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Dirty Girl

Coverage by Nobuhiro Hosoki

Story : Dirty Girl is the story of Danielle (Juno Temple), the dirty girl of Norman High School in Norman, Oklahoma, circa 1987. When Danielle’s misbehavior gets her banished to a remedial class, she is paired on a parenting project with Clarke (Jeremy Dozier), an innocent closet-case with no friends. Danielle is determined to get to California to find the father she’s never met, and Clarke is desperate to escape being sent to military school by his homophobic dad. Together, the mismatched misfits light out for California, and discover each other and themselves through a funny and serendipitous friendship.

Opens Friday, October 7, 2011

Runtime:1 hr. 30 min.

Interview with Actress Juno Temple, Actor Jeremy Dozier

 

(Q) : So before doing this movie what kind of Southern experiences did you have?
 
(Juno Temple): Southern? I'd done a film in Louisiana, in Shreveport.
 
(Q) : What was that film?
 
(Juno Temple): I shot "Year One" there.

(Q) : But you didn't do that in a Southern accent.
 
(Juno Temple): No, but I filmed in the South so that was an experience. I actually had a funny experience there where I where quite a lot of black. A big style icon for me is The Craft, so I was wearing some weird, Craft looking outfit. This Southern guy came up to me and he was like "Excuse me, ma'am?"

I'm sitting outside the Hilton, Shreveport, smoking a cigarette, just being sweet and quiet. He goes "Are you a Wicker?" I was like "I'm so sorry; I don't know what that is. I don't know." He's like "It's an earthly witch." And I was like "Oh no, no. No, I'm not. No." What do you say to that? I also have a best friend who I live with who's from Oklahoma, so I've been around an Oklahoman. But I hadn't done a Southern accent until "Dirty Girl." "Dirty Girl" was my first.
 
(Q) : So what did you learn in playing a Southern girl that you hadn't known before?
 
(Juno Temple): That I think at heart I'm probably Southern. I've had a few of my Southern friends say that I can be an honorary Southern person now, which I'm very excited about. They're really good fun, Southern people. You can vouch for that.

(Jeremy Dozier) : I'm from Texas, so I grew up in the South, so I can definitely vouch for it.
 
(Juno Temple) : He's a good time, I guarantee you.
 
(Q) : What did you do to teach her about Southern fun? How did you take her out and show her a good time in the South?
 
(Jeremy Dozier) : Well we live in LA so that's kind of hard. We went country dancing not too long ago.
 
(Juno Temple): Yeah, we did go country dancing.
 
(Jeremy Dozier) : Line dancing.
 
(Juno Temple) : You played me some good tunes. We did some dancing in trailers.
 
(Jeremy Dozier) : A couple of the words she said were off. For instance, she says "twat" in the movie and she said "twat" [with a flat a] and I was like "No, no, no. That's not how you say it in the South."
 
(Juno Temple) : I have to just make a statement there. "Twat" sounds so English. "Oh, you twat." And then like "Oh, you twat [with a flat a]" sounds so much more American. So I was like "Twat? What are you talking about, you weirdo?" I was livid about it. I was just very embarrassed.
 
(Q) : So much has changed in society from 1987 until now, and obviously you guys weren't hitting clubs or anything in '87. What did you guys learn about the time period and what were your impressions?
 
(Juno Temple) : You had to do a lot of research on the music and stuff.
 
(Jeremy Dozier) : I did, I did. I really hadn't listened to Melissa Manchester or anybody like that, and she's this icon for Clarke. So I did a lot of research on her and watched YouTube videos and stuff like that, and I found it fascinating how powerful she was on stage. I did a lot of research on the time period and I think it was a time when being gay wasn't really talked about, and so I think that's changed a lot since then, thank god. And the clothes and everything; a lot of research on that, which was a lot of fun. We'd walk onto set and everything would be decked out in '80s gear and it was just so much fun walking into this different world.
 
(Juno Temple): Yeah, it was like walking into a new world. Puff of smoke.
 
(Q) : Did you ask some of your older cast members to give you some tips or references for the '80s or what their '80s experiences were?
 
