Sometimes the Sundance Film Festival plucks an actor or filmmaker from obscurity and completely changes their life. For the 2011 edition of the festival, there was no talent more lauded out of nowhere than Brit Marling.
The twentysomething actress debuted with two acclaimed films in Park City: the thriller “Sound of My Voice,” which will hit theaters later this year, and the Alfred P. Sloan award winner, “Another Earth.” Not only did Marling star in both features, but she co-wrote them as well. And now, “Earth” is finally finding its way to theaters.
Speaking to Marling last month, her genuine excitement about doing press for the picture was obvious from the start of our interview. “Earth” is the story of how two people’s lives are changed the night a second version of our own planet appears in the sky. With the duplicate planet slowly getting closer and closer to this earth, Marling’s character finds herself with the opportunity to escape her tortured life and find out if things are different on “another earth.”
Working with director Mike Cahill, the duo have done an incredible job of incorporating solid visual and practical effects on a microbudget. And that’s one reason “Earth’s” critical success and the fact it was acquired by Fox Searchlight is so remarkable. Marling talks about playing make-up artist, costumer and more on the all hands on deck crew and the euphoria of sitting in the editing room when she and Cahill realized they might actually have pulled something together. It was a great conversation and you can watch it embedded in this post.
“Another Earth” opens in New York and Los Angeles on Friday. It expands to Washington, D.C., Toronto, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago and San Francisco on July 29.