Olivia Deeble and Eighth Grade

Australian actor, creator and writer Olivia Deeble has never seen underrated coming-of-age film Eighth Grade... until now.

She reveals if the movie was a reflection of her own teenage years, and whether she’s ever seen eyes bluer than Aiden's.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
You a pete. Hell are you here? Welcome to you
Ain't seen nothing yet? The movie podcast where our chat
to a movie lover about a classic or beloved movie
they haven't quite got around to watching until now. And
today's guest actor, writer creator Olivia Diebel.

Speaker 2 (00:19):
All below. I want to stay here with you.

Speaker 3 (00:31):
He the jobble, I hate snake shucked, I hail you
have an right so you ain't seen nothing.

Speaker 1 (00:46):
You looking forward to today's episode. Olivia Deebel is an
astonishing young woman currently co starring with her in Peter
and the Star Catcher, a Broadway hit, five Tony Awards,

(01:06):
Yes where Tony Award winners and whatever. I'm pretty sure
that how that works. And it is playing in Australia
at the moment. It's a Peter pan origin story. Olivia
plays Molly who may or may not be related to
Wendy who knows. Come and find out. But it has
been so much fun getting to know and working alongside Olivia.
She is such a talented actor and she's absolutely killing

(01:30):
it alongside Otis Danji, who plays boy who may or
may not become Peter Panty does. Olivia is got many,
many many fans, including some of my kids and my
sister through Little Lunch, where she played Tomorrow Noodles, Tomorrow
Noodles or Tomorrow Noodle. Weirdly, I almost directed episodes of
a Little Lunch, but I was asked to by Wayne

(01:51):
Hope and Robin Butler, who created a Little Lunch. I
couldn't do it because I was doing the project. But
that's just a weird little symmetry. And Home and Away
fans know Olivia Deebel. She played Rappie on Home and Away.
Was a big sensation on Home and Away. Won the
Kid's Choice Award in twenty eighteen for Favorite Rising Stars.
She got slimed as well. She's worked with Disney on

(02:13):
the Secret Society of second Born Royals. She co created
and wrote and starred in a series called More Than This,
which she's shot during the pandemic and it's on Paramount Plus.
Checked that out More Than This on Paramount Plus. You
see Olivia with all her talents. She's in a horror movie.
This Yek got Carnige for Christmas. She's doing a lot,

(02:34):
and she's going to do a lot more. Come and
see her live with Peter and a Star Catcher. She's
absolutely killing it. Olivia is fun, funny, talented and bloody
creative and on bloody stokes to be hanging with her.

Speaker 4 (02:46):
To that, Hello, my name is Olivia Diebel, and my
three favorite films are The Lobster.

Speaker 2 (02:59):
Now. The fact that you're into an animal if you
fail to fall in love with someone doing your stay
here is not something that should upset you or get
you down.

Speaker 4 (03:05):
The Three Billboards outside of Ebbing, Missouri.

Speaker 3 (03:08):
I don't think those billboards is very fair.

Speaker 1 (03:11):
The time it took you to get out of here,
whining like a bitch willoughby some other poor girls probably
out there being butchered right now.

Speaker 4 (03:17):
But I'm glad you got your priorities straight. And the Birdcage.

Speaker 3 (03:21):
Madonna, Madonna, Madonna, but you keep it all inside.

Speaker 4 (03:24):
And up until this morning, I had never seen the
film Eighth Grade How to Be Confident.

Speaker 5 (03:37):
So I think one thing a lot of people think
about confidence is that, like you know, you're born with it.
You either are confident or you're not. You know, just
like how some people are tall, you're either tall or short.

Speaker 4 (03:50):
But it's not like that.

Speaker 5 (03:53):
Actually, confidence is a choice. Only awesome thing about confidence
is that you can just start acting like it, even
if you feel like you don't have any For example,
I used to like not be confident at all, but
then one day I'm like, hmm, I want to be confident.

(04:16):
So then I just kind of started acting like it,
and then it made me feel good, and then I
actually started being confident, like without trying. And like, a
big part of being confident is being brave, and you
can't be brave unless you're scared. So for those of
you who are feeling scared about being confident, it's actually

(04:38):
a big part of confidence to be scared, and that's
normal because you can't be brave without being scared. So
go out there and just like be confident.

Speaker 6 (04:50):
And if you don't feel confident, just do it anyways,
make yourself confident, Okay.

Speaker 5 (05:04):
So as always, please share and subscribe to a channel
if you guys like the video and thanks watching.

Speaker 1 (05:11):
It's hard being a kid. It's always been hard, but
in the age of social media, it may be that
adolescence is as hard to navigate now as it has
been at any other time in human history. Kayla, played
expertly by Elsie Fisher. The film commenced shooting a week
after Elsie graduated year eight is a shy, awkward eighth
grader trying desperately to convince the world and herself that

(05:34):
she isn't shy and awkward through her video blogs or vlogs,
where she offers advice on how to appear confident and
putting yourself out there. On the eve of high school,
Kayla dreams of being part of a gang, a team,
a clique. It's not that she's overtly targeted by the
usual mean girls. It's more that Kayla is overlooked. She's ignored.
Kayla is invisible to almost everyone but geeky underwater summer

(05:57):
souldier Gabe Jake Ryan, her sweet and supportive high school
shadow Olivia, Emily Robinson, and of course her single that
Mark Day, played beautifully by Josh Hamilton, who is desperately
trying to connect with his only daughter whilst walking on eggshells. Remarkably,
this seemingly authentic, raw take on a teenage girls journey
is written by a man, comedian Bo Burnham, who you

(06:19):
saw in Promising Young Woman, and he's brilliant lockdown comedy
special Inside. I've only recently come to this film, and
I'm so glad I have Olivia Deebel. Have you ever
looked into the eyes that they're as blue as Aiden's?

Speaker 4 (06:33):
Yeah, or I very viscerally remember being that young and
having a crush on someone who looked exactly like that.
Oh yeah, totally like all of the slower and when
he had his shirt, we already agreed weren't going to
get into it, but just this I completely took me
back and I went, oh, yeah, no, no, yeah, I'm
with her and this and you're just kind of watching
it have no idea what to do.

Speaker 1 (06:53):
I did love the hard cuts, the aide and the music.

Speaker 4 (06:55):
The similarity.

Speaker 1 (06:57):
Yeah, it was great. It was great, But I don't
want to get too far into eighth grade. Thanks for
fitting us in. You are extremely busy currently on stage
Peter and the Star Catcher. We'll get to that in
a monment.

Speaker 4 (07:07):
I'll see you, I'll see We've got to be working
for a few hours, and we're car pulling to work together.

Speaker 1 (07:11):
We are saving the environment in one country at a time.
So we came to this film. I asked you to
do the podcast. You agreed, and then we spoke about
some films that we might do. Break Back Mountain came up.

Speaker 4 (07:24):
It did it did and then I watched Broke Back
Mountain and then thought, perhaps maybe we weren't the two
best people to perhaps delve into the thought on this film.

Speaker 1 (07:32):
Well, it's all cinema.

Speaker 4 (07:33):
It's a beautiful movie.

Speaker 1 (07:34):
It's a beautiful film. I haven't watched it for quite
a while.

Speaker 4 (07:37):
Actually, so also you'd seen it previously.

Speaker 1 (07:40):
I saw when it came out. Yeah, right, yeah, everyone
everyone was seeing Breakback Mountain. But then I watched Eighth
Grade because it kept on coming up in people's top
three films. Frankie McNair had it in her favorite three
films a couple of episodes ago, and I thought, okay,
I need to watch this film. And I watched it,
and I just thought, because you are younger as with
most of the demographic I have on this show, I thought,

(08:02):
instead of me as a forty nine year old bloke
chatting to one of his mates about this particular movie,
I thought it would be interesting to have somebody who's
a bit closer to this.

Speaker 4 (08:13):
I better still be your mate, though, Pete, you are mate.

Speaker 1 (08:16):
Well, we'll see at the end of this. Sometimes these
conversations go pear shaped, Olivia, don't get me started on
Hamish McDonald and puns drunk love. Anyway, we don't talk
about that, so we don't know he's white. Yes, I
didn't think it'd be interesting, and you happily agree. I
think you said you had seen like a part of
it or a moment of view.

Speaker 4 (08:35):
I've seen it advertised or some video of it.

Speaker 1 (08:38):
Yeah, but you hadn't seen it, so I kind of
left on this opportunity. You agreed, so thank you for
doing this. And you watched it this morning, so it's fresh. Yep, yep, fantastic.
Let's talk about Peter in the Starcast before we get
onto your three favorite films, because I must say I've
said this to you privately. Congratulations. You are absolutely smashing it.
To see you from day one at rehearsals in Brisbane

(09:00):
a few months ago to every night where you kind
of rire the anchor for this story and you're driving
a lot of the story. It's emotional every night. You
somehow manage to have a tear come down and exactly
the right point at the right time every time. You're
doing astonishing work.

