Last night, co-stars Jenny Slate and Abby Quinn appeared at BAMCinemaFest 2017 for a special screening of their new film, ‘Landline.’ In the 1995-set film, they play sisters who suspect that their father is cheating on their mother, and do some detective work, while also dealing with their own respective lives. Before entering the Harvey Theater’s quaint auditorium, Slate and Quinn spoke about their characters, their on-screen relationship, and the unusual setting of the film’s story.
THE KNOCKTURNAL: Can you tell us about your character in this film?
JENNY SLATE: I play Dana. She is the daughter of Pat, played by Edie Falco and sister of Allie, played Abby Quinn. Dana is 30 with a stable career and a relationship that’s been going on for a long time and is starting to feel the tension that one feels when they have stopped asking questions about their life.
THE KNOCKTURNAL: This is your second time working with director Gillian Robespierre, the first being Obvious Child. How did it feel being under her direction a second time? Did it feel familiar? Did you discover new things?
JENNY SLATE: I think, in all of the ways that I’m connected to Gillian, and all of the things that feel familiar are the exact same tools that I used to deepen and discover new things. You know, the more trust you have, the more you can learn and put yourself at risk in a useful way.
THE KNOCKTURNAL: How was it being on-screen sisters with Abby Quinn?
JENNY SLATE: It was incredibly fun and very easy. Really lovely chemistry between us, I think, right off the bat. She’s a wonderful person to work with. We both have siblings, so I think that connection is deep within us anyway from the start.
THE KNOCKTURNAL: Can you tell us about your character in this film?
ABBY QUINN: I play Allie. She’s 17 years old, she’s a rebellious teenager who does a lot of drugs and has sex with her boyfriend. She’s a bit of a problem child, but she’s really independent and a strong character.
THE KNOCKTURNAL: What is her relationship to Jenny Slate’s character?
ABBY QUINN: At first, at the beginning of the film, they’re sisters, but they’re very separate. They live completely different lives and they’re not close at all, and then through the tumultuous stuff that happens with their parents, they become close and start to connect.
THE KNOCKTURNAL: What were your initial thoughts when you first read the script?
ABBY QUINN: Before I even read the script, I knew who was in it. So, I had seen Obvious Child a couple of weeks before and I was kind of obsessed with it. So I kind of already had a good impression before reading it. So, yeah, I just thought it was really honest and really funny, and all of the characters are really good developed and, yea it’s a really beautiful story. So I just loved everything about it the first moment.
THE KNOCKTURNAL: It’s interesting that this takes place in 1995, where you’d have to do a little detective work for this situation.
ABBY QUINN: Yea, I was born in 1996, so I did have to do that, but for me it was just listening to a lot of 90s music and that helped the most, for some reason, for this. And it helped the character too, she goes to raves and she’s kind of a part of that scene. The costumes helped a lot. The language isn’t really gimmicky or 90’s, so it felt like it could take place today, which helped a lot.
THE KNOCKTURNAL: Do you think people are going to get that nostalgia feeling with this?
ABBY QUINN: I think so, yea. There’s no cell phones, there’s, obviously, a landline, a payphone, and the music, the costumes; it’s a throwback.
THE KNOCKTURNAL: Do you have anything else coming out that we can look forward to?
ABBY QUINN: Yea, I’m in an episode of Black Mirror that comes out, I think, in September, or whenever that comes out in the fall. I’m in the first episode. And then I also filmed a movie called Radium Girls, which I think will be out in a couple of months as well!
Additional guests included: Edie Falco and director/cowriter Gillian Robespierre. The evening was hosted by the Harvey Theater at BAM and a fun party followed across the street at Boqueria.
