March 19, 2024 • 20 mins
In this episode, discover the heartfelt journey from a New York Times article to the silver screen with "Little Wing," a Paramount Plus film that captures the essence of home and belonging. Kyle McMahon is thrilled to bring you an exclusive behind-the-scenes glimpse into the making of this cinematic treasure. The talented Susan Orlean reveals the real-life stories that inspired her New York Times article and consequently the movie, while young stars Brooklyn Prince and Shay Tafari discuss how they breathed life into their roles. Join us for a fascinating conversation with scriptwriter John Gatins and director Dean Israelite, who shares a personal connection to the film's unique pigeon racing element and discusses the rich thematic layers of home that resonate throughout the story.
Get ready to be moved by the experiences of Shay Tafari and Brooklyn Prince as they uncover their personal connections to their characters and the notion of home that transcends a mere physical space. In a heartwarming discussion, they share the nuances of representing true-to-life experiences on screen and the meticulous research that shaped their portrayals, including Shay's preference for the depth of libraries over the fleeting nature of YouTube rabbit holes. Each scene, each line, carries the weight of authentic emotion, as the actors open up about family, memories, and the personal growth that defines what home truly means to them. This episode is not just an exploration of "Little Wing," but a reflection on the universal search for our place in the world.
Kyle McMahon's Death, Grief & Other Sh*t We Don't Discuss is now streaming: https://www.deathandgrief.show/Chapter-One-The-Diagnosis-AKA-WTF/
---------------
Get all the Pop Culture Weekly podcast info you could want including extra content, uncut interviews, photos, videos & transcripts at: https://podcast.popcultureweekly.com
Watch celebrity interviews at: https://www.facebook.com/realkylemcmahon/videos
or Pop Culture Weekly YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/@popcultureweekly
Read the latest at http://www.PopCultureWeekly.com
Follow Kyle on:
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/kmacmusic
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/realkylemcmahon
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/kmacmusic
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/officialkylemcmahon
Website: http://www.kylemcmahon.me
Pop Culture Weekly twitter: http://www.twitter.com/popculturepodca
Get ready to be moved by the experiences of Shay Tafari and Brooklyn Prince as they uncover their personal connections to their characters and the notion of home that transcends a mere physical space. In a heartwarming discussion, they share the nuances of representing true-to-life experiences on screen and the meticulous research that shaped their portrayals, including Shay's preference for the depth of libraries over the fleeting nature of YouTube rabbit holes. Each scene, each line, carries the weight of authentic emotion, as the actors open up about family, memories, and the personal growth that defines what home truly means to them. This episode is not just an exploration of "Little Wing," but a reflection on the universal search for our place in the world.
Kyle McMahon's Death, Grief & Other Sh*t We Don't Discuss is now streaming: https://www.deathandgrief.show/Chapter-One-The-Diagnosis-AKA-WTF/
---------------
Get all the Pop Culture Weekly podcast info you could want including extra content, uncut interviews, photos, videos & transcripts at: https://podcast.popcultureweekly.com
Watch celebrity interviews at: https://www.facebook.com/realkylemcmahon/videos
or Pop Culture Weekly YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/@popcultureweekly
Read the latest at http://www.PopCultureWeekly.com
Follow Kyle on:
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/kmacmusic
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/realkylemcmahon
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/kmacmusic
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/officialkylemcmahon
Website: http://www.kylemcmahon.me
Pop Culture Weekly twitter: http://www.twitter.com/popculturepodca
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
In this episode of pop Culture Weekly, it's all about the brand new Paramount
Plus film Little Wing. I talkwith the cast and creators. Let's go
Welcome to pop Culture Weekly with KyleMcMahon from iHeartRadio, your pop culture news,
views, reviews, and celebrity interviewson Fall, the Movies, TV
music, and pomp Culture u CrabeWeekly. Here's Kyle McMahon, n Nana
(00:27):
no Net, Hello and welcome topop Culture Weekly with Kyle McMahon. I
of course am Kyle McMahon, andI am so glad that you're here to
hang out with us for another episodeof pop Culture Weekly. This week it
is all about the brand new filmon Paramount Plus called Little Wing, which
(00:49):
you gotta watch. It's really agreat uplifting film based on a New York
Times article a while back from SusanOrlean who it's based on a true story.
