As the title reads, Mary will be making an appearance on the Today Show to talk about her new film Kill the Messenger. She will be on the show Friday October 10 between the 9-10am hour. Mark your calenders and set those DVRs people!
KTM will hit theaters October 10th. And as always, be sure to come back to check out the interview once it’s gone online! 🙂
NPR interviewed Mary and Dan the Automator to discuss how the album I Love You But I Must Drive Off This Cliff Now and how their band Got A Girl came to be. You can listen to it below:
First up, Mary spoke with the Belfast Telegraph where she says she was cautious about approaching a singing career. She explains she’d been approached about singing before, but nothing ever “struck me as a good idea, because it was just uninteresting pop that tried to cash in on whatever name value I might have as an actor. That’s not something I ever wanted to do,” she said.
Mary added: “Once I hooked up with Dan, I didn’t have any fears.
“I admired him so much musically, that working with him was great. And it was such a good opportunity for me personally, just as a fan of his, that I would never worry about what anyone else would think. You get people who are actors slash models slash singers slash whatever, just because it gets their name out there some more,” Winstead mused. “I’m not interested in that at all.”
Next, Way Too Indie gave Faults a 9/10 score:
Its premiere at SXSW earlier in the year started off the buzz (with our very own Dustin loving it to bits,) but Faults massively blinked on my radar when it was announced for Montreal’s genre festival Fantasia simply because I’ve become a bona fide Winstead fan, after her stunning performance in 2012’s Smashed. The streak continues here; she peels off Claire’s layers with agility and complete composure to reveal a fascinating and devilishly twisted character.
Complex meanwhile also loved the film:
Faults has the feel of a cinematic stage play, one in which Orser and Winstead get it on in an unpredictable battle of wits. First-time writer-director Riley Stearns tightly volleys around from laughs to creepiness, with a constant sense of mystery and subtle dread giving way to a well-earned surprise ending.
Be sure to click on any of the above links to read the reviews in full!
Pret-A-Porter caught up with Mary Elizabeth Winstead to talk about her new album, fashion and style. Check out some of the highlights below and then head to the gallery to check out the great, new pics!
We also see that you’ll be starring in the film Faults. How was working on that?
My husband (director Riley Stearns) and I worked on that film together. I’m so proud of it. He wrote and directed it. I’m in it and produced it as well. It was such a blast to make. We just know each other so well that it was so easy. He’s very, very specific in what he wants, which can be frustrating, sometimes, with directors who are specific and if you don’t understand their vision, that can be hard to get there, but because I know him so well, it was so exciting to know exactly what he had in his head and to execute that. It was really fun to go through that process together.
Sounds like you’re very much into vintage. How would you describe your personal style?
I’ve always been pretty feminine and retro. As I’m getting older, I’m starting to add a lot more elements of menswear and comfort, which maybe just a part of getting older. (Laughs.) I think on one hand, I’m starting to like to look a little more powerful so I like a lot of blazers and boots — things that I didn’t used to wear that I’m starting to venture toward like high-waist pants and suits. For a while there, I had nothing but dresses. I didn’t have any shirts or pants. It was just a closet full of ’50s to ’60s silhouette dresses. I’ve always been a dress girl, and I think part of it has a lot to do with my body shape, which is suited for dresses that are fitted on the waist and then A-lined out so I’ve always been drawn to that because it’s flattering and I’ve always been more drawn to vintage styles. I’m beginning to own my figure more and I don’t mind myself in pants. I used to be like, ‘I don’t want to show my hips and butt.’ I was so self-conscious, but now I’m like whatever. I’ll even do pajama pants sometimes because you know, they’re not always so flattering, but it’s comfortable and cool.
What’s been your biggest summer splurge lately?
I am working in Vancouver right now and there’s a store called Gravity Pope. I’m working there for four months and I’m planning on going there once a month to splurge on something because it’s this amazing store that has all the best stuff. I got these great Rag & Bone boots there. I’ve been wanting them for a long time, so I was just, like, ‘I’m going to do it.’
How long will you be in Vancouver for and what’s the project you’re working on?
I’ll be shooting there until the beginning of October. It’s called The Return. It’s a 10-episode series from A&E that’s based on a French show. It’s kind of dark, moody and mysterious. It’s about a small town where all these people who have died there start coming back for no reason. They’re not ghosts, zombies or anything. They’re just there and nobody knows why. It’s about their relationships and the consequences of them coming back where they’re not supposed to come back. It’s a lot of good drama.
