Newcomers shine in comedy-drama
Odd rapport enhances film on teen illness
Thomas Mann and Olivia Cooke knew they were facing a difficult task when they won the lead roles in Me and Earl and the Dying Girl.
Mann is the Me in the title. Cooke is the Dying Girl. Their relationship drives the comedy-drama, which is chock full of complex dialogue.
Add to that the fact they didn’t know each other before filming and didn’t have much time to get acquainted when the shoot began in Pittsburgh, Pa.
“I guess that’s where the acting came in,” says Mann, promoting the movie with Cooke. “But the script was so good that their awkward interactions were already there.”
The screenplay is written by Jesse Andrews based on his popular young adult novel of the same name. And the movie, directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, has already impressed filmgoers.
It had its première at last January’s Sundance Film Festival, winning the audience award and the grand jury prize.
Gomez-Rejon’s key contribution may have been casting the main players, including newcomer RJ Cyler, who plays Earl.
In the bittersweet story, Mann is Greg. He’s a passive student filmmaker whose mother persuades him to visit a high school colleague and neighbour Rachel (Cooke), recently diagnosed with leukemia.
The teens have a problematic first meeting but learn to cope with each other thanks to assistance from Greg’s filmmaker “co-worker” Earl (Cyler).
Nick Offerman and Connie Britton (Greg’s parents) and Molly Shannon (Rachel’s divorced mom), provide support but Mann and Cooke lead the way with layered performances.
“The whole point of Greg is to appear as normal as possible to protect himself, because he feels too much,” Mann says. “He’s built this kind of world around him until he’s forced in front of Rachel, and that’s when he gets all shaken up.”
Certainly, Cooke required extra effort before filming. She researched the impact of the disease on teen patients.
The actress tried to honour them during the shoot with a detailed yet understated definition of a teenager “happy to go under the radar in the world where everybody’s trying to be heard.”
She didn’t want the Dying Girl to be a victim, though.
“When you first meet Rachel, you find out she has leukemia. But I never wanted to play too much into the tragic circumstance,” Cooke says. “But I definitely didn’t want to do a half-hearted job. I wanted the (portrayal) to be real and honest.”
To that end, she agreed to shave her head to mirror the aftermath side effects of chemotherapy treatments. “It was a very important part of the process physically and it helped me mentally.”
Mann and Cooke also have lots of praise for first-timer Cyler, who plays Earl with an unbridled enthusiasm.
Mann has seven films to his credit including his movie debut in 2010’s It’s Kind of a Funny Story. British actress Cooke won featured roles in four previous movies and is currently a regular on the A&E series Bates Motel. By comparison, Cyler is a novice with great expectations.
“It was really exciting to see RJ discover himself as an actor,” Mann says. “It was amazing. It was like the dam broke and he couldn’t control his emotions. It was very moving to watch.”