So I talk with Susan herself allabout you know how this came to
be in the first place as astory, you know, the original people
(01:10):
that this happened to. She talksto me. I talk with her about
that as well as the new film. Along with Susan, I talk with
Brooklyn Prince who's been on the showbefore for her Apple TV Plus series Home
Before Dark. She's always great andco star Shae Tafari. They are really
great. They just have this energyand just so talented, so awesome and
(01:36):
so amazing in Little Wing. Additionally, I talk with John Gaddins, who
who wrote the film. He's writtensome awesome stuff including Kongskull Island, one
of my favorites ever, Power RangersNeed for Speed Flight with the wonder Only
Denzel Washington, Coach Carter and Moore, and I talk with director Israelite Deans,
(02:00):
such a talented director who directed AreYou Afraid of the Dark, the
reboot series directed Power Rangers Project Almanac, which is also so great Little Wing.
It's based on this true story wherea girl starts acting out because her
parents have divorced and she finds outshe's going to lose her childhood home because
(02:23):
you know, one of the parentsjust can't afford it. And then she
figures out that racing pigeons can beworth a lot of money, so she
creates a plan to steal, borrowsome racing pigeons and get that childhood home
back. It really is great.Let's hop right into it. Let's start
with the director, Dean Israelite.Thank you so much for joining me,
(02:47):
Dean, I really appreciate it.Yeah, thanks for having me, of
course. So you know, firstof all, I love I love all
of your work. What drew youto Little Wing? You know John Gaiden's
who wrote Power Ranges. He andI became close off that movie and he
(03:07):
sent you know, he called meup and he said, you want to
read this weird little script I wroteabout pigeon racing. And I said,
well, John, my father andgrandfather were some of the pre eminent pigeon
races in Johannesburg, South Africa inthe sixties. I'd love to read the
script. And I you know,I came for the pigeons and state for
the people because the characters and theirjourneys are you know, so beautiful,
(03:29):
I think, and those things reallyresonated. So that's how I came to
the project, and the moment Iread it, I loved it. And
you know, we spent six yearstrying to get it made and we finally
did, and thankfully you did becauseit's such a great film. I love
the duality of it. You know, there's I'm trying to be spoiler free,
but there's a for me an allegorythere about home and you know the
(03:54):
pigeons that in the storyline. Isthat something that resonates for you, you
know going into a project like this, Yeah, I mean to me,
I always approach material through the theme. So to me, it's always what
is the movie rarely about beyond justthe story, beyond just what the characters
(04:14):
are going through. What is itall dramatizing underneath all of that. And
so yes, the theme of home, of finding home, of what that
means both externally and also internally inyourself, the ideas of belonging, that's
all very much a part of thismovie. And you're right, the pigeons
are a metaphor for all of that. And I think the pigeons to me
are a metaphor for liberation in thisfilm and pushing through crisis and sort of
(04:38):
finding liberation on the other side ofthat. I love that. And you
have worked on so many amazing projectsProject Almanac, Are You Afraid of the
Dark? Which I love as well, Power Rangers. Doing something like Power
Rangers where it has a big budgetand then you come and do a smaller
budget film. Do they tick alldifferent boxes for you as a creator.
(05:03):
Definitely, I mean something like PowerRangers. It's really fun trying to figure
out how to go about shooting thingsthat you know sort of feel impossible to
achieve. And the amount of youknow, professionals that that you're working with
that can bring these massive sort ofset pieces to life. The preparation that
(05:26):
goes into that, the execution thatgoes into that, that's really fun.
And then something like this, Iwas really excited to do something that feels
more substantive in its themes and isnot it is getting out a lot of
these personal emotional ideas, but withouthaving the trappings of a genre attached to
(05:47):
it. So I wanted to dosomething that felt more character driven and simpler
in that way, where every sceneis just about the human interaction that's going
on on screen. I love that. And finally, what does home mean
to you? I mean, I'vemoved a lot to different continents, and
(06:10):
so to me, it's funny It'slike I don't associate home at all with
a place, you know, Ijust associate home with with like a feeling
and where you feel your best.I think where you feel comfortable, where
you feel you know obviously loved,and I'm a father of young children now
(06:33):
and so like to me like homeis all about where my family is,
and you know, we could beanywhere. But but I don't know.
