Mckenna Grace Interview: Scream 7, Hunger Games & Making Regretting You with Mason Thames

I have eight random questions here. You pick three numbers, one through eight. They correspond to a random question and that's where we start. Yup. Seven. Number seven. It's a nice one to start with. It's bucket list. I just want something that still remains on your acting bucket list. To be in a musical and to... It's always on my bucket list to attend different award shows. I just want to go to the Oscars so bad someday. I just want to go even to just watch everybody walk down the red carpet in their dresses. But to be in a musical is definitely high up there. Have you never been to the Oscars? No, I've not been to Oscars. You don't get invited? I feel like at the very least right now you should present. And also, I'm not just saying this, but your time is going to come. I feel like I've been saying and thinking it for years, but your time will come. Oh my gosh, I don't know about that. If you had the opportunity to be in the movie musical of your choice, what would you pick and why? The movie musical? Heathers, the musical. I'm obsessed with Heathers. I don't seem like it because I feel like I have a very bubbly personality. I wear a lot of pink and I'm very florals and anti-this aesthetic. I just love a little darker... The Labyrinth or Heathers, that is my jam. I'm very big into heavy metal and horror movies and that's my whole vibe. Heavy metal too? Tell me, give me a band of choice. I have System of a Down on my wall. I saw Korn, I've seen Limp Bizkit. I love... Recently, Ice 9 Kills in Kublai Khan, Texas. And Effinescence and Flyleaf are my all times. I'm big into that. Definitely The Labyrinth or Heathers because I love a little darker. I'm rooting for this now. That was your first pick, what is your second number? Two. Number two is scene swap. If you could swap roles with the actor of your choice in any movie, just to try one specific scene of theirs, who would you pick and why? The possibilities are endless. It could be something that you're in or just something that you love. I want to be Peeta in The Hunger Games in Catching Fire whenever he's sitting up there and he goes, If it wasn't for the baby. If it weren't for the baby. Alright, this is news, let's find out more. That's a good answer. If it wasn't for the... Oh, we will come back to Hunger Games. One of my favorite franchises. Me too. Also, I feel the same way about Scream. I can't act for anything, but when I was in film school, the dream assignment that I got was we had to take a movie scene that we loved and film it all as a one-er. So I chose to do the entire end kitchen set piece for Scream in a one-er. There was fake blood smeared all over my apartment walls for months and I just loved it. Oh my god, I'm obsessed with that, that's so fun. I still have that exercise. Third and final number. Pressure's on. I love this one. What is the seemingly simple everyday thing that a human being does that's most difficult for an actor to replicate on set? Things like fake sneezing, fake waking up. I was literally just about to say sneezing. I don't have a problem with waking up. I feel like I'm okay at it. Yawning, sneezing. I have a really hard time with dry heaving or pretending that I'm smelling something bad. I had one scene. It's so dark. I had one scene in a movie one time where I open a box and there's somebody. There's dead smells. I had to do this thing where I dry heaved or something. I just couldn't. I just felt so awkward doing it. I don't know. I guess smelling something bad and dry heaving. We used to ask a would you rather question all the time. Would you rather have to fake sneeze or fake vomit? Fake vomit because then you have something. Dry heaving is another thing. Dry heaving scares me. I don't know. Be afraid to throw for real. I can't do it. Could never. No, me too. I do have a really bad gag or dry heave reflex if I smell something or at textures and stuff. It's every once in a while whenever I'm doing a throw up scene or something like that. I get a little eked out. Can I put you on the spot? Yes. You veered away from the fake sneeze. Can I get your best fake sneeze? No. No, you can't. I won't sit here and embarrass myself. Someone did this cheat recently and I thought it was brilliant. They did that thing where you're like, oh no, it went away. I'm like, yes, because that's a legit fake sneeze. Well, the thing is my sneeze, whenever I sneeze in my everyday life, sounds fake. It's really stupid. I sneeze really high pitched and it sounds like it. I always seem like I'm fake sneezing. It's one of a kind. It's one of a kind and it's yours. I feel like I have to give you at least one of these regretting you ones that I put on the list. Wait, sneak me a number. Pick either three, four, or six. Three. Three was my pizza one just because this was brought up in the movie. What is your ideal kind of pizza and where does it come from? This happened to me today. I had this interview this morning with IMDB where they gave me a pizza and it was so weird. It was from... Okay. Either Papa John's, just cheese. Just regular cheese from Papa John's. Papa John's is underrated. Cheese pizza from Papa John's and those little brownie things that they have, whatever. Don't