Tag: Shirley

2020 Jun 24

Elisabeth Moss Interview on ‘Shirley’ and the Status of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Season 4

Elisabeth Moss Interview on ‘Shirley’ and the Status of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Season 4

New Interview with Elisabeth who talks about portraying Shirley Jackson on screen and the halt of The Handmaid’s Tale production.

From director Josephine Decker and screenwriter Sarah Gubbins, the indie drama Shirley tells a story about renowned horror writer Shirley Jackson (Elisabeth Moss) that blurs fact and fiction. When the arrival of newlyweds (Odessa Young, Logan Lerman) shakes up her writing routine and raises the tension between Shirley and her husband Stanley (Michael Stuhlbarg), they begin to toy with the couple and push their limits in a way that could have a lasting effect on their relationship.

During this 1-on-1 phone interview with Collider, actress Elisabeth Moss talked about why she was nervous about playing the brilliant but troubled real woman, the inspiration she got from co-star Michael Stuhlbarg, the research that was key in helping her find her performance, why it was liberating to explore Shirley Jackson, and what she hopes audiences take from watching the film. She also talked about The Handmaid’s Tale Season 4, and how they’re currently trying to figure out how to safely return to work to finish shooting the season.

Collider: I have to say that I just was so fascinated, enthralled and compelled by this film, and you and everyone else in this is just so phenomenal.

ELISABETH MOSS: Thank you. I really appreciate that.

Actors always talk about wanting to find characters that challenge them, and it seems like there are so many challenges with a character like this. What excited you about the challenges with something like this, and in what ways do you feel this character most challenged you, as an actress?

MOSS: This the first time that I’ve ever played a real person, I think. I could be wrong, but I think so. It’s been a long road, so I could be forgetting some poor soul, but it’s the first time that I’ve played a significant historical figure, I should say, that everybody knows. I think that was the challenge for me. It was a little frightening. I was a little nervous about that. I’m not really that interested in doing research and stuff, and I had to do all of this research, all of a sudden, and approach it in a completely different way. Michael [Stuhlbarg] was incredibly inspiring, in that sense, because he’s very good at that and that’s how he works. He really helped inspiring enthusiasm and also literally sent me material to read. I honestly don’t know if I could have done it without him. That was the thing that was new for me, and definitely a challenge.

What sort of research most helped you? Did you read the novel? Did you read her work? What was the key in finding her, for you?

MOSS: The thing that was the most inspiring was reading these letters, between Stanley and Shirley, that we got. That was really rare, that we found them. It wasn’t a biography, it wasn’t her stories, and it wasn’t her reading her stories, which we had a recording of. It was truly them. That’s how we really discovered their sense of humor, their intelligence, how much they loved each other, and how much anger was there. That was the most helpful thing, I think.

Did you approach this as though you were playing Shirley Jackson, the author, or did you approach this as a character that happened to be named Shirley Jackson, who was also a writer, since this is somewhat fictionalized?

MOSS: Yeah, totally. The honest answer is a little bit of both. The research into who Shirley was laid the groundwork. That was the bedrock of it. And then, at one point, I remember saying to Michael, right before we started, “Now, I think we have to let it go. I think we’ve gotta let it all go.” You can get so wrapped up in playing a real person that you care more about that than playing the other parts of them. And so, we both decided that we were going to do our own Shirley and Stanley, and this was gonna be our own version of them. You have to forgive yourself a little bit. It’s the only way that you can actually proceed without fear. I think that was really helpful for us to do, at a certain point. It’s not an exactly accurate story of Shirley Jackson. I think that it’s important to mention she was incredible mom. She was wonderful to her kid and a great cook. I’ve spoken to her son, and she was a great mom. Obviously, that’s not included in the story. So, it’s a slice of this woman.

Shirley is a blend of madness, loneliness, depression, sadness, despair, and all of these emotions. Is that fun to explore, as an actor, or do you have to learn to pace yourself through all of that?

MOSS: I love it. I love that kind of work. I am very fulfilled by it. I am not afraid of it. I’m not a method actor. Part of the reason why I’m not a method actor is because I do think that would be exhausting and maybe I’m just lazy. Maybe I’d be a better actor, if I was a method actor, but it’s just not quite my style, so I don’t get exhausted by it. I love it. I find that all characters end up being a facet of your personality, and I have a lot of Shirley in me. I loved exploring that. It was liberating.

Is there a challenge in playing someone whose mind is something of a mystery, or do you just try to be present in each moment?

