In Scarlett Johansson’s directorial debut Eleanor the Great, scripted by Tory Kamen, June Squibb stars as a 94 year-old who suddenly funds herself living in New York and battling loneliness and grief after the death of her best friend Bessie (Rita Zohar).
The film’s narrative includes remembrance of the Holocaust, with real Holocaust survivors in the cast. For Johansson, this story had a “sense of urgency” given the age of the survivors now.
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“In not so many years, I think it would be less possible,” she said during an interview at Deadline’s Cannes studio. “Even casting our Holocaust survivor support group and identifying who was not just willing to participate, but who could participate, really made that very clear.”
Johansson set out to honor her Jewish identity, and that of her own grandmother, with whom she was very close. “The Jewish identity piece of this story is something that I felt I could confidently execute because it’s in my DNA,” she said. “I grew up identifying as a Jewish kid growing up in New York, I had a grandmother who was not like Eleanor in some ways, but also kind of impossible and amazing — a very strong character; a very strong Jewish woman. And I think hopefully when you see the film, the authenticity of that comes through. If that piece didn’t feel authentic to me, I probably wouldn’t have touched this film.”
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For Squibb, returning to the Cannes Croisette ten years after attending the festival with Nebraska, this time around has been less overwhelming, since she knows her way around the festival now. “I didn’t know what I was doing [last time],” she said. “I was just sort of led around,” she smiled.
One way in which Squibb said she connected to the character of Eleanor was in her fearlessness. “We would all love to give people the finger all the time,” she said. “And she does it, you know. I mean, a lot of it is her humor, but a lot of it has a zinger to it, too. She’s not afraid to say anything.”
Erin Kellyman, who will next be seen in 20 Years Later, said she came to the set believing she was in over her head in comparison to Squibb and Johansson, who seemed to have it all figured out. But then, Squibb’s openness really helped salve her concerns. “First of all, I think just watching June do her thing on set was a lesson in itself,” Kellyman said. Then addressing Squibb, she added, “But also, you were really open about your experience of still figuring it out. Obviously, I’m coming onto this set thinking, OK, Scarlett and June know exactly what they’re doing, and I’m drowning. I’m drowning at this set. But you being open about that, I think made me relax a little bit more in feeling like, OK, so I think we’re all maybe just trying to figure it out.”
Johansson has recently revealed she has no plans to return to the role of Black Widow in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (she also serves as executive producer), but when Deadline asked if she would consider directing a big action film, or a Marvel film specifically, she said: “I think the movies that I like that are big action movies also have the human connectivity piece. Even producing Black Widow and being a part of the production of that, and the development of the story, and the story between Natasha and Yelena… [there is] I think, a way of doing it, a way of maintaining the integrity of the idea of human connection, family, disappointment, all of the things that were themes in [Eleanor the Great], and doing it in a giant way in a giant universe — there’s ways of doing that… So, yeah, definitely, it could be, it would be fun.”
Eleanor the Great is a Sony Pictures Classics and TriStar Pictures co-production, and producers are Johansson’s These Pictures with Jonathan Lia and Keenan Flynn, Jessamine Burgum and Kara Durrett of Pinky Promise and Celine Rattray and Trudie Styler’s Maven Screen Media.
The Deadline Studio at Cannes is sponsored bySCAD,andFinal Draft.
Click on the video above to watch the conversation.
Title:Eleanor the Great
Section:Un Certain Regard
Panelists: Scarlett Johansson (director/producer), June Squibb (actor), Erin Kellyman (actor).
Director:Scarlett Johansson
Screenwriter:Tory Kamen
Cast:June Squibb, Erin Kellyman, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rita Zohar, Jessica Hecht.
Logline: In Scarlett Johansson’s directorial debut Eleanor The Great, June Squibb brings to vivid life the witty and proudly troublesome 94-year-old Eleanor Morgenstein, who after a devastating loss, tells a tale that takes on a dangerous life of its own. is a comically poignant exploration of how the stories we hear become the stories we tell.
Distributor:Sony Pictures Entertainment