I think it's just a feeling thatwe all sort of know what that feeling
is. That's great, Dean,Thank you so much. Congratulations on the
film. I can't wait for everybodyto see Little Wing exclusively on Paramount Plus.
(06:58):
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it. Thanks Dean Israelite. Love hearing
his insight on this film, whatdrew him to it and more. Next
up, let's get into the writers, John Gaddins and Susan Orlean. This
is an interesting one and you're hearingthe writer of the original story, the
(07:18):
article that spawned this film, andthe writer of the film itself. Here
they are John Gaddens and Susan Orlean. Thank you both for joining me.
I really appreciate it. Thank you. Oh it's our pleasure, of course.
So first of all, if youdon't mind, Susan, I'll start
with you. This Little Wing startedwith a piece from you. I wanted
(07:42):
to ask you to just speak onthat for a moment. How why that
story that you were telling then spoketo you. You know, I love
writing about subcultures, I love writingabout girls. I love writing about anything
that I don't know anything about.It all came together very completely in this
(08:03):
story. I was chatting with ayoung girl when we were both out walking
our dogs, and she mentioned tome that she was raising racing pigeons,
and I just my journalistic instincts kickedin because I thought, this is the
most unlikely thing I've ever heard,a teenage girl doing a sport that I
(08:28):
didn't think anyone did anymore. Butmore importantly, I assumed it was mostly
done by elderly men. I justknew I wanted to write about it.
And the poignancy of the instinct ina homing pigeon, which is to go
home no matter what it takes.That to me was so evocative that I
(08:52):
knew I could write a story aroundthat. I love that. And for
you, John, you to thisstory. Yeah. No. I had
made a movie for DreamWorks, andSteven Spielberg had optioned Susan's article the second
that he read it, and hesent it to me, and he and
I met and we talked all aboutit, and then I got the chance
(09:15):
to sit with Susan and we talkedabout it, and I then got to
meet the girl that she profiled inthe story. I went to Boston,
I met her and her mom,and then I did more research and I
had more questions for Susan, Soshe and I kind of stayed in touch
on it, and I kind oftook her story and kind of tried to
extend it to make it this clearkind of coming of age story for a
(09:37):
young girl who pulls off a heistand kind of goes toe to toe with
this like older Vietnam vet and therest is movie magic, Yes, and
it is magic. I love thefilm. For me, Little Wing is
very much a There's this duality toit where the theme for me is home
(10:01):
and what that means and for youknow, both for characters in the story
and with the pigeons themselves, whatdoes home mean to both of you.
That's a good question because I've actuallymoved a lot more in my life than
I ever expected to. So whilehome is a place, really for me,
(10:24):
home is family and wherever my familyis that is home. I'm fairly
nude at LA and I moved.I've lived in several other places. Before
that. My husband moved thirteen timesgrowing up, so you know, we've
got in our personal histories a lotof homes. But really, when we're
(10:48):
together, wherever that is, that'shome. Being with family is home.
And how about for you, John, It's funny I haven't moved as much.
Like my wife and I and ourkids have lived in the same house
for twenty five years, and growingup, I lived in the same house
until I went to college, sothat I remember anyway, And I keep
(11:13):
thinking about the fact that Dean kindof embraced that same, you know,
kind of theme in the movie,and there's shots that he intentionally, like
he intentionally looked for a house thatlooked like kind of a bird cage,
you know, so like that's youknow, that's Kat's home. And the
fact that pigeons establish one home intheir life, and the fact that she's
(11:35):
willing and trying things and pulling offcrimes to try to like maintain this balance
of what she think is home andfamily. So it's it's hopefully a theme
that comes through in the movie.Awesome, thank you both for speaking with
me. I can't wait for everybodyto see Little Wing exclusively on Paramount Plus
Thank you, Thank you, thankyou. Have a great day, you
(11:58):
too, Thanks John Gadden's and susanNe Orlean. I love hearing you know
what inspired the film in true tolife in that respect, as well as
the creative liberties that you take whenyou're making a film, and what changed
from the reality to the film version. All right, we're gonna take a
(12:18):
quick break sixty seconds to pay thebills, hang out with me, listen
to these sponsors because they allow meto continue doing this show for you.
