As we entered 2020, there was arguably no actor poised to have as monumental of a year as Alison Brie. With an already diverse body of work ranging from period dramas to comedies, animation, video games, indie darlings, and more, this year especially feels like a snapshot of everything she’s strived for her entire career thus far. She has four acting credits across such films as “Horse Girl,” “The Rental,” “Happiest Season,” and “Promising Young Woman” while also spending time behind the camera directing an episode of the Disney+ docuseries “Marvel 616” and producing and co-writing the script for “Horse Girl.” Since her dueling breakout performances in “Mad Men” and “Community,” we’ve always known Brie was someone who refused to be put into a box, and it’s that exact drive that’s made her such an excitingly unpredictable talent on screen and a force of versatility. However, simply being original and different isn’t enough for the 37-year-old actress. At this point in her career, it’s imperative that the projects she selects stand for something and helps spark a conversation that reaches as many people as possible while advocating for progress.
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“I definitely feel like I want my work to be about something important,” says Brie. “But at the same time, you want it to go down easy. I know I have a better time processing information often when it’s also entertaining.”
Brie’s latest, “Happiest Season,” definitely falls into that category being the first Holiday romantic comedy centered around a gay couple. The film follows Harper (Mackenzie Davis) and Abby (Kristen Stewart) as they venture to Harper’s family home for the holidays. Along with meeting her partner’s parents for the first time, Abby is planning to propose. However, complications arise when Abby discovers Harper’s not only kept their relationship a secret but her sexuality as well. For all of it’s Yuletide camp and charm, “Happiest Season” is a rather earnest exploration of family acceptance and being true to who you are, something that wasn’t lost on Brie when joining the project.
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“I do think it’s really important that films reflect the world we live in and the reality that a lot of people face,” said Brie. “This is the first studio-backed holiday rom-com that features a gay couple, which is just so belated. This movie is about a family who cares so much about appearances, and in a lot of ways, it does feel like that’s what Christmas has become in our country. Like, ‘It’s all going to look beautiful, and there’s going to be huge Christmas trees and tons of presents.’ And you’re like, ‘But can’t we just be together and be joyful and love each other and support each other?’ Does something carry the spirit and meaning of Christmas if it looks beautiful, but is non-inclusive and stressed out and a little monstrous? You’re really departing from what the holiday is meant to be about. And yeah, this movie is really about watching this family kind of realize that through the strength of seeing a person within their family really come out and the courage that it takes to do that and be honest with her family, I think it ends up inspiring the whole family, to be honest about who they are and get more in touch with each other.”
While “Happiest Season” makes for essential festive viewing this time of year, Brie will close out 2020 with Emerald Fennell’s bold and ferocious Oscar contender, “Promising Young Woman.” As Brie puts it, “it’s a Me Too revenge thriller, but it just has such a dark but fun sense of humor.” Since its premiere at Sundance back in January, the film has been garnering a passionate response from audiences and is sure to lead the charge in having a larger conversation about the sexist culture that turns a blind eye to the mistreatment of women. It’s a project that, as soon as I mentioned, Brie was visibly eager to discuss.
“It’s a page-turner,” said Brie. “I’ve never read anything like it. And then I met with Emerald Fennell, the director who wrote and directed it and hearing her talk about it and also the aesthetic of the whole thing, and how she wanted to offset it with really feminine bubblegummy, poppy music. I just thought it was such an innovative way to make a film about subject matter that’s quite serious. It’s so important I think to have this conversation about consent and what it means, and what it means today, and what it means to men, and what it means to women, and what it should mean, and things like that. But yes, then it’s backed by this genre-bending which is sort of fluctuating between dark comedy and thriller and Carey Mulligan is such an amazing actress, and really grounds the whole movie in her portrayal of this main character who’s sort of deliciously sinister in her fight for justice. I feel like you can kind of get behind her, some of her questionable actions, because her heart is in the right place, even though you’re like, ‘Whoa, I don’t know if I would do that myself, but maybe I should?'”
During my conversation with Alison Brie, we not only discuss “Happiest Season” and “Promising Young Woman,” but also what Christmas with her family is like, the future of Netflix‘s “GLOW,” and much more.
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