Alison Brie had an interesting task with “Horse Girl”: She had to write a script for the drama, but given that it’s mostly an improvised film, they had to be very specific in describing the actions of the characters.
“Almost all was improvised except for the TV show in the movie, ‘Purgatory,'” director and co-writer Jeff Baena told TheWrap’s Steve Pond at the Sundance Film Festival. “That was completely scripted.”
“It was certainly different for me this time around having written it together,” Brie added. “Basically, we created a very detailed 35 page outline, and the scenes are thorough — they talk what the characters come in and talk about. It’s pretty complex, there are major objectives that people have to get across in scenes, so it’s pretty specific. Then we start out shooting a wide shot, and then workshop the dialogue in the first few takes and then we would lock it in and shoot it like any scripted film.”
Also Read: Alison Brie Still Wants to Do a 'Community' Movie - She Just Wants Netflix to Make It
Baena added: “It’s more of a method to get the dialogue to sound fresh and natural as if it’s coming from the real person as opposed to some performance.”
“Horse Girl” is about a socially awkward woman who is interested in arts and crafts and horses, whose lucid dreams start to sprinkle into her reality. Debby Ryan, John Reynolds and Molly Shannon also star.
Brie said the idea for this trippy movie came during one of her long hikes with Baena — the two live near each other and have worked on two previous films together so they’ve grown extremely close.
Also Read: 'GLOW' Renewed for Fourth and Final Season at Netflix
“The first idea that came up was just Jeff saying I should play a horse girl which is something that I have heard before,” she explained. “Through that conversation, I felt encouraged enough to bring up an idea that I had been kicking around, then we merged them into the same idea and we cracked it wide open.”
When asked whether she’s a horse girl in real life, Brie responded, “I am not now, now have I ever been a real horse girl but I really loved working with the horse in this movie, so I could be converted. I haven’t actually started riding horses.”
Watch the video above.
Sundance Portraits From A to Z: Andy Samberg to Zazie Beetz (Exclusive Photos)
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Glenn Close, "Four Good Days"
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Mila Kunis, "Four Good Days"
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Writer-director Rodrigo Garcia, "Four Good Days"
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Actress Toni Collette, "Dream Horse"
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Director Euros Lyn, "Dream Horse"
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Sienna Miller, "Wander Darkly"
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Diego Luna, "Wander Darkly"
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Director Ron Howard, "Rebuilding Paradise"
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Alison Brie, "Horse Girl"
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Jeff Baena, "Horse Girl"
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Steven Yeun, "Minari"
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Yuh-Jung Youn, "Minari"
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Yeri Han, "Minari"
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Writer-director Lee Isaac Chung, "Minari"
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Kelly Rowland, "Bad Hair"
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Ashley Blaine Featherson, "Bad Hair"
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James Van Der Beek, "Bad Hair"
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Yaani King Mondschein, "Bad Hair"
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Elle Lorraine, "Bad Hair"
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Director Justin Simien, "Bad Hair"
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Subject (and former fiancée of Jamal Khashoggi) Hatice Cengiz, "The Dissident"
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Director Bryan Fogel, "The Dissident"
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Andy Samberg, "Palm Springs"
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Cristin Milioti, "Palm Springs"
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Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti, "Palm Springs"
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Writer Andy Siara, "Palm Springs"
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Joe Keery, "Spree"
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John DeLuca, "Spree"
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David Arquette, Sasheer Zamata, director Eugene Kotlyarenko, John DeLuca, and Joe Keery, " Spree"
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Peter Macdissi, Paul Bettany, director Alan Ball and Sophia Lillis, "Uncle Frank"
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Writer-director Alan Ball, "Uncle Frank"
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Actor Paul Bettany, "Uncle Frank"
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Actress Sophia Lillis, "Uncle Frank"
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Actor Peter Macdissi, "Uncle Frank"
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Rachel Brosnahan, "Ironbark"
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Director Dominic Cooke, actors Rachel Brosnahan and Merab Ninidze, "Ironbark"
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Wilmer Valderrama, "Blast Beat"
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Diane Guerrero, "Blast Beat"
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Actor Moises Arias, "Blast Beat"
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Actress Kali Uchis, "Blast Beat"
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Daniel Dae Kim, "Blast Beat"
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Actor Mateo Arias, "Blast Beat"
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Esteban Arango, "Blast Beat"
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ACLU lawyer Lee Gelernt, "The Fight"
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ACLU lawyer Brigitte Amiri, "The Fight"
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Producers Kerry Washington and Eli Despres, filmmakers Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg, and lawyers Lee Gelernt and Brigitte Amiri, "The Fight"
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Winston Duke, "Nine Days"
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Bill Skarsgård, "Nine Days"
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Zazie Beetz, "Nine Days"
