Wackness, The : Mary-Kate Olsen Q&A




Mary-Kate Olsen Q&A


What made you want to appear in the Wackness?

I read the script, enjoyed it, auditioned and I got the part. I go through the same process pretty much every time I want to do a role. I then met with Jonathan Levine and we clicked. He is such a great guy and a very talented director and I was excited about working with him.

Had you seen any of his previous films?

I had seen All the Boys Love Mandy Lane; I thought it was done really well and when I when found out that Sir Ben Kingsley was attached I was sure that appearing in the Wackness was a good decision.

Of course in one of your scenes you get to make out with Sir Ben Kingsley, whose three times your age. What was that experience like?

It was sort of surreal. He is very professional and he made me feel really comfortable and it was pretty cool. He is one of the most talented people that I’ve ever had the opportunity to work with so I kissed him quite happily.

Union is very much the wild child? Was it that part of her character that attracted you to the role?

I really liked Union - she is young and free-spirited. She is only in 2 or 3 scenes and I thought it was the perfect part for me to play. She was fun to play a bit exotic doing things like walking into a bar a bit tipsy and acting out was fun.

Was working with director Jonathan Levine the experience you expected it to be?

Jonathan has such an easy style, he has a great way of talking and supporting you at the same time and he loves watching people do their work and that is a really refreshing feeling.

You would have turned 8 in 1994, when the film is set. Do you remember that year at all?

A bit of 1994 it was a different opinion and point of view of the period that I had than the one in the film. That was when I was in elementary school!

This is a far more adult role to the ones that we’re used to seeing you play with your twin. Is this a sign that you now the want the world to see you as an adult rather than the child star?

I made the decision to take acting seriously after high school. When I was in my Freshman year at college (NYU) I took some acting classes and found that I fell in love with an acting again. Then I got a new agent and manager, who have been sending me different scripts to read. I’m lucky that I’m about to do films like The Wackness and I had a great experience making this film.

So does that mean you had become bored of acting in the Olsen Twin projects?

I was never challenged when it came to acting when I was younger and I sort of just did whatever was given to me without asking questions. I didn't really understand why I enjoyed it or why I did it and I guess I wasn't quite sure about it anymore.


Wackness Trailer