A new slate of films have been added to this year’s LA Film Festival and among them is Eva Vives’ All About Nina starring Mary and Common. The film will premiere one month from today, on September 23 at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts.
You can purchase tickets HERE. And in case you missed the trailer, check it out below.
The day has finally arrived! The debut trailer for Mary’s film All About Nina hit the web last night and as always, this looks like it’s going to be great! I’ve added the poster/banner as well as HD screen caps of Mary from the trailer, all of which you can view below/in the gallery. Additionally, Mary spoke with EW about taking on the role.
Poster
“It was an incredible opportunity to play somebody who really runs the gamut of what life can throw at you. It’s emotional, it’s funny, it’s dark, it’s romantic. It really has a little bit of everything.”
As for working with rapper/actor Common, Mary had this to say…
“At first their connection is a bit strange because neither of them has ever met anybody like the other before,” Winstead says. “It’s setting something off in each other that neither of them really understands, and that’s particularly difficult for Nina in the beginning because she has a way of operating with men that she’s very comfortable with, even though it’s very unhealthy. When she meets Rafe, it’s so different than what she’s used to that she doesn’t quite know how to handle it.”
The film will hit select theaters on September 28.
The Calgary International Film Festival announced today a new batch of films that will be playing at the festival and Mary’s new movie All About Nina is among them.
From the site:
Nina Geld (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) is standup comic on the rise. And while she may be funny, she may be provocative, and she may just be the next big thing…it all may be for naught, as her personal life is an utter mess.
From SCOTT PILGRIM VS THE WORLD to 10 CLOVERFIELD LANE to FARGO, Mary Elizabeth Winstead has consistently proven herself to be one the most interesting actresses working today. But nothing you’ve seen before can properly prepare you for the revelatory performance on display here, as she catapults herself onto the acting “A” List, with a performance for the ages.
At turns funny, gut-wrenching, and profane, ALL ABOUT NINA is the remarkable feature film debut of writer/director Eva Vives.
The Calgary International Film Festival will run from September 19 – 30, 2018.
Early bird passes and ticket bundles are now available.
Mary is currently in New York City, and she was spotted arriving at her hotel yesterday afternoon (July 31). I’ve added a few pictures of her heading into the building and you can view the whole set in the gallery. So great to see new pictures of her again!
Variety has reported that The Orchard has bought North American distribution rights to Eva Vives’ “All About Nina” at the Cannes Film Festival.
The movie, which premiered at Tribeca last month, follows a stand-up comedian (played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead) who ditches an abusive lover ( played by Chace Crawford) and heads to Los Angeles, where she continues her hard-drinking ways and finds a promising new love interest (Common). Beau Bridges and Kate Del Castillo also star.
“After years of living this story, I finally decided to make a film out of it,” said Vives, who made her directorial debut with the project. “I am so excited and proud that a company with a track record and taste as exquisite as The Orchard will help me put it out in the world. Working with Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Common was a dream come true. I hope you laugh as much as I did making this film.”
It will be released theatrically later this year.
Congrats to Mary, Eva and the rest of the cast! Can’t wait to see it.
Reviews for the film can be read here.
Two new videos of Mary at the Tribeca Film Festival world premiere of All About Nina have been uploaded. Check out the vids below:
Under the Radar magazine caught up with Mary and her All About Nina director Eva Vives during the Tribeca Film Festival last week. You can read part of the interview below and click the link provided to read it in full:
Do either of you have any experience doing stand-up?
Winstead: Now I do. This was my first foray into it.
Eva Vives: I was there for her first performance.
Winstead: It was one of the most nerve-wracking things I’ve ever done, I think. I was kind of paralyzed with fear about it. When we were just at the stage of getting ready to do it, I’d always thought I’d really throw myself into it, and immerse myself in it. I’d do open mics, and I’d do all of these things. But then, I was scared to do it. And then part of me thought, “You know, I’m not really a comedian.” Like, [my character] is supposed to be good at it, and if I just went and did open mics, I’d suck at it. [Laughs] it wasn’t necessarily going to do what I wanted it to do, you know?