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Benedict Wong, "Nine Days"
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Arianna Ortiz, "Nine Days"
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David Rysdahl, "Nine Days"
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Writer-director Edson Oda, "Nine days"
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Sil Lai Abrams, Drew Dixon, and Sherri Hines, "On the Record"
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Gloria Steinem, "The Glorias"
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Director Julie Taymor, "The Glorias"
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Actor Harvey Guillén, "What We Do in the Shadows"
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Christopher Abbott, "Possessor"
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Brandon Cronenberg, "Possessor"
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Agnes Gund, "Aggie"
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Director Catherine Gund, "Aggie"
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Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine, "Farewell Amor"
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Zainab Jah, "Farewell Amor"
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Jayme Lawson, "Farewell Amor"
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Musicians Charlotte Caffey, Jane Wiedlin, Gina Schock, TheWrap's Steve Pond, Belinda Carlisle and Kathy Valentine, "The Go Go's"
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The Go Go's and director Alison Ellwood
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Actor John Reynolds, "Save Yourselves"
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Actor Sunita Mani, "Save Yourselves"
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Directors Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson, "Save Yourselves"
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Alec Baldwin, "Beast Beast"
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Jose Angeles, Will Madden, and Shirley Chen, "Beast Beast"
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Director Bao Nguyen, "Be Water"
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Producer Julie Nottingham, "Be Water"
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Director Lana Wilson, "Taylor Swift: Miss Americana"
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Producers Christine O'Malley, Morgan Neville and Caitrin Rogers, "Taylor Swift: Miss Americana"
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Producer Jessica Hargrave and director-producer Ryan White, "Assassins"
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Actress Carey Mulligan and writer-director Emerald Fennell, "Promising Young Woman"
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Director Maïmouna Doucouré and producer Zangro, "Cuties"
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Charlie Shotwell, Jude Law, and Oona Roche, "The Nest"
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Actress Devin France, "Wendy"
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Elisabeth Moss, "Shirley"
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Michael Stuhlbarg, "Shirley"
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Director Josephine Decker, "Shirley"
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Actor Logan Lerman, "Shirley"
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Writer-Executive Producer Brian Lazarte, "McMillions"
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Writer-Director James Lee Hernandez, "McMillions"
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Julia Garner, "The Assistant"
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Kitty Green, "The Assistant"
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Marquise Vilson, director Sam Feder and Amy Scholder, "Disclosure"
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Zeke Smith, Zackary Drucker and Jen Richards, "Disclosure"
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Rebecca Hall, "The Night House"
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Director David Bruckner, "The Night House"
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Stacy Martin, "The Night House"
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Jahi Di'Allo Winston, Angel Manuel Soto, Caleeb Pinkett, Sherman Payne, and Will Catlett, "Charm City Kings"
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Actor Wagner Moura, "Sergio"
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Brent Travers and Daniel Marc Dreifuss, "Sergio"
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Director Greg Barker, "Sergio"
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Annie Clark and Carrie Brownstein, "The Nowhere Inn"
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Actor Pilou Asbæk, "Run Sweetheart Run"
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Ella Balinska, "Run Sweetheart Run"
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Pilou Asbæk, director Shana Feste and Ella Balinska, "Run Sweetheart Run"
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Emily Mortimer, "Relic"
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Director Patricia Vidal Delgado, "La Leyenda Negra"
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Actress Monica Betancourt, "La Leyenda Negra"
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Actor-writer-director Viggo Mortensen, "Falling"
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Lance Henriksen, "Falling"
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Laurent Bouzereau and Natasha Gregson Wagner, "Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind"
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Producer Stacey Reiss, "Spaceship Earth"
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Producer Mark Nelson, "Spaceship Earth"
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Director Matt Wolf, "Spaceship Earth"
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Subject Linda Leigh, "Spaceship Earth"
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Director Marina Zenovich, "Lance"
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Andrea Riseborough, "Possessor" and Luxor"
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Karim Saleh, "Luxor"
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Director Brenda Chapman, "Come Away"
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Aubrey Plaza, "Black Bear"
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Sundance 2020: Stars like Glenn Close, Kerry Washington and Bill Skarsgard stop by TheWrap Studio presented by Heineken at the Pando Art Gallery