Now that I Love You But I Must Drive Off This Cliff Now is out, new interviews have been released. First is an interview Mary did with Lucky Magazine. Aside from discussing Got A Girl, Mary also talks about her favorite fashion brands, style influences and what’s next for her. You can read it in full by clicking the link.
Lucky: How did you first meet Dan the Automator and how did you start working together?
Mary Elizabeth Winstead: I had been a fan of Dan for a long time, since like my late teens. I was really obsessed with his album Lovage, this project he did with Jennifer Charles and Mike Patton. When he said that we should try to do something together, I was just in shock because nobody cool like that had made an offer to work with me musically, so I was pretty excited and I didn’t know if he was serious or not. And it just slowly progressed. He lives in San Francisco and I live in L.A. so it was just emailing back and forth. He eventually sent me a track and said, “Try to write something to this—and if it’s good maybe we’ll record it, and if it’s not good maybe we’ll scrap it and move on.” It ended up being “Did We Live Too Fast.” So we recorded that and just sort of slowly turned it into an album over the course of a couple years. We got together every couple months and did a song, and it just kind of worked itself out.
How did you and Dan choose the name Got a Girl?
We were really just spitballing — that’s kind of how a lot of things in this project came together, us sitting in a room shouting things out. We were stuck on a name and were walking around San Francisco going into different book stores and art museums and things and trying to get inspiration. Dan said it at some point, like, “I got a girl, got a girl,” and we both just started saying it over and over agin. There’s something really snappy and catchy about it. That’s what we were looking for, something that had that kind of energy to it and just clicked. It’s the same with the album title [I Love You But I Must Drive Off This Cliff Now]. We just said it as a joke one day and we kept saying it, and kept saying it, and it just stuck.
The sound of the album and the visual components have a very ‘60s, Mad Men, Bond girl kind of feel to them. Where did that come from?
I guess we really lucked out in the sense that Dan and I have such similar sensibilities, in terms of music and film. So we really didn’t have to talk about it too much more when Dan said he was interested in exploring a kind of French-girl vibe. I was like, “I’m there,” because I love New Wave film, and I love ‘60s music, particularly French pop. So it was really easy for us to connect. It just felt really natural.
Fast Co-Create interview:
On how they began collaborating:
“I would bring a track to her, and she would work on it, and then I’d look at what she was doing and help her flesh it out a bit,” Nakamura says. “We would do that a few times, then we figured out that we were kind of good at it, so we would block out more time. We started doing one day here or one day there, and then we were like, ‘Let’s do a week here or a week there.’ We just started tearing it apart and really making it right.”
How they decided to go with a ’60s feel for the band:
“We were trying to get something that got the vibe,” he recalls. “And we were hanging out at City Lights Bookstore, looking at inspirational stuff, and everything didn’t seem right–and then I just caught something. It just popped into my head and it was like, ‘This is what we’re going to do,’ and she was like, ‘This is what we’re going to do.’ Instinctively, we go there. We disagree about stuff when we know they’re not right. We know this was right.”
Winstead name-checks ’60s European pop-culture icons like Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin when talking about the inspirations for the album.
The Debrief UK interviewed Mary for on her upcoming album set to hit stores this Tuesday! In the UK, it’ll be out this Monday, July 21. Check out some of the highlights below:
Can you explain who Dan is in case people aren’t familiar?
Dan has been a force in the music world for a while now. He’s a prolific hip hop producer, but has branched out to almost every genre. I knew him best projects like Gorillaz, Handsome Boy Modeling School, and Lovage. Lovage’s Music To Make Love To Your Old Lady By is one of my favorite albums.
And how would you guys describe your music?
I think we’re romantic in the Classic sense of the word. A little ye-ye girl, a little trip hop, a mix sweetness and melancholy.
What’s with the whole festish for women with three eyes in the Did We Live Too Fast video?
The whole concept came from our director, Hope Larson. As soon as she pitched it I knew it was perfect, and started talking about old Twilight Zone episodes and french new wave films as we went along. And it just came together in a perfectly odd way.
The whole 60s styling is SO gorgeous. Did you pick the looks and aesthetics yourself?
Thank you! Yes, I mostly wear clothes from my own closet for our Got a Girl endeavours. It’s fun to get to indulge in my love for everything vintage. I started veering away from it, but this has given me an excuse to dive back in and I love it.
Hunger TV interviewed Mary about her debut album I Love You But I Must Drive Off This Cliff Now which will be released on July 22. Check out some highlights from the interview below and click on the link to read the full interview. I also added a higher quality pic of Mary and Dan which you can see in the gallery:
YOU AND DAN THE AUTOMATOR MET ON THE SET OF SCOTT PILGRIM VS THE WORLD – WHAT DREW YOU TO SPARK UP CONVERSATION?
