Julia Louis-Dreyfusmay have a filmography down to the floor and 11 Primetime Emmys to her name, but she’s still finding projects that challenge her in new ways, a big one beingDaina O. Pusić’s feature directorial debut,Tuesday.
Given the film is a wildly unique and highly ambitious narrative, I fear no written description will doPusić’s one-of-a-kind exportation of grief and death justice, but hopefully the following sets the stage well enough.Louis-Dreyfusplays Zora, the mother of a terminally ill teenager named Tuesday (Lola Petticrew). Struggling to accept that she’ll soon have to let her daughter go, Zora spends the bulk of her time ignoring her calls and pretending she’s at the office. When Death does come for Tuesday, in the form of a macaw voiced byArinzé Kene, she convinces Death to give her just a little more time so that she can say goodbye to her mother. However, when Zora does finally return home, she refuses to let Death take her daughter.
WithTuesdaynow playing in theaters nationwide, I got the chance to have a brief chat with Louis-Dreyfus to discuss what inspired her to commit to such a bold project from a first time filmmaker, and how she looks out for her own well-being while portraying a character powering through such a heart wrenching situation.
‘Tuesday’ Challenged Louis-Dreyfus to Tackle the “Ultimate Sadness”
‘Tuesday’ Review: Julia Louis-Dreyfus Tries to Beat Death in Surreal, Moving A24 Film
The feature directorial debut of Daina Oniunas-Pusić is a touching, strange, and often hilarious and heartbreaking exploration of grief.
How do you get Julia Louis-Dreyfus to star in your first feature? It comes down to two key things, the script and a conversation. “I needed to see a strong script. I did.” Louis-Dreyfus continued, “I needed to meet [Daina], see her eye-to-eye, and have an in-depth conversation about what her intention was, and her plan to see it through. That’s it.”
Once Louis-Dreyfus was convinced her collaboration with Pusić and her material would be a positive one, it was all about leaning on the process she’s honed over the years, and figuring out how to add to it in order to tackleTuesday’s more unique challenges.
Here’s what Louis-Dreyfus said when asked for something about her approach to the work that’s stayed the same since day one:
“What stayed the same has been trying to find a way into a character. At the risk of sounding too actor-y, finding a way in,finding a through-line, a thread, that I understand from my own lifethat then I can bring to this character to find a way into knowing that life. That’s always been the case.”
The thing that changed for Louis-Dreyfus onTuesday? She let herself venture into a rather uncomfortable head space. Here’s how she put it:
“What was one-of-a-kind aboutTuesdaywas going to a place I was uncomfortable going. There have been uncomfortable moments, I suppose, in performing for me in the past, and by uncomfortable, I mean — the deal with sadness. Butthis was sort of like the ultimate sadness, and so to have to even touch it was very scary. That’s a real honest answer for you.”
The willingness to tackle tough material is vital for actors, but equally important is developing techniques to insure they’ve got a way back after. Here’s how Louis-Dreyfus practices that kind of on-set self-care:
“When I’m working, particularly if I’m on location,I create a very tight routine for myself in a hotel room, for example. I will have ironing of my laundry to do, I will map out the rest of my day in my head, if it’s taking a bath, it’s planning what I’m gonna eat for dinner, what I’m gonna watch on TV, what shirts need to be ironed, calling home. I call home a lot, generally speaking, but I called home alotduring the particularly tough times on the film.”
Something else that comes in handy while making an emotionally demanding film? Having a scene partner who supports you, and Louis-Dreyfus and Petticrew had just that in each other:
“I love actors, and I walk onto the set as an equal. It would be grotesque if I didn’t. So I’m there to work with her and to listen to her. It’s imperative that we form a bond and form an understanding of the story that we’re telling together, and so that requires generosity from her and from me both.”
What if Death Was a Talking Bird?
Tuesdayis a deeply human story, one that tackles one of life’s greatest challenges — accepting that there is an end. Pusić manages to hit a sweet spot while exploring the subject. She uses an abundance of fantastical elements to deliver a visual feast and dig deep in new ways, but while holding tight to a grounded and beautiful poignancy, a pairing of qualities with the power to strike a chord that’ll reverberate well after the movie’s over.
“We shot the movie in London, but we were also in Wales. I had never been to Wales before. [Wow], is that pretty. Being on the beach in Wales and shooting — and those were very difficult scenes — at that magical spot was elevating. Then I was on a stage in London, and characters in the movie grow in size and shrink in size a lot within the story, and there’s a part of the film in which I have grown quite enormous, and so we had to shoot the special effect of that, and I was crunched down into a box. I will tell you, it was not very comfortable.”
Louis-Dreyfus’ character growing in size only scratches the surface of the audacious ways Pusić and co. craft a thoughtful and highly creative tale about mortality.
Tuesday is a fantasy drama film by writer-director Daina O. Pusic, which initially premiered in 2023. Zora, while caring for her terminally ill daughter, Tuesday, is visited by Death - in the form of a parrot that can change its size. To help Zora cope with what’s to come, Death takes her on an emotional journey to gain a greater appreciation and understanding of life.
