Chapter 1: What unique insights does Maggie Gyllenhaal share about her creative process?
Okay, real quick on the social media thing, guys. Yeah. Every week. Every week. If you also want to post it, you just hit accept. Cool. We're going to send it to you, not via email anymore. Right. And if you want to post it, you just hit accept. Yeah. And then it's just going to post right there. Great. And then is everybody like that? Incredible.
You're cool with that, JB?
Yeah, that sounds really fun.
Can we get to an all-new Smart List now?
Yeah. Smart. It's been a little bit. How have you guys been? What have you been up to?
We just saw each other on the weekend at Sean's play. That's right. That was fun, Sean. Congrats. You're just such a beauty. That's very nice.
You're such a talent. How many performances have you had since we saw you? Three more than when you saw. By the way, I have to say this. Okay, go ahead. First of all, you guys are great. The fact that you guys came out, you flew out just to see the show, meant the world to me. I love you guys. You are my family. We love you. And I love you too.
And it just was a huge deal to me that you guys did that. So thank you very, very much. Are you kidding?
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Chapter 2: How does Maggie balance her roles as an actress and director?
Thank you. Was it not... Because, you know, we were... Some people in the group had to evacuate their bowels before the start of the show. And so they wanted to use the restroom there. And so you can't... What, upstairs, you mean?
Oh, yeah.
And so we're sitting there in the little, like... I don't say evacuate their bowels.
Just say they wanted to use the restroom. Like, why does it have to be graphic? They wanted to make beep-beep.
And so we're sitting there waiting for the people with the weak bladder and out walks Sean to talk to, I think the director or something. And you ran right into us and I saw on your face like, oh, you saw someone before the show, kind of like a marriage. That's right. And so did we screw things up? No, not at all. Would you rather not have people that you know in the audience? No, no, I love it.
You knew we were all going to be there. I knew I was there, yeah. But I didn't, I, yeah, I would have, it was no big deal because I saw you and I wanted to talk to all of you, obviously, because I hadn't seen you in so long. But then I was like, oh, you know what? Let's just leave the facade up for a second and then I'll talk to them after.
Now, when you look out into the audience, which you do a lot, because, listener, it is a one-man show, and he is telling the audience a story. Can you not see any of our faces? I can't see anybody. Really? Yeah, because if I did, it would make me nervous. But the lights are so bright, you can't see a foot in front of it.
Because you were looking right at me for a lot of the show, and I thought, make sure I don't make any funny faces, or throw them off, because I don't want you forgetting your lines.
I've got to say, that's classic you, that you thought he was looking at you.
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Chapter 3: What challenges did Maggie face while directing her film, The Bride?
Great show. Yeah, really good show. Did we laugh in all the right spots? You did. And I told you the night before, I'm glad you didn't come to opening night because the lights went out.
Oh, yeah. You've got here, Sean. Sean, do you have any funny theater stories?
I mean, yeah. So the line that it went, I don't think I told you. The line that it went out on was, because I play these characters, but I also play the narrator. So sometimes you just deliver straight lines that narrate. And so one of the exposition lines that I narrated was, we walked to the Hudson River. And then I walked down stage and every light went out.
Like you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. And I'm like... Hey, give us a couple minutes. I just said to the audience. And I walked off stage. And it was like 10 minutes, which is a really long time. A breaker, they had a breaker that went on or something. They fixed it. And they go, okay, let's go back on. They go back on. Of course, the audience claps. Yay, they got the fix.
The guy's backstage. So I go, we walked to the Hudson River. It was a really long walk. Ah. Good for you, Sheila. Good for you. And is there, so now are you feeling, I would feel, the crush of the rest of the run in front of me now that like opening night is over and the reviews came in and they were incredible. And like, can you still, as the kids say, get it up for the rest of the show?
Yeah, for sure. I think it's easier now. I think all that stuff where it's tech and previews and rehearsal and press and opening night and then all that stuff, it's so much pressure and stress and anxiety and all that. Now it's just like, oh, I just have to do the show and come home, which is nice.
And you've got today off.
And today is off, yeah. So what do you do today? What have you loaded into today that you couldn't do in the previous six? I'm hanging with you guys. That's it, all that.
And you're hanging with us and our special guest.
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Chapter 4: How does Maggie describe her transition from acting to directing?
Oh. And she's done quite a bit of film and some award-winning television. Triple threat. She's the daughter of two writer-directors. Academy Award nominee. Her mom was nominated for Academy Award, I believe. Her... Both her parents are writer-directors. She was born in New York, grew up in L.A. Her brother is an acclaimed actor. She has a new film coming out March 6th. Is this Maggie?
That has an amazing... Is it? Called The Bride, starring Jesse Buckley, Christian Bale, and I found it on the cruise. It's Maggie Gillan! Yes, Shawnee!
Shani got it. We have to establish a gift or a prize for whoever gets it. I know. Shani's pretty good at it. Hi, Maggie. How about that? Hi, guys. Well, I got to say, that trailer of The Bride looks effing fantastic.
That looks incredible. I can't wait to see it. Thank you. I cannot wait. I can't wait either. I mean, talk about just an absolutely star-studded cast. It's unbelievable, Maggie. Well, believable. I mean, believable.
She's an incredible director.
Of course. I don't mean unbelievable in that way. I don't mean unbelievable in that way. I mean, unbelievable how great it is. That's what I mean. Truly.