even talk to me. Or everybody in Texas makes fun of me. Like my family, my friends, Mason. Everybody makes fun of me for this. I love CeCe's pizza. You're from Texas. No, I'm not. I was just visiting. I was just like, are you from Texas? No, I visit a lot because I like Austin quite a bit. I got so excited because you said that you just got back from Austin. I was like, damn it. Okay. Well, then nobody gets me. Nobody here understands me. CeCe's pizza is like... Everybody makes fun of me because they're like, that's so weird. I don't know. I've gotten food poisoning from there. Oh, no. I don't even know. I'm not slandering your name, CeCe's, though. I love you. I like CeCe's pizza. It's like buffet style pizza. It's... So it's like old school pizza hut from back in the day. No, it's like saying that I'd want Chuck E. Cheese pizza. Oh. You know, it's like... Sometimes I say I want the square pizza that you used to get as a kid in school where, like, you knew it just came out of like a... It was frozen and came out of a plastic bag and put in a microwave. Well, CeCe's pizza has this one. It's like mac and cheese pizza. But it's like Alfredo sauce and cheese, the noodles. It's like... That's like my death row meal is CeCe's mac and cheese pizza. The food poisoning aspect holds me back a little. But the next time I go to Austin for a film festival, I'll put this on the list. However, when you come back for your third Collider Ladies Night, I'll report back. Okay. You don't have to do that. You look so hesitant right now. It's like... I respect the me thing, though. It's a me thing, you know? I want to appreciate and understand the me thing. So maybe one day. Okay. What's up, everyone? Welcome back for a brand new edition of Collider Ladies Night. We have McKenna Grace returning to the show. Well, hello. I love hearing about an actor's earliest moments of feeling movie magic. Feeling that acting is an itch that they need to keep scratching. So do you remember some of the earliest roles, some of the earliest scenes you've done that just felt so right? Now you have to keep chasing that feeling. I remember sobbing at the door in Gifted and being so in it. I was just so young and it was just so fulfilling getting to perform like that. And also getting to slap Chris Evans. I don't know. I just remember those scenes were so very visceral and very emotional. And just getting to get myself to a point where I'm so hysterical, as terrible as it sounds. It was just so interesting to me. I don't know. I just love getting to do scenes like that that feel so visceral and guttural and devastating at times. And just getting myself to those places. And also with Ghostbusters, just getting to watch it on screen and see how big and wild everything was. And how far-fetched all of these ghosts and special effects and everything that got added into the process after. It was so magical to see. Yeah, I don't know. Even just Handmaid's Tale, getting to be on there with the iconic little dresses and the bonnets. And get to be a wife and walk around smoking my cigarettes. It was just so cool to see myself so different than who I am. I feel like I'm a very energetic person. So getting to see myself be so subdued and angry and intense. It's just fun and so fulfilling getting to transform into people. Yeah. Handmaid's Tale is so good. I was just talking to Max last night about his new movie, Shell, and it's so good. I just want Handmaid's Tale to always get the credit it deserves. Because season one, the bar was set so high and then it never dipped. Just exceptional from start to finish. Some of that answer was making me think of this question. Because I've seen you do so many things that, I am not an actor, but would terrify me. It just seems like you are consistently a fearless performer. So that always makes me wonder, is there any particular character you've tackled or a scene that you've done. That now makes you think, I was so scared, but I crushed that and now I can do anything. A lot of Hunger Games has been really... I'm still in the process of shooting, but it's been very... I've never done something that's so physically challenging. There's a lot in that that's been fun, but so terrifying. There was a show I did called A Friend of the Family. So much of that was honestly one of the most creatively fulfilling projects I've ever done. It's one of my proudest things that I've gone to be a part of. There's just so many scenes in that that I was so nervous to film. It was so scary playing a real person. Because I was playing a real life crime case. So getting to play a real person, and also the person I was playing who was abducted and brainwashed. I got to act alongside her. So that was really nerve-wracking. And on a lighter note, in this movie, running and jumping into Mason's arms. That was so nerve-wracking. I don't know why. I was like, what if he drops me? I've just never done something like that. But that was so nerve-wracking, and now I've done it. I'm like, I can do that anytime. What a cool range of answers. It speaks to a big reason why I love your filmography so much. Really, the variety in your work is endless. And that's one of the coolest things ever. I was going to save this for later, but you brought up The Hunger Games. So I'll just ask my