By: debbie lynn elias
Leslye Headland is a kick in the ass. Forthright, brash, honest and enthusiastic about her work, a woman who speaks her mind, she is as real a person as they come and, quite honestly, someone I could easily see myself hanging out with at a bar on a Friday night doing “people observation”, complete with colorful commentary of course. A former television staff writer and acclaimed playwright, Headland now brings her most celebrated play, BACHELORETTE, to the big screen as both writer and director.
Filled with all the foibles, fun, warts, worries and wonder of weddings, BACHELORETTE hits home for many, but if deeply immersed in the madness and mayhem of the wedding frenzy, you might not be able to see the antics in all their comedic glory. With BACHELORETTE, Headland takes a step back and holds up a mirror to the festivities and all the players for an honest look at this wacky world. And trust me, this is no rose-colored mirror but rather one that sees the humor that organically comes from the insanity of the situation and the people within.
Starring an impressively talented female cast of Kirsten Dunst, Lizzy Caplan, Isla Fisher and Rebel Wilson, buttressed by the male comedic muscle of Adam Scott and James Marsden, BACHELORETTE is the perfect movie for group viewing at the theater or to sit around the house with a few bottles of wine watching on VOD. Becky (aka “Pig Face” in high school) is the first of the old high school group to get married. The “least attractive” overweight girl was never pictured as the one to walk down the aisle first, but this is the hand life has dealt which means keeping a stiff upper lip for her cliquish schoolmates, Regan (Alpha female and Maid of Honor), Gena (closet romantic hidden behind sarcasm and Bridesmaid) and Katie (ditzy party girl and Bridesmaid), as they rally around Becky in true “bachelorette” spirit. With rapier wit, not to mention dead on performances, writer/director Leslye Headland leads us down the primrose path of weddings, thorns and all, with laugh-out-loud honesty and hilarity.
During the press tour for BACHELORETTE, I had a chance to sit down for an exclusive 1:1 interview with Leslye. Animated and exuberant, even a blotchy red rash didn’t spoil the day or her enthusiasm as we dished weddings, female relationships and “what the hell” nonsense as, right out of the box, she quickly set the comedic tone talking about “the rash.”
“I’ve been looking forward to this all week but I woke up and had this awful rash all over my body! Isn’t that ridiculous? This has never happened before in my life, aaaand I look like I have leprosy. It’s like I either ate something or I’m just nervous.”
Are the press that scary? [laughing] Leslye, This is a fun, fun movie.
[laughing] Oh, thank you. I hope you enjoyed it.
Your publicist will tell you, if I think it sucked, I will tell you to your face. It doesn’t do you any good, especially as a first time director, to tell you something is grand glorious if it‘s not. If there’s a mistake, be it a technical mistake or otherwise, how are you going to know to correct it in the future?
Oh, girl! Whew! I feel you. Life’s too short to kiss people’s ass. Well, I always say with this movie, it’s a mess but it’s got heart – not unlike me!
It‘s not “a mess”.
Oh no! Technically there are so fucked up things about that movie! Even when I watch, I still cringe. I’m like, “Oh, that tracking shot [rolling her eyes].”
But it‘s organized mess that actually fits the story. The dynamic of female relationships are always so drama filled.
Yes, yes, yes! Actually! Real drama. It sort of bonds them together in a way – women – it’s like “Here’s the drama.” It’s funny, a friend of mine is going through a break-up and we were just talking about the difference between men talking about their break-ups and women talking about their break-ups. Men will say, “Oh, so-and-so and I broke up.” And the men will go, “Oh.” You tell your girlfriends and all of a sudden it’s like [leaning in close in hushed tones], “What happened? What happened? Give me everything! Start to finish. When did it start?” “6 months ago.” ” What happened.” Suddenly then you’re crying, and you’re reliving the drama of the last 6 months of your life. I just went through a break-up and it was the same thing. But I just kept it short and sweet. Every time I would talk about it, I was like, “We’re friends. Totally friendly. It just wasn’t working out.” But, it can get daaark and scary super fast.
