Celebrity Interviews: Talking with Me, Earl and The Dying Girl Stars Thomas Mann, RJ Cyler and Olivia Cooke

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Me and Earl and The Dying Girl from FOX Searchlight Pictures has been opened in the United States garnering rave reviews for the teen comedy-drama that traces one year in the life of three friends as they face the uncertain future.

Directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, is adapted from the Young Adult novel of the same name written by Jesse Andrews who also came on board to build the characters for the screen.

Although it took 24 days to shoot the film, which in Hollywood is almost a long shoot, the pre-production and casting process was nearly six months as executives worked to find the right trio of lead actors to carry the film and subsequently finding the talent for the equally impressive supporting roles. A time consuming process and brilliantly accomplished.

Attending the Domestic Press Day held at the historic Beverly Hills Hilton, in Beverly Hills, California, I had the opportunity to speak with Thomas Mann, RJ Cycler and Olivia Cooke the three headlining young stars of FOX Searchlight Pictures Me and Earl and The Dying Girl.

First up was newcomer RJ Cycler, who spoke candidly about his role as Earl. He was generous offering an intimate insight into himself, his family and the amazing experiences from the beginning with the premiere at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival to the Hollywood Premiere and beyond.

Janet Walker: Considering this is your first film, what was your reaction when you got the script and the  audition process

RJ Cyler: Well, when I got the script from my manager, I was doing nothing constructive at all, I was playing X-Box at the time, and so my managers called me and was like, “Okay, We have a script for you. We really, really like it but we want to see what you think of it.”

So I was reading it, this is how I knew it was good, I put my X-Box controller down, I forgot I had a game system. I was just reading and it was like I was reading myself on the paper. It was a little creepy at first, because I was like I’m thinking did they stalk me throughout life, found out who I was and then try to play it off by making a movie with of it with me in it.

So I went to the audition two days later or the next day, it was one of the other, and I had a monologue and scene, I had to do with Angela who was the casting director, and it just felt so natural and it just flowed out. I didn’t realize I was saying lines for a little bit because it was all stuff RJ would say, so I was like, ‘Ah, dang I like this part.’ So I called my manager and said ‘I like it I want it’ and he said ‘Let’s see what happens.’ Then they called me back and said ‘She likes you.’ And I said (breathing a sigh of relief) ‘She likes me.’ So that was very exciting.

I went to Missouri for my brother’s graduation. He was graduating from the Military and the same day he graduated was the same day they called to tell me I booked it.

So I screamed like a girl, I really did, we were driving at the time, so my dad swerved a little, cause he got scared. But then after I told him what happened he screamed like a girl too so he couldn’t judge me.

And it was really good. A couple weeks before the movie situation we were actually living in our truck and in a hotel room so this was like, ‘Ah’ thank you some good news.' Now we can actually go out for some Chipotle guys. We got good news.

It was a really good process. Now it is all happening very fast so I get less sleep but a lot more coffee and Red Bull.

JW: So if you had a memorable moment throughout the whole process what would it be?

RJ: So I have to choose one? There was a night where we were shooting the interview with Rachel’s Mom, (Molly Shannon), and me and Jessie were sitting in the living room, of Rachel’s house and Jessie just randomly started beat boxing and no one knew that Jessie was a beat boxer, he’s a really good beat boxer, its surprised me, and scared me a little bit cause it was just sporadic and out of nowhere and so he started beat boxing and I started singing these random songs and it went one for like ten minutes.

And then there was a time on a lake were we all went, me Thomas, Olivia, Jeremy, Nora, we went out in the lake and we were swimming it was a good time and we peed together, cause we didn’t know where else to go, we’re in the water so   . . .  A little bit more moisture wouldn’t hurt. It was just fun.

What else . . .I feel like Thomas and Olivia really wanted to kill my tongue they introduced me to bone marrow I was just like, ‘This is the most disgusting thing I’ve ever tasted Wow, oh that’s nasty, oh that’s nasty.’ And it was just bad.

And then they introduced me to the Artic Monkeys, not personally, but, I was at the beginning of the concert, like ‘okay it’s music but at the end of the concert I was a die hard fan, ‘Yea, Encore!’ It was fun, it was a lot of fun moments, and a lot of funny moments also. Like Wow.

Even during very solid scenes, Molly Shannon, would just, it would be very emotional, can click it off and on so quickly, so she would have us dying laughing before this emotional scenes and then we would have to get back in it, crying laughing and then having to cry literally. I need ten minutes, because that was really funny what she said, to get back in.

From the Interview with Thomas Mann

Next up on the interview schedule is Thomas Mann, who with eight films in various stages throughout 2015, and Me and Earl and The Dying Girl, one of his four released 2015 projects, and four others in post-production, would be considered the break out star of the teen genre.

Mann, is focused on working, he explained he had taken some time off, and while maybe shouldn’t have done all the films he agreed to do, he was happy to be working.

Jumping right in we started with the mechanics of the filmmaking process.

JW: How are you this morning?

TM: I’m fine.

JW: Films aren’t shot chronologically so what was the first scene that you did?

TM: The first scene we did was the ice cream on the steps.

JW: So you were stoned in that scene.