two questions about that. I've got two favorite film franchises out there. Scream is one of them, so you know I'm going to go there eventually. But I love, love, love The Hunger Games movies. I love all the books. And I will say, when the new ensemble was announced, literally every single person they announced, I'm like, oh my, that's perfect. In particular, when you were announced to play Maiselie, I'm like, oh, it just doesn't get better than that. That is like a match made in heaven in my mind. Thank you. I know that could be different from an outsider perspective compared to the person actually taking on an iconic role like that. So it was making me wonder, is there anything you've done thus far, either in prep or on set, that made you stop and go to yourself? Casting was spot on. This is my role. I am Maiselie Donner. I won't claim that. I will say that I don't always have that kind of confidence about myself where I'm like, oh, this is me. I am this role. I did it. I killed that. I feel like that's every, most 90% of artists. You always want to look at what you're doing and be like, I could do better. I could do better. But not kill yourself over it, of course. I don't know. There's definitely been some moments on set where I've been so, like I can't even talk about them yet. But it's just like I'm looking at what I'm wearing or I'm looking at myself in these outfits and it's just like, how did I get here? Or, I mean, it's all leaked online. We did the reaping and hearing my name get called and walking up there and everything is like, I don't even know. It was like the craziest, most surreal experience of my life. But I feel like that just adds to getting your name called in The Hunger Games. And it was like, I don't even know. I'm still every day proving myself to be this character and I feel like I won't fully know. I feel like I am Maisley, but I feel like once it comes out, I can really determine how I feel with what I did. But thus far, I've been so proud of the film as a whole. Everybody's fantastic in it. For what it's worth, I have all the faith in the world. Just to give somebody else in that ensemble some flowers, and again, I will stress this is an unfair question because literally every single person announced in that ensemble had me jumping for joy as a big fan of the book. Can you maybe pinpoint someone who did something on set that might make you tell moviegoers out there? You think you know what they're capable of, but just wait until you see what they do in this film. Joseph Seda. Joseph, yeah. Joe is like, ugh. Just his performance, everybody's going to be sobbing in the theaters. It's rough. It's rough. Because I'm supposed to be me and most stuck-up girl in town, but it's just like I'm watching him do his thing. I'm like, ugh. It's very gut-punchy. Yeah, and Glenn. Glenn Close. As Drusilla. Everybody's going to laugh. All of us have been losing our minds on set. It's been crazy. Also, Grace, who's playing the younger version of Astrid, Katniss' mom, is really fantastic, but to me it's just crazy watching her on screen because she looks like her. So it's so trippy. God, our entire cast is so good. Everybody's so good. You've got a special group. So clearly I jumped ahead with that question, but I want to talk a little bit about how your craft as an actor has evolved. But I want to start by letting you put a spotlight on some of your past co-stars. And we can include Regretting You. Actually, we can include Hunger Games if you want. But I am fascinated by the endless amount of acting techniques that are at your disposal, and I love hearing about all the unique approaches to your work as an actor. So of all the co-stars you ever had, can you name one who had the most similar approach to the work as your own, where the second you met them, you're like, oh, we're immediately in sync? But then I also want an example of the opposite, someone who challenged you to adapt and maybe even try something new and for the better. Huh. Honestly, because I've been a child actor so much of my career, I really do find that I've mostly just been a sponge on all of these sets and just trying to learn from everybody around me, and even still I feel like such a sponge, just wanting to soak up everything that everybody's saying and everything that everybody's doing on these sets. But since Mason and I are same age, same, we feel like we're kind of on the same playing field, I feel, I mean, he is so talented and one of the most talented young actors I've gotten to work with. And just getting to watch him do his thing is always incredible and it was so fun to get to watch him act in front of me. But that was definitely somebody that I was instantly like, okay, yeah, we're in this together. Yeah, Mason for sure on that front. We were so in sync on this, it was really, really special. And then, it wasn't an acting partner, but somebody that I find really challenged my approach in acting and changed it, most definitely changed the way that I approach every scene and acting and characters. Jason Reitman from Ghostbusters, our director and writer, just had such a different approach to preparing for a scene and coming onto set not having said your lines or wanting to be the first person that hears your lines, that you can mold the scene