Deborah is a film that will make you think much about your life. In a lot of matters, whether or not you really want to get the Amazon Alexa that you have. When your friends have a special weekend to celebrate their engagement, you go. But sometimes your childhood friends can’t be your best friends until they are young.
The movie asks us why this group of friends still are together, and how far they are willing to go, with respect to their friends, and what happens when the facade breaks up. I spoke to the stars in preparation for the film release. Woll plays Ada, a woman who wants to marry Al (Kevin Bigley) who has a secret she doesn’t even share with his husband.
And when all his childhood friends come to their engagement party, she is forced to reconsider what she discovered and Als relationship with her friends. Especially his constant obsession with his friend, Nora (Sophia Bush), who aspires to be the most loyal and irrefutable of the movie. It’s a very complex film and a very fascinating movie.
We had a audioonly interview via Zoom with Deborah Ann Woll and Sophia Bush, and it was so great to hear them about the movie. Below is a transcript of our full conversation.
Speaking with Sophia Bush and Deborah Ann Woll, they discussed the matter.
The Mary Sue: So, with Deborah, the movie, it’s very interesting given that it is marries two worries together because their fear of what technology will be and the fear of you and people you know they aren’t the people they kind of project out. And so for both of you, I wanted to know what was really going on with the film that arose and made you want to participate in it first?
Sophia Bush: I’ll let the title be yours.
Deborah Ann Woll: I know when I receive all of my emails, I have to be as good as Deborah, the other one. It’s the only one which isn’t the one that isn’t the one that’s the same thing. What took me to this idea is the idea of like, what keeps us, what helps us make the right choices. Does it have our own internal morals? Are you religious? Do you have any consequences? Since this film is really what follows is the idea that if there were no consequences, would you do anything you wanted? There’s obviously kind of one who would have been better off than us all, but i think it’s fascinating, of course, and of course, because we don’t want to hurt others. This kind of concern is serious.
We were really inspired when I read that saying, yeah, what is it that keeps us strong? Is this accountability? Is the idea of accountability in the root of our morality? Or are we convicted in our beliefs even when no one watches?
And what happens when a system is tested? And this script came at the moment, when we literally watched the United States democracy be weakened because of a lack of accountability. And I really liked how to get our kids to know in these characters. You know, there’s a great scene between Deborah and I and Ciara (Renee), where all were quite slightly saying the wrong thing in order to learn justice language and embarrassed us and we were so frustrated. And then there’s a guy thinking that he’s a good guy. Like Kevin’s character who is literally a predator is who likes, no, I’m not one of those guys. But he has a bad attitude. And so where on the scale each fall in terms of where we draw the line? And for Deborahs point, what will you do if you don’t believe that you can go without accountability?
The Mary Sue: But I think whats so interesting is like, even when they think oh, this is a lighthearted game, the point where they play the question game and the people they are thinking of, its offensive, but say, no, it’s a joke. And they are like, no, it’s bad. And you can see in both Deborahs character whos like, Im new here and I hate it. The Arjun Guptas character isn’t his friend, they are like, who is this guy and why is he here? And he’s the only one who really doesn’t do anything. She’s just singing to a dog. But when you see that character from that point of view, it’s not good. But then, Deborah, your character is hiding this strange secret and horrible when you learn it. And I think that in the era of Game of Thrones and House of the Dragons, I think that I think the future is the same: I think.
Deborah Ann Woll: Well, we have to be shocked somehow, haven’t we? It seems that this is a final bastion.
Mary Sue: Both of you are friends and they are very interested in you. He building a relationship when it’s true, I love it, but I dont know how much they are. How is this for you guys? Because Im assuming you filmed this during Covid, that kind of thing you mentioned like the elections in 2020 and anything such. And how did it take that dynamic kind of like building a relationship that is strained but still believable that they’ve never liked each other in the first place?
I mean it was wild, kind of in the best way, but also so intense just because nobody was in the house for about a year. And then, mid-November, and we got up to Utah. Taking this rigorous test, we were pretty much allowed to do so by the very least. So we went on walks together, but now we aren’t leaving the house. We lived in the house we filmed.
Deborah Ann Woll: Correct. And the being that was all social activity, right? If it was movies, karaoke games, TV time, all the time we were hanging out.
Sophia Bush: And it was so special because of our friendships, derived from the same story, with the idea that the story was unaccompanied by the human being and so interested in figuring out where our characters might be all reliant upon, where the newfound team were building friendships. And we were at the beginning of the first year of global collective pandemic trauma. Because what I really appreciated about everybody is people were like, and sometimes I’m having a hard time, man. As you know, there were nights where we would karaoke and like every other night we cried and like that was, and so it is crazy, but a lot more special. I can’t explain that. It was a really unbelievable way to see people. You know that in order to become artists you always leave the set and will go home. The furniture on our house wasn’t quite well. We all had a nice dinner party scene where youre (Woll) dressed like floral flowers, and after a few weeks of sitting around the same table together, we spent Thanksgiving dinner together. I was like this, there was a Sick of Twin Peaks. And there was no one I prefer to do it with than you.
Deborah Ann Woll: The funny thing, at least for me when you think about some traumatic or triggering type material, is that if you feel more secure with your actors, then that will be better able to experience that moment in the studio with your partner. Because we were living together and we needed to get together very quickly, whether you want to do or not, it set us up for success in the way that I think Kevin Bigley is such a stand-up. He really is the best guy, isn’t he? That then when we need to go do scenes with him where he is not, that we can easily give in because we know that they were really very safe with Kevin. I think it really makes for a good experience as well as a better art.