MOSS: I think that you do the latter. I remember talking to Sarah Gubbins, the writer, and for me, this was a story about a writer and their process, how difficult and challenging that process can be, and the places that you have to go in your imagination, in order to get the story, and to be that brilliant. That’s what I focused on. So, as far as the parts that were maybe not real, or maybe they were in her imagination, or maybe her mind was taking over, she did have a fair amount of drinking happening and she did have a fair amount of, unfortunately, a reliance on pills and diet pills, and that kind of thing, and I think that really was messing with her mind, quite a bit. I think the only way to do that, though, is to play it like it’s real because it’s real to her, and that’s all that matters.

What do you hope audiences take from this film?

MOSS: I love her so much. I have so much admiration for her. I think she was brilliant, and I think she was a good person, and I think she had a great sense of humor, and I hope that people see that. She was troubled, and she had substance abuse problems, and she was bit troubled in her mind, but I think that she was a brilliant woman. She was so ahead of her time and she inspired so many people that came after her. And so, I hope that people get that little bit of her. I hope they take that away.

You were only two weeks into shooting Season 4 of The Handmaid’s Tale, before production shut down due to COVID. As a producer on that series, have you been a part of the conversations about how to get back into production safely? What are your biggest hopes and fears, in that regard?

MOSS: Yes, we have a production call, every week, and we have a producer call, every week. There have been a lot of emails, a lot of Zooms, and a lot of conversations. One of the great things that our line producer has done is basically gone to every single department and talked to them, and picked their brain and tried to figure out what their daily process is, and what they’re looking for and what they need, in order to feel safe, which I think is a really important part of it. There’s a lot of stuff that’s above my pay grade and above my head, that we’re all reading about in the Hollywood Reporter. But for us, as producers, and for most producers, it’s about, how do you do it and be safe? That’s all. Human life is not worth making a TV show for. Everyone wants to go back to work because we love what we do, and there’s also people that need to support their families and themselves. The producers contributed to a fund for our crew, that is out of our own pockets and has nothing to do with our larger corporation. We put a lot of money into it, and we’ve been keeping our crew going through that and supporting them being out of work. But we’ve gotta do it safely, and we’re just trying to figure that out. It’s all new territory, and we’re all in the same boat here.

Shirley is available at Hulu and on VOD.

2020 Jun 13

‘Shirley’ Review: Elisabeth Moss Stuns in Dizzying Shirley Jackson Biopic

‘Shirley’ Review: Elisabeth Moss Stuns in Dizzying Shirley Jackson Biopic

Shirley is now out on VOD, and its a must see. Elisabeth delivers another brilliant performance. Here is the review from Collider:

Lauded author Shirley Jackson was a mad genius. Her macabre stories like “The Lottery” and The Haunting of Hill House captured the imaginations of people the world over, but Jackson herself was considered an odd duck. Rumors swirled that she never left her house, and she was beset by illnesses that finally claimed her life at the far-too-young age of 48. But until the end, Jackson was crafting crackling stories that not only pushed the boundaries of horror fiction, but of what was considered “proper” for a woman in her day and age.

Given the madness within Jackson’s work, and the stories about the woman behind the words, it stands to reason that any movie made about her life should probably be a little strange and offbeat itself. In that regard the new film Shirley, which uses the fictionalized account of two houseguests staying with Jackson and her husband to peer into the unique life of the celebrated author, is a success. Creepy and macabre, intimate and inappropriate, Shirley lets us whirl around in Jackson’s head for a couple of hours. And while the film’s offbeat style may not be for everyone, it highlights the continued relevance and sad nature of Jackson’s life by telling a story about confident, complex women being “othered” by society.

Based on the novel of the same name by Susan Scarf Merrell, Shirley opens—appropriately enough—with a young woman getting horny by reading Shirley Jackson’s short story “The Lottery.” Rose (Odessa Young) and her professor husband Fred (Logan Lerman) are moving to a small Vermont college town to continue their collegiate studies, with Fred having been tasked with helping Shirley Jackson’s husband Stanley Hyman (Michael Stuhlbarg) with his research. Stanley counters with an agreement of a different sort: he will provide free room and board for Fred and Rose at his home if Rose agrees to help around the house, admitting the previous housekeeper up and quit on account of Shirley’s cantankerous nature. Fred readily agrees, while Rose is more reluctant—this means Rose has to drop out of college for the time-being, when she was under the impression she and Fred would be studying as equals.

Quickly Fred and Rose learn that Shirley and Stanley aren’t exactly a traditional couple. Shirley—played by Elisabeth Moss in a straight-up haunting performance—is prone to bouts of depression, sleeping all day, drinking all night, refusing to eat, etc. Stanley, meanwhile, is an outgoing man who values originality above all, and while he thinks his coaxing to get his wife out of bed is for her benefit, it’s not hard to see he’s really mostly trying to get her cracking on her next popular story while he does whatever the hell he wants.