Be back in sixty Thank you forsupporting our sponsors and supporting Pop Culture Weekly.
I love you for it. Ilove hanging out with you and talking
all things movies and TV and youknow, streaming and technology and all of
(12:41):
it. All. Right, last, but not least, I talk with
the stars of Little Wing, ShaeSafari and Brooklyn Prince. Brooklyn has been
on the show before for Apple TVplus's Home Before Dark. Amazing actor.
She of course was in The FloridaProject, which I love. The Florida
(13:03):
Florida Project, marsh King's daughter.She played d D and Cocaine Bear and
The Turning and of course, asI said, she played Mooney in the
Florida project. Incredible actor and ShayTafari co stars along with Brooklyn. He's
a great talent himself. He's beenin eight Bit, Christmas Daredevil as Marcus,
(13:26):
and he's going to have a bigcareer in front of him. Let's
get into it. Shae Safari andBrooklyn Prince, thank you both for speaking
with me. I really appreciate it. Thank you so much. Speak of
course. So first of all,congrats on Little Wing. I really love
it. I think it's like agenre bending film that really it's so layered
(13:48):
and I just think you guys dida great job with it. So congrats
on that. Thank you, Thankyou so much. Yeah, thank you
for certainly the movie yourselves. Ilove the movie. I would watch it.
Yeah, I'll watch it over again. Yeah, we will watch it
over Yeah. Awesome. And forboth of you, you know what,
(14:11):
and we can start with you,Brooklyn. What drew you to this role,
What drew me to the role wasthat Caitlin was, in fact a
typical thirteen year old girl. AndI think that's something that we do need
to share in the industry. Andyou know, I can't say it enough
(14:31):
that normalizing thirteen year old girls andtheir mental health and turning thirteen and what
it's like to be thirteen. Anaccurate depiction is something that just was so
beautifully conveyed in the script and sucha character that I had never seen before,
ever read before that I immediately waslike, oh, yeah, for
(14:54):
sure, this is something that Iwant to do. This is something that
I want to at least auditions for. And just my name in the ring
for that's nice and now here andhow about for you, you know,
I mean, I definitely like Ilove connecting with Adam. You know.
Adam is kind of like me ina way. You know, he's an
enthusiast, you know, like likewhatever whatever like he's interested in, he
(15:18):
will go at it and he willlearn every possible thing about it. And
that's the same thing with me.Whether it be like you know, in
something in history, whether it besomething in music, or whether it be
about like shower curtains, I'll learneverything about it, you know. And
I don't know shower curtains, howthey're made. I'll try to make one
(15:39):
myself. I don't know. Idon't know. There are so many things
that you know, I could beinterested in and just like go in researching
everything about it, and you know, I feel like that, that's what
you know, I share without him. Yeah, and you're talking about like
the YouTube rabbit hole, right yeah, yeah, yeah, no, no,
not no, not even not evenYouTube rabbit holes. ILL go to
(16:00):
libraries and I will find books onit, you know, go to Reddit
when time he is on FaceTime.I mean went down this whole Reddit rabbit
hole and I just I went onPigeons within within five minutes. I was
like, say, what what areyou doing? I get so enamored and
just like just I go hard whenit goes to like researching stuff like that.
(16:22):
Yeah, I love that, Anduh, you know, for me,
the film very much has a dualityin story wise with the pigeons and
with you both in regards to whatis home, you know, and can
we always go back home? Andwhat is home and and all of that?
What is home for both of you? You want to go first?
(16:45):
Yeah, you know, I feellike home is a lot of things.
You know. Home can be physical, you know. I always like to
tell people that there's a difference betweena house and a home. A house
is is something physical, like,but a home is where you know,
you spend memories and you know,you have family, you know you have,
and you just have a connection withthe home. And I feel like
(17:08):
the home it can be anything,whether it be a house, whether it
be whether it be a person,whether it be a family, and whether
it be yourself as well. Youknow, there's always a home is a
place where you feel comfortable and whereyou have a connection. But also home
is a place where you are comfortablebeing uncomfortable, and I feel like that's
that's a yeah. Yeah, homefor me would be anywhere with my parents
(17:37):
and my family, including my dog, my dogs, because my parents and
I and my brother, they reallywe really have a special bond, especially
in this industry of just like now, if I literally have anything, I'll
be like, mom, I'm feelingthis, I'm feeling yeah, I'm feeling
(18:00):
so overwhelmed, and they just literallyknow me the best and they take care
of me in a way that Ifeel comfortable then with most people. And
so I think home for me isdefinitely my people, my parents and my
brother who if I'm feeling sad andsaid, you know, talking to me,
He'll just come and give me thesweetest little hug and it just it
(18:25):
fixes a lot of stuff. Soanywhere with my family is home to me.