Speaker 4 (09:17):
Thank you. I really appreciate it. And I mean, yeah,
we've we've definitely spoken about this before, but I think
it's like and both of us coming from more kind
of TV backgrounds as well, the support and camaraderie is
just astonishing, to be honest with you, and like all
of just this kind of you do it because you
love it kind of like that. It's almost like this
beautiful amalgamation of like that working hard Australian we do it,

(09:38):
you know, because we've got to make good stuff. But
then also it's just like everyone has so much fun
every day. Yeah, it's just everyone respects everyone so much,
and everyone's everyone's job there is so vital and important
that you do just want to come to work every
day and do your best. And you have that that
and then you also have that amazing reaction from the
audience immediately. And the thing I found really interesting is

(09:59):
how much I don't want to say the audience dictates
the performance, but how like I obviously knew that it's
this incredible thing of like, you can't replicate the feelings
that exist every each and every night again, but that
moment of like we as an ensemble, go okay, they're
not laughing at those jokes, as all right, we'll push
you guys forward because you like it's even an unspoken way.
It's like, Okay, they're laughing more at the physical humor.

(10:20):
We'll all lean more into that opposed to the dialogue.
Oh tonight, they're enjoying more quickly, kind of breaking the
fourth wall to a degree. Great, we'll lean into that.
And it's just like, that's been so incredible to just
be part of with so many incredible talented people who
just yeah, I don't know, and it's so unspoken, but
then we and.

Speaker 1 (10:38):
It's such a beautiful mix of people who have done
a lot of theater, you know. I know, the second
half starts with dress as mermaids, and it's just like
it's a very camp kind of you know, musical theater number,
but we're dressing these like what like not like her,
but they're kind of yeah, they are.

Speaker 4 (10:55):
They're like alycra aridescent scale.

Speaker 1 (10:58):
And I'm there and I've got we're doing high kicks
and I have Allison White to my left and Paul
Capsus to my right, and every night, at some point
where we're doing those kicks, I just start laughing. I
still I still manage to kind of keep singing, but
I'm laughing through the singing.

Speaker 4 (11:11):
Yeah, because it's so many points like that, it's like it.

Speaker 1 (11:14):
Is and it's kind of joyous. And then you know,
so you have these people have done a lot of theater,
and we caught up. We did some press before we
started the rehearsal, and it was you told me it
was your first time doing theater. It was my first
time doing theater this big. I'd done the Rocky Horror
with and narrating it. This is having a role and
being there from day one totally different. It's really buying

(11:34):
in at every level.

Speaker 4 (11:36):
Yeah, And I think now because we're so we're so
polished with our performances now and like I think we're
really in some kind of a routine. It's just crazy
to think back into like I don't know if you
had these moments on this when we're on stage and
we're just like just I don't know, being a ridiculous
mollusc or like pretending to be an animal as a pirate,
and I just go back to Britain and I'm like,

(11:57):
how the fuck did we get here? Like how these
like initially we're just conversations and offerings or just like
jokes that we've begun that now are like set in
a play that we get to do every single night.

Speaker 1 (12:10):
Yeah, it's crazy, it's really joyous.

Speaker 4 (12:12):
You should come and see it.

Speaker 1 (12:13):
Definitely, come and see it. We're almost finishing Melbourne by
the time you listen. Listen to this Adelaide Sydney Brisbane
in the new year twenty twenty five, come along and
see Peter in a star catch. It's genuinely it is
a five time Tony Award winning a Broadway play. The
review the local reviews have been astonishing, The crowds are
loving it. At the end of each night, it's hilarious.
It's got this kind of goes full panto and myself

(12:35):
and even Colin Lane get to kind of really play around,
and you know, the audience gets involved some nights and
then it just switches on the dime and this is
where you know your talents are remarkable. And then along
with Otis Dangi, who you played this really emotional scene
where people have gone from like literally pissing themselves, well
not literally pissed themselves.

Speaker 4 (12:54):
L literally really we're really in big trouble with darts.

Speaker 1 (13:01):
And then they are crying through your performance and the
connection that you guys have and what it means to
the Peter pan World. It's it's astonishing, and it's at
the end of I come off stage every night. We're
all beaming at the end of each night. It's it's phenomenal.
So come along and check out Peter and the Star Catch.
Let's talk about your three favorite films. They are three
great films. The Lobster is if you haven't seen The Lobster,

(13:22):
bloody hell. It is an incredible film Colin Farrell, and
it is the director whose name, yes, yes, he did
The Favorite Kindness and Poor Things, Pretty Things, Poor Things
with Emma Stone winning the Oscar for that. He is
a filmmaker to watch. And The Lobster is bizarre. So

(13:44):
the Lobster is about it's Colin Farrell and he goes
to a retreat where you.

Speaker 4 (13:48):
So you're so the world in which we enter with
the Lobster is like a reality in which if you're
not part if you don't have a partner, like a
lifetime husband or wife partner, you are you're exiled from
the community or just kind of from the worlds. And
so that typically transpires in that like you either get

(14:09):
taken away, or you run a recluse in the forest,
or you get turned into an animal of your choosing
as soon as you lose your partner, Like if if
you break up or something happens, you have to go
to this hotel. You have to get it initiated, or
you just need to find another partner. So Colin Fower's
character goes to a hotel and he has I think
it's like forty days, I think, to find a match

(14:32):
with someone and then they can be reinented in society.
And if he doesn't, he gets turned into an animal
of his choosing. Yeah, and it's just kind of about him.
I am I allowed to spoil it? Is that how
we Yeah?

Speaker 1 (14:43):
Yeah, he can. There're certainly spoilers for eighth grade, but
also yeah, if you want to avoid spoilers with the Lobster,
maybe skip ahead a couple of thirty seconds.

Speaker 4 (14:52):
So he it's just about him trying to figure out
what he's gonna then do, and he does eventually find love.
I think it's one of the most beautiful love stories,
to be honest with you, and this kind of comment
on society and outlawing and keeping people apart. Yeah, and
I just I really I remember, I don't know if
this is the same with you. There are some films

(15:12):
that do just genuinely impact you. But I also think
it's very much about circumstance and like how it's introduced
to you, where you saw it, what setting it was in,
and like I remember I was I was on Home
and Away at the time, and I was four fourteen maybe,
and the guy a guy who was my co star,
and he played my best friend and then my boyfriend,

(15:33):
then a cousin sister's uncle in very true Home and
Oi fashion, and he was a little bit older than me,
like he was in his twenties, Lucas Radovich, and he
was watching it just like on a little I think
might be a computer and an iPad or something. And
I think it was like my first introduction into like
this kind of art scene in that regard, Like my
own parents had really educated me fantastically on film, but

(15:55):
as a young person with a slightly older person showing
me a kind of nuanced film about love and leaving,
and it was just I think part of it was
that he trusted me that I could take on these
things and like could appreciate the art that he was
sharing with me, and like then that your Ghost now
is like my favorite director of all time, and I
think he's brilliant, and I yeah, like did my year

(16:17):
twelve media studies on him, and like watch all his films,
And when I write films, I have a I try
to have a similar process to him because I think
the way that he creates his art is really magical.
So I think, like I was going to pick I
was going to pick Poor Things as another favorite, but
I think that, like just specifically because the Lobster was
my entry point into it, I think that's yea why
as well?

Speaker 1 (16:37):
Yeah, yeah, no, he makes extraordinary I haven't seen Kinds
of Kindness yet. I was really looking forward to watching
it on a plane coming back from Perth, and I
was like, almost saved you fight coming out on the
way back. It's like a four hour flight. Whatever it
is I've got, I can fit kind kinds of Kindness
in And the entertame system was.

Speaker 4 (16:55):
Down, devastating.

Speaker 1 (16:57):
Absolutely. I was not happy at all. But he does
make extraordinary film.

Speaker 4 (17:02):
I was saying this to Otis actually because I showed Otis,
who plays Peter in pera shameless Little pluck. There's something
so amazing about because like love when we's Anderson and
he does this too. And it's a kind of I
think it's a little bit more visual than your ghost.
But he feels like when he makes a movie, he
creates this entire world in which the dialogue or the

(17:25):
way that they behave is so iconic to a your
ghost film, like you immediately know or true. This is
no matter that like whether it be in the favorite
as a period piece or something in the future, or
a lot of his older stuff was in French and Greek.
Regardless of that, the way in which he creates his
worlds is so immediate that you know, yeah, And I

(17:46):
just think that's I don't know, yeah, I think that's
something so incredible about like being able to create like
this director, he has a universe in his head, and
every time he makes a movie, you get the opportunity
to enter into his world so immediately and the familiarity
of that. I'm sure lots of directors do that. I
think that's why people like and think.