exactly how you envisioned. It was so different than any way that I'd ever approached something. And I was also so young at the time, like 13, so it totally flipped everything I thought I knew about acting on its head and now my entire process is different for it. So yeah, it was such a beautiful experience getting to learn from him. Oh, this kind of builds on that a little bit. Now I'll turn that towards you as an individual. Can you tell me something about your process, your approach to the work that has stayed the same since the very beginning, but then also something new you started to incorporate more recently? I feel like this has just started recently with as many book adaptations that I've been doing between Regretting You and Hunger Games. On Regretting You, I would go through the book and highlight everything and note it, but then on Hunger Games, Joe and I have watched the movies a bunch together in pre-production and both have little notebooks for our characters that we write down all of the things from the previous movies and from the book and everything that we want to incorporate into the film and everything from Josh and Jen's performance that we want to incorporate into our own characters and our own character relationships. So I've always had notebooks, and I've always done my notes and my highlighting, but just recently it's become a bit more of, especially with Hunger Games, a thing in my notes and preparing for every scene. Just because it's such a big thing to take on that I'm like, ooh, I've got to make sure I do it right doing my homework. Throughout my career, I've always been very musical, so I listen to music to get in and out of scenes, and I've always made playlists for my characters. Can you share some songs on the Regretting You playlist? On the Regretting You playlist? You've got a lot of good music in this movie, so I'm excited to hear this. I have it right here, actually. Oh, I love that you have it handy. No, of course I do. Literally all I do is listen to music. It's ridiculous. Okay, Clara. First song on there is Dark Four Door, because that's in the book. We have First Day of My Life, Bright Eyes, Anyone Else But You, The Moldy Peaches, just traveling through the thrills. Some good role model I got in a movie, actually. That's in there because of me. I have a lot of Boy Genius, a lot of Big Beef, a lot of Bright Eyes, Car Seat Headrest, Pavement, Wilko, Big Star, Pine Grove. It's like a very... This playlist is 20 hours long. I'm going to go home and construct a playlist based on everything you just listed. Do you have all of your character playlists? Yeah. Do you keep all of your character playlists in all of your notebooks? Yeah, I have all of it, always. At the end, I just haven't had a film that's come out in theaters or anything in so long, even though I've been shooting, so I haven't been able to post my little playlists, but usually I will. I feel like you're nonstop. I feel like it only just computed in my brain now when you said that. No, I've been non... I do not think... I have not taken a break in years, but just films take so long to come out sometimes. I actually asked you this question the last time we spoke that kind of aligns with this, because from my perspective, you're nonstop. You're constantly working. I think that's a wonderful thing. At the time, I had asked you what you do for fun on the side, and I think you had said skating at the time. Yeah, yeah. Ugh, I miss skating so much. Yeah, I used to be a little trick skater. I'd go to the skate park in my roller skates. Do the... what is it? Grind on the coping, do my little tricks, my cartwheels, my splits, whatever. But then I had a spine surgery, and I do not skate anymore, which is very sad. What has filled the skating void? I draw. I draw a lot. I have a little sketchbook that I carry with me on set. It's falling apart right now, which is sad. No, that's a good sign. That's a loved sketchbook. It's a very loved sketchbook. I draw. I play a lot of music. I've been trying to learn heavy metal on my electric guitar. Can you do Screamo? That's my dream. I, like, actually, when I performed Lollapalooza last year or the year prior, and I covered Limp Bizkit, but, like, I was going to cover a Flyleaf song, but I couldn't figure out how to scream. It was really sad. Just because this is fresh on my mind, because I just came back from Fantasticness, which is in Austin. Have you ever seen the horror movie? It's not really horror. It's more, like, it's got horror comedy tinges. It's called Deathgasm. No. It's, like, a mix of genre filmmaking and a love of metal music. I highly recommend it. It's wonderful. I'll watch it. They just made their sequel, but I very much recommend seeking out the first one while we wait for the second one to come out. Okay. So good. It's so good. Before I jump into regretting you, I will be annoying and squeeze in my scream question, because my second favorite franchise of all time, the only one that tops it is Jurassic Park. I grew up loving the original movie. It has shaped the movie lover that I am today. I know you probably are not allowed to tell me very much at all, but you've done a lot of genre movies over the years. So the first question that came to mind with this is, can you tell me a horror