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1.) We’re happy to be speaking today with celebrated actress and producer J.J. Nolan; greetings and salutations, J.J.! Before we begin kicking the proverbial Q&A tin can down the late summer road, how has the summer of 2022 been treating you?
Honestly, it’s been terrible. I’m having an awful time. Joking! My summer kicked off with a trip to the Maui Film Festival, where I got to see my movie Pretty Problems play in an open air theater on the beach with a bunch of locals and friends. It was my first time to Hawaii, so there was no time wasted. I did some touristy stuff; a hike; drove almost all the way down The Road to Hana (or as we like to call it, The Road to Hana Montana); snuck into some hotel pools and drank a thousand Pina coladas, maybe more. Since then, I got to visit my family in Dallas; work with Craig Robinson; spend two weeks in Chicago shooting Chicago Med; and I just got back from Marrakech, where one of my best friends got married and had quite literally the most beautiful wedding that’s ever happened. I bought a Moroccan rug and ate all the tagine and danced with my best friends until we were all injured. Seriously, the bride broke a toe, another friend twisted an ankle, and I still have glass in my foot. Then I had a 17 hour layover in Paris, where I had just enough time to walk around the Marais and grab dinner. Top notch summer.
2.) Major congratulations and kudos on the upcoming October 7 theatrical premiere of your latest film, Pretty Problems! For those out of the loop, can you tell us what Pretty Problems is about and how your character of Cat Flax figures into the proceedings?
Thank you so much! Pretty Problems is a dark comedy that puts privilege and listlessness under the microscope. More specifically, it explores what happens when you take a couple, bored and mutually not living their best lives, and transplant them into a debaucherous weekend with some of the wealthiest people on the planet. It tests the couple in many ways – who will they become? Will their marriage survive? Will they survive? My character, Cat Flax, is sort of the Mad Hatter of the story. We actually call her Mad Catter. She’s often seen wearing a hat and smoking a vape, and you can never really pin her down. She seems cool, but she might be pure evil. Cat invites the couple up to her gorgeous house in Sonoma for a weekend of “wine and whimsy”, but it turns into a nightmare for the couple. Or maybe they just don’t know how to party!
3.) What initially attracted you to the story of Pretty Problems?
I love a good culture clash and I love a good dark comedy. Pretty Problems accomplishes both of these things, while allowing the audience to take a long hard look in the mirror. It leaves room for surprise and lets the characters reveal themselves to you over time; and love them or hate them, you can probably see an aspect of yourself in each of them. I think we can all relate to the notion of wanting more – and I love that this story gives you an opportunity to live out a version of that fantasy.
4.) How are you similar to your character of Cat Flax in Pretty Problems? How are you different?
Well, Cat and I are both toxic billionaires, so we have that in common. Just kidding—I have very little in common with Cat; but we do share a deep need to use fashion as a form of self-expression. That, and, Cat and we both LOVE wine. I guess we’re both experience junkies too, to some degree. We both love being able to say “I’ve done that.” Cat is, at her core, a good person, but she’s morbidly bored, and she’s constantly spiraling on this endless quest to find joy—or at least fill the big gaping hole in her heart. Her boundaries are paper thin and everyone in her orbit gets sucked in because she has the ability to change anyone’s life. So she uses that against people—everyone has a price tag. She knows it, they know it. It creates transactional relationships in her life and she loves that power as much as she resents it. She’s not malicious, she’s just very lost. But her taste is *chef’s kiss*. I wish Cat could do a MasterClass on leisure and luxury. I would take that class.
5.) What was it like collaborating with the director of Pretty Problems, Kestrin Pantera? Is Kestrin what some actors might refer to as “an actor’s director”?
Kestrin and I go way back! I’ve always really looked up to her and her work ethic. She’ll be learning Mandarin while running a company and raising two kids and writing a script and touring with a rock band and doing standup, while the rest of us are just trying to figure out how to work a single use Keurig. Anyway, yes I would say she’s definitely an actors’ director, but she gets amped about the technical stuff too and doesn’t skip over those details. Kestrin has a deep love of story and that seemed to be the most important aspect of filming. What are we trying to say? We would wrap a day of shooting and stay up all night, deliberating over character motivations, how they got to where they are. My favorite part about working with KP was that she gave us a lot of room to play. That’s one of my favorite qualities in directors because it implies trust. Allowing your actors to try something new, even when we’re on a tight schedule – it speaks volumes to her willingness to trust the actors and trust the process.