Speaker 1 (18:05):
My point was Thank God. There are filmmakers like Yugust
and Paul Thomas Anderson, Martin D. Mcdona who were about
to talk about and Ruben Osland is another one who
did Force Measure and was nominally for the Oscar for
the Triangle of Sadness. People talk about the marvelization of films,
but thank god there are some of these filmmakers who

(18:27):
are still making these weird, wonderful, beautiful films that we
can as adults appreciate and also that are.

Speaker 4 (18:34):
Just stories too, Like I mean, we'll get I think
we'll dive into this more. But it was so lovely
to just sit there for ninety minutes this morning and
just it's just a story about someone and that's the
beautiful thing about doesn't need this mash crescendo or some
fucked up sorry, some horrible thing to happen. So I'm
so well media trained, I'm.

Speaker 1 (18:54):
To take it back. Apologies to little lunch fans.

Speaker 4 (18:57):
No, no, it's just crazy because Josh from the front
gave me an energy, an energy remedy.

Speaker 1 (19:07):
Josh is the best, is the best, Thank you, Josh.
But you're right. As a story, it's just.

Speaker 4 (19:12):
It's and it's just that like we forget about that
that like it doesn't need to be a huge I
mean there's something too like crazy, big nuts, visceral stories,
but just like allowing yourself to just enter into the
living room or the space of someone for an hour
and a half and then you leave and it's not
a big message or a big letter. It's just you
sharing a vulnerable moment with these filmmakers as they've created

(19:36):
a little piece for you, and then you go again. Yeah,
it's really it's humanizing.

Speaker 1 (19:40):
I guess well, it's when they you might watch the
Oscars every year and somebody will get up and be
quite earnest about what movies do and they connect us
as human beings, and you can roll your arms a
little bit, but it's it's it's kind of absolutely true.
We watch movies so we don't feel alone in this
in this world that we can connect with experiences and

(20:01):
the movie we're I'm talking about today. You know, I've
heard various people talk about it. It's you don't have
to be a third in year old girl to understand
this film. Will get this film, and that's and that's
really powerful. But let's talk about your your Martin McDonough
is one of my favorite filmmakers as well, and he
made three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri. I love this film.
In Bruises is one of my absolute favorite films. Because

(20:24):
you've got brother Patrick, who also makes films Cavalry, Is
he the Cavalary? Was that his brother? He might have
been his brother, I think, which is also another great,
great film. And recently Martin made The Banshees of Insurance.
So great filmmaker. He's certainly if he's got a new
film out on my ticket is already purchased. Why do
you love Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri?

Speaker 4 (20:46):
I think it's so incredible. Well, I think it's just
so incredibly profound, Like I think the story, the story
is just nuts. And I think that Francis McDermot always
reminds me of my mother a little bit, just in
her presence. Like I watched Almost Famous recently.

Speaker 1 (21:00):
I was basically five minutes of it the other day
because I was leaving the house, but it was almost
like five minutes later than I had to because I
was watching so.

Speaker 4 (21:10):
Good, such a good film. But just anyway, So I
think there's this there's this female strength that that woman
commands that makes me feel as if I'm her child
to some degree in anything that she does with her presence.
And I think it's just it's about the film is
about a takes place of her family after the eldest
daughter has been pretty brutally assaulted and murdered, and the

(21:33):
mother is waiting for the cops to do something about it,
and so she purchases three billboards outside of Eving, Missouri
that say some pretty crazy stuff about the lack of justice. Yeah,
the lack of justice directly towards the headshriff for cop
of the town. Yeah, And it's just I mean, this

(21:54):
story structure just blew my mind. I think, like this
is definitely one that you can't spoil, but like what
happens with him and that being in the first like third,
and then the growth of that other copy. I can't
remember the actor sent but that like just the turnaround,
and I think, like again talking about really, yeah, oh
my god, Samrockle is so good in that, and just

(22:16):
like that you didn't know what was going to happen.
You were already so devastated. It was so harsh and raw,
but also so hopeful. And then I don't know, it
just it just knocks me for a long time, and
I think it just has all of these incredible elements
to it that just it just it feels if it
feels so real and also so horrific, and yeah, I

(22:38):
don't know, it just isn't incredibly.

Speaker 1 (22:39):
It's really it's really dark, but it is. Yeah, it
is a it's a it's a beautiful film, and it
takes the places respected. Yeah, you know Woodie Harrelson's characters,
he has his own journey. It's not sideways in.

Speaker 4 (22:52):
Sam Rockell's character has his own journey. And just like
the way in which they're able to paint these backgrounds
so gently too, like it's I don't know, it's it's
a crazy movie.

Speaker 1 (23:03):
And also I think it's one of the first times
perhaps i'd seen Caleb Landry Jones, who plays Red, who's
like the the let's just say that, the dumb cop
if you like.

Speaker 4 (23:15):
Yeah, and no, no, no, he played he played the printmaker.

Speaker 1 (23:20):
The printmaker that's right, Yeah, that's right. And yeah, so
France and mcderman has to buy the billboards off. Even
the police have it take exception to it. But he's
an extraordinary actor.

Speaker 2 (23:29):
Oh my god.

Speaker 4 (23:30):
Just but also like it's just everyone is so brilliant
in it, and it's just I think there's also this
level of like not romanticism with America, but it's very
separate from especially the experiences I've had. But I think
as a culture as a whole, We're not. It's very drat,
it's quite different, Like I don't know things about it.
So when you watch a film like that and it's

(23:51):
so quintessentially American, and I just kind of think in
the current climate as well, it's just like holy shit,
yeah crazy. But it's just a yeah, She's a really
impactful movie. And I think it's just like I think
female rage and pain and strength and power is just
so And this is like a biased and selfish perspective,
but I just find it so strong and so moving,

(24:12):
and especially a story about like a mother's kind of
love and what she will do and her sense of
injustice and how she needs to be heard and for that, Like, yeah,
it's just that comparison and of like it wasn't good
enough and it's justifiable that it wasn't good enough for her,
and she will do whatever she needs to to.

Speaker 1 (24:29):
Get justice for a daughter. Absolutely, and France McDormand sells
strength like no other actor.

Speaker 4 (24:37):
I not like with a look that's what I'm saying. Yeah,
it's just she's so still and so it's not scary,
it's just but this is the thing, and I think
this is a beautiful thing. She doesn't or the way
that she comes across. She's not embarrassed about her emotions.
I think that this is a pretty big thing for
like women seen as hysterical or dramatic or over the top.

(24:58):
So you're quite consistently like checking yourself for regaining because
you don't want to come across as emotional or erratic.
She just doesn't care, and that just yeah, pays off
every single time and leaves such an impact on you
because she's being genuine.

Speaker 1 (25:16):
Yeah. Yeah, extraordinary film and maybe.

Speaker 4 (25:22):
Let's light things up with the Bird Cage. Such a
good film. I watched it really young, and I just
I love Nathan Lane and Robin Williams like he was
my first, like probably first like love. I watched More
Can Mindy quite young, and so I had a real
entrance into his comedy there and then just kind of
kept watching it and I think it's just you know,

(25:43):
it's just a perfect storm. It's hilariously camp. It's it's
Nathan Lane and Robin Williams playing a married a gay
married couple that own a night club drag house, and
Nathan Lane is the head drag queen and Robbie Williams
owns it and their son is getting married. It's so funny.
I've forgot how funny it is. Have you seen it?

Speaker 1 (26:03):
Yeah, I don't have the memory of it.

Speaker 4 (26:07):
It's good, it's good. She's getting married to like a
super conservative the daughter of like a super conservative politician. Yes,
and hilarity ensues as they meet, and they're stressed about
the two dads meetings. So the two dads meeting the
conservative parents, so they like try to get rid of
Nathan Lane, and he's very camp and upset about that,

(26:30):
and then try to get his biological mother to come
and pretend to be the mom, but then she gets
suck in traffic. So then Nathan Lane dressed up as
a woman, and then like it's just this like dinner show. Oh,
it's just they're just hiding all the gay paraphernalia because
they're so stressed about like the conservative Yeah, it's just
a it's a lot of fun and it's music and
like just that incredible physical hilarity and it's just being

(26:52):
so over the top and yeah, just great, it's great.

