Category: Movies

A brand new podcast interview Mary did with Awards Radar has been released & you can hear it by clicking HERE! In the interview, Mary talks about stepping back into the role of Ramona Flowers for Scott Pilgrim Takes Off and some of her favorite TV shows. Below are some highlights:

When you first played Ramona for the film, did you feel her story was incomplete?

I don’t think I ever felt it was incomplete in terms of wanting to know desperately what was going to happen next or anything like that. I did think that there was a lot more to her that I would have loved to explore. Obviously, when you’re making something that’s based on a book or based on a series of books, there’s going to be a lot more in there than you’re able to capture in one film. So I think I always felt it would be fun to be able to explore all these other little bits and pieces that we didn’t get to see of her in the film.

But I wasn’t exactly wondering what’s going to happen next because I thought it was such a lovely ending, the way that that film wrapped up and I thought it was really perfect. So whenever ideas about sequels were bandied about, I was sort of like, oh yeah, that’d be great. But I didn’t really ever take it too seriously because I thought it was kind of like the perfect, you know, full circle that the way it was handled in the film.

So what was your first reaction when, or your initial reaction when you found out that Ramona was going to be the front and center for this series?

You know, it was really unexpected and lovely. I think I thought it was going to be amazing, but I don’t think I really realized what it was going to feel like until I was there doing it. And I didn’t realize how much it was going to mean to me.

It really meant a lot to me to be able to have Ramona kind of telling this story in her own way and to be kind of taking the reins because I think for a lot of the film, she was a bit passive, you know, she’s sort of watching all this happen around her and because of her, but there’s only a few kind of points in the movie where she gets to actually kind of take charge. And now in this series, she’s doing it throughout the whole series. And that was incredibly cathartic and meaningful for me to get to do that.

What was it like to explore her and like to really dig deep into what caused the pain and how she dealt with it? 

I was just so grateful to have the opportunity to do that because, you know, I think it was all kind of there when we were doing the movie and I kind of felt all of these things for her. I really felt a lot of empathy for her in terms of how she was feeling and that vulnerability that she was covering up and that she was afraid of and all of those things.

But I think, you know, it wasn’t really her story. So we didn’t really get to see so much of what was underneath that guardedness. So I felt really grateful to get to kind of unveil that a little bit more and people behind that curtain and to get to see her have that realization about herself.

You know, I think in that scene with Roxy is when it really kind of clicks for her, what she’s been doing her whole life that she’s just runs away when she gets scared or when people get too close to her and, you know, and feeling regret for that. And so it was great to get to humanize her in that way, that there are, that she is vulnerable and that she is a loving person, but that she’s afraid. And so I was just really thankful to get to show that because I love her so much as a character.

In a brand new interview with Indiewire, Mary discusses how the animated series came to be and how it felt stepping back into the world of Scott Pilgrim and playing Ramona Flowers once again.
Be sure to click the link above to read the entire interview:

I was first introduced to the world of “Scott Pilgrim” through Edgar Wright, who met with me about the role of Ramona and slipped me the books by Bryan Lee O’Malley— probably a couple years before we ever made the film — and I completely fell in love with them. I couldn’t imagine doing any other project; it was actually really difficult to go on auditions and take meetings because I kept saying, “No, I’m just going to do this movie. I don’t really want to do any of the other ones.” So, I was pretty obsessed with it.

Then at some point, when things started to become a bit more real, Edgar created all these parties and events with other people involved in the project and, very quickly, we became pretty close as a group; all of us would hang out and go to dinners and go to movies and to Edgar’s parties, and it became almost like this college experience. We were all majoring in “Scott Pilgrim” together. That’s where I met Bryan, who I always remember being the quiet guy, the shy guy, which was funny considering he was the person who started it all. But I always remember and respected that he didn’t need to show off how talented and smart he was. He let the work speak for itself — and it did. We all just loved it so much.

So did BenDavid. I first met BenDavid at a party about a year after “Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World” had come out. He came up to me and my then-husband at the time and gushed about “Scott Pilgrim” — just kind of nonstop about how he was the biggest fan of it in the world. Then he became one of our closest friends, and through us, became one of Bryan’s closest friends. I’m basically taking credit for the two of them, but this amazing kismet happened, and they found each other and were able to collaborate.

There’s also something that just pops off the page when you’re reading Bryan and BenDavid’s scripts. You can see so clearly what the story’s going to be. We had Science Saru, these incredible animators, bringing it to life — basing it on the comics but obviously adding their own twist to it, so there was definitely an element of surprise for me watching the show. But at the same time, there’s something really visual about the writing and the comedic visual cues Bryan and BenDavid put into the scripts. You know how it’s going to play out visually, which is fantastic.

On “Scott Pilgrim Takes Off,” it was incredibly cathartic for me to get to play this version of Ramona; to get to see her go down this road and to have so much agency, for her to be making so many choices for herself and propelling the story forward herself. I was so happy to get to go through that with her. Bryan and BenDavid pulled it off in such a profound and beautiful way.

In related news, the Scott Pilgrim Takes Off cast also released a thank you video to the fans for their continued support of the series and books, having allowed them to make the show in the first place after its cult status for the film grew over the years. You can view the video here.