Posted in: Interview, Movies | Tagged: Kyle Hausmann-Stokes, My Dead Friend Zoe, Natalie Morales, Sonequa Martin-Green

My Dead Friend Zoe Director and Stars on Telling Army Friendship Story

My Dead Friend Zoe director Kyle Hausmann-Stokes and stars Sonequa Martin-Green and Natalie Morales spoke to Bleeding Cool about dark comedy.

When it comes to filmmaking, it's easy to fall into familiar cliches and hit familiar notes, especially when it comes to stories of bonding between those in the Armed Services. Director and writer Kyle Hausmann-Stokes wanted to infuse his experiences and humanity in his dark comedy-drama My Dead Friend Zoe follows the journey of Merit (Sonequa Martin-Green), an Army veteran of Afghanistan, who's engaged in a mysterious relationship with wise-cracking (and dead) best friend from the Army, Zoe (Natalie Morales), as she reluctantly reunites with her estranged Vietnam vet grandfather (Ed Harris) at the family's ancestral lake house. Hausmann-Stokes, Martin-Green, and Morales spoke to Bleeding Cool about bringing that authenticity of Merit and Zoe's friendship to the screen, how the three collaborated creatively on defining their Army friendship, and how much unsung heroes co-stars Gloria Ruben and Utkarsh Ambudkar became to the film.

My Dead Friend Zoe Director Kyle Hausmann-Stokes and Stars Sonequa Martin-Green and Natalie Morales on Crafting Merit and Zoe's Journey

Bleeding Cool: What was the most difficult part about balancing the cathartic elements and the light-hearted moments?

Morales: I don't think it was difficult. It makes it easier because it makes it feel more true to life, at least for me. It's difficult for me to balance completely humorless things and make them feel real.

Hausmann-Stokes: There was a writer who came into our veterans' group that I started, Kurt Wimmer, who's quite well-known and successful, and his approach to writing is, "I write something, and then I think, 'Well, what do I want to feel now?' And then I write that, and then I think, 'What do I want to feel now?'" I feel like that was our approach not only in the writing of this film but also in the making of it. We would do some heavy stuff, and we'd do some light stuff. Yeah, like Natalie said, "It's all like life."

Martin-Green: Yeah, we also had people who were able to bring that to life, like Natalie and Utkarsh.

Hausmann-Stokes: And Ed with his –

Martin-Green: And Ed, yes! Gloria [Reuben] as well. It was – we were blessed to have people who could balance that as well.

Was there anything besides the script that helped you guys navigate Merit and Zoe's journey and friendship?

Morales: Just talking to Kyle, I think, and the movie is based on his life, personal experiences, and his friends. We had lots of conversations with him about what that was like, what being in the army was like, and what the nature of the battle buddy felt like…

Martin-Green: Yes!

Morales: …Especially when you're there when you're not, and when you're about to leave, which were all important elements of Zoey and Merit's friendship.

Martin-Green: Yeah, 1,000 percent, and then we executive produced the film, but still, [Kyle] allowed us, wanted us to contribute and collaborate. That was astounding, and so we talked a lot about female friendship, too, in the midst of it because he chooses to have women tell his story.

Morales: That's true.

Martin-Green: And so we would have lots of conversations about that, too.

What did it mean to have screen legends like Morgan [Freeman] and Ed and their presence on the screen? Can you talk about Gloria and Utkarsh's contributions, too?

Huasmann-Stokes: I appreciate the question about Utkarsh and Gloria because what is so strong about this film is we have some actors that have been doing this for a long time, like Ed and Morgan, but then we have the rest of the cast is all at the top of their game. The most compliments I've received on this film are about these folks, including Utkarsh and Gloria. I'm proud of that, the humor and compassion Utkarsh brings, but then also the relatableness that Chris, which is Gloria Ruben's character, plays. I've been such a fan of Gloria for so long, and she plays a version of my mother dealing with my grandfather. So many people on the film festival circuit have really identified with her character as well. We were blessed to have such a family of a cast in the making of this film. I think it's for the better.

Briarcliff's My Dead Friend Zoe is available in theaters.

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