As Fred and Stanley spend the days away from the house, Rose and Shirley strike up a most complicated relationship. At turns contentious, friendly, and sensual, this is a truly odd dynamic and one brought to the screen with vigor by Young and Moss. These two women, each ambitious in her own way, have been all but sidelined by their husbands and asked to keep their interest in the macabre to themselves. It’s in this relationship that director Josephine Decker and writer Sarah Gubbins draw clear parallels to the expectations put on women, and how society treats those who dare to be different. And God help you if you’re different and brilliant.

As the story progresses, Rose is further and further pushed into the “wifey” role as Stanley calls it, and while she’s reluctant, she falls in line. Because that’s what society—especially in the 1960s—expects of her. Shirley, too, is put in a box, albeit a different kind. Stanley fully appreciates and even encourages Shirley’s brilliance, but only on his terms. He wants to see the pages she’s supposedly churning out during the day, not to give input, but so he can put some kind of stamp on her brilliance. He views his caretaking of Shirley (despite the fact that he’s basically hired someone to do the caretaking for him) as a favor, and in return she owes him. Nevermind the fact that he’s constantly stepping out on Shirley—his affairs are an open secret.

But Shirley and Stanley oftentimes make the perfect storm, as they intentionally rile up or stoke problems between Fred and Rose merely for their own amusement. They use those they deem “lesser” for entertainment, and indeed Stanley remarks that there’s nothing he disdains more than mediocrity, which puts a target on Fred’s back.

Decker most recently helmed the head-trip Madeline’s Madeline, and she brings a similar oddball quality to Shirley. The cinematography is dizzying and intimate and messy and sweaty, illuminating the madness within Jackson’s house and mind. It’s effective, but could test the patience of some. Indeed the story seems to wander a bit, as the film is less about the narrative and more about getting a feel for who Shirley Jackson was as a person, and how the stories of hers that we take for granted came at a cost. Which is worthwhile to be sure, but at a certain point your mind may begin to wander.

Stuhlbarg gives an inspired performance and Young plays her character’s dynamic arc with intensity, but this is Moss’ show and she does not disappoint. The madness of Shirley Jackson is there to be sure, but Moss brilliantly layers in the loneliness, sadness, and despair of the character all while keeping a façade of “I DGAF.”

Shirley is a welcome respite from cradle-to-the-grave biopics, and this fictional account offers an interesting pathway to understanding a bit more about Jackson’s somewhat tragic life. And while the film itself wears a bit as it goes on, Decker’s larger points about the marginalization of women remain striking, and Moss’ terrific performance is reason enough to seek this one out. This story is certainly not a traditionally told one in any sense of the word. But you can imagine Shirley Jackson herself probably wouldn’t have had it any other way.

2020 May 16

Shirley Trailer, Movie going straight to VOD and Digital

Shirley Trailer, Movie going straight to VOD and Digital

Shirley, starring Elisabeth Moss and Michael Stuhlbarg will be released straight on VOD and Digital on June 5th. Here is the trailer:



2020 Feb 11

‘Shirley’ Director Says Elisabeth Moss Was Always the ‘Top Choice’ to Play Author Shirley Jackson (Video)

Here’s an interview from The Wrap about Shirley from Sundance:

For “Shirley” director Josephine Decker, Elisabeth Moss was always the “top choice” to play author Shirley Jackson in her drama.

“You were my top choice!” Decker told Elisabeth Moss at TheWrap’s Sundance Studio. “We were all like, let’s get Elisabeth Moss to play Shirley!”

Moss was drawn to the project due to the Sarah Gubbins screenplay, as well as the other actors attached.

“It’s funny because it is a version of Shirley Jackson, I think about Shirley as if she had many versions of herself,” Moss told TheWrap’s Steve Pond. “Michael [Stuhlbarg] has always been one of my favorite actors of all-time, so to be able to work with him finally was incredible. Then we got Odessa Young, this beautiful young actor, and then we had Logan [Lerman], who brought so much to that character. It just got better and better for me.”

Stuhlbarg only had wonderful things to say about Moss as well. When asked why he wanted to be a part of the drama, he said, “I heard this one was doing it,” pointing at Moss.

“That’s what made me do it,” he added. “I was unfamiliar with Josephine, so I saw her films and the script itself was so evocative, literate, funny, precise, and the combination of elements of this particular story and learning about Shirley Jackson and about Stanley Hyman, their relationship, the perversity of it, it got more and more interesting as time went on. It was a really wonderful journey.”