That's amazing. Thank you both forspeaking with me. I can't wait
for everybody to see Little Wing exclusivelyAramount Plus. Let's get it done.
Have a great day, guys.Thank you you two. Thanks Satafari and
(18:45):
Brooklyn Prince. I love Little Wing. You will love Little Wing. It
really is just one of those heartfeltyou know. It's drama and comedy and
suspense. It's just a great film. It is streaming right now on Paramount
Plus exclusively, So go check itout. Let me know what you think,
(19:06):
and then hit me up on socialsor if you're using the iHeartRadio app
to listen, you can hit thattalk back button and it'll send me your
voicemail and uh am, I justplayed on the show. You never know.
So all right, next week wegot some great stuff for you.
I can't wait. Keep it up, keep in touch with me throughout the
week. Is I love you.I'll see you next week. We thank
(19:27):
you for listening to pop Culture Weekly. Here all the latest at pop cultureweekly
dot com. Little Wing, LittleWing, Little Wing, Little Win,
Little Wing, Little Wing, LittleWi, Little We He
In this episode of pop Culture Weekly, it's all about the brand new Paramount
Plus film Little Wing. I talkwith the cast and creators. Let's go
Welcome to pop Culture Weekly with KyleMcMahon from iHeartRadio, your pop culture news,
views, reviews, and celebrity interviewson Fall, the Movies, TV
music, and pomp Culture u CrabeWeekly. Here's Kyle McMahon, n Nana
(00:27):
no Net, Hello and welcome topop Culture Weekly with Kyle McMahon. I
of course am Kyle McMahon, andI am so glad that you're here to
hang out with us for another episodeof pop Culture Weekly. This week it
is all about the brand new filmon Paramount Plus called Little Wing, which
(00:49):
you gotta watch. It's really agreat uplifting film based on a New York
Times article a while back from SusanOrlean who it's based on a true story.
So I talk with Susan herself allabout you know how this came to
be in the first place as astory, you know, the original people
(01:10):
that this happened to. She talksto me. I talk with her about
that as well as the new film. Along with Susan, I talk with
Brooklyn Prince who's been on the showbefore for her Apple TV Plus series Home
Before Dark. She's always great andco star Shae Tafari. They are really
great. They just have this energyand just so talented, so awesome and
(01:36):
so amazing in Little Wing. Additionally, I talk with John Gaddins, who
who wrote the film. He's writtensome awesome stuff including Kongskull Island, one
of my favorites ever, Power RangersNeed for Speed Flight with the wonder Only
Denzel Washington, Coach Carter and Moore, and I talk with director Israelite Deans,
(02:00):
such a talented director who directed AreYou Afraid of the Dark, the
reboot series directed Power Rangers Project Almanac, which is also so great Little Wing.