filmmaking first you experienced making Scream 7? There was a lot of firsts. There was a lot of horror filmmaking firsts that I cannot say yet. I did lose my voice. I don't want you to lose your voice, but also it's probably necessary on a movie like that. It was so cool. Yeah, no. I lost my voice from how much yelling and screaming are involved for those types of films. But yeah, I lost my voice, and then the next day I had an audition for the biggest musical ever, and I was like, you're joking. Of course. Isn't that always how it goes? It's always how it goes. This question might be a little safer, because we know the cast that's in that. The cast is exceptional. There's a whole bunch of franchise newcomers that I love, love, love, but then also there's a lot of iconic folks returning from previous Scream movies. So of the bunch, especially I believe because you're a fan of genre and you love movies, is there any particular person that made even you stop and go like, like, my God, I can't believe I'm on a set with this person right now. Oh my God, I literally, while I was shooting Regretting You, because I had wrapped on Scream and they were still shooting, and I was shooting Regretting You and I went and visited set, and I just got to sit there and watch, like, Sydney Prescott in front of me, like, do her thing, and I was just totally tripping. Um, no. Getting to be on a set with Neve Campbell, nobody even talked to me. Nobody even talked to me. Oh my God. I get that. Yeah. Do you have a favorite Scream franchise set piece from a previous movie? Oh my God. Uh, I mean, just The Kitchen from the first one is so, like, big and iconic, the house from the first one. Um... I'm bursting at the seams, I could go on and on. No, I'm like... I have a mini Cooper, and it's named Cece Cooper, so that particular sequence is always one of my favorites. Is that in the second one, whenever he's in it? Yeah, when Laura Geller gets in the sorority house. Mm-hmm. What's the, um... Oh, I'm thinking of the... What's the van in it from the second one? Oh, with Randy? Yeah, whenever Randy gets... That was one of the early set pieces that scared me growing up the most. That was, like, bonkers. Um, that was crazy. I mean, Sydney's, like, entire... Hmm... Her house is really memorable, or just, like, the beginning sequence with Drew Barrymore, whenever she's, like, in the kitchen making her popcorn. Iconic. Um, which one is it... Oh, I have all the answers. Is it the second or the third one, whenever, um, Sydney is in a play and they have that big, like, sequence? Oh, that's the second one. That's the... That's the ending of the second one. That was crazy. That one stuck with me, because that's, like, so... Like, an epic performance from Laurie Metcalf at the end. Oh, my God. Yeah, no, crazy. Oh, she's so good. I could go on and on, but I could also go on and on about, uh, regretting you as well. Regretting you. One particular thing that it's a little more of a broad question, but you're executive producing a lot of movies right now, and that makes me really excited. I just, like, I love seeing actors who have, like, built up a really big name and platform for themselves and a following, kind of lending their voices to productions in that way, because it winds up helping get things made, and it gets them a wider audience, so it was making me wonder, like, do you remember the single thing that sparked the itch to produce that made you think, like, I need to contribute to the projects that mean so much to me in that way in addition to acting in them? Huh, gosh. I feel like my first, um... I mean, there was, like, a, there was a book that I was adapting into a film for years and years. It started whenever I was, like, 12, and I mean, I still have email chains about it, like, to this day, um, called Rabbit Cake, and that was kind of my first time stepping into a producing role. Uh, but for me, I feel like what really made me start wanting to do that was when I was 15, I wrote a sequel to a film called The Bad Seed, and I wrote it with my dad, and to me, that was so special, getting to write something and do it with my dad and get it made and produce it and star in it, and I wrote it, and it was such, like, a big moment for me. Uh, so even still, I find that I just want to do anything involved on the behind-the-scenes part because I, again, feel like I have so much to learn from everybody around me, but also filmmaking. Like, I want to direct someday, and I love writing scripts, especially with my dad, and it's just like, as a young girl, I would always think, like, if I'm not getting the parts or playing the parts that I want to see for myself or that I want to see for other young women or just people around me, why not just, like, write them and create them yourself? So I always wanted to, like, take matters into my own hands, and so getting to be, um, an executive producer on things like this is so special to me because, I mean, particularly with Regretting You, it's my first time being a producer as an adult, um, and so I've been so involved with everything every step of the way. I had, like, all the cuts of the film. I was on, like, every email chain and all of the texts, and it was, um, it was a first for me, and it was so fun and cool to get to be