John Krasinski and Anna Kendrick in The Hollars.
The KCET Cinema Series continued its fall season at the historic Aero Theatre on Tuesday, August 23 with a screening of The Hollars. The acclaimed comedy-drama stars and was directed by John Krasinski (The Office). The ensemble cast also features Margo Martindale, Richard Jenkins and Sharlto Copley as a family who must come together under trying circumstances.
Following the screening, Krasinski appeared for an insightful Q&A session led by film expert KCET Cinema Series host Pete Hammond. Below is an excerpt from the conversation.
The KCET Cinema Series is generously sponsored by the James and Paula Coburn Foundation.
John Krasinski on how he ended up directing The Hollars.
About six or seven years ago, I was sent the script. I dont know if Ive signed onto anything faster. There was something so special about this script. It was so real and honest. Theres a whole lot of family movies out there and I had seen most of them and didnt love all of them. Then, this one came along and I said, this is as good a script as you can get in any genre, so I jumped on it. It was so special to me.
And then about four years into it, as happens with a lot of small movies, the financier at the time called me and said, I cant get it made, would you ever want to buy the script from me. I thought, you made the wrong call. Im not George Clooney and then after I thought about it for a split second, I said, I cant pass up this opportunity. I cant not let this movie be made. So, I did buy the script and, I think two days later, called Margo Martindale because my whole idea was that if Im going to make it, I have to make it with the perfect cast. She was my first call.
On casting The Hollars.
John Krasinski: I actually didnt have a casting director on this. This was one of those things where, because I bought it and I was in total control of it, I thought, how often do you get the chance to call every single person you want for the role and talk to them about it? And every single person I wanted signed on, which is insane. Richard Jenkins, I wrote him an email and he said, Yeah, I like the script -- Margo Martindale, if you can get her, Ill do it. I wrote back, Ha, ha, ha! And he wrote back, Im not kidding. So, as soon as Margo signed on, we had Richard. It was a twofer. Everybody else is so phenomenal. Sharlto was really somebody that people were surprised by. I had loved him in District 9, absolutely loved him.
Pete Hammond: Hes a South African actor. Hes got an accent.
JK: Yes, a very strong accent. Hes here right now. Its a real, real accent. Its a beautiful accent, but when you think about how he got an American accent, it makes no sense. Its acting. But, I saw him in District 9 and he was doing all these action movies and, when we were writing Promised Land, I went to meet Matt [Damon] and Sharlto was on set. He was in some robotic uniform and when I met him, he was so sweet and loving and such a puppy dog spirit and I said, thats who should be playing my brother in this movie.
PH: You know who I love in this movie too is Charlie Day.
JK: Hes fantastic, isnt he? Charlie, I made one call and he read it and I said, What did you think? And he said, Yeah, I like it, um, youre sure you want it to be me? I said, Yeah. And he said, Alright! He was in the movie. It took one question and he was in.
John Krasinski and Margo Martindale in The Hollars.
John Krasinski on the scene where he swings on a tire over water.
Yeah, you just go for it. Down in Jackson, Mississippi. Im from Boston, so I was completely ignorant. I was like, all these ponds have crocodiles in it, I know it. So, I was terrified for my life. Everybody down in Jackson was, like, nope, no crocodiles. I was like, Yeah, right. So that was my biggest terror and my biggest worry, swinging out, but we rigged it with a stunt rope that these guys came up with that was fantastic, so I got a tiny button in that moss on the rope that clicked it whenever I was ready. The guy said it was a really sensitive trigger, so that definitely made me nervous.
Yeah, that was one take. The one you see in the movie is one take and then the DP, Eric Edwards, who is amazing, said, I think I need one more just so we can have something to cut away to and Im pretty sure he didnt need that. He just wanted to see me go in again.
On the scene where he shaves Margo Martindales head.
What that looks like, what it should look like, is a third of our budget, which it was. That was an amazing scene. She couldnt shave her head. Believe it or not, she did say she would have shaved her head, but she was on one of 84 television shows so she had to go right back to work after our movie and our amazing hair and make-up woman, Kelly Mitchell, who is a good friend of mine, she said, You cant do a bald cap, you have to go and get this. Theres this genius artist, he basically did a prosthetic, so thats a full head cast, the whole deal and every single hair was hand-stitched. It took him about three months to make. So, even though its not her real head, we still only had one shot, so it still felt very intense to do that scene. What was amazing was that Margo had a transformation in that scene because she said there was no moment where she thought it was fake. She just saw her hair falling off and she was looking right in the mirror and she said, Thats as vulnerable as I ever felt in my entire career.
On the scene where they sing an Indigo Girls song.
Those are two great examples of how, like I was saying, this is a great script, but I truly, if you gave me all the time in the world, I would have never come up with this specificity of how to show true love between a mother and a scene like that head-shaving scene. Theres something about that gesture that is so loving and so unbelievably powerful.
And then, the Indigo Gir
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John Krasinski and Anna Kendrick in The Hollars. 