It's based on this true story wherea girl starts acting out because her
parents have divorced and she finds outshe's going to lose her childhood home because
(02:23):
you know, one of the parentsjust can't afford it. And then she
figures out that racing pigeons can beworth a lot of money, so she
creates a plan to steal, borrowsome racing pigeons and get that childhood home
back. It really is great.Let's hop right into it. Let's start
with the director, Dean Israelite.Thank you so much for joining me,
(02:47):
Dean, I really appreciate it.Yeah, thanks for having me, of
course. So you know, firstof all, I love I love all
of your work. What drew youto Little Wing? You know John Gaiden's
who wrote Power Ranges. He andI became close off that movie and he
(03:07):
sent you know, he called meup and he said, you want to
read this weird little script I wroteabout pigeon racing. And I said,
well, John, my father andgrandfather were some of the pre eminent pigeon
races in Johannesburg, South Africa inthe sixties. I'd love to read the
script. And I you know,I came for the pigeons and state for
the people because the characters and theirjourneys are you know, so beautiful,
(03:29):
I think, and those things reallyresonated. So that's how I came to
the project, and the moment Iread it, I loved it. And
you know, we spent six yearstrying to get it made and we finally
did, and thankfully you did becauseit's such a great film. I love
the duality of it. You know, there's I'm trying to be spoiler free,
but there's a for me an allegorythere about home and you know the
(03:54):
pigeons that in the storyline. Isthat something that resonates for you, you
know going into a project like this, Yeah, I mean to me,
I always approach material through the theme. So to me, it's always what
is the movie rarely about beyond justthe story, beyond just what the characters
(04:14):
are going through. What is itall dramatizing underneath all of that. And
so yes, the theme of home, of finding home, of what that
means both externally and also internally inyourself, the ideas of belonging, that's
all very much a part of thismovie. And you're right, the pigeons
are a metaphor for all of that. And I think the pigeons to me
are a metaphor for liberation in thisfilm and pushing through crisis and sort of
(04:38):
finding liberation on the other side ofthat. I love that. And you
have worked on so many amazing projectsProject Almanac, Are You Afraid of the
Dark? Which I love as well, Power Rangers. Doing something like Power
Rangers where it has a big budgetand then you come and do a smaller
budget film. Do they tick alldifferent boxes for you as a creator.
(05:03):
Definitely, I mean something like PowerRangers. It's really fun trying to figure
out how to go about shooting thingsthat you know sort of feel impossible to
achieve. And the amount of youknow, professionals that that you're working with
that can bring these massive sort ofset pieces to life. The preparation that
(05:26):
goes into that, the execution thatgoes into that, that's really fun.
And then something like this, Iwas really excited to do something that feels
more substantive in its themes and isnot it is getting out a lot of
these personal emotional ideas, but withouthaving the trappings of a genre attached to
(05:47):
it. So I wanted to dosomething that felt more character driven and simpler
in that way, where every sceneis just about the human interaction that's going
on on screen. I love that. And finally, what does home mean
to you? I mean, I'vemoved a lot to different continents, and
(06:10):
so to me, it's funny It'slike I don't associate home at all with
a place, you know, Ijust associate home with with like a feeling
and where you feel your best.I think where you feel comfortable, where
you feel you know obviously loved,and I'm a father of young children now
(06:33):
and so like to me like homeis all about where my family is,
and you know, we could beanywhere. But but I don't know.
I think it's just a feeling thatwe all sort of know what that feeling
is. That's great, Dean,Thank you so much. Congratulations on the
film. I can't wait for everybodyto see Little Wing exclusively on Paramount Plus.
(06:58):
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it. Thanks Dean Israelite. Love hearing
his insight on this film, whatdrew him to it and more. Next
up, let's get into the writers, John Gaddins and Susan Orlean. This
is an interesting one and you're hearingthe writer of the original story, the
(07:18):
article that spawned this film, andthe writer of the film itself. Here
they are John Gaddens and Susan Orlean. Thank you both for joining me.
I really appreciate it. Thank you. Oh it's our pleasure, of course.
So first of all, if youdon't mind, Susan, I'll start
with you. This Little Wing startedwith a piece from you. I wanted
(07:42):
to ask you to just speak onthat for a moment. How why that
story that you were telling then spoketo you. You know, I love
writing about subcultures, I love writingabout girls. I love writing about anything
that I don't know anything about.It all came together very completely in this
(08:03):
story. I was chatting with ayoung girl when we were both out walking
our dogs, and she mentioned tome that she was raising racing pigeons,
and I just my journalistic instincts kickedin because I thought, this is the
most unlikely thing I've ever heard,a teenage girl doing a sport that I
(08:28):
didn't think anyone did anymore. Butmore importantly, I assumed it was mostly
done by elderly men. I justknew I wanted to write about it.