on that side of things and feel like my opinion really mattered and, like, the edit. Um, but yeah, no, it's, uh, it's just, it's really cool as a young woman to be able to have, like, a say in those kinds of things. Beautiful answer. I have two follow-ups that crossed my mind. Mm-hmm. Even with, because you said that this is the first time you've been involved, like, kind of like as an adult in this capacity, even with all your experience making movies and shows, is there any particular thing that made you stop and go, like, I can't believe this is what it takes to see a movie through to fruition by being an executive producer on this film? I more so feel that with, um, the thing that I've been trying to get made since I was, like, 12. Rabbit Cake. Like, I, I've been a part of that for, like, seven years now, you know? And it's just, like, it's crazy how long it takes to get films made sometimes. I mean, sometimes it's, like, you write something and then it gets picked up and it's boom, like, out there. But then other times you're working on these. And I mean, I know that they were working on Getting Regarding You Made for years and years and years before I ever became a part of it. So it's just crazy how much goes into these films, um, especially before we even know about them. Don't let go if you want to make that. No, of course. I don't. No, of course. I can, like, feel the passion, like, radiating from you right now. It's gonna happen. The other, um, producing question I had for you, because correct me if I'm wrong, but, but Dave and Allison are also producers on this. How does that change, I guess, the on-set vibe or the collaboration with your co-stars when you're all involved, not just as stars of the movie but also in the producorial capacity, too? It was really fun, particularly on the last week of, um, production because I really kind of learned on this one to step into that role, um, because it's like I never wanted to be like, you know, I'm the youngest producer on this and I'm also, like, one of the younger people on set and I'm also, I feel like, as a young woman, like, you never want to, or just like a young person in general, you never want to overstep your bounds or you never want to, like, step on anybody's toes and so, like, the entire time I was, like, a producer but I was like, yeah, guys, like, I feel like we should do this and they're like, oh, yeah, guys, I feel like this would be cool but then the last week I just sat and talked with Dave and Allison for ages and ages and ages every day, um, in the green room just, like, about producing, particularly Allison, um, a lot about producing and stepping into that role and your power as just, you know, as a woman but also just a young person on a set and how your opinion is valued and matters and so it was really, really cool to me to be like, okay, like, it's not disrespectful and it's not, um, overstepping just to give your opinion and it's cool to know to other people that it matters. Um, yeah, you know, it was really special to get to learn so much from Dave and Allison as producers and also from, um, Josh and our producers, Brunson and Flavia. I learned so much from them every day whenever we were on set, um, and it's so cool and beautiful to me to still get to be a part of everything on the other side. Mm, I love that. I'm such a fan of Allison. I just, like, love her. I love watching her kind of, like, rise in the ranks and, like, not only be the star of the thing she's in but also a leader. She was on Ladies Night for Megan 2.0 a couple months ago and she just, like, I don't know, limited perspective, of course, but, like, seems to exude the best vibes that lift everybody else around her up on a set and I like that. Yeah, yeah. I like that. Um, leaning into the ensemble around you as actors, now I'm gonna get a little technique-y again because I love this kind of stuff. Love it. You have a whole bunch of stellar people around you. Can you tell me the two people in the Regretting You cast that have the most polar opposite approaches to their work where when you're their primary scene partner you know you're gonna have a very different acting experience? Maybe, like, Dave or Mason, like, are on one end and then working with Scott Eastwood is, like, on another just because, like, they just have, like, such different vibes and preparations. Um... How so? It just, like, I feel like Scott on this one was, like, a lot more, like, a little bit more, like, go with the flow and, like, fun. He was just very, like, his character. And, um, and then, like, I don't know, I feel like it was a bit more, like, of a serious, like, you know, deeper thing for whenever I was working with, um, like, I guess, yeah, with, like, Dave I felt like it was always, like, we had very, like, brooding conversations in our scenes and it was very, like, you know, like, dramatic and this is the dramatic side of Regretting You and, like, we're in this but then, like, with Scott it was just, like, very, like, you know, we're doing the thing and having a blast and, um, he was also, like, so specific about certain things. It's just, like, it was just, they had, like, similar approaches but very different vibes in our scenes that we were doing, I suppose. I feel like everybody had very