Millers in Marriage Q&A TIFF 2024 - Ed Burns, Julianna Margulies, Morena Baccarin, Gretchen Mol

waiting Campbell Scott Brian garcy [Applause] [Music] [Applause] James Rich M jimy anamar ladies marinaa ban wo and riter director Ed [Music] burn thank you guys congratulations to you all now someone told me backstage that this is the first time that you all have seen the film is that correct yes amazing we're a mess we're all a mess intimidating at all to watch it with 18800 people all right I I was unhappy with Benjamin's work we have notes okay moving on so all right um do we have any questions for our guest here yes in front please and what was your sorry can I repeat it um and what was your inspiration to make this lovely film uh it came from a couple of different places but uh my producing partner Aaron luin is who is here tonight and I should mentioned Ellen Schwarz my other producing partner who made this possible um uh I can't remember exactly but I think Aaron had seen Kramer versus Kramer a couple years ago and he said I think we need to make you know a grownup film for people in their 50s the way the Hollywood studio system used to so with that in my head I started to just kind of like listen to the people in my world um you know I'm I'm 56 a lot of my friends uh had uh were ready empty nest I had that on the horizon and there were a lot of the conversations that I overheard I grabb for you know some of the conversations you see in this another big part was just talking to lot of my peers in our business you know either in the film business the music business uh in publishing and you know when you're in your mid-50s you're kind of in a a different place in your career uh where sometimes um you know you you wondered like campell's character do I have anything left to say if I do have anything to say will anyone care you know is there still an audience out there and can I still find that audience if they are out there so that was a number of the things that were going on and I also realized like when a lot of us came up in the 90s you know like the Gen xus there was so many films about so many character driven films about our first experiences right you know your first love your first apartment your first job your first marriage and now we're in our 50s and there are no films about Gen X you know we're just the moms and dads who help you [Music] know so we push the plot along for the younger Act but I thought you know what we still have something to say you have a lot to say thank you for saying it on behalf of all of us um are there other questions here oh yeah go ahead Oh I thought you were pointing oh thank you okay yes please up there yeah I think we got two of you ask question we got stereo here um my my question is about the last shot at the end uh I saw I saw a lot of twos so I wanted to get uh your thoughts on on that final shot the two door knobs the two loocks on the one door and then that one door closing is that is that sort of like a symbolism kind of reference theing of the relationship and the beginning of a new one starting I think you say it question uh uh absolutely um I will and I think they're here the people who own that apartment in Hoboken uh they were so good to us and uh they're here tonight so wherever you guys are thank um no but one of the things that we did do with uh Patrick and Gretchen's character uh my my DP and I will Rex is not here today the one thing that we did with them kind of connected to that is uh at no point in the film did we ever have them in the same frame so blocking wise it was one of the things that we tried to do with them uh to to S of keep them apart and then uh with Julian and Campbell A lot of times where I could I tried to kind of have Campbell sort of uh more in soft focus behind her you know to see where he goes to the coffee uh to fill up the coffee and he's cut off kind of play with some ideas of just playing cinematically with the disconnect between the couples um that other question that was up there that oh okay um so yeah so the like my ending so we would talk about it on set and I see it as a happy ending uh because they're all in these marriages that you know are torn and frayed and have run their course and nobody's happy and I look at everyone and I think you know everyone now has an opportunity to start a second chapter and a big part of what I wanted to explore was you know again talking to uh you know friends and hearing stories other couples like the idea of can you in your mid-50s or early 60s have a second chapter or if this thing whatever your marriage career the book the film doesn't work does that mean it's lights out or can we still have a shot at a new beginning an opportunity to shine on if you will anyhow that's what I going sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't I don't know uh over on this side there please so the question was the question was uh have think about giving them a normal job and in an early draft I think my character was an attorney uh and then I came up with this idea of you know three siblings who end up in sort of uh difficult relationships and what was it about their upbringing and who their parents were that affected the kind of relationships they ended up in right so uh Gretchen's character ends up with an alcoholic and we hear that her father was you know Juliana being the oldest sister basically had to take care of us and I kind of looked at that as that's why she's a little bit shut off uh you know my character late to get married unwilling to really kind of commit to anything doesn't commit to his career um so I thought if the parents were artists you know for a lot of us and end up doing what we do you know you have parents who are artists as well so that was kind of the reason um and also you know like a lot of the conversations are you know a lot of our friends are in the Arts and again like I said earlier about just being at this age it's kind of a weird place to be uh in our respective businesses okay uh yes there please yes how did you come to have this beautiful cast people in this wonderful film I've did enough talking so maybe you guys want to talk to that specifically how no man why did you choose us I want to hear Too want to know we've been wondering I mean well Patrick and I had worked together before uh and oh you know loved working with him wanted to work with them again I think when I gave you the script I was like there's two different parts whatever part you want to play and then I'll let you take from that so I chose the alcoholic I I I think I can I uh hello everybody um I I'll on behalf of actors I will say it's always an easy yes when this guy calls and I say that not having gotten a call from him in 17 years but uh but when he texts you or calls you it um you go right back to it was it could have been the day before and that's the kind of relationship that he has and I don't think