Just last night I was in a bar in Culver City, very late after a screening. There were some guys that I know and they’re sitting there and there‘s a girl there also. She‘s crying, bawling, and this one guy, he’s consoling her. I sit down next to him and I‘m overhearing the conversation. He‘s trying to pick her up but then on the other side of her are two other girls chiming in about how she had just broken up with her boyfriend 3 hours before. So, she‘s giving all the messy details. I thought these other females were her friends. No! It turns out they were just other women at the bar who just heard her mention the break-up and immediately, “Oh honey, it’s okay. It‘s okay. Tell us everything.”
Oh wow! They flocked to her!
Exactly. They flocked to her. Then you’ve got these guys, and the one is already moving in for the kill – “Really, give me your number. ” I actually thought of BACHELORETTE as I‘m sitting there.
Whoooa!!!! Nooooo!!!! But THAT’s why I wrote it! It was originally produced in Los Angeles [as a play] in 2008. But the first time it was done in NY in 2010, we were in previews and we had a couple of Q&A’s. This older man was veerrry upset by the play. Very angry. Very mad. And sort of ranted for a while. We were like, “Is there a question?” And he went, “Why did you write this?” I think what you just said about witnessing that event and then thinking of the movie is exactly why I wrote it. Just so when the next time you saw something, and you sort of thought back, the story, those women – there’s a lot more going on there that I can laugh at, that I can disgusted by, but I can also relate and just sort of, “Okay.” I’m now looking at it in a different way. I’m looking at that drunk chick stumbling out the valet in a slightly different way than I did before I saw that movie. I don’t want to hang out with her, but I’m thinking about [the situation].
That was exactly what happened with me. I‘m sitting there and I‘m listening. I knew the guy and I didn‘t say anything and his back was to me. I see the girl, “Boo, hoo, baw, baw.” And the great thing was the bartender and the barback passing her napkins. But these women at the bar were making it worse. “Get it out, just get it out.”
Oh, the poor thing.. The poor thing. Get it out. See a lawyer. Because your feelings are the most important thing that could possibly happen to you as a woman.
When she finally did leave, I busted out laughing. And the guys turned around and asked what‘s so funny. I said, “I just watched BACHELORETTE the other night.”
HAAAAAA HA HAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!!!!!. THIS IS THE GREATEST THING YET! THIS IS WHAT I WANT PEOPLE TO SAY!
And they asked “What‘s that?” Now, I didn‘t make it to the screening so I paid my $9.99 on cable! And let me tell you, it is worth every penny I paid!
Thank you, girl! [high-five] HAHAHAHHAHAHAH!
I actually piqued the interest of some of the guys when they asked, “Oh, we don‘t have to go to the movies to see it?”
God forbid they should go t the movies to see a girl movie! Which is why this whole VOD distribution – I can’t say enough good things about it. Like you said, if we hadn’t had that, and you weren’t saying something about it, what guy on his own volition is going to go to an R-rated female comedy called BACHELORETTE the opening weekend when you’re only out in 15 theatres. But, if you say that, and he’s like “Hmm, I’m not doing anything. I’ll watch that movie that debbie told me about.”
I even suggested that since they hang out together all the time. Why not go out, spend the money at the bar, then go home and each chip in $3, watch the film together and insult or make fun of women.
And. Watch. That. Shit. Go. Down.
With BACHELORETTE, you have a successful stage show, written for the stage. But you‘re taking it to film. How challenging is this for you, taking a property that is very precious on stage – because stage is always more character driven; it’s more immediate, it‘s in the moment – and translate it to film?
Exactly! It’s really the only thing you’ve got! If you think about a lot of plot driven plays, there aren’t many. They have plots. But, usually it’s sort of this character is going towards salvation, going to something. It’s very rarely what a film is which is A to B to C = D.
And you had to make that transition not just from stage to screen and not as an independent writer coming in with fresh eyes. This is your baby. Your characters that are precious to you. How were you able to cull the plot points to drive these characters for film?
Oh gosh! You’re bringing me back to those first few drafts. Oh God! You’re makin’ me work for it today! I like that! I actually do.
