Katherine Waterston was sent the script for Meredith DanlucksState Like Sleepby a friend.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How did you get involved with the project?
What drew you to the script?KATHERINE WATERSTON:I got the script in a very unconventional way.
Sabrina Lantos
A friend of mine whos now a teacher sent me the script.
He was just friends with Meredith [Danluck the writer/director] and thought it was really good.
Were you filming these scenes simultaneously?
Sabrina Lantos
I think we did do the best we could to separate the periods.
And then of course the different actors ground you in the world youre in.
Michael Shannons character is developed in an interesting way over the course of the film.
This was the first film we did together, weve since worked together again.
Hes just so awesome to work with.
What was it like working with the writer/director Meredith Danluck?
It feels significant that a woman directed this film about a womans grief.I love her so much.
I get this very strange overwhelming feeling like, Ill take a bullet for this person.
And I felt that in spades for Meredith.
Just a kind of overwhelming feeling of loyalty.
Then of course she had all this experience making documentary films.
She has all the things you cant teach, she exudes confidence and optimism on set.
She just has this kind of great energy.
There can be those challenges but Meredith doesnt seem to be challenged by them at all.
Shes about 53 and she was running that show with no difficulty.
Shes a very determined, very focused person.
So I just didnt feel any issues of gender on our set.
In that sense I didnt really experience her as a female director per se.
So its a very delicate thing.
Theres a lot of complex emotional material in the film.
Was there a scene that was most memorable or challenging to film?There were so many.
It was a very intense process and there was just day after day of intense emotional work.
We shot the end of the movie on the first day.
But it was so important for the character, the scene where she goes to his room.
Its just that first step into trying to be in the world again and be intimate again.
That scene felt like a very important turning point.
Theyre like a play in that sense and theyre hard to come by.
State Like Sleepwill be released in January 2019.
