Teased as, “A songwriter embarks on a quest to find her missing colleague — a record producer who has schizophrenia.”
But the film is so much more. I challenge you *not to fall in love with the characters in Lost Transmissions. (It’s impossible.) The film stars Simon Pegg, Juno Temple, and Alexandra Daddario and is likely Simon Pegg’s greatest performance to date. Juno Temple plays Hannah, a humble creative who doesn’t realize how special she is. Once Pegg opens doors of opportunity she would have never had at her receptionist job… all hell breaks loose.
The Knockturnal‘s Kinsey Schofield spokes to Juno Temple at a special screening of Lost Transmissions at Los Angeles Film School…
The Knockturnal: Congratulations on the film! How did you get involved in Lost Transmissions?
Juno Temple: I got sent the script and I read it and it really effected me, it felt very personal. I thought the characters were so beautifully nuanced and so honest and Simon Pegg was attached before I was and I thought it was going to be such a brilliant role for him because he comes from a background of so much comedy but he’s such a fiercely intelligent human and I also think that most humans, when they’re going through things that are challenging in life, do tend to bring humor into it to get through it and so I thought it was really genius casting and I think he’s pretty amazing in this film. Then, I read the script and I responded immediately, loving it, and I met with Katherine (Katharine O’Brien/Producer) and I just think she’s one of the most truly graceful humans I’ve met in my life, she carries herself with such grace. Yet there’s a huge world of experience in that graceful creature that I found intoxicating and I was really excited to work with. I really am grateful because I think my mind was expanded from this experience.
The Knockturnal: What is the origin of this story?
Juno Temple: It’s something that Katherine (Katharine O’Brien) experienced with a friend and I think, that’s what I mean about opening the doors to talk about it, actually, a lot of people battle with mental health issues. One is schizophrenia, one is depression, an eating disorder is a mental illness. You know, I put my hand up and I say, I battle with stuff and I’ve got a lot of family members that have been through all different kinds of mental health issues and I think it’s something that really is important to start talking about because actually if we start talking about it people won’t feel so alienated if they’re going through it. Also, if we start talking about it, people will be more honest about what they’re going through in their own minds, you know? And I don’t think, banish is maybe too extreme of a word, but banish people from everyday life because of their mental health. I think that really needs to start changing.
The Knockturnal: What are you hoping the audience takes away from Lost Transmissions?
Juno Temple: I hope they are open to learning more about mental health and about what mental health means and what it is to have people that are suffering from mental health issues in your life and actually being something more fluid in open conversation, I think that’s really important and I really hope that people start really talking about it if they see this film.
Lost Transmissions opens in theaters on Friday, March the 13th.
Kinsey Schofield is a contributor to The Knockturnal and you can follow her on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook.
