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Toe to Toe

Coverage by Nobuhiro Hosoki

Story : Senior lacrosse players, a privileged white girl and a poor black girl, have an edgy friendship.

Opens February 26, 2010

Interview with Actress Louisa Krause, Director Emily Abt

Actress Louisa Krause

Q: The film seemed like a very female-oriented set. What was it like shooting it?

Louisa Krause: Oh my goodness, it was very fast-paced, but director Emily really covered the all the bases. We did a lot of work beforehand. We had a lots of rehearsal time; we also really well prepared our characters. Emily gave us reading materials. She was even letting us in on statistics. So there was a lot of background information that we found out about, such as the theme of the film, race relations and teenage sexuality. I always come up with a whole history of a character, and I'm always attracted to a role where I can really transform.

And with this part, I was able to do that. My character Jesse is no way near myself who I am! (LOL) I'm more of the Tosha (Sonequa Martin) type of character. And also with lacrosse, we trained in lacrosse for two weeks before shooting. We actually trained with the team in the films. They are the first place team, I believe, in the nation for girls high school lacrosse.

I get to do so much in this film. I even got to dance, and I choreograph. I even took some belly dance classes. It was really a treat. A ride for sure, because I went and did such a range of emotions and character that were so layered. It was really an actor's treat.

Q: Director Emily Abt used to work on the documentary films. Were there any differences in approaching the material as compared with other directors that you had been working with?

Louisa Krause: I think because of her first feature—and she had been working for so long—she really had a clear vision of what she wanted. And she always had a camera rolling all the time. So she could pick up the things that wouldn't be in the script. D.P. Alan Jacobsen is so gifted at what he does. He really captured beautiful stuff on the film. It's really an honor to work with both of them.

Q: In this film, two girl are becoming friends, and both are from different parts of the spectrum. Have you ever had a friendship like that?

Louisa Krause: I'm attracted to everyone. In high school, I'm friends with everybody. But I never really got too close with one person. I have really a close relationship with my mother. And it's so opposite, because in the film, my mother was never around. I kind of longed for a close relationship with her, and idealize my mom. And because of her absence, I go seeking out quick fixes of attention in a self-destructive manner.

But as far as the relationship is concerned, I love this relationship between the girls in the film, because they are both kind of straight shooters. We are attracted to each other. When she hangs out with the black posse in the school, I lose my only friend there. So I go back to my self-destructive behavior. But for me as a person, I like to think that I'm friends with everybody, but my best friend is my mom.

Q: Do you think that the character Jesse getting close to Tosha is some kind of substitution for her mother's affection?

Louisa Krause: Well, actually I don't think that she was seeking somebody out because of her mom, so she needed to latch onto somebody else. I really think that it was a true friendship with Tosha. Tosha was similar to her in that she had guts, Jesse is a straight shooter, she's confident, she was the M.V.P of the lacrosse team.

And when Tosha shows up, Jesse is fully aware that no girl from South-East is playing lacrosse--what is she doing here? I think Jesse is attracted to those guts that Tosha has. It's a genuine friendship. It's not because she misses her mom. And when she loses Tosha's friendship that's when things start spinning out of control. Because it's really like she has nobody.

Q: There's the huge fighting scene between Jesse and Tosha at the lacrosse field. How was that shot?

Louisa Krause: Thankfully we had a fight choreographer come in, and we actually staged what was gonna happen. So we are lucky that it was very safe. Nobody got hurt. It was planned out, so we knew what was gonna happen.

Q: So what's next for you?

Louisa Krause: I don't know yet, but I'd love to make my life in film or in theater. I've done a lot of theater work, and I'm looking forward to the next project. I'm hoping after people see this film, they'll be able to see my ability.

Director Emily Abt

Q: You've been making documentaries previously. How was the challenge of making this film?

Emily Abt: My two documentaries are very low-budget and I did everything myself. So it's very very hard work. Obviously making an independent film with a low budget is similarly challenging. So I felt like I was well prepared to sort of like, you know, roll with the punches when things went wrong, and sort of embrace happy accidents. So my documentary background prepared me well, I think.

Q: Is any of the stuff in the film similar to your real life?

Emily Abt: I went to a high school that was similar to the one portrayed in the film, a sort of very elite school where it’s all about going to the Ivy Leagues. And I definitely had friendships that were different from myself. I have always been interested in relationship between African American woman and white woman in America. I think there's a tension that needs to be explored. So, yeah, the inspiration of the film was my personal experiences.

I don't know if you’ve noticed that for 87% of Americans, their interracial friendships ends at age 14. I read that statistic in the New York Times. They did a big story on race relations. And when I read that, I was like wow, that's pretty shocking, because it very much goes against the way we would like to think about race relations in America— you know, we are all good friends and we all get along. I think that's the way Hollywood pretty much portrays things. I think the truth is more complicated
than that.

Q: Did you play the lacrosse before, what was the fascination that you chose this sports?

Emily Abt: Yeah, I did play lacrosse in high school, but I thought it would be a good sport to portray, because I feel like it really captures the world that girls are living in, which is a very preppy east coast world. That's what the kids do, play lacrosse or hockey—stuff like that. I also think I want to show these girls engaging in team sports. The team sports are a very good thing for young women. The young women that are athletes in high school tend to have a higher self-esteem. So I thought that it would be important to show them bonding on the lacrosse field.

Q: Could you talk about the process of casting Louisa and Sonequa?

Emily Abt: We had a great casting director by the name of Paul Schnee; he and Kerry Barden run their own casting agency. They were really excellent casting other films like "Monster's Ball" and "Boys Don't Cry." They are very well respected casting directors in New York City. Basically we couldn't afford to cast any big stars. So we decided really just to find the girls.

And we auditioned many, many girls. But Louisa and Sonequa are just amazing—they just really capture the essence of the two girls. They also really work well together. So we were extremely fortunate to find the girls, I feel like both of them gave really incredible performances. I think we are gonna see a lot more of them in the future.

Q: What kind of research did you do to get into the mind of the high school students? And talk about the choice of the music.

Emily Abt: In terms of the music, I was very fortunate to be introduced to some great local talents from Washington D.C. So the music is very much inspired by the location where we shot. We wanted the location to almost serve as another main character. We wanted the film to really drip of Washington D.C. with all the music coming from the local musicians. In terms of understanding the teenage mindset, you know I was a teenager once, and I have a younger cousin.

I think people are a little surprised by some of the raw depiction of the teenage sexuality in the film. but I think if you talk to any American teenager these days, this is very consistent with their reality. So my job was to take what I do know about teenage life in America today, and portray that really honestly.

Q: In the end, the grandmother says to Tosha that, "Black bitch is a compliment for being a strong woman--let this word drive you to do greatness." Was that totally coming from you or a quote from somebody?

Emily Abt: Basically I love that line because you don't expect a grandmother to say that. I think in America, there's a lot of under discussion around the word "bitch." I think it's little bit similar to the N-word; it has a very negative connotation for a lot of people. But feminists and a lot of women have also been taking that term on as their own. In a way, it's kind of an empowering thing. So that's where I kind of got my cue from. That's what Tosha said to herself to get her game face on. It's related to her own ambition.

Q: What's next for you?

Emily Abt: Basically right now, I'm working on a script about a woman taking on the foster care system in Boston by running for mayor. I'm also engaging in a studio project as a writer and director. I teach social filmmaking at Princeton University.

Thank you.

End.