Interview with the cast and filmmakers of Tully

I’ve been a big fan of Charlize Theron for quite some time now so when I was asked to be part of the press junket for Tully of course I was thrilled I’d be in the same room as this talented actress. I mean my new hairdo was inspired by her last movie Atomic Blonde (though I didn’t get to tell her that I hope she didn’t think I was some crazy mom blogger). Kidding aside, I really enjoyed interviewing the cast and filmmakers of this rather touching movie. If you are a mom – you can’t help but be touched by the humanness of the story. Diablo Cody and Director Jason Reitman teamed up again and brought us a film that takes moms go on a rollercoaster of emotions.

Kate was pretty determined to use the bottle vs. breastfeeding. Let’s just say she’s been a strong-minded one since she was a baby =)

Every person’s journey down the road of motherhood is vastly different. Some women have an easy time of breastfeeding. Others (like myself) found the whole breastfeeding thing challenging. This was partly due I believe because my daughter was in NICU and was fed by the bottle for a couple days before I was able to breastfeed and since babies use more facial muscles to breastfeed, Kate figured out pretty quickly it was much easier to drink from the bottle. Ugh! The picture of Kate and I above is my own version of Tully at the dinner table. You can see in the left corner, I am eating take-out with a plastic fork. Motherhood… especially with a newborn is one heck of a ride. Buckle up as it is pretty fantastic, frightening (anyone else have a baby monitor on all the time?) and exhausting rolled up in a bundle.

I loved hearing about Ms. Theron’s own journey of being a parent as well as Mr. Reitman. We all agreed that it was a tough job and Diablo Cody writing always touches my heart and soul. Her gift is to help bring to the forefront how we are all on this human experience journey together.

L to R: Mark Duplass, Ron Livingston, Charlize Theron, Mackenzie Davis, and Jason Reitman

In attendance for the press interviews; Charlize Theron, Jason Reitman, Mark Duplass, Ron Livingston and Mackenzie Davis.

PRESS: This question is for Charlize. My name is Megan and I wanted to talk to you about what your opinion
is on motherhood and how it differs in other countries and specifically, is there something uniquely American? Or something uniquely South African that stand out to you?

CHARLIZE THERON: I think — I think there’s something about being a parent that just is the same for everybody. There was this documentary a couple of years ago called Babies. I don’t know if you guys saw it.

MEN/WOMEN: Yes.

CHARLIZE THERON: I saw it right before my kids came into my life and I — it really moved me because ultimately what you see — yes, the experiences are very different. And you know, in Mongolia you can actually tie a kid to a table and not go to jail — and here that would probably be problematic. But ultimately –

JASON REITMAN: I mean, we still do it. [LAUGHTER]

CHARLIZE THERON: But ultimately — it’s the one thing that I think we all share is just that we’re trying to get through every day — whatever — whatever we choose to do to hopefully be the best things for yours kids — and it might be different in how we go about it in different countries, but I think, as mothers, I think we’re always in some weird way always — every decision gets made based from our kids. Like — or at least I have found that.
There’s a thing in South Africa, we have this saying, “It takes a village to raise a kid,” and I was raised that way. I grew up with a lot of people around me and my mom — really sharing me with a lot of people and it was just great to grow up that way and I, for me, it was always going to be how I was going to raise my kids and from the moment they came home, that first night, my village was there and they got to meet their village and that village is in their life now and I think will be in their life, in their life forever. And I rely on those people. They are kind of like my chosen family. And I value what they bring to my kids’ lives and I know that I’m not solely responsible
for how great my kids are. There’s a lot of great people who are bringing so much to their lives.
And I think this movie will maybe start that conversation a little bit more,
because when we talk about help it’s always — it feels so cold. But you know, help can be something that’s really warm and — it doesn’t have to feel like this isolated thing that you’re bringing in from the outside to help you. I think the more you think about it, it’s like just becoming part of raising a child — instead of just help. I think it makes it — you realize the value in that and I’m so grateful for the people that I have, not only in my life, but in my kids’ lives.

PRESS: Hi. I’m Kathy with Bel-Air Mommy and I don’t know who to ask this question to — in writing the script, what came about doing — the middle child as the quirky child? Because I appreciate that watching that, because my kid always — the special one. He’s so special that he bit the pastor on Friday at school. So — [LAUGHTER] when I was — when you were having that conversation with — I was like, I just had that conversation. [LAUGHTER] And I’m crying and practicing and, and I’m just — it was just, I left one hot mess. So I wanted to know how and why did you guys fit that in? Because I appreciated that and it’s great to know that you’re addressing that because other moms don’t see what you’re going through — and they’re like, why can’t you pull it together?

CHARLIZE THERON: Yeah. [CLEARS THROAT] [OVERLAPPING]
(LAUGHTER)

JASON REITMAN: There’s something really clever about how Diablo did that in this screenplay. You don’t really hear the — nor do you hear what was going on with her son — you also never hear the term, you know, “postpartum depression” in the film — and these are all complicated gray areas and I think it’s really smart that Diablo never made it specific — because really, what either of those are there to serve to is this idea that we’re only supposed to present half of what it’s like to be a parent to the world. We’re only supposed to present the fact
that — it’s like what Charlize says, at the beginning when the principal says, oh, you’re about to pop and Charlize goes, Oh, it’s such a blessing. [LAUGHTER] And — it’s the kind of subtle, brilliant joke that only she could do. But that’s how that script works. It’s playing off this idea that we’re supposed to present a version there to the world that — we’re perfect. Yeah, we have a kid and life is perfect and it would be shameful to say anything otherwise. And when a great — when a movie works really well, it makes you feel less alone.

No matter what it is, no matter what you’re watching a movie about, the great ones make us feel less alone. That’s why we watch them as a group, in a movie theater. And hopefully, by taking this kind of nuanced approach to both her relationship with her son, who finally says, maybe we don’t need this — I love spending time with you, but maybe we don’t need the brush. We speak the idea of letting go of shame. Letting — putting shame down and allowing ourselves to be honest.

Be sure to read our review of Tully here. In the post I share for the first time the postpartum that I went through for that first year. If you are someone you know is suffering from postpartum be sure to contact your physician and reach out to organizations such as Postpartum International.