I used to joke if I was “Scorsese,” then she was going to be "my Deniro … but blonde”
I met Molly Ryman in January 2007, casting her out of 30 actresses for the female lead in my first film “…Around.” Her first reading hadn’t made an impact on me (seeing dozens of actors in a short time span can do that), but re-watching her audition on tape showed me her love for independent film and the city of New York and her callback won me over.
It’s quite easy to love Molly with her old-school movie star beauty, natural sweetness and inviting warm energy. It was a joy working with and getting to know her during production. I also learned there was far more to her than the “girl-next-door” she’d been typecast as.
She could be mischievous, painfully funny and goofy, but retained a darker and harder edge beneath the surface and a subtlety to her work. She brought gravitas and honesty to a role that didn’t have the bravura of the male lead as a few reviewers pointed out, some wondering what she could do with a more fully realized role. I always hoped I’d get another chance to work with her and answer those critics.
In 2009 I was in Los Angeles, suffering from personal burnout after completing my film and putting myself in indefinite financial limbo to do so. Much like the main character “Violet” of my second feature “Things I Don’t Understand,” I survived a kind of “suicide “and found myself breathing but not fully alive or connected. I was bitter, empty, lonely and self-destructively looking for meaning to it all. The cathartic exercise of writing “Things” and the decision to produce it as a film was going to be my own test of faith as a filmmaker. It was an opportune time to show faith in a friend.
“Things” offered Molly the canvas to show range in her abilities as an actor in carrying a feature, but also to confront her own fears and insecurities. She loved the script but was hesitant and found its requirements a bit overwhelming. I read other actors, all extremely talented in different ways, but no one quite fit. My persistence in bringing it up to Molly for a year and her falling in love and relating with “Violet” finally convinced her. She wanted to face this test head-on and trusted I’d be there to support her through it.
There were the naysayers who initially didn’t understand my casting choice. A particularly jealous and destructive actor called it “counter-intuitive.” I didn’t blink at any of them. I had unshakeable faith in both Molly’s abilities and my commitment to stick by her -- with the support of a great team -- that I’m not quite sure even she always understood. There was a vision and more than anyone I knew, Molly had a beauty, strength and grace that would shine through the main character and her flaws, and make her relatable and whole.
