The “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” star talks about the reality of sexual assault, as well as taking on dramatic roles. The event was co-sponsored by UN Women to raise awareness about prevention of sexual assault.
The Light of the Moon follows Bonnie, a Latina architect living in Brooklyn with her loving boyfriend, Matt. Her life is changed when she is sexually assaulted on her way home from a bar. Like so many women who have been sexually assaulted, Bonnie wants her life to get back to normal as quickly as possible, but soon finds out this is not an option. Matt goes to great lengths to console her, but this only exposes latent problems in their relationship.
The film is an honest portrayal of a relationship in the aftermath of sexual assault and brings an important and timely story to the big screen.
Stephanie Beatriz
Q: Can you tell us a bit about your character?
A: So Bonnie is pretty much like most women that you’re probably friends with or know. She’s in her mid-thirties, she’s smart, funny, has a great group of friends, dating a good guy, has a great job, and then she’s on her way home from a night of partying with her friends and she’s sadly, violently, raped. Essentially the movie is about who Bonnie is before it happens to her, who Bonnie gets to be after, and whether or not that incident is allowed to define her as a human being. One in five women that you know have been raped, which is crazy. Look at this crowd of people [attending the premiere]. Split them in half and then [it’s] one out of five of those people. That’s an insane statistic. And so many people have that story inside them that they’re not sharing, that they’re hiding, because of who knows how many reasons. I think the thing we’re trying to do with this film is to shed a light on that person’s particular specific story, and how they deal with their own set of limitations after something like that happens to them.
Q: And what exactly drew you to this role?
A: I really wanted to do something different from Brooklyn Nine-Nine. I started my career doing theater mostly, so I was doing a lot of dramatic stuff, a lot of Shakespeare, a lot of American classics. And then I got Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and then I was like “oh, I get to do this funny world for a while,” and then I started feeling like, “oh, can I still really act? I’m not sure!” After a while I missed it, and so I was looking for a specific project that was going to be challenging and I came across this script, and I was drawn to it automatically. I think mostly because I know a lot of women that have been sexually assaulted, and I’ve never seen [the issue] talked about in this way, in a really honest way.
Q: It must feel great to take on a dramatic role.
A: All actors feel like they’re just able to do lots of things, but when you get a TV show, it’s a gift. Because you get to do the same character and be in people’s living rooms every week, and also it’s a bummer sometimes when fans meet me and they’re disappointed that I’m not Rosa.
Q: But you’re not.
A: Right, like tough and sort of hard, and a bad-ass. I really have a soft candy shell.
Michael Stahl-David
Q: I’d like to know if you could tell us a little bit about your character.
A: I play Matt, Bonnie’s boyfriend, who at first she’s reluctant to tell that she’s been assaulted. I think this is a couple who really love each other, but maybe this started there were the typical things that often happen in a relationship, like maybe not showing up quite enough, getting busy with work, and never cooking, he’s that kind of guy. After [the assault] he’s bringing her breakfast in bed, he’s being the perfect boyfriend, but in a way it weirds her out. She wants to go back to things as they were, but for him, he can’t really fathom doing that.
Q: And those cracks in the relationship must start to show.
A: Absolutely. What’s interesting about this film, and what I really responded to in the script, is you ask the question of how trauma affects intimacy. What’s it like to sex with your partner for the first time after you get assaulted? He’s well-meaning, but also a little smothery, or prescriptive. “Oh, you should do this, you should really go to therapy. Don’t you think you should stay? Don’t go to work yet.” All these things where it’s all coming from caring, but it also is kind of aggravating for her. It’s very realistic [the] way the cracks start to show.
Catherine Curtin
Q: I was wondering if you could tell us a bit about your character.
A: She’s a hardened attorney who has seen and done it all. I don’t think she’s an optimist, but I don’t think she’s a pessimist, and I think that she’s very real about what’s happening, in terms of rape culture, and in terms of bringing people to justice. I don’t think she sees it as a fluid or easy road, but I think she sees it as something you don’t stop trying. I think that’s why I love her. She’s no BS. There’s no issue about her understanding the fact that most rapes don’t get prosecuted, but I think she sees it as her mission to get up every morning and maybe one day it’ll change, which I think is beautiful. The hardest part of her job is explaining that to her clients. “I’m so glad you came forward, but it is unlikely that we will prosecute your rapist.” So that’s just incredibly painful and difficult, but she does it in a very [businesslike] way, in a way of real love. If she [did] do it in a very cryptic way, she wouldn’t be telling the truth. Part of her job is to leave the client to understand that this is not a problem and it’s going to get solved.
The Light of the Moon is in theaters November 1st.
Photo courtesy of Teaser-Trailer.com
