Stiles recalls to TooFab how shooting the scene in Chosen Family led to the news being revealed, before sharing what it was like working on her own directorial debut after being directed by Heather Graham.
Julia Stiles is opening up about working with Heather Graham on her romantic comedy, Chosen Family.
In an interview with TooFab, the actress praised Graham — who wrote, directed, and starred in the film — and detailed how shooting a fight scene between their characters led to a surprise pregnancy reveal.
“She was great. She really set a nice tone,” Stiles, 43, said of Graham. “She was very collaborative, as a director, but also had a clear vision and was able to communicate that. She sent me this script a couple of years ago, and it was very inspiring to watch her get it financed and see it through to the end because it’s a story that’s very close to her. I just think it was a really good script. It was very funny and laugh out loud. I really enjoyed reading it, and I really enjoyed making it.”
Chosen Family, per Brainstorm Media, follows Ann (Graham), a yoga teacher “who cannot escape her manic family, miserable dating life, and inability to say no, leaving her constantly trying to fix everyone else’s problems. But can she finally put herself first when a new love walks into her life?” In the film, Stiles stars as Ann’s sister, Clio, who is suffering from addiction, as well as other issues.
Toward the end of the film — spoiler alert — Ann and Clio’s complicated relationship hits its breaking point, and they get into a fight — a physical fight — with Graham and Stiles’ characters throwing punches at one another.
And as it turns out, the fight was not only a pivotal moment for their characters on-screen, but it actually was a big moment behind the scenes as well.
“The funny thing about that scene was that — so like I said, Heather had sent me the script, and it took a little while to get it financed before we were actually in production,” Stiles recalled. “And in that time I found out, like just before we were supposed to start shooting, I found out that I was pregnant. So I wasn’t supposed to tell anybody and I’d kind of forgotten about that fight scene. So I was like, I’m just gonna keep this to myself because I don’t wanna stress it out and I don’t want to jeopardize the film and all that.”
The then-mom of two said when it was time to rehearse, she realized she had to confess the news.
“We got to the rehearsal for that fight scene, and I was like, ‘Oops, I better say something.’ And I just kind of blurted out to her and to the producers that I was pregnant,” Stiles said, before joking, “Luckily, they didn’t fire me.”
“We were able to keep it safe because we kind of choreographed it so that I was always in control of where we were and I could protect myself with my knees and my hands, so it was fine,” she continued. “But yeah, aside from that, the way that it’s written, it’s just a physical manifestation of this relationship between these two sisters.”
Stiles’ character is responsible for several of Chosen Family’s more comedic moments, including Clio’s idea to combine kickboxing and pilates to create “Punchilates.” Check out TooFab’s exclusive clip of Clio teaching a “Punchilates” class in the video, below!
Elsewhere, during her interview with TooFab, Stiles opened up about her experience taking a step behind the camera to shoot her directorial debut, Wish You Were Here, which stars Isabelle Fuhrmann, Mena Massoud, and more.
“It was so wonderful. It had been a career-long goal of mine to direct a film, and I finally got to do it. It was exhilarating,” she recalled. “It’s a lot of hard work, but it’s also really energizing because you are really in the driver’s seat and you communicate your ideas to a team of people that then have to make it come to life. And it’s just so exciting.”
“It’s called Wish You Were Here. And it’s based on a book by Renee Carlino that I adapted,” she continued of the film, which wrapped production last February. “And it’s a love story. There [are] some lighter moments, but then there’s also … it’s kind of a tragedy. And the point of the movie is really just to remind us about how all we really have is the present moment [and] that you should make the most out of the life that you can live.”
Stiles added that while she doesn’t have a confirmed release date for the film, she believes it’ll be in theaters “early next year.”
When TooFab asked Stiles if Graham — as an actress-turned-director — gave her any advice as she embarked on this next step in her career, Stiles said, “She gave advice by example.”
“She wasn’t saying, ‘Let me tell you how it’s done, kid,'” she continued. “She just, by example, was very inspiring as a director because she was very collaborative and very strong in her vision, but kind as a director too. And you know, she didn’t have to try too hard to get everybody to listen to her. She commanded a lot of respect just because she had written a beautiful script and everybody was there because they wanted to support her and support the movie. And on a small movie — a small low-budget movie like this — everyone’s really there genuinely for her.”
To see more from Stiles, including her thoughts on the film’s somewhat open ending, and where she believes her character is now, check out the full interview in the video, above!
Chosen Family hits theaters and is available on demand on October 11.
