Scarlett Johansson didn’t sweat making her directorial debut. In fact, the actress-turned-filmmaker laughed her way through the production of “Eleanor the Great” as the stresses of crafting the film on a tight budget in New York City became so great as to be funny — including a moment when Johansson mistook an ancient sculpture for a Home Goods item and tried to place it in her scene.
Before the movie, about an elderly woman (June Squibb) who forges an unlikely friendship with a 19-year-old college student (Erin Kellyman), is released theatrically by Sony Pictures Classics later this month, Johansson and her cast visited the Toronto International Film Festival where they spoke with TheWrap’s Steve Pond about the making of the film.
“I really loved all aspects of it, even the complicated ones,” Johansson said of her debut feature as a director. “We laughed a lot on set. My producing partner and our associate were with me every day, and we laughed all day, especially because we have such a tight schedule and with the budget we had to be so efficient with everything. A lot of things that could be stressful are also hilarious, because the circumstances are like, Oh, this is what we’re dealing with.”
Johansson said that shooting in New York could be unpredictable too. “We had so many funny, weird moments,” she said. The production was looking for a centerpiece for a table and they couldn’t find any. They were shooting in a school facility. Johansson said someone on the production spotted what looked like a sculpture, tucked away in the back of the facility, that “could be in the middle of this giant table in the assisted living facility that Eleanor ends up living in.” The production carted it out and put it on the table. “It was dusty and old but it looks good,” Johansson remembered. “Then we came to understand that it was from the Ming Dynasty, this ancient artifact that everyone was freaking out about. I was like, ‘Quick, shoot it.’ I was thinking it was from Home Goods. Things like that are so funny.”
Squibb is having a quite a time, who between “Eleanor the Great” and last year’s “Thelma” is one of Hollywood’s hottest leading ladies – at the age of 95. When Johansson asked her, “How’s the competition?” Squibb shot back, “Not much. They’re all dead.” Squibb continued: “No, it’s great. I had no idea that this would happen, but it’s wonderful.”