Being a film nerd, I knew how films worked. I didn’t go to film school but as an avid viewer of film and avid boner of film nerds – every guy I sleep with, it’s like “Really? This again?” – I just knew going into adapting it, it would have to have to be different. I couldn’t have a reverence for the play going into it. I was going to have to do something different. So, what I thought was, “Okay. What movie would these characters be in?” Not, “How do I make everything fit” movie, how do I get all the good lines?” Literally, if I was just living with these characters, what movie do they want to be in. And they all wanted to be in Heathers or Empire Records. They wanted to be in Swingers. They wanted to be in Fast Times.
Or even Mean Girls.
That’s right! Mean Girls! They wanted to have fun. They didn’t want to just be talking about what it’s like to be a woman today and drug addiction. So really, then it became more about sitting with them and writing a particular scene and eventually going, maybe the 3rd or 4th draft in, “Oh! It’s the dress. The dress should be the thing that…okay, right. Let’s go back.” Now, let’s construct everything around that. I think every writer writes differently. For me, a lot of times I see things in themes or images. …one of the first images that came to mind when I was thinking about the movie, his speech to her at the end – not what he was saying exactly, but that image of someone sort of coming down and swooping down and sort of picking someone up; just the vibe of Kirsten’s last act. I would scribble “comedy – a woman living between two worlds”. A funny frenzied sort of crazy wedding world and then a very dark, very sad, bulimia, drug addiction…just her going inbetween two rooms. That was my “Oh, that’s what the movie’s about! Good. Cool!” So what are the steps that we need to get to these moments? What needs to happen so that we can get there? And that’s just like puzzles. It really is! What story do we need to write so that we can have these scenes with these people. And then there are some writers who just write a plot. I’m not one of them. I worked for some of them and they’re cool.
It‘s interesting you mention the dress because one of my first notes on the film is that “it takes off with the dress.”
That was something that happened in the play and it was a totally missed opportunity in the play that I realized later with the film. “Oh, this is what the whole film should be about. It’s gotta be about this dress.” And I grossly misunderstood how people feel about wedding dresses. I thought it was such an obvious plot device – “Well, each scene something worse should happen to the dress.” But the way that people respond!!! Screaming!! I saw it with a bunch of my girlfriends who had not seen it and had not seen the play and they were SCREAMING everytime something bad happened to it. I was like, “Wow! We all really care about this. I didn’t realize that a wedding dress was really…”
I didn‘t realize how significant wedding dresses are either – I think the money can be better put toward something else –
I completely agree! I’m a Justice of the Peace, back of a restaurant person. Maybe you’re wearing white, but you’re definitely not spending money on a dress. That’s the thing that I love about the wedding industry – that we are still trying to fit into this virginal white thing that nobody looks good in!!! Nobody!!!
Nobody looks good in white.
NOBODY! I’m going down in blue.
What really gave me the appreciation for the wedding dress is when I happened to start catching David Tutera‘s show in the wee hours on WE TV. These women are insane!
They are insane, man! It’s just the marketing of the whole thing to women. The “This is your day, this is your thing” thing. And having been the Bridesmaid and the Maid of Honor for my sisters, and I was saying this in the other interviews, too, I was shocked at how people made the wedding about themselves. I mean, “Who gives a shit where you’re sitting.” Who cares if you’re upset? It’s her ****ing [wedding].” To say that the girls [in BACHELORETTE] aren’t likeable and that they’re bad friends – well, they’re definitely bad friends for ripping her dress –
But they didn’t rip it on purpose!
They didn’t rip it on purpose and I think their attitudes going in is not that unusual. To say that makes them unlikeable or that it’s a dark movie because that’s their vibe….you’re either not living in reality or you haven’t spoken to another human being in the last ten years. Everytime I’ve been to a wedding I’ve been just shocked at people’s selfishness.
That‘s why I don’t go.
Oh, people know not to invite me now!
Me, too. And that‘s exactly why. There‘s the drama that got you there in the beginning, keeps perpetuating. And it‘s that drama that you have perfectly captured – the chaotic, frenzied, “Oh my God, look what we did.”
