One of those moments when I realize how absurd my job can be took place during this year’s Sundance Film Festival. I was waiting for my cameraman to set up for the interview we were about to do and standing in the lobby of the building everyone was using for interviews. I realized that Christina Hendricks was standing next to me, while in front of me, Lizzy Caplan and Alison Brie were chatting, and Teresa Palmer was at the bar on the other side of me.
And when I walked away? It was so I could sit down with Emily Blunt and Rosemarie DeWitt.
Yes, I am aware that is preposterous, and that I should count myself lucky.
Sitting down with the female leads of “My Sister’s Sister” was a pleasure because (A) one can never spend enough time talking to Emily Blunt and (B) “My Sister’s Sister” is kind of awesome. It’s a small, tender, brutally honest movie that features great performances from all three of the leads. Playing sisters, though, requires a special sort of bond that you need to somehow communicate to an audience, and that’s what I wanted to talk to Blunt and DeWitt about when we spoke.
The last time I had seen Blunt before this was on the set of “The Five-Year Engagement,” where Alison Brie had learned Blunt’s accent to play her sister. In this film, there’s no attempt to make DeWitt and Blunt sound alike, and we discussed that as well as the general approach that Lynn Shelton took to shooting the picture. It was a great relaxed conversation in the middle of a chaotic festival, and a reminder that while these events can be difficult to cover and demanding on all involved, at their best, they provide these wonderful opportunities to just stop, sit, and talk about art and craft and life with people who are turning out truly wonderful work. And on those occasions, all that other noise just fades away.
“Your Sister’s Sister” opens in theaters this Friday.