Speaker 1 (26:56):
Revisit the bird Cage. Really fun for a long time. Okay,
let's get in to the movie. We are here to
talk about Today from twenty eighteen, written and directed by
Bo Burnham, kind of came the prominence in on YouTube
a lot of YouTube stuff. Sound comedian, very good actor
as well promising young woman stars Elsie Fisher and Josh Hamilton.

(27:19):
Olivia Deevil, did you enjoy eighth Grade?

Speaker 4 (27:21):
I really enjoyed it.

Speaker 1 (27:23):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (27:23):
It was lots of fun. There was some points where
not I just was a bit like, where's it going?
But I think that's I think that's nice. I think
it's nice when that happens because it's forcing you to,
like sit, It's like a concentration exercise. It's like I
don't need to be stimulated all the time. I can
just be enjoying what's going on objectively. I thought the
way it was shot was great, like what we talked

(27:44):
about it before, of like the just watching her watch
things and it being like she being quite still as
this world moves around. And I love the idea of
an immersive music or immersive kind of soundtrack when that
really takes over and describes. I thought the music was
great in it. I thought I complimented it really well,
and it lack was very like it was a big

(28:06):
variety of music too as well, So I thought that
was cool. What's the leads girl?

Speaker 1 (28:09):
The girl's name Elsie Fisher.

Speaker 4 (28:12):
She's just so good, so good, She's so so good.
Oh she made me like sometimes when she like.

Speaker 2 (28:18):
No, no, babe.

Speaker 4 (28:19):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (28:21):
I so I can now say this. I loved this film,
which maybe is unsurprisingly because I was urging you to
watch it and wanted to do it. I was blown
away by this film, I understand. I went back and
looked at what films were nominated for the twenty nineteen Oscars,
and the favorite was was in there. Green Book won

(28:43):
and like Panther, Like Clansman, Vice, A Star Is Born,
Bahemi Rhapsody, this should have been nominated. And I looked
at the best actresses. Olivia Coleman won for the Favorite.
Got no problem with that, Lady Garga and Melissa McCarthy
and one of the actresses from Roma and Glenn Close
for the Wife, and Elsie Fisher should have been in that,

(29:04):
and I have no problem if you hear that one.
That was an astonishing performance, made all the more astonishing
by the fact that I've heard bo Burnham say that
all her starters and stumbles were all scripted, so it's
not this idea where.

Speaker 4 (29:18):
This kind of just just just say, just film you
as you're doing this.

Speaker 1 (29:22):
Yeah, it is a performance. And sometimes when somebody the
first time I've all seen Elsie Fisher. I remember when
Chris O'Donnell came onto the scene with the sense of
a woman or Ethan Hawk in their pelts. So playing
like nervous, stumbling kind of characters, you're not sure how
much of it is just them and how much is
he is genuine acting. And then you see, particularly Ethan

(29:44):
Hawk's career evolved, you're going to go, I know, that
was a brilliant performance. And so sometimes you're not sure
and we still don't know. We haven't rely seen Elsie
Fisher's career evolve fully yet. But knowing that that was
all scripted, I think it's astonishing.

Speaker 4 (30:01):
And it adds another it adds another layer to it
as well, because it's not just let me capture something
that's currently going on, it's replicating. Yeah, so she was awesome.
I didn't have that. I had I had a very
unorthodox childhood experience.

Speaker 1 (30:15):
So you so the age is thirteen, I think basically
eighth grade. Yes, so, and you had You had a
dip because you went off working for a bit and
you had a different kind of schooling kind of experience.
Tell us about that.

Speaker 4 (30:27):
Yeah, so I, well I already had a pretty bizarre
I went first to a bilingual primary school because my
mum really wanted me to speak French, so I went
there for a few years. And then we went to
with Steiner Steiner Kids, which is like an alternative learning
stream like Montessori, so already not necessarily like an Australian
kind of education. And then I got Little Lunch, the

(30:51):
first TV show that I started doing at twelve. So
then I was out for a year and we did
schooling on set, but yeah, we were just in a
little kind of built school system. And then we just
go off every couple of hours in film. So that
was awesome but not not a normal experience. And then
I came back and then I was at school. Yeah,
you know what probably for that kind of year. It

(31:12):
was this year going into years six, maybe finishing year sixty,
year seven.

Speaker 1 (31:18):
Well, this is a thing is in America, you know,
the first couple of years it's it's not quite high school.
So we go to high school in year.

Speaker 4 (31:26):
Seven seven, yeah, so this is I believe the middle
school bit, which is yeah, six, seven a and then nine,
ten eleven, I guess high school yea, yeah, so no,
this was actually I was the year seven to year
achs and I got home and away when I was
going into year eight, right, So yeah, I had like
one year at school in this regard, and I do
really there were the components I really related to, is like,

(31:48):
regardless of I think where you fit in the clicks
or your popularity, usually that monologue about how she feels
like she's just consistently and perpetually anxious, and I just
like that it's just so true and just like relatable
of you like so desperately trying to be cool and
just trying that to like you just want nothing more
than to be liked or not even liked, but just

(32:09):
to be like allowed to be part of the group
like this, like hankering for like watching them all laugh
and like having no idea what the what they're laughing
at and how do you find that funny or like
what's cool at the moment, and like, Okay, how do
I make myself cool? For that is just maybe it's
not a universal experience, but I think it's just it's

(32:29):
really interesting how much of that is placed like that
really feels like the quintessential kind of adolescence moment, which
I'm I don't know, is that that the same fear?

Speaker 3 (32:38):
Well?

Speaker 1 (32:38):
I think so I had a good, you know, high
school experience and primary school, and I had a lot
of a group of friends who basically went from primary
school with me to my high school. And they're still
my friends. You know, they're still my group. Yeah, but
they're still we can all relate to the feeling of
being anxious or nervous about something. I mean, when we

(33:00):
out of you know, these rehearsals repeat in the Starcatcher.
That first day felt like like the first day of school,
and like I knew Colin Lane was the only person
I knew beforehand, and I knew of people but I
didn't know and it's it's very different experience. And I
remember thinking, oh, some of these people already know each
other and oh god, yeah, you know, and it was

(33:20):
it was bizarre.

Speaker 4 (33:21):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (33:22):
So I think, you know, you don't have to be
like I said early at third and you're a girl
to realize this is such a relatable thing. And I
think the genius about what they've done with eighth grade.
Bo Burnham is the dad character is also another window
into this movie like that I so I watched this.
I'm not sure if I told you this. I'm not
sure if I've I told one or two of fellow

(33:43):
actors at Star Catcher. But I watched this after a
show one night and just put it on and I
burst into tears at one point when and we'll play
it a bit later, when there's a when he finally
gets through to her, there's a connection and she kind
of like leaps into his arms, and I just I
just I took Like in the morning, I'm in an

(34:03):
apartment in camera by myself, and I'm just bawling at
this movie about this eighth grade. But it's not just
about her. It's like having that window in because as
a parent, you are just trying to well. My attitude
is I won't be able to teach you everything. You know.
I don't have the skills like you know, like you
can learn how to put a fish on the hook yourself,
you know, or somebody an call teacher.

Speaker 2 (34:25):
You know.

Speaker 1 (34:25):
I'll teach you how to ride a bike and simple things,
but my main aim is to make you feel that
you are safe, that you are supported, and you are laughed.
That's been my attitude the whole way through. And also
you know he's had to, i think, be a good person, respect,
you know, and all that stuff. And you to see
him trying to get through to her, and they played

(34:46):
at a really good level that she is not nice
to her, but we don't, we don't dislike her. There's
a really good film playing in cinema at the moment
called Audrey, made by some friends of mine, Natalie Bailey
directed in Lucan's that they worked with me on how
to Stay married. And they have a daughter called Audrey
who and she is an awful, awful, awful character. You

(35:10):
hate you hate her pretty quickly, and she's a bit
older than than Kayla. But there's an absolute purpose that
she actually goes into a coma and everybody's lives becomes
better while she's in the So it's a strategy to
have the audience not like this character where you know,
in the wrong hands, else you could become a bit
unlikable because of the way she's treating her dad. But

(35:32):
because she's she is so likable, and we wanted to
win and we understand why that frustrations well.

