Former Canadian child actress Sarah Polley gained critical acclaim for her directorial debut Away from Her, for which she won a Genie Award for Best Achievement in Direction, and now she is following that success up with Take This Waltz, which she also wrote. Here Polley talks about the inspiration behind the film.
What was the first idea that inspired Take This Waltz?
Sarah Polley: The image of Michelle staring at the oven on a really hot summer day, filled with restlessness and at the same time a kind of contentment; that feeling of a very stable, but somewhat boring long-term relationship. I wanted to see a character in that state of restlessness, grappling with emptiness, completely up-end their life to try and solve it.
You tackled long-term relationships in your first film, Away From Her too. What attracts you to that theme?
I keep returning to it, I’m perplexed as to why. We’re used to seeing the beginning of affairs or the end of them. I feel like we deal a lot in fiction and films with the excitement of the beginning of a relationship and we never follow up and say, What happened then? What happens to that intensity, where does it go? And can we live without it?
Did you come to any conclusions while making the film?
No, to be honest! Sarah Silverman’s character says, we have a gap in our lives that follows us around no matter what kind of life we find ourselves in, we end up grappling with that emptiness. The premise of the film was to talk about the fact of that emptiness, but also to look at what it feels like to fall into desire, how delicious, amazing and vibrant it can be. To pay respect to that, because in many ways it’s what makes life worth living.
Did you write the character of Margo with Michelle Williams in mind?
I didn’t. Margo was a real blank slate for me, and I needed an actress who could help me understand her – I empathized with the male characters much more. But when I met Michelle all of a sudden I understood who the character was, how to like her and make her a real person. I’m just fascinated that people are having such polarized responses to each character in the film. There are people who think Seth Rogen’s character is the greatest guy in the world, and Margo is unbelievably selfish, and others who can’t believe she would be with him. I don’t think I disagree with anybody’s position. It’s just a very messy human situation, there aren’t any heroes or villains. I wanted to take the point of view of all the characters equally.
How did Michelle and Seth build up the intimate relationship you see onscreen?
We rehearsed in that house, fully dressed for a week and a half before shooting, so they really got to know their environment and that was pivotal to building up that intimate, baby-talk conversation that goes on between people in long-term relationships. I think if we trained a camera on our very intimate relationships, we’d be just mortified!
What conclusions should we draw from the final scene with Margo on the Scrambler?
The film didn’t originally end like that. Originally, it ended with the same image it began with – like she’d come full circle. It was Michelle playing Margo that made me realize she can never play someone who’s static, she’s too engaged, too intelligent. When Michelle rode the Scrambler – we shot it 50 times and I was worried she was going to be sick, but she was back the next weekend riding it more – she went through a whole journey in that shot. At the end, it feels to me like Margo has learned to embrace the imperfections and learned, in the most cheesy metaphorical terms, to just go on the ride instead of constantly wanting things to be perfect. She’s developed a sense of humour and a kind of wisdom about how to live in a more fulfilling way.
How did the experience of directing Take This Waltz differ from your debut film, Away From Her?
With Away From Her everything was incredibly controlled and precise, I didn’t leave much room for experimenting. I was holding on very tight to the reigns. With this film I really wanted to allow myself and the actors room to play and a lot of my favourite moments came out of that. There was a lightness about this film and a joy in every moment. You never know how many films you’re going to get to direct in your life, so you have to enjoy every second!
How did you find the experience of directing two comedians, Seth Rogen and Sarah Silverman?
It was really fun, and they were completely without ego. Sarah and Seth are so used to trying things out, experimenting as comedians. They’re both serious actors, but I have to say they certainly made us laugh and have a great time on set. I love Seth’s comedy, but as a fan of his I just wanted to see him do something dramatic, I had him in mind when I was writing the script.
What role did the city of Toronto play?
I always imagined it would be a huge character in the film; that quality Toronto has in the summer – really muggy because we’re close to the lake, and colourful and vibrant. I wanted to show Toronto the way I experience it – I romanticize it. Through my eyes, it looks fairytale-like, it’s a huge part of who I am, I feel such a sense of belonging here.
You’re also an actor – will you be doing both acting and directing in the future?
I was a child actor and it wasn’t a great experience for me. What I always wanted to do was be politically active and write. Making films is like my form of writing. I’m always going to be more focused on writing and directing than I will be on acting – I’m adapting Margaret Atwood’s novel Alias Grace next. But I do want to act occasionally with directors I love – I’ll be doing a film with Wim Wenders next year. Because it’s so fun to be able to focus on your own thing, rather than dealing with a million things at once as a director. I sleep so much better when I’m acting!
