’ve been a big fan of his stand up for a while. And I would agree, I think that she is really the conscious of the movie. I think that she was so well rounded, which is something I haven’t seen in a lot of love interests. So I think my first reaction was, “Wow! She is really her own authentic person, and really just an individual rather than just a commodity for Mo.”
Are you seeing more adult scripts come your way now, or do you still need to break them out of the Pete’s Dragon mode?
Yeah. I would say they are a little bit more open, but I guess I used to go out for younger roles because I looked so young. And it’s great. I am definitely seeing a more diverse group of characters and not just the daughter or the love interest. I know, it’s always great to see that but I think that people are often categorized as the daughter or a certain role. But I’m definitely auditioning for more things that are their own characters and are complex nuanced characters which are great for me as an actor.
That is wonderful because it really lets you showcase what you can do. You have a great range of emotional beats that you can hit and I’ve loved watching that grow within you over the years, so I can’t wait to see what the next steps are for you. But even at this stage of your career, I’m curious, given you’ve worked with so many directors already – Sophia [Coppola], Jon [Lucas] and Scott [Moore], Antoine [Fuqua] – and now you work with a first-time feature writer/director, Jason Orley, for BIG TIME ADOLESCENCE, are you now detecting a difference in how films are approached by directors since you’re developing diverse experiences?
I definitely think that it’s interesting. All of the directors that I’ve had have been so supportive and all so different in their own way. Sophia Coppola was very quiet, but she knew exactly what she wanted and I love working with female directors. And Jason, he was just like a friend on set, truly. He was on the actor’s side and it never really felt like he was above at any of us. He would just talk to us as if we were his friends, and it was great. He was such a lovely guy to be around.
In the bulk of the scenes that you’re in, it’s mass chaos with tons of extras, plus the principals. Was it Jason’s style to give you rehearsal time, was he blocking stuff out? Or was it just throw you in there until we get to that really big, emotional scene between you and Griffin [Gluck] upstairs. What kind of latitude did he give you? Did you get rehearsal time with this?
We did get a bit of rehearsal time. I know that Pete [Davidson] and Griffin [Gluck] did a lot of development time to form that brotherly bond. For me, just being on set and just working through the scenes with Griffin were just great. I think that especially this film, was about the relationships and I think that having that off-screen relationship really helps.
Something tells me this was a fun set. How much fun did you have off-screen?
Oh yeah, it was a great set!! Since it was kind of condensed into a couple of weeks shooting period that was often chaotic, but I hung out with other cast on set. Everyone was just so great. It was such a fun community and the crew is great; hair and makeup. It was always a good time. And I think Pete kept it very light on set as well. He was basically doing stand up while he was on set!
Now that you have a coming of age film, a film that is more mature and one where we really get to see you spread your wings a little bit more as Sophie, what did you learn about yourself as an actor doing NIG TIME ADOLESCENCE that you can now take forward into these other, bigger projects that undoubtedly are going to be coming your way?
I suppose that Sophie is definitely one of those characters that I think I related to the most and I think that in any acting role that’s nice, and also, I can’t spoil the movie, but she’s a very independent teenage girl. I think it was just great because you won’t often get a female character that is her own person, not attached to anyone and, someone who makes up her own mind. I guess it’s one of the most authentic roles that I’ve done, so I think it taught me how to really be real and bring regular life into a role.
by debbie elias, exclusive interview 03/05/2020