similar, um, approaches, though. It was never, like, polar polar opposites but they just had very different vibes with their characters so it felt like polar opposite scenes. I'll lean into that. Is there any particular, um, I guess, like, an ensemble scene in the movie where you looked around at your co-stars and were like, we're really the perfect people to play, like, this family and this extended family? Um, probably, like, uh, the beginning of the movie whenever it's, like, all of us together, um, and, like, it's the family plus, uh, Dave and Willa and Sam and Scott and, uh, it was just, like, so fun getting to see everybody do their thing and, like, everybody just kind of, like, improv-ing and having a good time and messing with each other and Sam kept on improv-ing. Sam is so good. So funny. Mm-hmm. So funny. I met Sam for the first time at South by Southwest this year. Oh, yeah, yeah. And I'm like, oh, like, you're just gonna go up and up and up and up, aren't you? God. I'm obsessed with Sam. Like, so funny. So funny. And that line and that scene, they improv-ed, um, the, like, bit about the, well, just because there's a goalie doesn't mean you can't score. And then Dave's like, your mom always says that. Like, they were just improv-ing that. It got a big laugh the other day, too. So funny. It made me happy. I know, and that was just fully, like, spur of the moment. So good. Um, but that was definitely, like, a moment for me and then, like, getting to do, uh, like, the first kiss stuff with Mason, like, getting to have all of that dialogue was the first time where I was like, oh, my gosh, like, we're actually, like, playing two million claret. Like, this is so, like, sweet, you know? It's such a beautiful thing to have. I'll put the spoiler warning up if you want to answer this with a spoiler, but just to tap into some of the, the wonderful scenes you have here. Going into filming this movie, which scene did you think was going to be the most challenging for you? And ultimately, was it or did a different scene in the movie catch you by surprise? I don't want to talk about it, but there is, like, one scene in this movie between Mason and I that was kind of a first for me. Okay, understandable. And also for him, if you know what scene I'm talking about. Yes, I do. And so it's like, that was kind of a really big deal for me going into this, but then it was just, like, kind of just, like, funny and, like, silly and stupid and, like, just, like, fun. Like, we just, it was just, like, so funny, but also, like, very nerve-wracking. But then the scene that kind of caught me off guard that I actually ended up just being, like, randomly, not difficult, but just, like, what on earth was, um, after we find out about the accident, there's just, like, a, like, five-second clip of me and Dave and Allison all in a room just crying together. And it's, like, we did that for, like, an hour and a half and it's just all of us, like, hysterical in this room together and then we could just hear all of us crying in different ends of the room. And I watch it now and it cracks me up because Dave's also in the back of the room, like, and he's giving this, like, very moving performance but I'm like, why is he mogging all of us? It's so dumb because I'm like, I have snot all over my face and Dave's in the back of the room with this baby, like, looking, like, very, like, stoic but, like, intense and I, it just makes me laugh but that caught me off guard because we did that for, like, an hour and a half. The baby was almost distractingly adorable. Yeah, no, literally. It's so cute. I do want to ask you a couple spoiler questions but before I do that, just because talking about the reaction to Sam's line in the movie is making me think of this, I was in that screening room the other day and it just seemed like, seemed like that room was filled with people who were there because they love you and they wanted to support you and I'm just curious what it was like being in a crowd like that and feeling, like, feeling the enthusiasm from them regarding something you poured so much time and passion and care into. Oh, gosh. I mean, I have been in one, I've sat through one screening of this so far with other people and it was just like, this movie is particularly really near and dear to my heart because of how special of a time I had making it and so it was just like, it's so weird to watch with other people and it's so weird to, like, to share with people now and to get to hear everybody's reactions and also, like, I went to this screening with, like, my mom and dad and Mason is somebody that's very near and dear in my life and so sitting with my parents and watching us make out on screen for, like, however long this movie was was probably the funniest and, like, was something that I've never experienced because I've never done a romance before. So that was particularly funny and my dad liked to walk around the screening room after and be like, they didn't tell me they kissed in this movie. We're going to bring up the spoiler warning now. I had two particular scenes that I really wanted to ask you about. First, the one that I wanted to talk about is the birthday dinner scene. The big fight scene. I'm just curious about filming something like that because as a viewer, like, I