(Juno Temple) : Kind of. But also we're a different generation to them in the movie too. My parents were a big part of the '80s rock and roll music scene, so I know quite a lot about that part of the '80s. So this was like a whole new part of the '80s in the fact that we're listening to this great power ballad, music you can't help but move your body to.
 
(Jeremy Dozier) : And what was great about working with Abe is that he did grow up in that time period and he had so many references for us. Movies, "Breakfast Club," and all these different movies for us to watch.
 
(Juno Temple) : Yeah, we watched some good movies.
 
(Jeremy Dozier) : And images. The music, the music plays a huge part of the movie and he knew what songs he was going to play over which scene before we started.
 
(Juno Temple): We got given the soundtrack before.
 
(Jeremy Dozier): Yeah, so that kind of helped us inform the scenes and get the tone.
 
(Q) : You also have your come-on line, which is "Are those Bugle Boy jeans?" I hadn't heard that in so long.
 
(Juno Temple): You have to tell the story.
 
(Jeremy Dozier) : I didn't know where that came from; I thought that was such a weird line. I shot the entire movie not knowing where that came from, and just last week Abe posted the commercial on Facebook and I was like it all makes sense now. Over my head; I had no idea.
 
(Q) : It's so funny to hear you guys, because of course I was dealing with all of that. I was a music critic at the time so I was dealing with all the bands and all that music at the time. What other references from the '80s that you didn't know about?

(Juno Temple) : There was a line that was cut out where Clarke says to Danielle, "Let's sing 'Don't Cry Out Loud,'" and I'm like "I'm more of a White Snake girl." That was the kind of vibe that Danielle is into more, like hair metal. But the thing that I loved about Danielle was that she was kind of '70s in this '80s world. She got all her mum's hand me downs so she's in these little rompers and fur coats and these '70s platform heels, so she looks like even more of a misfit.

She doesn't get so '80s until the end I think with the polo neck and the camel toe shorts. I don't know, man, it was like an interesting thing because also it's so Abe's world, it's like based on his childhood story. He is your god; he's written the bible for you in that situation because he knows it better than anybody else.

So there's a lot of spending a lot of time talking with Abe, and just a man that you trust so dearly that he opens your eyes to this whole new world and you just become lost in it. I grew up having a really vivid imagination, so when you have a director that has this incredible vision that he's just giving to you it's like walking through the Narnia closet or something.
 
(Jeremy Dozier): It makes it so much easier, too.
 
(Q) : The Narnia closet. That's a whole different set of clothes.
 
(Juno Temple): But it's like walking through a whole new doorway. Even before we got on set, because we did dance rehearsals and singing rehearsals and stuff before, and we grew up going out dancing and it's like you just wriggle a bit. You don't really have proper dance routines, so you get there and you're learning how to do all these crazy moves that you haven't seen since an '80s music video. And that was so fun and just taking you to a whole new part of your brain that you haven't really ever accessed before.
 
(Q) : How would you guys describe the tone of this movie?
 
(Jeremy Dozier): I think what's great about this movie is that it's like a roller coaster. There are really emotional scenes and then there are comedy scenes, so there's kind of something for everybody. There's singing, there's dancing, it deals with a lot of issues that are pertinent today.
 
(Juno Temple) : It's timeless I think.
 
(Jeremy Dozier) : I think it's a movie set in the '80s but that is so important to today, especially in today's climate and with all the gay teen suicides and all of that. Really learning to love yourself and coming into your own and figuring out who you are, and so I think it's a great message movie.
 
(Juno Temple): Yeah I think it's don't judge a book by its cover, and that's the best thing you can tell people because it's the worst thing you can possibly do. You miss out on so much when you just judge someone by their cover.
 
(Q) : Is it hard for you guys to believe that now, after all this time since '87 there are still these teen suicides because people are hassling people because they're gay?
 
(Jeremy Dozier) : It's crazy, yeah.
 
(Juno Temple) : I think it's ridiculous, to be quite honest with you, the fact that we still haven't been able to find out a way to be okay with letting people be with what they want to be. I think it's ridiculous and it's part of the reason why you get angry. But whatever happens, I think in high school there's going to be something that someone's going to get bullied about. Like the size of someone's nostrils, or whether they have a weird toenail on their big toe. People find the weirdest stuff to destroy children's lives about, and so that's why I think this is such a great message, because it's really like look beyond that.