So instead I just tried to harness her confidence with it. I’d just go in and believe in what I was saying, and believe that it was funny. It helped that it was funny, between what Eva had written and the consultant we worked with, Jamie Loftus, who came in and helped us as well.
Mary, what are things that excited you most about the role?
Winstead: I mean, all of those things: the layers of the character are undeniable. Sometimes you read scripts, and especially for a woman looking for an interesting role, it’s really clear when it’s there on the page, because it doesn’t happen all the time.
At first I was reading the script just casually, but then I was reading it, and reading it, and reading it, and I got through to the end and just went, “Oh my god.” This was an incredible opportunity to be really challenged by a character, and also to do something really meaningful in terms of what it was saying. It was kind of a no-brainer. When I met with Eva, I was so on board immediately.
The role looks like it was very challenging. The character shows such a wide range of emotion – she’ll be on stage, confident and in command in one scene, and then a crying mess moments later.
Winstead: It was a challenge, which is what I wanted. The best experiences, for me, are when you’re excited about something and then you go to do it, and you’re sick with nerves over whether you actually might be able to pull it off. As awful as that moment is, it’s always the best. That’s really what I strive for in the roles I take on.
Following some reviews praising Mary’s performance in All About Nina, I’ve found one more interview with her and director Eva Vives which you can [partly] read below. Click here to read it in full. Additionally, The Playlist has also written their review applauding Mary’s work. You can read that after the cut…
You’re taking on this new role as a wayward comedian. Did you ever get involved and go to the comedy clubs and get on stage?
I did but I did not get on stage—even though I intended to! I talked a big talk for awhile there. I was like, “yeah we’re gonna get out there and do some open-mics and do that.” But the thought of that made me want to throw up. I really just couldn’t do that. And the closer we got to shooting, the more scared I was getting. So I decided to approach it more from an acting perspective as playing someone who’s a really good comic because I felt that I myself wouldn’t be. So instead I watched a lot of comedy and saw a lot of shows with Eva [Vives]. We took a lot from what we saw and then we worked with other comedians in terms of trying to craft and create a character that could feel like it could come from me but isn’t me.
Was there any newfound respect or hatred you gained going through that experience?
I mean yes and no because I’ve always had huge respect for comedians. I’ve always seen it as something that seems like the most nerve-wracking, difficult thing to do. To get up on stage and ask for their laughter is to me just an incredibly vulnerable thing to do. It’s just really brave. I’ve always felt like that and I think that’s one of the reasons why I wanted to take the part. I thought it would be a great thing to at least pretend to be that kind of person to have the balls to go up and do that.
Vulture interviewed Mary, her All About Nina co-star Common and the film’s director Eva Vives during the Tribeca Film Festival. You can watch their Q&A below along with a game they played.
Additionally, moveable interviewed Eva and what it was like working with Mary during production:
It was great. I mean, what a cast to have for a first film especially. And I love their acting, but [Mary and Common] are also the two of the nicest people. I got so lucky with Mary in particular, because I was a little worried that it’s a punishing part in many ways and I don’t think she looked at it that way – because she’s insane, and I mean that in a good way [laughs] – but she makes it look so easy. I remember one day I looked at the schedule and it was the [scene where] she met Rafe, [a different scene where she] made out with that dude in the closet, and [another where she] fucked Mike on the same day. Plus, she did a [standup] routine and some other thing. I was like, “Oh, my god. How does she do this?”
It’s very intense to be playing Nina. There’s a lot of funny stuff in it – and she obviously does comedy and can make people laugh, but then there’s also drama. And she dances. There’s a sex scene. It’s just endless. Mostly, we talked about it a lot. [Mary’s] not big into rehearsing, and I can go either way, so we talked about who she is and where she was coming from and what was happening in each scene and the parts we did rehearse were the stand up, which I think was the part that worried her the most although I knew she was going to be totally fine. It was just a question of getting her comfortable and in the rhythm. Together and separately, we watched a lot of comedy, we went to shows and I’m very familiar with the comedy scene, more New York than in LA because I used to be in it, and we had a great comedy consultant in the movie, Jamie Loftus, who is a young comedian who was integral in this because it was her and I, and Mary sometimes, adding jokes and taking it further. Jay Mohr was helpful as well. We just ran our routines past him and took notes.