“Shirley” follows a young couple that moves in with Shirley Jackson and her husband Stanley Hyman, only to realize that they are in the midst of a psychodrama that will act as inspiration for Jackson’s next novel.

The film had its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.

2020 Feb 11

“Shirley” gets picked up for distribution by Neon

“Shirley” gets picked up for distribution by Neon

Great news for Shirley. We should be getting a wide release soon!

Michael Stuhlbarg also stars in the movie from director Josephine Decker.
Shirley, the Elisabeth Moss-starring thriller, has been acquired by Neon in North America.

The deal was in the low-seven figure range, making it the indie distributor’s second (and smaller) deal at the festival after having jointly acquired Andy Samberg comedy Palm Springs with Hulu for a record-setting $17.5 million and 69 cents.

Josephine Decker directed from a screenplay by Sarah Gubbins, which follows a young couple, Fred and Rose (Odessa Young and Logan Lerman), that moves to a small Vermont college town in pursuit of a job for Fred as an assistant professor of literature. They receive free room and board from professor Stanley Hyman (played by Michael Stuhlbarg) as long as Rose agrees to spend time cleaning up the home and looking after his wife, acclaimed horror author Shirley Jackson (Moss). The eccentric couple and their household will test the limits of the young love.

Moss also produced the movie, along with Gubbins, Christine Vachon, David Hinojosa, Sue Naegle, Jeffrey Soros and Simon Horsman. Martin Scorsese exec produced the movie, along with Allison Rose Carter, Alisa Tager and Cher Hawrysh.

The movie screened in the fest’s U.S. dramatic competition section.

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2020 Feb 02

Sundance Film Festival – Shirley Premiere Photos, Reviews, Interviews and Portraits

Sundance Film Festival – Shirley Premiere Photos, Reviews, Interviews and Portraits

Last week, Elisabeth attended the Premiere for her new movie Shirley at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, here are photos, portraits and some interviews:




Here are also some reviews and articles for the movie:

  1. ‘Shirley’ Star Elisabeth Moss On Creating A Fictional Version Of Famed Author Shirley Jackson – Sundance Studio
  2. ‘Shirley’ Review: Elisabeth Moss Stuns in Dizzying Shirley Jackson Biopic
  3. Variety: ‘Shirley’: Film Review
  4. The Hollywood Reporter: ‘Shirley’: Film Review
2019 Dec 14

Shirley to premiere on Sundance Film Festival 2020

Shirley to premiere on Sundance Film Festival 2020

Shirley is set to premiere on the Sundance Film Festival that happens from January 23rd til February 2nd, 2020.

The official information about Shirley:

Shirley / U.S.A. (Director: Josephine Decker, Screenwriter: Sarah Gubbins, Producers: Christine Vachon, David Hinojosa, Sue Naegle, Sarah Gubbins, Jeffrey Soros, Simon Horsman) — A young couple moves in with the famed author, Shirley Jackson, and her Bennington College professor husband, Stanley Hyman, in the hope of starting a new life but instead find themselves fodder for a psycho-drama that inspires Shirley’s next novel. Cast: Elisabeth Moss, Michael Stuhlbarg, Odessa Young, Logan Lerman.

Via The Film Stage.

2019 Feb 04

Elisabeth Moss Drama ‘Shirley’ Scores Sales Deal With Cornerstone Films, First Look

Elisabeth Moss Drama ‘Shirley’ Scores Sales Deal With Cornerstone Films, First Look

Cornerstone Films has boarded director Josephine Decker’s (Madeline’s Madeline) psychological drama Shirley starring Elisabeth Moss as famed horror author Shirley Jackson with Michael Stuhlbarg (Call Me By Your Name) as her Bennington College professor husband Stanley Hyman.

Logan Lerman (Indignation) and Odessa Young (Assassination Nation) play the young couple that move in with Shirley and Stanley in the hope of starting a new life but instead find themselves fodder for a psycho-drama that inspires Shirley’s next novel. Above is a first look image.

Cornerstone will show first footage at the EFM next week. Paradigm and UTA are overseeing North American sales.

Shirley, which shot last year, is based on the screenplay by Sarah Gubbins (I Love Dick), adapted from the novel by Susan Scarf Merrell and was filmed in upstate New York, including at Vassar College. It is financed by Los Angeles Media Fund and produced by Jeffrey Soros and Simon Horsman (Juliet, Naked), Christine Vachon (Carol), Sue Naegle (The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs), Sarah Gubbins and David Hinojosa (First Reformed).

Heads of department include cinematographer Sturla Brandth Grøvlen (Victoria), production designer Sue Chan (Gone Girl), editor David Barker (The Reagan Show) and costume designer Amela Baksic (Wiener-Dog).

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