All About Serious Moonlight
Finding an actress to play the role of a woman going to extreme measures and balancing the comedic tone of the script with the more complex emotional characterization would be a challenge, as Andy Ostroy describes. “You have a woman who, in the first act of the movie, gets jilted, then basically kidnaps her husband – and you have to root for her.”
Director Cheryl Hines thinks that Meg Ryan was an ideal choice for the part: “Meg was very good at finding the brightness within Louise that is loveable and alluring. Even though she’s taken an extreme measure, she’s sweet and sincere enough that the audience forgives it and understands this and maybe even says ‘I could have done that.’ Louise really has come undone, but at the same time, because of Meg’s touch and Adrienne’s writing, we understand why we should love her.”
Selecting Cheryl Hines, the Emmy-nominated actress (“Curb Your Enthusiasm”) who had co-starred with Adrienne Shelly and Keri Russell in Waitress, was also a boon for the production. “We considered some very experienced directors at first ,” Ostroy remembers. “There was a conversation [producer] Michael Roiff and I were having, where we looked each other at the same time and said ‘What about Cheryl?’ We knew she appreciated Adrienne’s writing, got her sensibilities, and what she was trying to do as a filmmaker.”
“Cheryl is also one of the funniest women I have ever met in my life,” Ostroy adds. “She clearly had the humor. It just became a very easy choice once her name was on the table for discussion.” Although Hines would be a first-time feature film director, Ostroy felt confident in her experience and abilities and knew that the production would benefit from having Cheryl at the helm on the set. “It also highlighted the mission of the Adrienne Shelly Foundation,” explains Ostroy, “which, among others support programs for women filmmakers, helps actresses take that leap to directing.” Although the Foundation had no direct role in producing “Serious Moonlight,” Ostroy explains, “Intuitively, we all knew Cheryl was a perfect fit for the film. But it was gratifying to further the Foundation’s mission at the same time.”
For her part, Hines was excited to be part of a project that would require both herself and her actors to balance the outrageous comedic moments with the very serious business of negotiating the couple’s endangered relationship. “I love the way Adrienne writes,” she says, “and the way she really captures what’s funny about people and life, and at the same time what’s heartbreaking. I was drawn to telling a very simple story that gets very complicated, and I love the idea that the story almost all takes place within a day, but the characters change so much within that time.”
Hines also discovered that her training as an actor who specializes in improvisation served her well in her first assignment helming a feature-length film. “Being an actress helps me communicate with the actors, of course,” she explains. “But for the first few days, I’d go to bed thinking everything would have to be perfect the next day or we’d fall behind.
Once I learned how to trust Michael and Andy to take care of the off-set problems, and accept that no day was every going to go perfectly, I started to feel much more comfortable and more like myself. On a film set, you can’t spend time getting upset that things aren’t going as planned. In improv, because you’re not attached to what is going to happen next, you are always keeping your mind open. I realized I didn’t have to panic that I didn’t know what was going to happen next as a director, and just started going with it.”
Hines duties also required asking a fellow actor – an Academy Award-winner no less – to spend a good portion of his working day tied up. “The moment before a take where Tim Hutton is being strapped down — those were some interesting moments in filmmaking,” says Hines dryly. “We were shooting rather quickly so it wouldn’t be so taxing on him, but Tim was truly amazing. He wanted to be strapped down, even during takes where he didn’t have to be, just so he could be consistent for the other performers. He was very disciplined about staying in the moment, being that guy who’s in this ridiculous situation, so frustrated because he can’t move physically while being forced to change and deal with things emotionally.”
Ultimately, completing the film was not only a creative challenge, but a labor of love for all involved. “Besides the regular pressure of making a movie, there was the added pressure of working with Adrienne’s script,” says Cheryl Hines. “I knew I didn’t want to let her down, none of us did, and there were many times when I’d be discussing something with Andy and Michael and we’d agree that Adrienne would have wanted it this way. In her spirit, this film was a good time. She would have wanted it to be a great, fun experience; she never took herself too seriously so we tried to approach it with that spirit.”
“When Waitress came out and was such a success,” says Andy Ostroy, “a lot of reviews referred to it as Adrienne’s ‘last film.’ So, it’s incredibly gratifying to know that audiences will now get to see another Adrienne Shelly story. When we wrapped, as we thanked everyone, I told the cast and crew how happy and proud Adrienne would’ve been, and that we made a film much in the same way she would have. And she would’ve loved that there were so many of the Waitress crew who came together to make SERIOUS MOONLIGHT. It was a true labor of love for so many people.”
Serious Moonlight (2009)
Directed by: Cheryl Hines
Starring by: Kristen Bell, Justin Long, Meg Ryan, Timothy Hutton, Kimberlee Peterson, Andy Ostroy, Derek Carter, Bill Parks, Nathan Dean, Kylan James
Screenplay by: Adrienne Shelly
Production Design by: Cecil Gentry
Cinematography by: Nancy Schreiber
Film Editing by: Steven Rasch
Costume Design by: Ariyela Wald-Cohain
Set Decoration by: Shirley Starks
Art Direction by: Craig Pavilionis
Music by: Andrew Hollander
MPAA Rating: R for language and some threatening behavior.
Distributed by: Magnolia Pictures
Release Date: November 25, 2009
Visits: 104