was tense and I realized when that scene was over that, like, I was in a sweat so what is it like filming that and going, you know, going toe-to-toe with Allison and also being able to bounce off everybody else at that table? I just felt like I was just being such a little, like, dingus at that dinner. Like, I was just like, I just got to have fun. I just got to wear my little party hat and Sam and I, we were like, let's wear party hats. Let's be those people. And just, like, sitting there and I was just like, I don't know why I was scratching my plate like every other take. I just was like, and Allison would improv things and be like, don't. Like, it was so fun. It was just, I've never done anything like that and it was just so silly and I just felt like such, like, I just felt like such a, like, jerk that scene. I was just, like, torturing everybody at the table. I was like, why am I evil now? But it was really hard to, like, stay in it and not laugh whenever Mason drinks his thing and, like, chokes on it and, like, some takes he would spit it on the table or he'd, like, choke on it and actually end up coughing and I'd just be sitting there, like, trying not to laugh. It was really bad. There was a lot of takes where I was just, like, staring down at my table and, like, trying not to laugh. Um, but no, honestly, that was such a insane and fun scene to shoot. I've never gotten to do much like it. Like, the closest thing I have to that is Handmaid's Tale whenever I'm, like, at the head of the house table but that was way more intense and scary but, um, it was really fun. It was really fun getting to be kind of an antagonist for a scene. You were very good at it and I feel like I know that their situation is very specific. There's something about the mother-daughter tension particularly in that scene that, you know, I feel like a lot of daughters who have acted like jerks towards their mother, which I still do even at my age today, I feel like it could be very relatable to many people out there. This might be too hyper-specific but it's one of my favorite lines of the movie and it's one of my favorite line deliveries from you. It's when Clara tells Morgan, but they did it to you. Yeah. It cuts through in such a deep way. What is it like tackling a line like that where, like, that line has to reflect like the weight of the growth of their relationship and also reflect the fact that this is a point where they're coming together more than ever. Yeah. I felt like that line for me was really, I mean, it's basically like the entire thing of the movie. It's like how could they do that but like how they did that to you, somebody who did that, who did everything for them. I don't know, I thought that it was a very good, perfect sum up of what happened to Morgan in the film and I thought that it was really special that I got to deliver that line. But that scene as a whole, we kind of went over it a million times and changed some of the lines but there was like still so much as Clara I would have loved to ask and say in that scene but, you know, for sake of film, we only got so much in there but I was so glad that that line was in there. That line holding so much though is like such an achievement. I was so impressed by that beat and many other things in the film, I was impressed by it but now I want you to be impressed by your own work because we end every single Collider Ladies Night with this particular question. I love that in film and television we give each other awards. I think we should keep on doing that. It's great but I find that nobody stops and tells themselves good job as much as they should so I want to know something you did in regretting you that you know you're always going to be able to look back on and say, you know what, really proud of what I did there. I look back at this film as a whole and I'm just like really proud of it. I'm just like really happy with this movie. I think that it's so fun but also sad and it was my first romance and I look back in this and it was such a, like I'll always look back in this and think that it was such a special moment and time for me especially like getting to make this with Mason who I was already so close with beforehand. It was, it's just like special to get to look back on that and it's like weird to look around and see all, like I always stare at this poster that's behind you because it like is so funny and totally trips me out but it was just like I have such a nice family off of that film and Mason and Josh and Flavia and Brunson and Dave and Allison and I just think I'll always look back on this and be like I'm really proud of the work I did but I'm also so proud of what I learned and all the connections I made and it was one of the first films right now where I feel like I look more like myself as well so that was really special as well. Yeah, no, it just all around it was a really special experience. It's a beautiful thing you should be so proud. I gotta wind down with you so I'm gonna say a huge congratulations on everything you've accomplished on regretting you and everything coming your way. Thank you. I know you'll be back and when you come back to Ladies Night for a third time I'm gonna bring a sash or something. Congratulations. Thank you so much. This is so fun.