Yeah, amazing actors. Amazing, I know.
Oh, my God. All right, so when do we get to see this movie? And we're going to talk about the rest of your career, but when do we get to see this movie? When does it come out?
March 6th.
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Chapter 5: What themes does Maggie explore in her new film, The Bride?
Yeah. So, all right, Maggie. Maggie, how are you? This is so nice.
Hi, guys.
Are you loving directing more than acting?
I am, yeah. Yeah, right.
Are you more than acting? Tell me why.
I mean, it's... It's like really you are in charge of everything, which then means that you can make space for everyone else to offer what they want, express what they want. You know like when you're an actor and you're like, okay, I need to make sure that I just create the space for myself to get out the couple of things that are the most important things to me in case... Nobody lets me.
You know that feeling? You're trying to figure out how to just protect your little thing, which is the reason why you came to do it. When you're the director, you don't have to do that, first of all. And also, you don't have to make other people do that. You can just make it okay for them to feel free.
Yeah.
So you must have, I mean, obviously, as I pointed out, you come by it quite honestly. Both your parents are directors and writers. So did you, but then you've had such an acclaimed acting career before you directed your first piece. But did you know in the back of your mind, because it was just so there, that that was your ultimate destination?
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Chapter 6: How does Maggie incorporate personal experiences into her filmmaking?
I was like, I couldn't do it.
It's like exercising. Just get your clothes on. If you have your exercise clothes on and you don't exercise, then you really fucked up.
Sean, so exercising is this thing that people, so what do they do? They break a sweat. This is not for Tracy. This is for Sean.
But you were asking me if I always wanted to be a director. I don't think so. I think I... To be honest, I don't even... I didn't even allow myself to fantasize or imagine that it was a possibility for a long time. I mean, there weren't any other women doing it. I mean, there were, but I wasn't cool enough to know about, like, Agnes Varda when I was in high school, you know?
I mean, I really... The people who were really doing great stuff on film were actresses, at least from my perspective. And I looked up to so many people who were... you know, totally expressing themselves and being incredible, but I didn't see a lot of directors. And then... I played a director on TV. I mean, I played a porn director on The Deuce.
Yes, right.
But I think that was actually sort of part of just imagining, fantasizing. It, like, allowed me to imagine it.
So what was the first... I'm trying to think of the first thing that you directed. The Lost Daughter. It was The Lost Daughter.
Yeah.
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Chapter 7: What does Maggie say about the importance of collaboration in filmmaking?
Like before, before, like as you were, as you were prepping the film, like what was the first, what was the most thing you were scared about?
It's funny. I was so much scarier about making The Bride than I ever was about making The Lost Daughter. I was scared. I was. But I think in some ways I didn't even know what I was walking into. I mean, that said, I'd been on so many sets.
I think about directors who are really first-time directors who don't know how to read a call sheet, you know, who don't know what the rhythm of a day feels like, who... that must be really, really scary.
Yeah, so when you're doing The Bride, like you kind of, now you know, so you've had the experience, right? So then you have that anticipation of like, shit, now I know where some of the pitfalls are. How's that going to go? How's that emergency going to go?
But even more than that, I think with The Bride, I actually was terrified before I started. I was like, I wrote the script. It came out very, not easily, obviously, writing is so hard, but there was an ease to it. And then... I was scared. I was really scared.
The Bride was number two, the second film. Yeah. And it's a significant jump forward as far as budget and scope and just basic responsibility. A big piece of Hollywood business too and big, huge stars. And yeah, that must have been... Yeah, sobering to say the least. Yeah.
Yeah, I mean, it's interesting. On set, even though it was, as you say, like the scope was just much bigger, it felt very similar to The Lost Daughter. in terms of just working, workflow, how we did it. And I didn't know that it would, and I think that's part of why I was scared. But once we got working, it was the same.
And yet, actually, maybe even easier in some ways because the heads of every department were incredible.
Yeah, right. And you had a longer schedule too, right?
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Chapter 8: What future projects does Maggie Gyllenhaal have in mind?
She wanted one at a time. And made that very clear to me. Whereas, like, you know... Jesse just wants to sort of take it all in and whatever sticks, sticks. And yeah, Peter just like, whoa.
But that's a process that you learn as you go, right? Like it's something like you have to, like that first day, that first week, it's the personalities and you're trying to figure out what that rhythm was. Like Jay, what you were kind of saying, like how you have to, it's not that you're tailoring it, but it's, you have to have a certain amount of EQ to be a really good director, I think.
Yeah.
The really good ones have that understanding, as you pointed out, to go, oh, this person, you have to kind of read the room, right?
A hundred percent. I think you do tailor it to each person. And that interaction is one of my favorite things.
And sometimes there's friction too. But it's only natural that there will be moments. We've all had them where somebody gives you a note or something and you go like, hey, you know, and you're just trying to – and sometimes it's necessary.
Or sometimes you need friction in order to do whatever it is you need to do and the director just has to deal with that. Like I remember – I won't say who just so that I – because I love him. But there was an actor who – who yelled at me on The Lost Daughter, and none of us had been yelling at each other. Like, we were just, it was all, we were all in love.
And I was sort of stunned for a second, and then I was like, oh, no, no, I've been him. I know, I get it. Okay, he just needs to, like, crack something a little bit. Just take it. Just take the smack and just keep going. That's your job. Like, a little taste of your own medicine. Keep going.
He was kind of just in character.
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