It’s JUST CRAZY!! That’s right. They don’t give a shit about weddings. They are there to party. And the only reason Regan cares is because it lets her be a martyr and “fake.”
So you have all these emotions and stereotypes of different women so perfectly blended into the chaos of the dress.
A f***ing piece of clothing. It’s sad. That’s why I called it BACHELORETTE. There was a time we when we were prepping and Bridesmaids had just opened and obviously that was a great thing. It was an R-rated female comedy. I think one of the reasons we couldn’t raise more money for our money was because it was an R-rated female comedy and Bridesmaids hadn’t opened. So they were like, “This doesn’t make money.” And then it did. But there was a bit of talk about, “Oh do we change the title because it’s so dissimilar?” I was like, “I think we should keep it because the reason I named it that is because we don’t even have a word for what we are.” We don’t even have a word for unmarried, late 20’s, early 30’s, single woman who is dealing with any number of the issues that happened in this film. It’s just this petty sad little word that’s the same name as a television show about a bunch of women who are trying to f**k a guy. Now, by the way, THAT’s vulgar to me. Not my movie. What’s vulgar is watching a bunch of women trying to profess their love for some guy they just met! Now have you seen Burning Love, off topic? Ken Marino was like 10 steps forward for feminism, that series.
I don’t think the movie BACHELORETTE is vulgar in the least. We know people like that. They talk like that. They act like that. Isla Fisher‘s character you can spot anywhere in a bar.
We talk like that. Exactly! Oh, her performance is just spot on! All coked up. Not so much that it’s like a conflict comedy. She had that scary real coked up thing.
That‘s also where you excel in this film. You manage to walk that slippery slope between comedy and turning it into a buffoonic nightmare.
Right. Right. Which I think is a difficult thing to do if you don’t have amazing actors. Honestly. You can only do so much with the script. I think one of the hardest things about writing is not over-writing and actually trusting that the actors will get it across in the words that you write it in instead of going “what I meant was.” These are people that Ifve wanted to work with for the last decade. I remember when I would drive home from my staff writing job. I would always pass a Party Down billboard and thinking, “Why aren’t these people huge movie stars?” You’ve got people who can do comedy. And every day, I was like, I don’t understand why they’re not huge. Anyone who watches Wedding Crashers and has a brain knows that when they see [Isla Fisher] performance, you’re dealing with an actor who’s insanely vulnerable and has the ability to have that vulnerability. That was a real person. And even much more out there than Katie [Fisher’s character in BACHELORETTE]. But she was real. She would suddenly turn and say something to Vince Vaughn and I related to that character. I saw it with my boyfriend at the time and he said, “That’s you!” And I said, “My God, it is! Shit how did that happen?” I know, I’m sucking actors’ dicks, but it’s true. To walk that line, you’ve gotta have good actors. You’ve got to have actors that aren’t vain or concerned about “How funny am I going to be?, Is my joke going to land here?, Do I look good?” Kirsten [Dunst] has not a vain bone in her body. Literally, you cannot play that character [Regan] if you are a vain actress. You just didn’t care. It was her idea to put that hair up in the bun. She was like, “I think I should fall over and do this.” She didn’t want to be overly ugly but she wanted to be real. She knew what day to be funny. The fact that she’s confidently wrong makes her funny. Not that she told the best joke in the scene. You’re laughing because she’s going, ” ’WTF is wrong with you’ to an old man.” How do you yell at a sweet old man?”
But, I would do that.
[laughing] That’s based on a true story! That happened to my sister. They brought her the wrong bouquet and she flipped out on the guy.
But that‘s life!
That’s life! And that’s weddings! I’ve been to enough, and behind the scenes at enough, that I know it is a shit show. Oh, and when they’re in the car, too. Anyone who has been in the car with the bride on the way there knows exactly what that scene is about! Don’t do it! I did it twice and it’s not a good idea.
What is a good idea – a great idea – is BACHELORETTE. Walk down the path of true laughter with Leslye Headland. And with all the promise of a newlywed couple, I can’t wait to see what writer/director Leslye Headland delivers next.
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