6.) The cast for Pretty Problems is comprised of some major acting talents. What was it like exorcisiong your own considerable acting chops opposite of such stalwarts as Britt Rentschler and Michael Tennant?
I can’t say enough good things about the cast. To be able to collaborate with people who aren’t just insanely talented, but remarkably fun to hang out with, was a dream come true. At times I had to fight the impulse to be drawn to the other actors—Kestrin, for example, had to stop me from having too much fun with Graham because that was not the truth of our relationship in the story. But when you’re shooting a rave scene with your friends, it’s hard not to have fun, ya know? And Michael and Britt are the most patient people I’ve ever met. It’s not easy to wear that many hats while giving take after take of solid grounded performance AND still manage to be a good time, but they managed to do it all. They have all of my respect and I would give them every award.
7.) IFC is the home of note for Pretty Problems. What makes IFC the perfect home for your film?
Well, it’s actually a full circle moment for my relationship with Michael. We met in acting class in 2015, and he asked me to do a scene with him from Sleeping With Other People (an IFC fave); and here we are seven years later with our own project under the same roof as the project that inspired our relationship. It’s rather poetic.
8.) What do you hope moviegoers walk away with after watching Pretty Problems?
I hope people will walk away with the comfort of knowing that nobody really has their s*** together.
9.) You have some other very exciting productions in the pipeline such as the two films Six Feet Apart and Shatter Belt. What can you tell readers about these two projects and the characters you essay in them?
Six Feet Apart was a true labor of love during the pandemic. It’s the only reason I didn’t shave my head and move to the mountains. I play a struggling actress who’s come to question all of her life choices and what she wants to do next, in light of the pandemic. It was a real stretch for me (jk). It’s kind of a love letter to LA, while encapsulating that tragically traumatic time in our lives. We started shooting right after the shut down, and it was a challenge to keep the story aligned with the ever changing landscape of life in COVID. We shot it all remotely on Zoom, with camera gear donated to us by the production company. I would be on Zoom for eight hours with the director, the DP, and other actor(s), positioning the camera for each shot; in addition to recording on our phones and computers, so we had multiple angles. Also, I only had so many places to shoot in my apartment, so we had to get really creative with shots at a certain point. I think I’m on the toilet for a quarter of the movie. It was extremely challenging in every way—mentally, emotionally, physically, technically…just….exhausting. But so worth it in the end.
Shatter Belt is a really exciting sci-fi anthology series from the mind of James Ward Byrkit, who wrote and directed Coherence. It’s a collection of stories that explore the mysteries of consciousness and free will, told from the edge of reality. My episode feels like an existential comedy, kind of at the intersection of Silicon Valley and Black Mirror. I play Sloane Raymond, the founder of a geek startup, who is really trying to find the truth in a series of events that defy the laws of nature. I highly recommend checking out Coherence on Amazon Prime, if you haven’t seen it. Jim has a brilliant way of storytelling.
11.) Your first credited onscreen work came in a 2007 episode of SCRUBS. Any special memories of that freshman production?
Ahh, yes I played Hot Girl #1. That was my first speaking role on a big set—I played a *very* hot girl in the late Sam Lloyd’s fantasy. I remember feeling so remarkably accomplished when I booked that. I was convinced I was getting recognized on the streets. I bumped into Sam several years later at the Coffee Bean on Sunset and he remembered me and bought me a coffee. That was a lesson on how to treat guest cast. Sam was a very sweet man.
12.) Are there any directors out there that you would like to work with one fine day?
So, so many! Emerald Fennell, Greta Gerwig, Robert Eggers, Edgar Wright, Jordan Peele, Matt Spicer, David Robert Mitchell, to name a few. And Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, my old roommate who was there when I booked Scrubs and is now out there completely slaying Hollywood.
13.) Final – SILLY! – Question: Favorite movie about the making of movies – The Player, Living In Oblivion, Swimming With Sharks or Ed Wood?
I think it would be a tie between The Player and Living in Oblivion, but if I absolutely had to choose I would say Living in Oblivion. It reminds me of Noises Off, which was my favorite play I did in high school. Also, Catherine Keener and Steve Buscemi are really hot in that movie.