Speaker 4 (35:37):
Because inherently it's like that's for her. He is a
safe Like there's that thing of like she's just decompressing
on him and so like she's had to keep it
together so hard and be so nice and so smiling
to everyone that actually, like he is her place of
safety to relinquish or be disrespectful in that regard. I
also fucking love the fact that they had so they
were so similar like in their like he was so

(35:59):
anxious and he was like you just you know, you
gotta be confident in himself and like, and I love
that because I feel like we don't we pit parent
and child relationships against each other in films so much
like you don't understand me, I don't understand you will
just keep budding and then we'll have a big yell
or something fucked up will happen, and then we can
be friends again at the end. Whereas this was just like, yeah,

(36:21):
you're totally right, Like his performance was so like I
just want to get through to her. Am I gonna
try this angle? L right, I'll try this angle or
back off, because in the beginning I was like, tell you,
tell it to get off a phone. Yeah, a little
bit when I hadn't like a little and I was like,
why is he So I was like, Oh, he's gonna
be a bit of a wet blanket, like he's just
kinda kind of a pear. And then I'm gonna he's
gonna say something that to go And it did. Wasn't

(36:41):
that like you? You also felt bad for him, but
justified for her and like confused as to why he
was so casual, like I wanted him to be more present,
but then realizing like he knew that's I don't know,
maybe his parents never did that for him, and so
he was trying to give her the space because he
knew that.

Speaker 1 (36:59):
He probably also knows if he pushes goes down that road,
he will push her away. Only daughter. The mom's not
on the scene. There's only a fleeting reference of her leaving. Now.
It sounds like she left as opposed to die.

Speaker 2 (37:13):
Die.

Speaker 1 (37:14):
I think you will probably know more about it if
she did die. But I love that There's all these
things that aren't.

Speaker 4 (37:21):
Well.

Speaker 1 (37:21):
The fact she's invited to that pool party. The only
reason she gets invited to that pool party the mum,
because the mum has the crush has a crush on
a single dad and it's so fleeting. If you're not
paying attention, you don't see it. But it's the only reason.
When she's looking over her shoulders your dad. Yeah yeah,
And it's so it's so beautifully done. And also that

(37:42):
all of her posts basically come from something her dad
tells her. It's like he is getting true. Absolutely, it's
just so true. And for someone like Bo Burnham, who's
a young man my knowledge, does not have kids. But
that was a made up trend, by.

Speaker 4 (37:56):
The way, That's what I'm saying exactly, Like it's so.

Speaker 1 (38:00):
Which which which I love because it's clever. Yeah, Elsie
apparently would say it, and she didn't know why she said.
She just kind of she was nervous and she didn't
have to finished sentence, and so she just got Gucci
and then it became the thing.

Speaker 4 (38:11):
Exactly and they included it, which is like super clever
and I think that's really fun creating. Or just even
the like the whole movie was so awkward, like when
they're in the just even like the practice gun uh drill,
oh my god, or just even the like when they're
in the line just kids yelling out just absolute shit,
just like the Dribbler. Every time anyone said that was

(38:34):
really I was like, you were immediately back in like
I was back in this classroom with all of these
weird teenagers that I didn't understand, but I did really
relate to her. That other beautiful thing was the dad
relationship where he's spying and then he does let her go,
and like when he then says, Okay, I'll let you
go and I'll let like I trust that you're going
to be safe, and then she gets driven home by

(38:56):
that boy and we'll talk about that scene in a
second anyway, but that she did like she said no,
she said she wasn't comfortable, and then later when he said, like,
I've raised you to know your own boundaries and respect that,
I just thought, like that was just lovely in just
the space that they gave one another, and like actually
making her I think doing writing like that's really clever

(39:16):
because it was an evident decision of consent and the
levels that were comfortable with and also that like you
do need to it's okay that he let her go
and be in that car because she was pretty aware
of the danger or the risk quite early on and
I think it was like that is how you, as
a young woman learn. He's like, you can get in
a slightly hairy situation, you go, okay, no, that could

(39:39):
have been worse. So that's the boundary that leads to that, No,
I am able to still get myself home, or I'm
able to still be consenting. And then I really enjoyed
that the reason she stopped or the last video she makes,
she's like, I'm gonna stop making them a while because
I don't think I'm being authentic. I thought it was
going to be like a mental health spiral, but was
really incredibly insightful that she was just like, I just
don't think what I'm preaching right now is the truth yet,

(40:00):
and so I need to go. And I just thought
that was really great and like you could see her mature.
I think it's quite hard, and she matures quite late
in the film too, like I'm like last ten minutes
kind of thing, you know, where she's really like, she's
pretty the same, pretty insecure and nothing like she isn't
really landing the friends, it isn't really working for her.
It's still feeling quite fake or performity of up until
those last ten minutes. And then that was really lovely

(40:23):
because it's almost like, yeah, but that's where hitting puberty
feels like. And then suddenly tomorrow the next day and
you're the you know everything and you're confident in yourself
and everything's changed now and like, oh, I'm new. Yeah,
And so it was even that like mirror mimicking that.
That's kind of what puberty. You're evolving, feels like. You
have like a really shit seven months and like everything sucks,

(40:44):
and then suddenly you're, oh, okay, we're on it. Right,
there's a new spike of some hormone or a doorphone,
or your brain develops a little bit more, you get
more insight, and then you you're there and you're changed.

Speaker 1 (40:53):
Because I do think you're absolutely right. It's she's being performative,
and I think she's that's the thing. I think she's
she's smart and she's self aware, but she is trying
to convince herself or manifest this confident person by doing
these vlogs, and like she knows she's lying. I think
I don't think she really believes she's a guru, but

(41:16):
she I think she's thinking if I can convince people
that it will be true, then it will be true.

Speaker 4 (41:22):
Yeah, And this is the interesting thing. I think perhaps
this happens more because we've had access to social media
so young. You have access to it's not just a
small bubble, it's not that like this is the hierarchy
of the school. And then my social peers that I
hang out with here, like you immediately log on and

(41:42):
can interact with a variety of people from all these
different walks of life and immediately see images that you
would not be privy to, like maybe you'd see them
in a magazine or a newspaper, but like that they're
immediately tangible and accessible to your phone, and that you
have this added like layer. It's like an added responsibility
of who's my what is my social presence? Like every
time like that happened to me when I first got

(42:04):
an Instagram account that was just for friends, Like you
sit and you mull over and you look at theirs
and you think, okay, is this right? So this is
the filter that everyone's using, Like okay, so I'll use
that filter and plan the photos and this is the
aesthetic that's going on, and so we all then like
I just remember that so viscerally in high school, like
from like like at the moment in Instagram landscape pictures

(42:26):
that have no editing that are kind of like or
of bizarre shit is really like popular and like if
you did that with the selfie and then like you covered,
so it's like and I don't need it, Like I'm not.
I try quite hard to remove myself from subscribing to
the importance, taking away importance from that because it just
it didn't make me inherently happy at all, and I
think it like is fucked for people's mental health, but

(42:49):
it's still inside me totally there, and I think that's
like he did it really well. When she's staying up
and just scrolling and scrolling and scrolling into the fucking
hours and just like you're looking at these women's bodies,
women's smile, telling you how confident and awesome they are
and how much you should just love yourself and like
you know it's fake, but you just still consume it
and you just it's a crazy like the phone is

(43:10):
a crazy addiction.

Speaker 1 (43:12):
And yeah, it's gonna be fascinating over the next year
or so. In Australia, where there are laws that will
who knows how they're going to police it, and we
don't need to get into that, but it's you know,
if you you can't be on social media until you're sixteen. Yeah,
and I think it's great.

Speaker 4 (43:28):
I think that's a great rule, you know.

Speaker 1 (43:31):
And I hope, I hope it has an impact and
I hope that, you know, they can police it. I
noticed if my kids, they were all all my kids
were big readers growing up. Yeah, we read them a
whole lot.

Speaker 5 (43:41):
You know.

Speaker 1 (43:42):
I've written books that you know, you know, they've seen
me right then, they've seen them published, and as soon
as I put a phone in their hands, they stop reading. Yeah,
And you know, I'm hopeful it comes back to them
that we planted at an age where you know, sometimes
you do go away from books because you've reading them
for school and maybe you don't like the books you've
been told to read. But I'm hoping it's it's inherent

(44:02):
in them. It will come back. Yeah. I do like
that it doesn't overtly demonize social media though, Like it's
not like she's putting content out into the world people,
she's not getting trolled, yea. And even the fact that
like the Girls, they couldn't the versions of this movie
were they're meaner, you know, like like the mean girls,

(44:22):
you know, and and they they're not. They're really just
ignoring her really like for them, they she doesn't exist.
And yes, they could be nicer, but they're not. They're
not trolling her, they're not playing jokes on her. It's
and I thought that was a really clever move as well.
There are a lot of smart choices, a lot of
times where bo Burn has not taken.

