CALLING UP FOND MEMORIES
Chicago reminds ‘ Landline’ star Jenny Slate of hot dogs and a killer bat mitzvah
Arecent visit to Chicago brought back “nothing but really happy memories” for actress Jenny Slate, best known for her stints on “Parks and Recreation” and “Saturday Night Live” and films including “Zootopia” and “Gifted.”
“I first came here as part of the ‘ Cherubs’ program at Northwestern for theater students when I was in high school,” said the Massachusetts native, adding, “I also went to my best- ever bat mitzvah that took place in Chicago. On top of that, some of my favorite movies are from Chicago— like John Hughes’ films. So, when I think of this city, it always makes me smile.”
Her new film “Landline” ( opening Friday) is set in New York City in the mid1990s and was written and directed by Gillian Robespierre, who earlier made “Obvious Child” with Slate. She plays Dana, the older daughter of John Turturro and Edie Falco’s characters. While her younger sister ( Abby Quinn) discovers Turturro has been having an affair, Dana herself strays— and has a fling with an old college friend, even though she is engaged and about to get married.
Slate said, “I think whatever decade you’re in, if you are a person who has been in the same relationship with your partner since like college [ as her character has been with Jay Duplass’ in the film] and you’re 30 now, chances are your partner is also your very best friend, who played such an important and deep part in your formative years. It feels almost like a betrayal to ask, ‘ Is this how we should be going?’ at this point, because that foundation feels so precious, and it is.
“But Dana learns it’s not just precious because it’s been consistent, but it’s precious because it’s flexible — it can growand change, as we show in the film.”
Slate laughed on remembering having to eat “like about eight hot dogs for a scene that is barely seen in [‘ Landline’]. … I love hot dogs, but shooting that scene— and eating so many— did not end well. Of course, you’ve got great hot dogs in Chicago— as well as another of my favorite foods, pizza— so you know what I’m talking about.”
Henner finally gets to make film in hometown
Chicago native Marilu Henner seemed to surprise even herself when she admitted, “I’ve made something like 46 feature films— plus so many TV shows and movies— but ‘ Imperfections’ is the first one I’ve been able to shoot in Chicago. I’ve shot all over Europe and the U. S., but never in Chicago until this one.”
Calling from her Los Angeles- area home, the former “Taxi” star said she loved playing the mother of an aspiring actress, Cassidy ( Virginia Kull).
The actress had “an immediate connection” with Kull, “plus I’ve known Ed [ Begley, Jr.] forever, so it was very easy for us to work together.” Begley plays a veteran diamond importer who becomes romantically involved with Henner’s character. He then hires Kull to work as a courier for his small firm.
The germ of the idea for “Imperfections” came years ago to director David Singer, who wrote the film with his brother Jonathan. Growing up in Lincoln Park, they attended Frances W. Parker School, and David “had a friend 25 years ago who actually had the job that Cassidy has in the movie— being a runner for jewelers on South Wabash Avenue in the city’s diamond district. She would take thousands and thousands of dollars of gems, stick them in her pocket and simply courier them to other firms around the city.”
Along with filming all over Chicago, Jonathan Singer said, they found the perfect setting for their diamond business at Malnekoff & Sons on Jewelers Row. “When we walked in, we knew it was perfect,” said David Singer. “We told them, ‘ Don’t touch anything! Leave the papers on the desk.’ We could never have afforded to make a set look this authentic than Malnekoff’s,” which has been in business since 1880.
“Imperfections” opens at the Logan Theatre in Chicago and the Wilmette Theatre on Friday. The Singers— joined by one of their actors, Chelcie Ross— will participate in a post- screening Q& Aat the Logan on Sunday and at the Wilmette on Tuesday.