Because when you first meet Clarke and Danielle in the movie you wouldn't picture them being best friends at all, and it's this weird chemistry that just explodes, because actually for the first time they meet someone that wants to listen to them, someone that wants to be around them, and someone that thinks they're so great for who they are and to help entice that out of them.

And I think that's something that people should so look for in high school. If you don't get on with everybody you don't get on with everybody; you're not going to. But when you find the people that really get you and just love you for who you are then everything kind of figures itself out and falls into place, and I think that's such a good message to be sending.
 
(Jeremy Dozier) : I think bullying ultimately comes out of ignorance.
 
(Juno Temple) : And jealousy.
 
(Jeremy Dozier) : I think we've made a lot of progress, but there's still a lot of progress to go.
 
(Q) : It always amazes me how people will in high school or in junior high type each other and then suddenly they find out that a year later, two years later that they're going to be best friends because they have more in common.

(Jeremy Dozier) : Yeah.
 
(Juno Temple) : Exactly.
 
(Jeremy Dozier) : It's so the message of this story too. It's so about becoming who you want to be versus what you're labeled as in high school, and that's exactly what these characters are doing over the course of the film.
 
(Juno Temple) : Yeah, life's so much bigger than that.
 
(Q) : When you guys first met what was your relationship like and how did it transform over the course of making the movie?
 
(Jeremy Dozier) : We met at the chemistry read and so we had spent like 30 minutes together just kind of reading and we rode the elevator down together. And Juno doesn't drive and so she was like "Well I have to take a taxi," and I was like "Well I have a car. I can give you a ride if you want," and I never thought that she would take me up on it because I was a complete stranger. But she did and I drove her home.
 
(Juno Temple) : Yeah being a blonde girl without a license in LA. Take what you can get.
 
(Q) : Now you have a license right?
 
(Jeremy Dozier): I've always had a license. She still doesn't.
 
(Juno Temple) : I don't have a license.
 
(Jeremy Dozier) : A driving movie, a road trip movie without a license.
 
(Juno Temple) : Which I notified them when in my first audition. I was like "I just have to tell you guys immediately that I don't drive." I mean I can drive, but legally I can't. But no, and then we got in the car and we just listened to the radio and we were just chatting and got on so well, and then it just blossomed more and more. Because you know immediately there was like an instant chemistry right there, but then you start shooting a movie and you get tired and it's long days and you get emotional, and it was like the best support system ever. So great.
 
(Jeremy Dozier) : Totally. Especially, I mean this was my first film, so to have a best friend there that's in almost every scene I'm in. We had the chemistry so we would just get on set and play, which was so nice. It was so much fun.
 
(Juno Temple) : Yeah, it was really great.
 
(Q) : Did that make your dancing scenes and your strip scenes; did that make it a little easier to do?
 
(Jeremy Dozier): Totally, yeah. And I think it all comes from Abe, because Abe was so supportive and he kind of built this supportive set where all of the crew, and even the big name actors were so nice to me and treated me as an equal, which meant the world to me. I mean Mary Steenburgen on the first day pulled me aside and told me that she knew what it was like to be in my shoes because the first film she did she starred opposite Jack Nicholson with Jack Nicholson directing, so she knew what it was like to be on a film with big actors in it.

And for her to do that, and Bill and Juno and Tim and Dwight and everybody and Milla was just so nice and supportive. And so whenever it did come to the moments where you either had to be really emotional, like Juno did, or where I was in underwear and a "Flashdance" shirt, you really felt really comfortable. Of course it was nerve wracking the first take, but then you kind of get into it.
 
(Juno Temple) : Then you kind of have fun with it.
 
(Jeremy Dozier): Yeah, and you forget about everything else.
 
(Juno Temple) : And also you were just bringing so much. It's like when you have people on a set and everyone's just so enjoying the project that they're working on and you have a good time when then camera's not rolling and you're just so excited to go to work.
 
(Jeremy Dozier) : And you build upon one other. It's like everybody just gets more and more creative. It was great.
 
(Q) : Did you keep any of the clothes?

