If I were asked to sum up Lily in one word, I would shrug, and instead sum her up with a tagline: a curious, insufferably cute ball of wacky sunshine. She is very energetic, has a great sense of humor, and is full of enthusiasm for seemingly everything (of course, I've never seen her watch paint dry.) These are some of the many reasons why I'm thrilled to have her on board as our nameless Girl in "Our Story."
She came upon the role by chance, mostly. I had known Lily as an acquaintance due to a course we had together, but had no idea she was interested in acting at all. Several months after the course ended, she saw an ad I placed on Facebook for the role of the Girl, and responded with interest. We did a script readthrough and I was sold; she did perfectly, and her voice, mannerisms, and overall style added dimensions to the character I had never imagined before.
Lily, like just about everyone involved in the film, is a student at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC. Like myself, she is a Communications Major with a concentration in Advertising. Like none of us, she has an Art minor.
Lily has been acting for her entire life. She has worked with a theater troupe in her hometown of Mebane for some time now, and has been involved in school theater, church theater, and the renowned "theater of the hey-read-this-monologue-for-me" for much longer. She has never been in front of the camera before; however, I doubt claustrophobia will kick in despite her vitality only being confined to a single frame. Lily takes an escapist method-style approach to acting which I think will bring a very raw, authentic feel to her character.
And believe me, I think Lily understands her character very well. She mentioned something to me during our readthroughs when I expressed a fear of mine to her: that "Our Story," due to its portrayal of unrequited love from a male perspective, could be considered as anti-feminist. She understood my concerns very well, but pointed something out to me: the girl isn't the vulnerable character in this story, really. In all honesty, our Guy is a lot weaker than she is. Rather, the Girl is just confused and immature...which is exactly the sort of character dynamic I wanted to portray.
Needless to say, she gets it.
Of course, as any casting director will tell you (trust me, I know them and have lots of experience...totally not lying or anything) simply understanding a character and being able to pull that character off isn't all that matters in such an intensely visual medium. The thing that I really love about Lily is that she looks the part too.
Aesthetically, Lily brings a sort of interesting duality to the table. She is obviously a girl about to leave her teens, but her appearance has a youthfulness, almost innocence about it. Underneath that bubbly exterior there's a sort of healthy melancholy, a blue behind a cloud of yellow (come on, just look at those oh-so-rebellious streaks of red in her hair!) Like her character's insecurity, her appearance and aura is a contradiction that is subtle, yet hard to miss.
So this is Lily. I'm stoked that she's playing this part, and can't wait to see her on camera! Now let's hope that horribly screwed-up character doesn't rub off on her.
Cheers!
-JD
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