Sophia Bush: It’s an experience you have to think about, and what I think about these movies that revolve around betrayal and assault and that I don’t know all about them. And you know, Kevin and I both made our first scene in the garage, and the second Noga (Pnueli) said that he just went, is he OK? Are you right now? Are you feeling safe? I was like whos sweet man?
The Mary Sue: Yes, and I, so much, the two career’s in show the importance of these characters. You believe that they’ve found their family, but if that’s one tree with all of the friends, or to the true of the world, so there’s a whole lot of work that I have found my family and will go with it, thats who Im with. So for you guys who are acting that kind of dynamic and that type of split between these shows, which are pre-pandemic shows, and obviously like you said you went home and this where its like you in it long-term with all those people. Which one is more, I think it’s a comfort? Is it so awesome that youre in this together? Or is the difference between two and three of the same coins just how those experiences were planned?
Sophia Bush: This is a great question. I don’t know. Deb, its weird you love it. The idea seems to me to have two sides of the same coin. It’s like a summer camp and a college. Both of them are, when you look back, both are best. But they are different.
I think the series we have experience lasted many years and he has even been with you. It was like Deborah Dorm, it was fast and deep, right? It was like the first time you’re 16 and you fell deep into love with the person you saw everywhere in the room in instant. But next month we can finally see someone else, but the TV show is just like a thing. The slower it gets. When you turn one little deeper, you’ll know each other in another, perhaps more organic way. I don’t know that. I think she said that they were different types of processes, but ultimately, that means exactly the same results. You can meet people easily. So they say that distance makes the heart more fonder. You know that there were definitely times where I was like at the house of Deborah, where I went to sleep today and hang out alone in my room, because I wanted some extra time to recharge.
I don’t think that Summer Camp is too well for the weird part of the film. If the idea is of anything that is a movie such a ridiculous way: to buy some of those moments which they were unable to enjoy with friends that rewind and replay And if they could get the waves through the screen, that’s so cool, so it’s just how cool this is. We kind of had that together doing the film where we were going to make this film but we also lived the film. I think about actors and creators in general, but certainly this group which was truly able to be a thing of the essence was, I’m having an odd moment today. I know that I don’t know you as well, but can I give you your advice about this? Because I know, it’s the age of our day to live, and, oh, that’s just a bunch of people who have gone to therapy and know their life well.
Deborah Ann Woll:So we’ve been working for a long time and doing that, and you know it, in different places in the same way as this. I really trusted everyone’s instincts and point of view on these matters. It was really special.
The Mary Sue: It’s actually interesting that movie, but it’s coming at a time where, for you, and everyone else are revisiting your old shows, too. I am pretty sure that I saw everyone online if they weren’t watching True Blood, they’re rewatching Daredevil again. And we’re in it, okay. I’m a genius. So am like big guys.
Deborah Ann Woll: Watch our podcast, Truest Blood: A True Blood Rewatch. We will talk about the whole story behind the scenes, we will talk with cast and crew, we will listen to the podcast and watch the video while rewatching.
The Mary Sue: Everybody watched her stuff. And then everybody really loves One Tree Hill and the nostalgia it left for us all. So with a film like Deborah that will come at a time where people who are in your filmographies will go to get to it. So for you and me, what do you hope those like your longtime fans and your new fans get out of Deborah when they see it?
Deborah Ann Woll:I don’t do much comedy in my movie. Just like I did in theater, I did only comedy. I’m never filmed, but there’s very rarely a film and tv audience that wants me to be funny. And I don’t know, I felt like I got to be a bit funny in that, I guess I had never seen it, so I don’t know whether it’s happening.
Mary Sue: You’re funny. He is pretty.
Deborah Ann Woll: I felt funny. This is not why I am unaware. I liked that aspect because most people who know my work don’t know my theater work. So, you know, they really see a dramatic spectacle and so yeah. Im happy to maybe expand that a bit.
Sophia Bush: For me, what I think is exciting about is that I love something new like an actor, like a new challenge. And as an audience member I want to watch something refreshing. I cannot watch a movie where I go, oh, that is just like a second one. I love this feeling like a totally new and surprising experience, but nostalgia does matter! I’m really tired, I love that warm blanket feeling. And I think that there is something very cool about getting someone to make something that people feel their own nostalgia in and, at the same time, surprise theirself.
The Mary Sue. I can’t wait to see anybody. It seems like if all of these characters were returning, Deborah, so we would re-create Karen, I hope we will get Karen Paige again. And OK, I am like. Where is Foggy and Karen? My whole life was filled with raspy voice. When you are in high school, you remind me of Sophia Bush. And then I’m like that because we’ve heard a lot of words. Like you are just, you relating to your voice.
Sophia Bush: I love her, by the way. I used to be teased for that, but then my mom got like that in the school, she was like that. And so mom popped out for me. We would like to watch Demi Moore movies. But I was the same as her. Im so cold, so I’m glad I do that for you.
You are a ___________________.
If you can see Deborah, it’s certainly one you won’t want to miss. And hope fans continue to love the work of Bush and Wolls. And since I am serious, I want some more Karen Page.
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