On Monday, August 22nd, I attended the movie premiere of “White Girl” a film by Elizabeth Wood. I got the chance to talk to the cast. Catch their responses below!
The film synopsis of White Girl goes as follows “Equipped with platinum blond hair and a winning smile, NYC college girl Leah (Homeland’s Morgan Saylor) seeks out pleasure in any form. Between getting high with her roommate and snorting lines with her boss, Leah falls for Blue (Brian Marc), a young man dealing drugs on her corner. Within days, the two are selling dime bags to her boss (Justin Bartha) and his downtown friends and living the high life. Summer love crashes to a halt when Blue is arrested and Leah is left with a serious bag of his coke. Enlisting the help of an overpriced lawyer (Chris North), Leah finds herself deep in debt as she crosses all boundaries to get Blue back. Deliriously filmed in and around New York City, White Girl, thrashes through an increasingly high-stakes game of hedonism.”
The cast sat down to answer a few questions below:
Morgan Saylor (Leah):
On what he wants people to take away from the film:
“The one thing I want is just consciousness of these issues. I think as a young person, once you sort of get outside of your Mom and start establishing your own views as a person, you realize what’s in front of you in a really important way. So I hope the film makes people think about that and they can take what they want from it, be it gender or race issues.”
Most exciting part about filming:
“The most exciting part of filming for me was just playing something really far from myself. Besides the internal work, I also had a physical transformation, I had long nasty blonde hair. So it’s fun to do something different.”
Brian Marc (Blue):
On what he wants people to take away from the film:
“To show, well a lot of people have said “Oh, well what happens to him? I want to know.” I think with all the bias and the privilege in the world, there are so many people that look like me, and look like you, who no one cares what happens to them. They just get swept under the rug. I feel like if you have that reaction from watching the movie, think about that in your everyday life. Think about how many people you come across where you judge in a quick instance of meeting and you have no idea what they’re going through, just like my character in the movie.”
Elizabeth Wood, Filmmaker:
“I’m hoping the people will have their own reaction, I don’t need to tell them what that is. Mostly just that they’ll will have a reaction at all. If they discuss, something, if they argue about it. Some people disagree on what it’s about. I just hope that it will somehow make an impact and get into people’s brains so that they’re thinking about something when they leave the theater. “
Chris Noth as George Fratelli:
On his role in the film:
“The part that I play, I just try to bring a level of reality so that my part fits into a whole movie and just let the chips fall where they may.”
India Menuez, as Katie:
“My favorite part about filming was working with really talented people like Morgan, like all of the cast, it was great getting to work with such powerhouses. I want audiences to take away that it’s true to a lot of peoples experiences in life. That it’s exemplary of a lot of systemic problems and hopefully it will raise a conversation. ”