I had been a fan of Dan’s for several years, so I was a bit intimidated. I was completely obsessed with Lovage and had been a follower of all his projects. We were at a group dinner, and didn’t say anything until we were all leaving, at which point I walked up and told him I was a big fan, and whisked myself away. We didn’t see each other again until a year later at the film’s premiere. That’s when Dan approached me about potentially working together, which I was certainly not expecting.
YOUR ALBUM TITLE, I LOVE YOU BUT I MUST DRIVE OFF THIS CLIFF NOW, IS PROBABLY THE BEST ALBUM TITLE I’VE HEARD IN A LONG TIME – WHERE DID IT COME FROM?
Thank you! It started as a joke between Dan and I. We were writing a song and laughing about how melancholy the lyrics were, and sort of making fun of ourselves. So that became a joke about the album and that just stuck. And I’m glad, I love it.
YOU SEEM TO HAVE MOVED SEAMLESSLY FROM AN ACTING TO SINGING CAREER – WAS THERE EVER A POINT WITH DAN THE AUTOMATOR WHEN YOU FELT THE IMMENSE PRESSURE OF HIS PRIOR MUSICAL SUCCESS AS YOU WERE JUST STARTING OUT?
The way we made this album was so low pressure, so low key. We never really had a plan of how we were going to release it or if we were even going to release it! I always trusted that Dan would only keep going if he felt the music was good, and that really calmed any fears I had previously about how I would be perceived. If we like it, that’s what matters. And hopefully other people will as well.
ON YOUR WEBSITE YOU SEEM TO BE GEARING UP TO LAUNCH A RANGE OF WINE, PERFUME, BUBBLE BATH AND EVEN OLIVE OIL. ARE YOU LOOKING FOR PEOPLE TO RECREATE THEIR OWN GOT A GIRL LIFESTYLE?
Yes! Dan and I see this project as a bit of a meeting of the minds between the two of us. Bringing all of our likes and interests together. So we’ve worked with some really interesting people to create some small batch, hand made products. We’re sort of holding up this lifestyle but also taking the piss out of it. It’s sort of ridiculous for us to have our own olive oil, but that’s what’s fun about it.
The Digital Fix caught up with Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Dan the Automator, the duo that make up Got A Girl, where they talked a little of how the group came together:
“It was really serendipitous. Dan was looking to do something that was inspired by yé-yé girls, Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin, all of that – which, at the time, I was thoroughly engrossed with myself. So it was quite perfect.”
“It was a meeting of the minds. A kindred spirit kind of thing,” added Nakamura.
The album will be out July 22nd. Additionally, live UK dates will be announced soon!
Actor Chris Messina, who also directed (and starred) in Alex of Venice was recently interviewed by The Sun Break and had nothing but incredible things to say about Mary’s performance in the film.
Now that you mention Mary Elizabeth, I thought she was phenomenal in the role of Alex. Can you talk about how she became involved with the film?
The script got to the part where a lot of actresses wanted to play the role. I got to read and meet a bunch of terrific people. I had been a fan of Mary’s since “Smashed.” I saw her in that and thought she was amazing. She came in and read and she was fantastic. It was clear right away that she was Alex for me. Not only is she so good, but she has a very easy quality that I think any director would love to work with. She’s a team player who brings all of it everyday. We didn’t have trailers. We would say, “The sun looks good over there, let’s jump in the car.” I needed an Alex who was going to be a leader and show by example: this is the kind of film we’re making and I’m up for some running and gunning. Mary was amazing. The trick with Mary was staying out of her way and not saying too much. She did that performance on her own. I was able to capture.
I enjoyed that performance because there were so many choices she could have made in that character, but she played such a subtly great performance.
She’s like Michael Jordan. The producers and I said that we could move on after a take, but it’s so much fun to watch that we would want to watch her over and over again. She was spectacular. I would work with her again in a second.
Her performance has gotten a lot of nice reviews and I’m happy about that because she’s such a nice person and she’s so good in the movie. There are a lot of performances like this that are very subtle and not a lot of huge fireworks that go off. I was hoping that writers and critics would recognize her for her subtlety. And they are and that’s very, very nice.
You can read the full interview by clicking on the link above, with Messina even saying that they hope to take the film to Europe for another festival!
Way Too Indie caught up with Mary and the rest of the Alex of Venice stars during the San Fransisco International Film Festival premiere. You can see Mary’s interview below and check out the rest of the cast interviews by clicking the link above.
Also, Mary and her husband/director Riley attended the Maryland Film Festival to promote their film Faults. You can see a photo of it in the gallery.