Speaker 4 (44:44):
The easy option absolutely or just it's also honed in
more like it inherently makes it more complicated because then you,
as an audience member have to go, oh, well, they're
not being mean, but they are completely ostracizing her, And
if I was in that position, I would be totally
upset and trying to Like, it makes you think about
it more because the obvious is not happening consistently. Yeah,
and just even that, like going back to this this

(45:05):
car scene where she's getting driven home and a boy
tries it on with her, you know, in the end
he even like when she's apologizing and he's just kind
of flipped it on his head, and that almost kind
of made it light again too, because it's like, yeah,
like you're both just yt like I don't know, it's
not like and that's really important to me. I think
it's like important to talk about the little the little
awkward bits that's like, that's not assault, it wasn't well.

(45:28):
I think it's dependent on like everyone's it was perspectively different,
but I don't. Like, I think it's really important talking
about acknowledging that things can make you feel uncomfortable, but
lines haven't been crossed or things haven't been taken away,
or you've been abused or something has now happened to you.
Like it's important to understand that things happen in the
world and going, oh, that didn't make me feel good,
but now I know that that doesn't make me feel good. Yeah,

(45:49):
and so I can move from this.

Speaker 1 (45:52):
And there's a filmmaker and she's.

Speaker 4 (45:53):
Not damaged, Like that's what it's nice. She's not damaged,
and that's so important, Like we don't need to see
another thirteen year old like take drugs and then something
awful happening to them and then burning all of their
all of their bridges before they're even like eighteen. It's
nice to just like someone who's just like having a
bit of a crap time and it gets better, is lovely.

Speaker 1 (46:14):
Yeah, And we've seen the movies where they might you know,
have sex before they wanted to or and then feel
bad about afterwards. And it's like we've seen that, I
think bo burn and makes a smart choice to not
even have any kind of physical contact. He doesn't even
lean in for a kiss or anything. But but it

(46:36):
still makes the point that these are my boundaries. Yeah,
and the fact that she has to kind of then
he's trying to kind of apologize to him, and he,
you know, says a lot as well, let's have listened
to this a little bit of that moment.

Speaker 7 (46:50):
Ah, okay, well, choose their dare.

Speaker 3 (46:55):
I think there?

Speaker 2 (46:58):
Oh kay?

Speaker 8 (46:59):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (47:00):
Uh uh?

Speaker 7 (47:06):
Put this corder in your mouth? You yeah, sorry, that
was gross. Ah okay, Well, like you know, uh what
do you what do?

Speaker 2 (47:21):
What do you want to do?

Speaker 4 (47:22):
You know you can pick.

Speaker 5 (47:30):
H. I don't know ship.

Speaker 4 (47:36):
So much.

Speaker 3 (47:43):
I could take my shirt off.

Speaker 2 (47:45):
I mean that's stupid though, Is that stupid? Uh? No, No,
that's fine. I feel like a fucking idiot.

Speaker 1 (47:57):
Is it fine if I take my shirt off?

Speaker 4 (47:59):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (48:00):
All right, I'm.

Speaker 3 (48:01):
Gonna do it.

Speaker 2 (48:12):
H truth are there? Uh uh uh?

Speaker 4 (48:22):
Truth?

Speaker 2 (48:25):
No?

Speaker 8 (48:26):
Fun?

Speaker 4 (48:28):
Uh sorry, okay.

Speaker 1 (48:33):
There, Yeah, and she she she does take a stay
in and say no, I'm not I'm not comfortable doing this,
and it's it's a really good performance by both of them.
I'm not sure what the actor's name is, but yeah,
it's so the intention, you know what the intention is,
and you're kind of right, they're gond of go what

(48:53):
it like? You know, what.

Speaker 2 (48:58):
Is it?

Speaker 1 (48:58):
Okay? Like you know, like we're at the line, like
what lines has he crossed? It's a it's a much
of murky and youanced scene then just the obvious one
of him, you know, forcing himself on.

Speaker 4 (49:11):
Yeah, exactly, and I think it's it's important to honor
that like that. Yeah, like that is the age, Like
that's kind of the age range that it does happen.
And it's or just even like the boy that she
has a crush on, like walking around like with the
T shirt just like around his neck, or then just
like he's playing a game and she's like, oh, I

(49:32):
don't open this dirty picture? Really, what's it off? Just
like it's so but there's still so much youth in it.
I guess I didn't really have that experience as much
with like felt like boys were a little bit more
terrified of me because I was more so I don't
think I kind of had that experience with bot, Like
it was me and me being like, who wants to
bliss in the bottle?

Speaker 2 (49:53):
Am I?

Speaker 4 (49:53):
Right?

Speaker 1 (49:54):
Am?

Speaker 3 (49:54):
I right?

Speaker 1 (49:54):
Crazy?

Speaker 4 (49:55):
Guys? But yeah, it just I don't it was it
was so light and youthful and that like it was
just it was really refreshing and that was really nice.
And it don't like a it blasts you back into reminiscing,
but it also is like quite accurate of what teens
are still like today as well. Yeah, like it's still

(50:16):
it managed to I mean, I don't know mine, my
my nostalgia only goes not that far back, but yeah,
I think it managed to balance that well. And I
don't know if you feel like the best piece of
advice I ever got for things I'm writing is trust
that your audience are going to be as intelligent as
you are. Like once you kind of let go of like,
oh well, we have to explain this to the audio.

(50:37):
You need to give them some exposition. They're funck, They're
not gonna understand if we don't, so then you have
to take all this time to like justify the story
and it it's in a lot of cases I think
sometimes it's helpful, like, for example, in this play, the
exposition is very helpful that we're doing because it needs
for the story. But obviously that's a very different comparison.
But when you're doing something like this, they don't need

(50:59):
to know. We're smart enough that we'll go, okay, well,
it's probably because of this. Okay, it's probably because of this,
And that's just like, I don't know, that was the
best advice I've ever got when writing. It's like the
producer might go, hang on, well, no, but this doesn't
make sense, and it doesn't. If you just use your
logical thinking, you will probably come to a conclusion that
it might not be the answer. But isn't that exciting?

(51:21):
Isn't it exciting that you're allowed to come into this
a little bit. You don't know where her mum is,
you don't know where the dad ends up, you don't
know if she has If it gets much worse before
it gets better again, you know, like this is just
a tiny blip and it's up to you to then
continue to mull over what that makes you feel. But
if it's all kind of really played out, and lots
of times when something really horrific happens, you kind of

(51:42):
just then get stuck on that and it's not even
then about the story or what has evolved and what
this person has made you feel, or all her little
tiny little arms and ahs, you know.

Speaker 1 (51:54):
Yeah, yeah, they remind me that the body language that
Elsie gives, that the hunts.

Speaker 4 (52:00):
Just even the shoulders and the arm kind of.

Speaker 1 (52:04):
You know, across her body, you know, and holding the
other arm and scratching. You know, it is such so good.
And I also loved again not an obvious choice, like
when when she had the shadow day at the high
school and she met Olivia, who was.

Speaker 4 (52:22):
Kind of like her but popular. Yeah, like she was
awkward and.

Speaker 1 (52:25):
Was like immediately lovely, and you're kind of thought, Okay,
she's going to let her down at some point, and
she calls her that night, and you know, she does
them all and then and and it's like the obvious
thing is to kind of have her let her down.
Like I was almost waiting for Elsie to overhear a
conversation where they're having a go with her, you know,
when they're bagging her, you know, well, have you bought
this girl? And you know, and and and be let

(52:48):
down by that. But Olivia doesn't let her down.

Speaker 4 (52:50):
And I think that's also the nice thing maybe, or
what I really do appreciate about this is it's like
a her faux confidence, but also her disdain towards herself
is so personal, like no one is. And I think
that's the thing, right, It's like, no one is actually
thinking about you that much, No one cares that much,
Like you're just the nice ninth grader that they've got,

(53:10):
come on along, who's a bit shy. No one is
thinking about eat any more than that. And that was
really refreshing too. It's not like this completely ostracized for
being a weirdo. It's just like, yeah, if you don't
speak in class, and then if you do, something will
happen and you don't. Yeah, it was good. It was
a good movie. It was really it was nice and
refreshing to watch this morning gave me a good like

(53:32):
pep and it was.

Speaker 1 (53:33):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (53:34):
It was nice and light but also tackled I think,
checking in with yourself and your confidence and anxiety.

Speaker 1 (53:41):
Yeah, it's funny. It had you know, the performances. You know,
she's so good, no good, I can't like it. I
really believe it's in the ask a worthy performance, and
then you have I mean, let's let's play when we
first meet Gabe. No, this is not when we first
meet Gabe. I don't think this is I think when
the date he goes.