TM: Yes. Yes. (Laughter) It was the first time we were all three together so I think Alfonso [the director] wanted to get us all together so we were all sort of feeling comfortable. And then, it was like, 'Okay, we got the first shot off' and I think he was always planning on reshooting it because he thought he didn’t go right we ended up going with a take from that day.

JW: Was the expectation of making the film different than what you thought it would be?

TM: I mean, Yes, but only because Alfonso is such a brilliant filmmaker that you would never know quite what it was going to look like and it became so much more than I envisioned even like reading and I knew it was going to be a very different, more meaningful, coming of age film but I never would have pictured the things that he had in mind.

JW: And was the exotic food real?

TM: Yes. It was. Unfortunately.

Speaking of Oliva Cooke, whom he has great respect and explain a brief story surrounding his professional relationship with his co-star.

TM: Me and Olivia have known each other now since December of last year, so almost a year and a half. The night before our first chemistry read, and I had never done this before and neither has she, and we both really wanted it to go well, and so we met up to have dinner just to kind of break the ice and it was a little awkward, it was like a weird actor’s blind date, and we just talked about the script and got comfortable with what we were going to do the next day and we went in and it totally helped.

We immediately both were like ‘good to see you. Let’s do this. Let’s just get this over with and they can cast us and then we will be done with it.’ It went so well. it was the kind of thing where the doors closed and we were jumping up and down. And then it was like a two month process after that. I think I read the next day with other actresses and she read with other Greg’s. It was pretty brutal. It was a long process.

JW: We’re you in contact with each other during the two month time?

TM: Yes. She was actually the one who told me I got the part. Before my agents even called me. She wasn’t supposed to but she did. She leaked it.

JW: If you had a memorable moment throughout the entire process what would it be?

TM: A memorable moment, the whole thing is just the amazing collection of memories. I don’t really know. Probably that last day, laying on the bed with Olivia, watching that short film, we all came in and the whole crew watched it together for the first time. And we all just kind of cried, It was like a culmination of everyone’s talent and work coming to a head right there it was really amazing.

From the Interview with Olivia Cooke

Next up on the agenda, Olivia Cooke, who at 20 something has seemed to master the single most necessary skill of talent, never pay any attention to detractors and critics.

Very personable, she politely introduced herself, looking very chic with a chestnut brown pixie haircut, standing and shaking hands around the room. 

Her role as the Dying Girl, Rachel, in the teen drama, was not the first time she has played someone sick and both joked and offered a solid quip of ‘Fuck off’ to her detractors who would say she has pigeonholed herself which seems a bit impossible as her career is just beginning to take off.

Known from Emma Decody, the other alter ego in her career who is terminally ill, on the television series Bates Motel, she clarified she didn’t rest on her continuous research needed to validate her character Emma. Ms. Cooke explained how she sat with a teen at UCLA Children’s Hospital who had the same type of cancer, and watched her noting, ‘You don’t end being yourself and become cancer.’

The heavy weight role didn’t shy away from the stages of cancer that even those who have never been near any person stricken by any form of the disease understands along with treatment options.

Cooke described how she and Me and Earl and The Dying Girl Director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon worked out a timeline detailing the various stages of Rachel’s cancer treatment. It was up to Cooke to gather the realistic characterizations to match the chart.

She described cutting her hair off for the role. Her casualness toward the character commitment was disarming, as she explained “we shaved my hair off the night before and I was just so overwhelmed by my appearance. I always had hair. It was the best thing I could do for the role to emotionally get there.”

Below are a few of the lighter direct questions from the very impressive Olivia Cooke.

JW: Was the expectation of making the film different than what you thought it would be?

OC: I never went in with any expectation. I kind of go in with no expectation so I can hopefully be surprised or like I kind of guard myself it may be bad it may be the worst experience ever. It surprised me in a way it was truly so creative, artistic so fulfilling every single day. It was a joy to come to work every single day. It was a joy to come to work every day. It was wonderful. It was like camp.

JW: Thomas said the two of you talked a lot. Two months prior.

OC: (interrupting) On my God no! We met like six months prior to actually shooting the movie. We, he probably told you the whole story, blah blah.

We, had dinner the night before we had our cover shoot read.  Then we would meet intermittingly for different chemistry reads, then the screen test and then it wasn’t until we, I think, then we had the read through, then we got on set, but no we talk a lot, then the week of prep before, but we were already good friends by then so there was no kind of ‘okay now be friends, like be friends, like smush, smush,’ like you do with dolls’ it was already there.

JW: Are you friends now, still?

OC: Oh, my God, yea. He is a dear, dear friend, I love him so much. Yea.

Thomas Mann, RJ Cyler and Olivia Cooke inhabits their characters with authenticity and to date, Me and Earl and The Dying Girl, has been a stand out, breakthrough performance, for the trio.

Leaving audiences openly weeping Me and Earl and The Dying Girl touches a cord as our teens face death and learn the meaning of life and love.

Me and Earl and The Dying Girl is a highly evolved teen comedy-drama, a dramedy, which leaves you hoping, wondering and believing.

Me and Earl and The Dying Girl has been playing in wide release in the U.S., and is available on most streaming platforms.