AwardsCircuit.com sat down with Mary during the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival where they discussed Alex of Venice and future projects. Be sure to read the full interview by clicking the link above!
JM: When this came about, were you offered the part of did you audition?
MEW: I auditioned. It was actually one of those things where I met him and I’d heard things, but I’d loved the script and wanted to audition, not just to meet. I think he was concerned that I wasn’t the right fit, age wise, the character was written to be 35 and at that point I was 28, so it was the sort of thing where he wanted me to come in and prove that I could be a mom and, you know, this character, who’s been in this role her whole life, a young, working mother. The first time I went in, they wanted me to come back looking frumpier, so I went shopping and changed my look head to toe, so it took some convincing, but it was one of those roles that I knew that I just needed to play, you know? It just felt very right for me, so I wanted to prove that I was right for it.
JM: Going forward, what are you looking to do? You’ve hit almost every genre, short of maybe a zany comedy…
MEW: I know! It’s kind of weird, I sort of feel like I’ve reached a point now where I’m looking for the best roles I can find. It’d be nice to find something that would reach a wider audience but I was also really proud of, but it’s really hard, and it’s always kind of a risk. You can do something that reaches a wider audience and it turns out terrible, or with indies, they’re fun and a bit safe, in that if it doesn’t work out there’s less risk, but you wish it would get seen on a bigger scale. I’m certainly proud of this one, but yeah…you just wish they would get seen on a bigger scale.
JM: Definitely. It’s fun to watch how people evolve, and you certainly want to support people you’ve enjoyed in prior works. I know that Scott Pilgrim is pretty much universally loved, but I wonder if that had made $100 million if things wouldn’t have gone a different way, maybe even a worse way?
MEW: Absolutely. That’s totally true. I think I’ve been almost lucky in a way, in that I never broke out completely, especially at a place in my career where I’d be boxed in or wouldn’t really know what I wanted. I’m really only now at a place where I know what I want to do, so I’m really excited that I got to this point sort of on my own.
JM: So to wrap up, what do you have coming up next?
MEW: I have a couple movies coming out. I have a movie called Kill the Messenger with Jeremy Renner coming out, and it’s such and interesting story and he’s fantastic in it. And I just did a movie with my husband called Faults that I’m super proud of. Hopefully that’ll be out soon. And I also just did a pilot, so I’m hoping to enter the TV world soon.