Grace Van Patten has had a year that most young actresses dream about. She delivers a much-discussed performance on Hulu’s hit series “Nine Perfect Strangers” and counts an acclaimed 2021 Sundance selection among her credits. “Mayday” gives Van Patten a role that is just as complex and layered as her ‘Strangers’ character. Karen Cinorre’s directorial debut is a fantasy built upon timeless classics like “The Wizard of Oz.” Set in a dreamlike world grounded in sad truths, the film contemplates themes ranging from trauma to feminism. Van Patten’s character Ana leads the way as a young woman battling the demons of reality with the morality of somewhere beyond the rainbow.
The actress is far from new to the industry; her breakout moment came with the indie breakout film “Tramps.” Since then, she’s built on that buzz to find roles in “Under the Silver Lake” and “Maniac.” With two major projects this year and another coming in the anticipated series “Tell Me Lies,” Van Patten establishes herself thanks to characters far from the stereotypical norms. The actress spent some time with The Playlist to discuss the intriguing “Mayday” and the choices behind these critical projects.
READ MORE: Fall 2021 Movie Preview: 60+ Must-See Films
How did you approach this role? I found her to be a very complex, complicated person.
Yeah, which is why I was so drawn to it. There’s a shortage of complex female roles that are deep and layered. When I read this script for the first time, there was so much beyond the page for Ana and the whole story in general. There’s so much room for interpretation and meaning. Within all the fantasy elements and magic of this movie — really at the core — it’s a story about finding inner strength, purpose, and power. I was very drawn to that, and I thought it was such a beautiful, fantastical way to tell that story.
Absolutely. You speak about reading the script. I’m wondering about your involvement with the project. How early did you get involved with this? Did director Karen Cinorre have you in mind when she wrote Ana, or did you come to it a bit later?
I came to it later. I auditioned — with her in the room — with Doug Aibel, a fantastic casting director. I had watched her short films, and I was so in awe of her. She’s such a visionary, and I could only imagine what this movie would look like. She knew exactly what she wanted, which is so admirable.
READ MORE: ‘Mayday’ Trailer: Grace Van Patten Escapes In A Feminist Fantasy Standout From Sundance
What was that process like of working it out with Karen, working out the character and layers of Ana?
Karen is so collaborative that it was such a fun adventure to go on with her and dissect Ana and what she’s going through. It was essential that she stayed grounded and that her journey stayed grounded because everything else around her was up for interpretation. We wanted to make sure she had a distinct journey that she was going on. That manifested in many different ways — we had conversations about it, her backstory, who she was before we met her in the movie, and who she became. I found it to be a beautiful and empowering story.
It really is. What outside influences did you bring to this? Were there other performances or films you had seen, anything that you brought to it and said that’s influential to how I’m going to play this role?
Karen would mention “Wizard of Oz” a lot, the magic of that. I watched a lot of movies. I would fall asleep to “Alice in Wonderland” just because it was a fun movie to fall asleep to. It just got me into that fantasy or “Wizard of Oz” got me into that fantastical tone which was helpful because I had never done anything like that before — to know that there was such a specific tone for this movie. There’s an old war film called “Come and See.” It is such an accurate raw depiction of war and a kid going through it, experiencing it. It’s probably the most depressing movie of all time; that was one of Karen’s references for it as well. I was seeing the trauma’s impact on this young man and how it changed him. Ana is in a different situation, but she’s going through something beyond her comprehension.
Your character, Ana, really carries viewers through this story. What do you want audiences to take away as they go with Ana through this journey?
I hope they take away hope. I really do. I think it sounds a little bit generic to say, but it is a hopeful story. I hope it inspires young women to find their inner strength and power and shows them that there is hope if you feel like you’re in a rut. There is a way to come out of it, and a massive part of that is sisterhood and friendship and feeling empowered by female relationships. So, I hope people feel that.
Touching on the other characters in the film and your relationship with them, there’s a great cast around you. I’m sure that helped you immensely, especially Mia (Goth) — the connection between your character and Mia’s character.
Yes. [Mia and I] were friends before, and we were so excited to work with each other. I think she’s such an outstanding, talented actor, and I was so thrilled to hear that she was going to be in it. I loved Marsha and Ana’s relationship. I almost saw them as one in a weird way, two parts of the inner battle. I saw each girl as a part of Ana. For Ana to find her inner strength, she had to confront these parts of herself to realize she was capable and had them all within her.
I want to speak a little bit as well about the location. You shot this in Croatia. How did filming there help you build this reality for Ana?
Well, I think a significant part of all of us being in Croatia was that we were all away from home, which immediately set the tone for us to almost be there for each other. Croatia is just a magical place. The people are amazing. The atmosphere is gorgeous. It’s unlike any place I’ve been to before. It really put us into a world that we all were unfamiliar with. The submarine that was built was, I mean, the second we set foot on that, we were in the story. It threw us all into the world, and that’s the best. Once we had our costumes on and saw the set — the submarine — it felt like we were “Mayday.” We were in “Mayday.”
The sets are great. I loved them.
They did such a fantastic job.
One thing about “Mayday” is that it was filmed pre-pandemic. We’re now in a pandemic. Do you think any of the film’s meanings or connotations have changed now that we live in a very different world?
This movie, it’s so transportive. I hope that people might want to escape into this world because it’s not very fun right now in reality. I hope that people can lose themselves in this movie and escape into it. How it shows hope is always lovely when you’re in a time like this because it is hard to see the other end of it.
It really is. I wanted to touch briefly on “Nine Perfect Strangers” while I have you here. Everybody loves it.
Good.
Both Ana and Zoe are complex characters that you’ve found. Looking at that, what are you heading towards in terms of future roles? What kinds of things are you looking for?
I mean, complexity is always what I’m hoping for. Something beyond the page, beyond the words that allow me to explore these people and get to know them instead of having them handed to me. I feel so lucky to have played two characters like Ana and Zoe, who are so complex and going through something that people can relate to and connect to. I hope I see more roles like that because it is, unfortunately, not very common to see complex female parts, but there are more of them coming, I think.
These are two great roles for women. How lucky have you been this year to get both of them?
I feel so lucky, such equally impressive experiences but very different.
You couldn’t have asked for anything better. Finishing up, what kind of lasting legacy do you see for “Mayday”? What do you think people in years to come will take away from this film?
It is so different that I hope it just kind of serves as this escape as long as time goes on. It transports you. So, I hope as the years go on when people need an escape or need to immerse themselves into something weird and familiar and different and powerful that they watch “Mayday.”
Magnolia Pictures’ “Mayday” opens in theaters on October 1.
![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://theplaylist.net/grace-van-patten-mayday-nine-perfect-strangers-interview-20211001/&media=https://cdn.theplaylist.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/14173657/mayday-grace-van-patten.jpg&description=Up and coming actress Grace Van Patten is having a banner year. First there's the hit "Nine Perfect Strangers," now the indie "Mayday."){kind=link}