it's special to me I think it's to everyone in Eddie's life it's the reason why everybody loves working with him and that's absolutely true I believe that he provides uh you know all you want is an actor an artist I'm sure at any job that you guys do you want to feel comfortable in your work you want to feel safe you want to feel open you want to feel able to fail you know uh able to take a big swing maybe Miss and you're always in comfortable hands so that's why weirdly it wasn't I mean it was strange seeing it for the first time with thousands of people but I knew that you better get that I knew that um I think we all knew that we were in such good company it just wonderful to see everybody kind of have their moment and and uh and so thank you for giving uh not only us everybody in your films you provide such a warm atmosphere you really I would just like to ask something that um have a stupid hat my stup which I smartly kept how was an I think I think I think the easy draw is the recognition of the caliber of The Ensemble that he was putting together um and of course the script the familiarity with the themes that he's exploring and and where these character are characters are in their lives um having seen it now for the first time I I really am having a hard time putting together the emotion I just know that I'm emotionally devastated and so impressed by and proud to be a part of an ensemble that has an actor like Campell Scott and and Brian Darcy James and Patrick and Gretchen Juliana and Morena and a Killers every single one of them killers and I was blown away by each and every one of you what you did and I'm so proud to be a part of it and thank you for giving me the opportunity thank you I take back what I said about Benjamin any further thoughts uh yeah I remember Juliana said to me one point on set just about you know like the opport I forget who you were working with the time or talking to but it was another actor and basically ret a conversation about like getting the opportunity to play Someone our age going through the things that we are going through and that was the reason that you when you read it you were like okay I'm in you know yeah I I mean for me personally just when I got the script I was so relieved because it was a movie about emotional curiosity what happens to these relationships you really just and you know some of the scenes that Camel and I got to do together they're hilarious and they're heartbreaking and especially I loved how you um the competition in a marriage is so tricky when you're both in the same business and it's one of those things where you want to you can see Maggie wanting his approval and you can see him devastated that he doesn't have Maggie's success and there's something so heartbreaking that was the first thing for me when I read the script um and then I heard that Eddie wanted to meet with me I was really flattered and and so we sat and had coffee and I think we could have spent all night talking about relationships and all our friends and the lives we've lived and by the way I don't I don't feel like this is um be I want to say it in an elegant way but there's no other way to put it to get a script when you're in your mid-50s like this and to get the chance to celebrate that is a gift so and I think you were all on set together there wasn't one actor there that didn't want to be there we were all so appreciative so it made the set really fun and and your energy is so fun I mean I I walked away I remember saying to my agent who's here I was like I'd read the phone book for him whenever he calls you just let me know he made it fun he made it easy it was respectful and and I think that's something that we all shared together was this incredible Universal Collective respect that we all had for one another and that we felt from Eddie to us so thanks for inviting me to the party Marina your character is someone that we sort of love to hate sometimes this is a very very difficult character to play we have to see her married to him but we also have to see all the Machinery inside of her can you talk a little bit about how you approached this yeah um I was joking on set and it sort of became actually a part of this character which was I wanted people to meet me and want to hate me but by the end of the shoot be team Tina I was in it to change everybody's mind about Tina and sometimes worked and sometimes it didn't but I think that's how she works inside um and I was really thrilled to get the call about this film because it's a film about grownups and that's a really big relief but a film where I get to be the youngest member of the cast that's also a really big relief and on top of it all identify with bits of everybody's stories and what they're going through because no matter your age or what circumstance you're in or what marriage you're in there is bits of these people and these relationships and everybody and I think Tina there is a Tina in all of you [Applause] back you know Gretchen you said in response to one of the audience questions that actually you feel your characters was a very happy ending and I would agree can you speak a little bit about her Arc and maybe what's next for her well she brings her guitar um no I that's that's why I loved the character um because she had such a hopeful ending and um it was really a journey for her of sort of after all these years rediscovering herself and um I think that's another part of of what we think about when we're at this age you know it's it's um you're kind of coming out often on the other side of things losses parents you lose your parents you have your children you raise your kids and then all of a sudden you have this opportunity to go oh hang on who am I I I kind of haven't thought about that for a while and and am I happy and and how's it going and I I love that this film addresses that for our generation and we would all sort of be on set talking about I mean we had the same references you know the the like 1998 we all remember where we were and what was happening because it was the beginning of the dream happening and the dream coming true and then there's all these kind of hazy years and then um I mean not necessarily but you know it's we did the thing we're doing it and now here we are um kind of getting to sort of put the magnifying glass on it for a second and um I did love that Eve um I think it's beginning to find her voice you know I don't think she's good at it quite yet but she's starting and just getting out of that relationship sorry why why did you hurt me and I love that she kind of comes out totally solo you know and that it wasn't someone no one was going to be able to solve the problem she's going to have to solve it herself we're so thrilled at he brought this wonderful film to us with all of these wonderful actors thank you so much for bringing us f [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] good