Speaker 4 (54:04):
Has the fish fingers and then every single source provided
and oh what is that looking at? Oh? Yes, well actually,
and that was even lovely too, because it's like those
two boys, like the one she initially has a crush
on seeing with his fucking gum oh my god, like
monkeys anyways, but even human gay being the same mate,

(54:28):
and that's totally just like it's such a fun like
the tween area is so funny, right, and almost like
being a young girl is funny too, because you are
desired by this bizarre older boy who wants you to
take his shirt off in the back of his car,
and you also have a crush on this person who's
like laid out identical fish fingers and does arm Marie,
but actually think its pretty stupid, Like it's just yeah,

(54:49):
it's those those two things can exist at once, and
she can feel both comfortable and uncomfortable in both circumstances,
and she tries to fit in and establish her place, and.

Speaker 1 (55:00):
Also like during this date, they kind of they kind
of say, this is we're hanging out as friends, you know,
like just to have that we don't we don't know again,
we don't know if down the track and my turning
to something something else, but let's have a listened to
Gabe and Kayla.

Speaker 2 (55:16):
I've I've seen some of your videos. Oh those are
really dumb.

Speaker 3 (55:20):
No, no, no, no, they're actually really cool.

Speaker 2 (55:22):
I love those videos. You're really you're really smart.

Speaker 3 (55:25):
About stuff, like you know a lot of things. Thanks.

Speaker 4 (55:29):
I was thinking you should maybe you can maybe have
like your own talk show or something.

Speaker 3 (55:34):
Yeah, it might be weird that all you like.

Speaker 6 (55:40):
Yeah, okay, good, I'm just nervous.

Speaker 2 (55:42):
Yeah, no, no, it's fine. I am yeah. Yeah, am
I being like quiet or okay.

Speaker 6 (55:55):
You've been pretty talkative, but not in like an annoying way,
just just responding to me here.

Speaker 4 (56:00):
Yeah, this is a this is a good conversation, don't
you think.

Speaker 2 (56:04):
Yeah, we're doing some good talking. Yeah, it's a nice chat.

Speaker 1 (56:10):
Yeah, I think it's it's so good. It's funny stuff
all the way. Even when they the fact that when
she finally approaches Gabe it's done during you know, basically
a shooting drill that we mentioned earlier, like having that
in there, This is great, I think. And then her

(56:31):
with the banana stuff, are like eating the banana and
then she like, I just.

Speaker 4 (56:37):
Remember and I'm sure your kids have done this to
you too, like we're obviously doing something that we shouldn't
or like we're embarrassed about something, and then we'll just
lash it out on you, like it's all your fault
just to find out I don't like banana, drink me,
eat it.

Speaker 2 (56:49):
I did it.

Speaker 4 (56:53):
I've done that so many times, or coming in and
Mum will.

Speaker 1 (56:55):
Be like, oh, fine, right, so you hate me? Is
that right?

Speaker 3 (57:00):
Cool?

Speaker 1 (57:02):
And then the she's like a list of a list
of things that she wants, you know, she wants to
get a you know, a friend, a friend and a boyfriend. Yes, yeah,
all you want. And you know, I'm not sure if
I had exactly that list. Do stuff like that, and
certainly rehearse conversations before you jump on.

Speaker 4 (57:22):
The phone, yeah, and that, like or we're just saying
the bits that you want to say, like that, when
she's in the she's I think she's in the bathroom
and she's just going up and forth and back and
forth and back and forth, but only kind of half
saying or then getting embarrassed and restarting it. Like I
remember all of that so much.

Speaker 1 (57:37):
It is nice as she finally does get to take
out her aggression, we talk about the you know, the
aggression she maybe but then she finally has, you know,
on graduation day she goes up to the two girls
who Kennedy and the other girl, and and she does
have a bit of a government. Let's go and listen

(57:58):
to this.

Speaker 8 (57:59):
Hey, I wrote you that letter thanking you for inviting
me to your birthday party, and you didn't write back
or anything.

Speaker 4 (58:06):
I didn't even get a DM on like.

Speaker 5 (58:07):
Instagram or whatever.

Speaker 8 (58:08):
And you know what, You're always mean to me, and
I'm always nice to you, and being mean isn't nice.
And when someone does something nice to you, you're supposed
to be nice back. And you're always mean to me.
And I know I'm like a good person because I'm
always nice to you and you're just And also that
card game I got you is like a really fun
version of go fish or whatever, and you'd actually know
if you played it instead of trying to be cool
all the time. I don't know, it's it's like dumb

(58:31):
or whatever, but you know it's dumb in a way
that's fun to play when it's raining outside, and you
know that if you stop trying to be cool all
the time.

Speaker 1 (58:39):
Again, it's not like a it's name Mark drop moment,
but it's at least her standing up for a phon.

Speaker 2 (58:46):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (58:47):
Yeah, and there is something. I found the dialogue difficult
at times, but that's just because I think in I
just am okay, yeah, we get it, but we need
more words. Now, please use more words. But at that point,
like you just do because you've like you've fallen into
her language. You know that she doesn't actually ever say
what she means, and so you've got to read in
between the lines of like her little insecure moments, and

(59:10):
that's then when you figure out actually how she's gauging it.

Speaker 1 (59:13):
So yeah, she just.

Speaker 4 (59:15):
Played that like I just just wanted to give her
a hugged the whole time. I just wanted to be like,
come on, beb, like it's gonna be okay, like let's
get this together.

Speaker 1 (59:25):
I'm the same way, and I think everyone who watches
this film you just want her to win. So badly
because when you're you're a parent, like when you send
your kids off the school, like it is you literally
have seen them. Like first you start with kindergarten and this, yeah,
that's its own thing, and you are just pushing these
kids into you know, who seem way too young, and
it's not that you are literally watching them walk into

(59:47):
the world, yeah, you know, and you're watching them through
the you know, the the cyclone fencing and staying there
for longer than you need to. And and then you
send them to school where you feel that there's more
danger potentially.

Speaker 4 (59:59):
Literally it's like it's so specific, like who picks who's
the kill? Like what's cool for that? Like, and it's
nothing you as a parent can do because it's just
like you've just raised your child for them to be
themselves right and to like love who that person is,
and then immediately there's a huge chance they'll be ostracized
for that. Yeah, so then how do.

Speaker 1 (01:00:17):
You Yeah, one of our kids, he was my oldest kid,
you know, he's twenty two now and he's got great
bunch of mates. But it took him a while in
prep to find you know, his mate, you know, and
it was really kind of you know, like just you know,
it took us a while to maybe to realize that,
you know, he's doesn't seem to be finding his mates yet,

(01:00:40):
and there's a small, very small window of a time
where we thought he might have been being bullied, and
it's just like, it's just no other feeling I've had
is he feel so hopeless and helpless and it's an awful,
awful feeling. And I'm so relieved that my three boys
have found great friendship groups, but that feeling stays with me.

(01:01:03):
So when we get to this scene with the dad,
I just lost it. I just was for all my
own experiences with kids, all the feelings I had, the
hopes that I had for them, and I.

Speaker 4 (01:01:13):
Just also loved that it's set up, sorry to interrupt,
when she they're at the bonfire and he's like, what
are you burning, She's like, oh, just all my hopes.

Speaker 1 (01:01:20):
And dreams, hopes and dreams because it's it's this uh
you know, yeah, so it's but it's a what do
you call a time capsule. Yeah, the releasing and it's
in the shoe box and it's got the Coolest Girl
in the World written on, which I just fucking love
like that's exactly what she wants to be, and you know,

(01:01:40):
it's a message to her future self.

Speaker 4 (01:01:42):
And and then even that, her next time capsule was
more like, are you this But it's okay if not, Like,
it's okay if you don't.

Speaker 1 (01:01:50):
But she also has the coolest girl in the world
just done the same thing. So it's her owning it,
which is really cool. Yeah, I really love it. So
let's have a listen. We gonn play this in two parts?
This is this is It's got me. I just for
are you poor? Thing? Like like this is where Kayla is.

Speaker 4 (01:02:06):
So this is what she's talking about, my child devastating.

Speaker 2 (01:02:12):
Do I make you sad? What?

Speaker 3 (01:02:16):
No?

Speaker 2 (01:02:17):
No, not at all, not at all.

Speaker 1 (01:02:21):
Why do I seem sad?

Speaker 2 (01:02:25):
No?

Speaker 8 (01:02:28):
What?

Speaker 1 (01:02:29):
Why would you think you make me sad?

Speaker 2 (01:02:35):
I don't. I don't know.

Speaker 4 (01:02:36):
It's just it's just.

Speaker 2 (01:02:39):
Sometimes, you know, I think that when I'm older, you know,
maybe i'll have a daughter on my own or something.
And I feel like, you know, if she was like me,
then being her mom would make me sad all the time,

(01:03:04):
because like, you know, i'd love her because she's my daughter,
you know.