And the poignancy of the instinct ina homing pigeon, which is to go
home no matter what it takes.That to me was so evocative that I
(08:52):
knew I could write a story aroundthat. I love that. And for
you, John, you to thisstory. Yeah. No. I had
made a movie for DreamWorks, andSteven Spielberg had optioned Susan's article the second
that he read it, and hesent it to me, and he and
I met and we talked all aboutit, and then I got the chance
(09:15):
to sit with Susan and we talkedabout it, and I then got to
meet the girl that she profiled inthe story. I went to Boston,
I met her and her mom,and then I did more research and I
had more questions for Susan, Soshe and I kind of stayed in touch
on it, and I kind oftook her story and kind of tried to
extend it to make it this clearkind of coming of age story for a
(09:37):
young girl who pulls off a heistand kind of goes toe to toe with
this like older Vietnam vet and therest is movie magic, Yes, and
it is magic. I love thefilm. For me, Little Wing is
very much a There's this duality toit where the theme for me is home
(10:01):
and what that means and for youknow, both for characters in the story
and with the pigeons themselves, whatdoes home mean to both of you.
That's a good question because I've actuallymoved a lot more in my life than
I ever expected to. So whilehome is a place, really for me,
(10:24):
home is family and wherever my familyis that is home. I'm fairly
nude at LA and I moved.I've lived in several other places. Before
that. My husband moved thirteen timesgrowing up, so you know, we've
got in our personal histories a lotof homes. But really, when we're
(10:48):
together, wherever that is, that'shome. Being with family is home.
And how about for you, John, It's funny I haven't moved as much.
Like my wife and I and ourkids have lived in the same house
for twenty five years, and growingup, I lived in the same house
until I went to college, sothat I remember anyway, And I keep
(11:13):
thinking about the fact that Dean kindof embraced that same, you know,
kind of theme in the movie,and there's shots that he intentionally, like
he intentionally looked for a house thatlooked like kind of a bird cage,
you know, so like that's youknow, that's Kat's home. And the
fact that pigeons establish one home intheir life, and the fact that she's
(11:35):
willing and trying things and pulling offcrimes to try to like maintain this balance
of what she think is home andfamily. So it's it's hopefully a theme
that comes through in the movie.Awesome, thank you both for speaking with
me. I can't wait for everybodyto see Little Wing exclusively on Paramount Plus
Thank you, Thank you, thankyou. Have a great day, you
(11:58):
too, Thanks John Gadden's and susanNe Orlean. I love hearing you know
what inspired the film in true tolife in that respect, as well as
the creative liberties that you take whenyou're making a film, and what changed
from the reality to the film version. All right, we're gonna take a
(12:18):
quick break sixty seconds to pay thebills, hang out with me, listen
to these sponsors because they allow meto continue doing this show for you.
Be back in sixty Thank you forsupporting our sponsors and supporting Pop Culture Weekly.
I love you for it. Ilove hanging out with you and talking
all things movies and TV and youknow, streaming and technology and all of
(12:41):
it. All. Right, last, but not least, I talk with
the stars of Little Wing, ShaeSafari and Brooklyn Prince. Brooklyn has been
on the show before for Apple TVplus's Home Before Dark. Amazing actor.
She of course was in The FloridaProject, which I love. The Florida
(13:03):
Florida Project, marsh King's daughter.She played d D and Cocaine Bear and
The Turning and of course, asI said, she played Mooney in the
Florida project. Incredible actor and ShayTafari co stars along with Brooklyn. He's
a great talent himself. He's beenin eight Bit, Christmas Daredevil as Marcus,
(13:26):
and he's going to have a bigcareer in front of him. Let's
get into it. Shae Safari andBrooklyn Prince, thank you both for speaking
with me. I really appreciate it. Thank you so much. Speak of
course. So first of all,congrats on Little Wing. I really love
it. I think it's like agenre bending film that really it's so layered
(13:48):
and I just think you guys dida great job with it. So congrats
on that. Thank you, Thankyou so much. Yeah, thank you
for certainly the movie yourselves. Ilove the movie. I would watch it.
Yeah, I'll watch it over again. Yeah, we will watch it
over Yeah. Awesome. And forboth of you, you know what,
(14:11):
and we can start with you,Brooklyn. What drew you to this role,
What drew me to the role wasthat Caitlin was, in fact a
typical thirteen year old girl. AndI think that's something that we do need
to share in the industry. Andyou know, I can't say it enough
(14:31):
that normalizing thirteen year old girls andtheir mental health and turning thirteen and what
it's like to be thirteen. Anaccurate depiction is something that just was so
beautifully conveyed in the script and sucha character that I had never seen before,
ever read before that I immediately waslike, oh, yeah, for
(14:54):
sure, this is something that Iwant to do. This is something that
I want to at least auditions for. And just my name in the ring
for that's nice and now here andhow about for you, you know,
I mean, I definitely like Ilove connecting with Adam. You know.