(Juno Temple) : There was this one, the Laura romper that I wanted, that actually Abe had bought years ago for the movie and brought it in and it was a perfect fit. It was kind of Cinderella-esqe; it was great. It's the one in the campfire scene. It's this kind of pale beige. But, unfortunately it was sent to a Universal storage lot. But it was meant to be mine. One day I'll get it back. It's very hard to find a good velour romper that suits you and fits the right areas correctly, I guarantee you.
 
(Q) : And then what about working with Nick? He was only there for a few days but how did that kind of change the dynamic?
(Juno Temple) : That was early on in the movie too. He came on and shot that beautiful scene where he's dancing, and he was the first one that hadn't dance, we'd all done this dance training, and we were like oh my god.
 
(Jeremy Dozier) : Juno and I did it together but we hadn't seen Nick's dance.
 
(Juno Temple) : And it was just so beautiful that night with the projection screen and him.
 
(Jeremy Dozier) : And he's such a good actor. He's so amazing, so the scenes that we shot with him were so easy. One of my favorite scenes in the film was the Skittles scene after we've picked him up and we're playing with the Skittles in the back of the car. That scene is a lot of improv just because we're playing with the Skittles and you just kind of have to react to whatever happens.

There's a line in the movie where he's like "You knocked me in my tooth," and it was just so funny and perfect. I don't know; it felt effortless whenever we were all together. I remember we would stop the rolling of the cameras and just like wait, did we get all the lines? Is that the scene? Are we good?
 
(Q) : Do they have those challenge schools a lot in the United States? Because they don't have that kind of system in Japan.

(Jeremy Dozier) : They do. I went to high school in Texas and they definitely have the class for the trouble makers and stuff like that. And then my campus actually had if you had so many offenses they had a whole separate school that you got sent to if you were that bad.
 
(Q) : What about in England? And where do they send you?
 
(Juno Temple) : I was in very, very, very bottom, bottom class math. I was awful at math. I went to an English boarding school so the situation there is you kind of have A, B, C, 1, 2, 3, and you're not put in one section for everything. Like I was in 3 F F, or whatever it was called for math, but then I was in a really good class for English, and then history, and then not for physics. So it was very kind of catered.
 
(Jeremy Dozier) : Did they have a place for the trouble makers, or no?
 
(Juno Temple) : God no, not in boarding school. But you also don't have that many people in school. My second boarding school there was like 200 students all around. That's like the size of a year in American high school.
 
(Jeremy Dozier) : Yeah I think I graduated with like 500.
 
(Q) : If they start getting good grades they put you back in regular classes?
 
(Jeremy Dozier) : Right, if you start behaving well then they'd put you back in normal classes, yeah. And often whenever you get stuck in that class it's only for like a week or a limited amount of time. It kind of serves as punishment or whatever.
 
(Q) : So what's next for you guys? Because of course this is a big starring role here and you're carrying the movie, and this is your first, so what happens after this?
 
(Juno Temple) : Hopefully people go see the movie and they love it.
 
(Q) : You must have 15 movies coming up.
 
(Juno Temple) : I've got some movies coming out. I've been busy for the past like year and half. I've shot like seven or eight movies, so that's been great. I just wrapped a movie a few weeks ago, this independent that I shot in upstate New York about this young married couple that don't have much going for them and they find this magical brass tea pot that when you inflict pain it spews out money. So shit gets kind of gnarly.

But it's good because it's like money doesn't make you happy and I like that moral because I think that's very true. And I've got a couple projects that I hope happen at the end of the year that just need a little bit more money. One of them would be in Chile, so I hope that happens. It would be a good exploration to go on. And then Christmas with my family, which I can't wait for.
 
(Q) : What was the name of that one movie? The one that you're doing upstate?
 
(Juno Temple) : Oh the one that I just wrapped? It's called "The Brass Teapot."

(Q) : And did you have anything?
 
(Jeremy Dozier) : Yeah I have two movies in post-production right now. One is a teen comedy called "Rock Paper Scissors," which is kind of "Dodgeball" meets "Superbad." And then I did an indie thriller called "Right Next Door" that's kind of about this family that is dark and twisted and they hire a babysitter and over the course of the film the babysitter realizes that the family is not what they seem.

 

End.