Gina Rodriguezis ready to bring us a little bit of July in autumn.Miranda July, that is.
“Miranda is just a singular voice.”
July specifically wrote the role for Rodriguez, drawing on her winning demeanor on the CW seriesJane the Virgin.
Credit: Matt Kennedy/Focus Features
“Her character is sort of the audience’s avatar,” July says of Melanie.
“That was exciting to me seeing her in conversation with these oddballs,” July adds.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How did you first come on boardKajillionaire?
Were you already a big fan of Miranda July’s work?
GINA RODRIGUEZ:I didn’t know what an all-around artist she was.
I was familiar with her [first] film,Me and You and Everyone We Know.
I was blown away because that is such an insane compliment.
When she told me that, I was like, “I’m coming.
I’ll read anything.”
I was just transfixed.
She’s absolutely brilliant.
We really don’t know a lot about your character.
You attempt to develop ideas about your character.
There’s a lot of great and exciting work that I love to do by myself.
It almost feels like a treasure hunt.
With her, I got to dive in even more and go in deeper.
It’s the sense that everything up until then walks with her.
That’s what we wanted to create.
You’ve done everything from big action films to television.
What was that experience like?
Was it a new pressure, or did you have to approach it in any different way?
I never thought about it that way.
To be led by Miranda July.
It’s definitely a different kind of film than I’ve ever been in.
That’s always the dream, no?
To do things we’ve never done.
You’ve done some directing yourself.
With that experience on set, do you feel like Miranda inspired you to pursue more of that?
Oh, 100 percent.
During that time, I never sat in the trailer.
I was always watching.
If you keep your eyes open, you’re able to learn something from absolutely everyone.
When I seeWes Andersonfilms, you feel like you’re entering his mind.
It’s like that.
When I was working Miranda, I [felt] like I am in someone’s dollhouse.
That’s the coolest feeling in the world.
This is a new reality.
Looking through somebody else’s lens is just fascinating.
Did you have much input on any of that?
When Melanie put on her Melanie armor and that gave her confidence, it worked for me too.
Was there one scene that was either the most difficult to pull off or just to crack for you?
I would say that the jacuzzi scene with Richard Jenkins was a particularly [challenging one].
In that moment she was both surprised, disappointed, not surprised at all.
Then it’s also empowering to see her fearless.
When we were shooting it, it was finding that right balance.
If you really unpack all of that, it’s a very heavy moment.
Outside of those heavy circumstances, where do you fall on jacuzzis in real life?
I can’t cook myself in water.
I feel like all my juices are cooking.
I’m a nay in the jacuzzi space.
I’m more of a cold-shower fan.
Melanie is also in search.
It was 100 percent genuine connection.
It really was a soul connection between the two of them [Melanie and Old Dolio].
It was these two people from such different worldviews thrown into this journey together.