Adam is kind of like me ina way. You know, he's an
enthusiast, you know, like likewhatever whatever like he's interested in, he
(15:18):
will go at it and he willlearn every possible thing about it. And
that's the same thing with me.Whether it be like you know, in
something in history, whether it besomething in music, or whether it be
about like shower curtains, I'll learneverything about it, you know. And
I don't know shower curtains, howthey're made. I'll try to make one
(15:39):
myself. I don't know. Idon't know. There are so many things
that you know, I could beinterested in and just like go in researching
everything about it, and you know, I feel like that, that's what
you know, I share without him. Yeah, and you're talking about like
the YouTube rabbit hole, right yeah, yeah, yeah, no, no,
not no, not even not evenYouTube rabbit holes. ILL go to
(16:00):
libraries and I will find books onit, you know, go to Reddit
when time he is on FaceTime.I mean went down this whole Reddit rabbit
hole and I just I went onPigeons within within five minutes. I was
like, say, what what areyou doing? I get so enamored and
just like just I go hard whenit goes to like researching stuff like that.
(16:22):
Yeah, I love that, Anduh, you know, for me,
the film very much has a dualityin story wise with the pigeons and
with you both in regards to whatis home, you know, and can
we always go back home? Andwhat is home and and all of that?
What is home for both of you? You want to go first?
(16:45):
Yeah, you know, I feellike home is a lot of things.
You know. Home can be physical, you know. I always like to
tell people that there's a difference betweena house and a home. A house
is is something physical, like,but a home is where you know,
you spend memories and you know,you have family, you know you have,
and you just have a connection withthe home. And I feel like
(17:08):
the home it can be anything,whether it be a house, whether it
be whether it be a person,whether it be a family, and whether
it be yourself as well. Youknow, there's always a home is a
place where you feel comfortable and whereyou have a connection. But also home
is a place where you are comfortablebeing uncomfortable, and I feel like that's
that's a yeah. Yeah, homefor me would be anywhere with my parents
(17:37):
and my family, including my dog, my dogs, because my parents and
I and my brother, they reallywe really have a special bond, especially
in this industry of just like now, if I literally have anything, I'll
be like, mom, I'm feelingthis, I'm feeling yeah, I'm feeling
(18:00):
so overwhelmed, and they just literallyknow me the best and they take care
of me in a way that Ifeel comfortable then with most people. And
so I think home for me isdefinitely my people, my parents and my
brother who if I'm feeling sad andsaid, you know, talking to me,
He'll just come and give me thesweetest little hug and it just it
(18:25):
fixes a lot of stuff. Soanywhere with my family is home to me.
That's amazing. Thank you both forspeaking with me. I can't wait
for everybody to see Little Wing exclusivelyAramount Plus. Let's get it done.
Have a great day, guys.Thank you you two. Thanks Satafari and
(18:45):
Brooklyn Prince. I love Little Wing. You will love Little Wing. It
really is just one of those heartfeltyou know. It's drama and comedy and
suspense. It's just a great film. It is streaming right now on Paramount
Plus exclusively, So go check itout. Let me know what you think,
(19:06):
and then hit me up on socialsor if you're using the iHeartRadio app
to listen, you can hit thattalk back button and it'll send me your
voicemail and uh am, I justplayed on the show. You never know.
So all right, next week wegot some great stuff for you.
I can't wait. Keep it up, keep in touch with me throughout the
week. Is I love you.I'll see you next week. We thank
(19:27):
you for listening to pop Culture Weekly. Here all the latest at pop cultureweekly
dot com. Little Wing, LittleWing, Little Wing, Little Win,
Little Wing, Little Wing, LittleWi, Little We He
Popular Podcasts
United States of Kennedy
United States of Kennedy is a podcast about our cultural fascination with the Kennedy dynasty. Every week, hosts Lyra Smith and George Civeris go into one aspect of the Kennedy story.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com