Speaker 6 (01:03:10):
But I don't know, I just.

Speaker 2 (01:03:15):
I think if she turned out like me, that being
her mom would make me really sad.

Speaker 1 (01:03:25):
Yeah, that that's that's devastating. That here that she has
thought about becoming a parent and having herself as her
daughter and how she would view herself as as a
mom might like that, you, I guess when you you know,
you want your kids, of course to be popular and
to be a version of their uncool whatever that might be.
And you want them to be good at sport and

(01:03:45):
good at music and good reader. You have this like yeah,
you know, you know these made up listening to your
own head of because you just want your kids to
have options and to be confident and and and I
guess she's seeing herself and as as almost none of
those things.

Speaker 4 (01:04:02):
Yeah, but I guess it's also that thing of like
the thing that is so important to her at that time,
his popularity where it's like you've become an adult and
go well, like even as the dad said, he says,
like all of your teachers think you're a wonderful person.
Like like again, it's that actually realizing that, yeah, being
a good person is more important than being popular.

Speaker 1 (01:04:20):
Yeah yeah, well liked yeah, well, which is absolutely true.
And then the response and it's it's a it's a
scene that goes for six or seven minutes, so obviously
we can't play play over. But this, this scene is
why I love movies. I think like this, having moments
and and things reflected that are universal, that her heartfelt.

(01:04:43):
But you've never seen it done like this before. The
performances by again, we're sweying so much about Elsie Fisher,
but the performance by Josh Hamillon, who I don't know.
I haven't seen him before, and I haven't seen him since.
I'm sure he's been a heap of stuff, but it's
just it's so grounded and true. And this is his
response to Kayla.

Speaker 2 (01:05:03):
Can you made me brave?

Speaker 1 (01:05:07):
And if you could just see yourself how I see you,
which is how you are, how you really are, how
you always have been.

Speaker 2 (01:05:15):
I swear to God you wouldn't be scared either.

Speaker 1 (01:05:20):
So what I love about it is he finally gets
to say what he wants and it comes out right, Yeah,
it comes out kind of pretty perfect exactly. And when
she said, when she then gets up and basically jumps
on him into his arms, that's when I just it's
just like finally, because there are you know, I remember

(01:05:45):
you know, around this time, my boys they all went
through the same thing where they kind of disappeared, you know,
like not completely speit obviously, but they became these grumpy
a versions. You know, they kind of spoke to their
you know, to their chests, you know, and and we
you know, I remember somebody's saying who had kids a
bit older the mind that you just have to be

(01:06:06):
there for them and love them and support them because
they're literally their brains that are not connected yet, Like
there's the frontal lobe in the backward logan, they're not
there's there's this mushy bit in the middle, and their
brains are a bit.

Speaker 4 (01:06:17):
Mushy, and they're not they don't have that life experience yet.
So everything is so selfish and personal and direct, like
there's no greater world kind of nuance in like, yeah,
their their privilege or their you know what actually like
is the life they're living compared to how the rest
of them, Like it's just so all about me. Woe
is me? This is happening to me?

Speaker 1 (01:06:38):
Yeah, I remember my oldest spoiled lamb, you know, like
he went through this stage because it was the first
time he you know, our first child and see them
go through this period of their lives, you know, you
a bit more worried. And and he had allergies and
asthma and all these other things on top of that,
and we're like, Hobe, he's okay. And and and then
one day this bounded down the stairs, like it's a
different person.

Speaker 4 (01:06:57):
Yeah, it's like, oh, it's trusting that, Like it's I
guess it's just that giving them the space to grow.
And you know, you've taught the tools young and they
then use those tools.

Speaker 1 (01:07:08):
Yep. Absolutely, some quick fun facts before we wrap this up,
because we've got a play to dude, damn.

Speaker 4 (01:07:13):
It, we're to entertain We've got a player down.

Speaker 1 (01:07:16):
A play to do. The original working title was the
Coolest Girl in the World. That was the original title
for the film. Initially in the script, they had Kaylee
using Facebook to kind of connect with people, but Elsie said,
nobody uses Facebook, so they changed it to Instagram and snapchat.
They wanted to. They approached Apple to provide phones for them,

(01:07:38):
but Apple have a rule where you probably know this
because you've created the series and made stuff, but you
basically can't break Apple products in your in your production.
And he wanted the smash phone, so so they used
to use cruise iPads and and so that's how they
did that. And Elsie Fisher finally made this movie and

(01:07:59):
then or did for her high school play and missed out.
I'm getting it. So if you listening to this and
you don't get that job where you don't get that part,
if you're an actor, don't worry.

Speaker 4 (01:08:12):
I wouldn't stress.

Speaker 1 (01:08:12):
Don't stress about it. The next one is around the corner,
Olivia Debel, It's been an absolute joy. Thanks for having
me my pleasure. I didn't I meant to mention this
in the In the train you referred to your your
mum a couple of times, but you come from an
acting dynasty. I've worked with your think grandmother and she

(01:08:35):
reminded you in the she was on an episode of
it today. She was a fantastic Your mom's amazing, but
you're I told you this a.

Speaker 4 (01:08:43):
While ago in prisone rehearsing in Brisbane.

Speaker 1 (01:08:46):
Your grandfather is an absolute icon. Reg Gorman was in
The Sullivans and which is almost like the first TV
show I remember watching, and he what a legend he was.
I know he passed it a few years ago, but
he knowed that he would have had a big influence.

Speaker 4 (01:09:03):
Yeah, oh huge, huge. I remember once he had this
because he was like, he's kind of one of the
last people to do that Vaudevillion slapstick kind of live.
I mean for a little bit. Obviously we were working
with Colin Lane for God's sake, but he had this
like stand up called hanging On to Vaudeville, and I remember,

(01:09:23):
I don't remember the story gets told to me that
like he asked someone to come up and at three
years old, I ran up onto the stage and then
did patter with him. So it's run deep for a
long time.

Speaker 1 (01:09:35):
And you are playing it all out now exactly actually right,
you're absolutely killing it. And congratulations on you getting a
series more than this on Paramount. Plus it's making stuff
as much as there's a lot of you know, there's
I remember when all the streaming services coming coming in,
everyone was like, oh great, there's gonna be so much opportunity.

(01:09:55):
That makes up it's still so hard to make stuff.

Speaker 4 (01:09:58):
Oh that's almost harder. Someone say, yeah, most harder.

Speaker 1 (01:10:03):
I think I think that's true. So congratulations, and like
I said, congratulations on your role in Peed and A
Star Catcher. And we've still got three more cities to
get to, Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane coming to you in
twenty twenty five. Get your tickets now. Olivia Devil, Gucci, Gucci.

(01:10:36):
There you have it, Olivia Deevil, fantastic young actor, creator
and having a ball working with her on Peter and
a Star Catcher. And like I said in the chat,
you can catch her series more than this on Paramount Plus. Yeah,
my kids were very excited when I told him that
Olivia was in peed in the Star Catch and I
was working with her because I got big little lunch fans,

(01:10:58):
and my sister still loves Home and Away and she
was pretty excited about raf or Raffi being on the
show as well. So she's been a real joy to
work with. The very talented woman. I loved eighth Grade,
I really and this kind of falls I think this
episode falls in. You could argue is it a classic?
Is it beloved? I don't know, but I think it's

(01:11:19):
a film that people should see. So if you have kids,
I think watch it with your kids. I think it's
I think it's an important film to be honest, It's
actually was r rated for reasons that I don't completely
understand in America, but some cinemas were allowing parents to
bring their kids because they believe that it was an
important film for parents to watch with their kids. So
do check it out. It is available on Netflix. Eighth

(01:11:41):
grade by Bo Burnham. Thank you for everyone obviously listening.
As always, you can support the podcast by giving a
review on iTunes. I recommend five stars as well. It
keeps the algorithm moving in the right direction. Next on
the show, another very talented woman. I've worked with her
a lot behind the scenes. She's a great writer. I

(01:12:04):
met her when I was in the project. Always wrote
great stuff. She's also worked on the weekly with Charlie Pickering.
Maggie Look will be joining us next week. I really
love Maggie. She's great. She's the partner of Ben Russell.
They are fantastic and they often do improvisation stuff together.
So she's a comedian, she's a writer, an actress. She's

(01:12:27):
just great. And we're gonna be going deep next week,
deep and mysterious and weird and bizarre. We are doing
David Lynch's My holand Drive, My holand Drive. Starting her
very own Naomi watts. That'll be next week and you
ain't see nothing yet until then. Back an out and

(01:12:54):
so we leave all Pete save Van sal And to
our friends of the radio audience, we've the pleasant, good time.