Aiming to inspire girls and women to be filmmakers
The five Oscar nominations for “Lady Bird” — including best picture — were the latest affirmations for Greta Gerwig’s breakout film. Gerwig became only the fifth woman in Oscars history to be nominated for best director, and she also picked up a nomination for original screenplay.
The meaning of that director nomination is not lost on Gerwig.
“It means the world to me,” she said in a phone call from Los Angeles on Tuesday morning, recalling her feelings when Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to win an Oscar for director for “Hurt Locker” in 2010. “I remember crying and feeling so excited and feeling like she did it, and there she is and so much more feels possible. And I hope that, honestly, I hope that girls or women who want to be filmmakers — sorry I’m going to start crying again — look at this and they feel like, ‘Yeah, I’m going to go make my movie.’ ”
“And I hope that it does that. Because I selfishly want to see those movies,” Gerwig added.
The film’s success is all the more remarkable because it’s Gerwig’s solo directing debut. Set in Sacramento, where Gerwig grew up, the film follows a high school senior who prefers to be called Lady Bird (lead actress nominee Saoirse Ronan) as she navigates the complex relationship with her mother (supporting actress nominee Laurie Metcalf ), capturing the difficulties of growing up and of letting go.
Gerwig emerged from the underground of micro-budget filmmaking with performances in movies such as “Hannah Takes the Stairs” and “Baghead.” She co-directed the 2008 feature “Nights & Weekends” in which she also acted.
Conventional Hollywood has never quite known what to do with her, stuffing the sparkling smarts of her screen presence into roles in films such as “Arthur” and “No Strings Attached.” She also appeared in “Greenberg,” and would go on to cowrite and star in two more projects with filmmaker Noah Baumbach, “Francis Ha” and “Mistress America.” Last year she also earned praise for her feisty performance in “20th Century Women.”
On Tuesday, Metcalf spoke about Gerwig’s demeanor on set while making “Lady Bird.”
“She was a natural,” Metcalf said. “I have an image of Greta standing at the monitor with the headphones on next to her d.p. [director of photography] Sam Levy, with a giant grin on her face, just filled with joy.” I know she felt so comfortable in that position.”
Gerwig saw the nominations for herself, her performers and the film as recognition of a group effort. “I just keep going back to my cast and the crew. Movies are not a solo endeavor; they are the most collaborative art form,” she said. “Everybody not only brought their heart and soul to it, they brought the most detailed level of craft and art and that in itself is an act of love.”