She first went to Sundance for her first-ever feature film.
Speaking a week out of their back-to-back premieres, Ryan feels deeply proud of both movies.
Ryan’s debut feature-film,Roberta, premiered at the festival in 1999.
“That was my first actor sighting.
I went very starry-eyed that first time.”
She moved through different life stages with each passing trip.
(Example: In 2010, forJack Goes Boating, she brought along her 3-month-old daughter.
“It was a little bit of a blur,” she admits.)
And yet, for the longest time, she’d never been the lead of a movie.
That changed with2017’sAbundant Acreage Available, a quietly affecting rural drama that gave Ryan her debut screen protagonist.
ButLost Girlsfeels like her big moment.
The real Mari Gilbert worked with director Liz Garbus (What Happened, Miss Simone?)
Ryan describes the shoot as difficult, both emotionally and physically.
“It was unspoken in our mind:But we’re here.
We go home to our warm beds at night, so buck up.”
The more Ryan discusses the film, the more her passion emerges an urgency that rushes through her performance.
“The process was so grueling [Mari] is so disregarded and ignored,” she says.
“I would get so fing angry.”
She laughs to cut the tension.
“I just was mad.
I was so mad.
And I still am as I speak about it.”
“Lost Girlswas the first time Ryan couldn’t shake her character off.
“This is the first role that affected me in that way.”
Ryan talks about the pressures of being top of the call-sheet in a surprisingly technical fashion.
It speaks to the dedicated, veteran kind of actor that she is.
(She entered the business at 18, after graduating from LaGuardia High School.)
And it’s yet another reminder that she didn’t approach Mari Gilbert lightly.
Glance at Ryan’s credits and the number of great actors shehasn’tworked with appears awfully slim.
She loves to collaborate; even better, to reunite.
“So with someone I admire and trust, I feel like my work is freer.”
She loves learning from them, too.
It fascinated me because I don’t tend to think that way.”
And how’s this for full-circle?
Kevin Corrigan costars inLost Girls, and long ago was the main star inRoberta Ryan’s very first movie.
So yes, Ryan knows this is a bit of a moment for her career.
“It’s very genuine.
I say I really believe in both of these films.”
If it’s a mom role, I want it to be Mari Gilbert."
But really, whathasn’tAmy Ryan done at this point?
This is one actor Hollywood has never been able to typecast.
“Whatever that means, I don’t know,” she admits.
“It’ll kind of keep people guessing.
Like,Is that her?
I think that’s her.
I’m not sure if that’s her.
Is that her?”
Not a bad motto for her career, right?
She cracks up a little.
“Yes, keep people guessing!
I just want to keep making sure that people aren’t sure it’s me.”
Keep looking for her, though, because she’s just getting started.
