她面无表情的智慧和坚忍的言谈举止,奥布里Plaza has long embodied a specific Millennial vibe. Whether playing the apathetic April Ludgate on “Parks and Recreation,” the perpetually annoyed Julie Powers in “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World,” or the titular social media stalker in “Ingrid Goes West,” Plaza exudes a smart and effortless cool.
In her latest film, “Emily the Criminal,” arriving in theaters Friday, Aug. 12, after premiering at the Sundance Film Festival in January, she portrays an artist whose options are increasingly hindered by crushing student debt and a minor criminal record. In a desperate bid for financial stability, Emily takes a job buying high-end goods with stolen credit cards. It’s not just easy money, though, the gig puts her in the same world as a charming scam artist, Youcef (Theo Rossi) and on a crash course in exhilarating black-market adventures. Written and directed by John Patton Ford, and produced by Plaza, the tense thriller also stars Megalyn Echikunwoke as Emily’s best friend and Gina Gershon as a career foil.
The Chronicle chatted with Plaza via video call from her home in Los Angeles about Millennial aspirations, moral compasses and the challenges of indie filmmaking.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Q: What was it about “Emily the Criminal” that resonated with you?
A:First, the script is awesome. It moves, there’s no lull. John Patton Ford is a brilliant writer. My brain started buzzing as a producer. I felt it had a lot of potential to transcend and not just be good, but to be a great film — mostly because of how it was written, but there’s also relevancy to the story and the character. I felt this was a movie that young people especially could watch and maybe feel seen. It’s also a great part. I’m always interested in challenging myself, and this was an opportunity for me to strip away stuff to get a little more raw and explore a different side of myself.
Q: Ford described the film as a “Millennial Dirty Harry,” which is fitting. But it also seems more nuanced, in that it’s a coming-of-age story as well about this antihero coming to grips with where she’s at in this part of her life.
A:It’s a coming-of-age story, but it’s more about Emily getting her power back and becoming a fully realized person, and getting in touch with what she is good at and what drives her. She’s like so many people: trying to make her way in this broken system, trying to play by the rules and play the game, but she’s had enough. That’s also one thing that I loved — is that normally in these kinds of movies, you see someone start at zero, and then you see them get to the point where they’ve had enough, but this movie starts, and she’salreadyhad enough. That’s why it’s so charged because from the first scene — it’s unapologetic and we’re at that tipping point and it has this momentum that propels you right through.
Q: Even from the beginning, Emily has all these opportunities to make different, “better” choices, but she’s constantly leaning into her criminal tendencies. Is her moral compass askew or is she the product of a broken capitalistic system — or both?
A:She is definitely a product of the broken capitalistic system, but when you watch her make some of these choices, you get the feeling that she also kind of likes the thrill of it. She’s found something she’s good at — for better or for worse. I don’t think she is necessarily an adrenaline junkie, but she’s got street smarts and she’s a survivor. She’s a good person, but she’s deciding that she’s not going to play that game anymore.
Q: Do you think that this film will resonate particularly with Millennials?
A:我希望它有一个范围beyond that. It will resonate with Millennials, for sure. But the scene with Gina Gershon, which is where we see (Emily’s) second (job) interview … I think that scene in particular will resonate with all kinds of people, because that conversation is the crux of this big turning point for the film.
John wanted Gina’s character to be sympathetic as well. He wanted people to empathize with her and with me and, and to see how broken the system is by watching these two people who both come from the same place. They both come from New Jersey, and she’s being confronted with this boss woman in a corporate sense. And (Emily) is thinking, ‘I could be that, if I play by the rules,’ but by that point Emily has become her own boss. But I think there will be people that side with the Gina character, (who’s) calling her spoiled and saying, “You’re not special. You have to pay your dues.”
Q: What were some of the challenges of making this film?
A:First of all, I read this script years ago. It took years to get the financing — it’s rough out there in the independent film space. You know, the industry’s changed so much in the past couple years. Then, the limitations while we were shooting were a lot. We shot the movie in 21 days, 20 days in Los Angeles and one day in Mexico. It’s challenging to shoot in Los Angeles when you don’t have a lot of money, because it’s expensive and chaotic.
Every day there was some kind of new disaster, a new issue that we were up against, because in some ways we were shooting almost documentary style. We didn’t have money for a ton of extras, so when I’m on the street, I’m on the street, I’m with real people out there. And when I’m driving, I’m really driving on the 10 (freeway), I’m flying down the 10 at 80 miles an hour. It was all a challenge, but there’s something about how the spirit of the production took on the same spirit of the film and it all blended together in a way. And it felt like we pulled off a scam just making a movie — it felt like we were all thinking like Emily, that we were making up the rules as we went along.
“艾米丽犯罪”(R) starts Friday, Aug. 12, in Bay Area theaters.