David Siegel and Scott McGehee What Maisie Knew Interview

David Siegel and Scott McGehee What Maisie Knew Interview

Cast: Alexander Skarsgard, Julianne Moore, Steve Coogan, Onata Aprile
Director: David Siegel, Scott McGehee
Running Time: 109 minutes

Synopsis: From the acclaimed producers of The Kids are All Right; What Maisie Knew is an enchanting drama that explores the tangled complexity and often humorous aspects of contemporary relationships and family life in New York City.

Six year old Maisie (Onata Aprile) is caught in the middle of a custody battle between her rock star mother, Suzanna (Julianne Moore), and art dealer father, Beale (Steve Coogan). In a race to win the court's advantage, Beale marries Maisie's nanny, Margo (Joanna Vanderham), prompting Suzanna in turn to marry local bartender, Lincoln (Alexander Skarsgård). Maisie is infinitely accepting and angelic in her ability to observe their immature actions without judgement, staying calm amongst the chaos.

As Maise's parents become increasingly consumed in winning points over one another, she comes to rely on the nurturing stability of her parent's new spouses, causing Suzanna and Beale to do some serious soul searching. Her infallible strength of character and resilience makes Maisie realise that if family and relationships are ever-shifting concepts, the only thing we can really know is love.

What Maisie Knew
Release Date: August 22nd, 2013
Website: YouTube

Director's Statement

What Maisie Knew is built around a simple conceit: the singular perspective of a six-year-old girl at the center of a turbulent story. We come to know each character through his or her interactions with Maisie.

It's an innocent and generous point of view, one that infuses the film with its lightness"a lightness that's surprising, given the events that unfold. And it is this lightness that really drew us to the project. What Maisie Knew tells an emotional story about a tough life situation, but manages to capture a spirit of hope and optimism; and even make us laugh.

Yet it never succumbs to the sentimental. For all of Maisie's innocence, her story has a natural, real-world truth. She's got a simple, clear-eyed take on the world that captures a bit of what's difficult alongside a bit of what's funny and absurd. And a bit of what makes things work out okay from time to time.

We're excited, as well, by the formal challenges and opportunities in telling a young girl's story. In expressing her point of view cinematically; not by means of dictating to the audience what Maisie might be feeling, but by catching a bit of what it might look and feel and sound like to be that little girl. To be a child searching for her own quiet voice in an otherwise noisy world.

Interview with David Siegel and Scott McGehee

Question: What drew you to re-interpret the story of this classic Henry James novel and set it in today's New York?

David Siegel and Scott McGehee: Carroll Cartwright, one of the screenplay's two writers, came upon the idea of updating the book. From speaking to him about it, we gather that he had some personal life experiences that he thought would be interesting to explore within the frame of Henry James' story. He and Nancy Doyne, the other writer, each drew heavily on their own memories-of being children of parents, and parents of children during difficult divorces. We liked the script very much when we read it, and we thought it was both an interesting take on the Henry James story and a relevant story for today. The context is so different now from what it was in James time. For him, the simple and new idea of "joint custody" was in itself so bizarre that he made it the subject of his book. Now such arrangements are commonplace, yet they still tear at the fabric of many families, and can put a tremendous amount of strain on children. But what makes the James story so durable, of course, is the character relationships. He had a great eye for the details of how people relate to one another, how they use each other to serve their private agendas, and so on.


Question: How did you re-create these characters and how was the process of selecting the cast?

David Siegel and Scott McGehee: We loved the idea of Julianne Moore as Susanna Nunn, a rock star going through a bit of a mid-life crisis. And Julianne had read the script shortly before we became involved, and was intrigued. So that was a nice coming together. Steve Coogan, Alexander Skarsgard, Onata Aprile and Joanna Vanderham were all brought on with the help and coordination of our Casting Director Avy Kaufman. Each of them brought qualities to the characters we thought important. Humor for Coogan; an easy, sympathetic naturalism for Alexander; a careful balance of maturity and innocent vulnerability for Joanna. Onata as Maisie was a special case in that the story is told almost entirely from Maisie's perspective (she's in every scene), and we knew we needed a little girl who could make us believe that we were getting a glimpse inside her interior life. Maisie's a watcher, afterall; she absorbs the craziness of the adults' lives around her. We feel very lucky to have found her.


Question: How do you see Maisie as a character? (Do you find her a victim of a broken marriage? Or is she a little heroine in a dysfunctional family?)

David Siegel and Scott McGehee: For most of the movie, Maisie is very much an observer: someone constantly taking in the turmoil around her, trying to make sense of her world and understand her place in it. We like to think of her as a person (mind you a very young person) struggling for individuation. Trying to find her voice in a very chaotic universe. We also like to focus on Maisie's generosity of spirit. She manages to see what's best in people, and in doing that, she makes the world around her better somehow.


Question: What were some of the challenges given the subject matter?

David Siegel and Scott McGehee: Many of the challenges we faced were logistical. Maisie is in every scene, which means that a six-year-old actress was working all the time. Obviously, working hours for children are restricted, and this forced us into a very tight and inflexible shooting schedule. On a small budget, this was a huge challenge, and the entire production was organised around it. (Another tip of our hat to Onata here, as we never would have made that schedule if she hadn't been such a terrific collaborator, and always so good natured about the work that needed to be done.) Also, it's tough and emotional subject matter, so all the actors needed to be on top of their games, able to work quickly and intensely, while at the same time prioritising Onata's needs. In this regard, we were continually surprised by the way the entire cast would exceed our expectations.

Question: Tell us about working with Julianne Moore and Alexander Skarsgard.

David Siegel and Scott McGehee: We were thrilled to work with Julianne, and thought she was perfect casting for Susanna Nunn. Her ability to be super tough and at the same time super vulnerable allowed for so much range in Susanna's character. And of course, she's pretty fearless. She really goes for it as an actor, and the movie benefits tremendously from that. And Julianne's very smart about how she goes about preparations for her roles. Just enough detail to convince; never so much that you feel her effort. She's a seasoned pro, of course, and has been involved with creating so many great characters throughout her career. She thinks very deeply about character, and was a big help figuring out some of the more difficult scenes-thinking through what Susanna would and wouldn't do in a given situation. She's quick to share her ideas, which is always stimulating for directors. As for Alexander, we didn't know much of his work outside of his TV show TRUE BLOOD when we cast him (and a short, very funny appearance in ZOOLANDER), but we saw enough to believe that he'd give Lincoln the right kind of warmth and sensitivity. Which was our biggest concern in casting: will we root for his relationship with Maisie, after seeing his relationship with Susanna crumble. We loved him physically for the role; loved the idea of this big gentle giant on screen with a tiny little girl who adores him. He really surprised us in being so good with her. He told us he liked kids when we met him (he comes from a big family); but the relationship he built with Onata was a really special thing, and we think it shows in their on-screen chemistry.


What Maisie Knew
Release Date: August 22nd, 2013