Fresh off her nation wide release of “The Little of Hours”, Aubrey Plaza produces and stars alongside Elizabeth Olsen in “Ingrid Goes West”, a dark comedy made for the modern age.
Plaza plays Ingrid Thorburn, a mentally unstable social media addict with a propensity for obsession that lands on Taylor Sloane (Olsen) an Instagram influencer. The Knockturnal scored a front row seat for the film’s red carpet Los Angeles premiere and got to talk to members of the star-studded cast.
Before the film, Plaza and Olsen made a splash of an entrance showing up in the same Marc Jacobs ensemble (and looked flawless doing it) as an homage to their characters’ dynamic.
Along with Plaza and Olsen were several of the film’s other stars including Matt Spicer (Co-writer and Director), Billy Magnussen(Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Black Mirror), and Pom Klementieff (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Old Boy).
Several celebrities who came to show their support also had heads turning. One of the biggest surprises of the night was a “Parks and Recreation” reunion between Plaza and her former cast mates, Amy Poehler, Chris Pratt, and Retta. When asked if there was a possibly more formal “Parks and Rec.” reunion on the horizon, Plaza gave a very April Ludgate smirk and said that though one has never been officially spoken about, it wouldn’t surprise her as a possibility one day.
Beyond the red carpet and the screening, the cast and their fans had plenty of time to celebrate the film at an after party that had everyone feeling appropriately #blessed. Although “Ingrid Goes West” might have left the audience hesitant to reach for their phones, luckily they had their hands full with social media themed cocktails and snacks sponsored by Svedka Vodka. With the music loud and spirits high, the cast and their fans had a night of dancing and intriguing conversation about how closely the film they just saw resembles life.
Although you’ll have to wait until August 11, to catch “Ingrid Goes West” in theatres we can give you the inside scoop and cast interviews now, below!
NA: You were both a co-writer and a director. Since you were working with such an all-star comic team, how often were you sticking with the writing and how often did you let the actors run loose?
Matt Spicer (Co-writer/Director): I like to get what’s on the page first and then once I feel like we have that then we can feel free to play around and, you know they’re such great actors, we would get something great on the first or second take and then I’d be like, ‘Alright! Now let’s play around!’ and we’d get three or four takes of them just having fun with it and going crazy. And that was the most fun part for me, to see what they’re going to come up with, that I never would have thought of…to be surprised by your own stuff is awesome.
NA: Talking to Matt (Spicer), he talked about how you and Aubrey (Plaza) were such fast friends, how many times did stuff like this (the matching outfits) happen on set, where you genuinely didn’t know what you were walking into that day or you didn’t know if she was just going to “pop” up?
Elizabeth Olsen: Well Aubrey had my face on her phone for months past filming so…
NA: She still might, you don’t know.
EO: I bet she has a live feeding camera in my house, it’s really weird.
NA: That would explain the outfits for sure.
EO: (laughing) It’s so weird.
NA: How close to the movie do you think social media can get?
Aubrey Plaza: I think it can get pretty close. I think that social media can be really positive, but it can also be negative and we have to make sure that we’re aware of why we’re posting things and how it makes us feel and the time that we spend online on these kinds of platforms, it’s really about awareness.
Billy Magnussen: I think that social media and all that sh*t can really 
connect and share information, like people who aren’t accessed to, literally, knowledge, you know it’s so important. But there is the social, let’s say the LA world, this mindset of celebrity that we have now that…
NA: Influencer?
BM: F*ck that sh*t! But here’s the thing, no offense, an influencer with these Instagram stunts can delete the app and I don’t even know they exist, what do they have to share?
NA: But how much of the world do you think would delete that app? Do you think we’re addicted to this thing in our hand? How close to Black Mirror do you think we’re getting?
BM: I think it’s there man, I think it’s literally there.
NA: From going to space (Klementieff was recently in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2) to social influencing in Hollywood, what a journey it’s been-
Pom Klementieff: What a trip! I lost my antennas in between you know.
NA: Yeah! You’ve gone through some changes. What was the difference between sets and how was it, first working with Chris and then working with Aubrey?
PK: Of course the budgets are different, but you know it’s all about the script and I loved both scripts in very different ways. And it’s all about the people that you work with. And working with James Gunn, it feels like family, it feels like a more intimate movie…it doesn’t feel like a big, big production even if it is you know? So in that way, it’s kind of similar. But of course it’s less comfortable, how you shoot independent movies, but I love independent movies. I love to shoot both and I love to watch both so they both compliment each other.
The event was presented SVEDKA Vodka and Avenue Los Angeles.
