Hey folks, Barbarella here with the Kara Hayward interview I promised to deliver. The actor has the leading role in TO THE STARS, which is not about space exploration, but rather about friendship and self-discovery. Kara Hayward may be best known as Suzy from Wes Anderson’s MOONRISE KINGDOM, but as she continues to add to her acting credits, she undoubtedly will become known for much more. As I sat in my cozy Texas home wondering how long the plant I just bought will survive my eventual neglect, I had the opportunity to speak with Kara in her home in Los Angeles.
How are you occupying your time during this new isolation phase?
“I’m waiting for my new movie to come out on digital - TO THE STARS - it’ll be out April 24. Otherwise, I’ve been reading. I’ve been writing, checking out new projects. I just adopted a little rescue puppy before all this happened so I’m getting a little playtime with her.”
What are you reading?
“I’m currently doing “The Outsider,” Stephen King.”
What’s the first thing you’re going to do when were able to get back out into the real world?
“Oh my God, well, I got a project that is slated to go pretty much as soon as this is all over. Besides that, hike, shop, see all my friends, do everything that we all missed doing.”
What’s the mood in Los Angeles like right now?
“I haven’t been outside, so I really can’t say. It’s quiet. You know, there was a time when I went to the grocery store. It was eerie; the streets were quiet. People weren’t out, at least not as much. it was strange.”
Do you feel little excited being out there with no traffic?
“Yeah, but with everything going on, I couldn’t enjoy it. Like I want to be able to enjoy no traffic, but I can’t because I’m hoping everyone’s okay.”
What were you like in high school?
“I was kind of always occupied with a new project. I went to a public high school, but I worked since middle school. I kept to myself a lot of the time because I always had something going on that was a bit different or weird and required my attention. I started acting when I was in 6th grade.”
How important do you think movies and other arts are, and why do you have that opinion?
“Incredibly. I mean it’s what I do for a living. I mean, I want to entertain people with movies. I want to make characters that people can connect to and stories that people can follow and fall in love with, especially in times like right now when it’s hard to leave your house. The arts are more important now than ever.”
Would you want to be a teenager in the 1960’s?
"No, absolutely not."
Why not? Was it the bras?
“You know the bras did not make it more appealing. It was fun for a project, but oh my goodness, are they uncomfortable! [I felt like] the bras symbolize the oppression of women during this time and area, 1960’s Oklahoma.”
Do you think that bullying is more of an issue today than it was back then, or is it just more visible with social media?
“You know that’s a really good question. That’s a hard one for me to answer. I mean, obviously social media takes it to a place where you can’t really hide anymore, so I suppose in that sense, it’s bigger now than ever. The movie obviously takes place in the 1960’s. It’s amazing how things persist throughout time and how technology, as beautiful as the innovations are, can be used for evil doing.”
That is so true. Do you get much negativity on social media? Do you find people just tend to be mean to be mean?
“You know, I’ve been really lucky in the sense that I get mostly positive feedback, but of course, there’s always one or two comments here or there, or direct messages or something, that have less than kind intent. For the most part, I think it’s really beautiful the way people use social media to reach out and spread good wishes. I’ve seen a lot of people who have messaged me talking about how the movies have resonated with them, and so I think that’s really, really beautiful, and really for me it totally trumps all of those little [mean] comments because somebody’s bored.”
What kind of prep work did you do to understand your character in TO THE STARS, and how did you explore that role?
“Part of the prep was getting to know the other actors and forging this friendship with Liana Liberato, who plays my character’s friend, Maggie Richmond. So, a lot of it for us was forging those kinds of relationships and having something to really base this [on] because the movie centers around our friendship and how that is so deep and intimate. Also, once the props and the costumes came in, that’s part of getting into it - understanding where and when, and so the props and the costumes, as well as the actors, all really made the prep a lot easier.”
Did you do any type of bonding activities with Liana?
“We just hung out and got to know each other, had dinner. It was really easy for us. We hit it off really naturally.”
Would you describe what it was like working with director Martha Stephens, and what was the best part of working with her?
“Martha Stephens is delightful, and she’s so intelligent and has such a wonderful ability to convey exactly what she’s thinking to her actors. She just finds ways to make it personal with each actor, how they need to be directed because not every actor has the same style of getting into character. She really goes out of her way to figure out how to communicate with each actor.”
What kind of techniques did she use with you?
“She would always just start off by making sure that we went over where the scene was in the story, what came before and what came after, because a big part of playing Iris Deerborne was trying to get her character arc properly because she’s so dynamic. For me, we mainly just dug through the scene. We went through what thoughts were in Iris’s head and where she is in her transformation into her final form.”
Did you do much ad-libbing with the character?
“Not a lot. There were some actors, I think, on the project that did a little more, but I felt like it was important for Iris to stick to the script mostly because I felt like every little thing that she uttered had its own power to it. She chose her words carefully.”
TO THE STARS seems to be about longing. What do you long for in life?
“That’s a really big question. I wasn’t expecting that. What do I long for in life? Well, I long for a career full of movies that I’m really passionate about and stories that I get to tell. And, right now, I long to go outside. In the long run, I really want to just continue to make movies like TO THE STARS that I’m really passionate about. I’d love to write and direct them one day as well.”
What kind of genres are you interested in writing and directing?
“That’s a hard question. Some of my favorite genres are thrillers and mysteries, but I also really, really love dramas like this one, so I don’t know. I love comedy too. I’m too all over the place. I’ll have to figure that out when the day comes.”
Just do it all.
“Exactly. That’s the dream, right?”
What’s the most important skill that you’ve learned so far in your career?
“Most important skill. Sorry, I’m just trying to come up with something (she laughs). The most important skill is probably just being able to listen as an actor, being able to get behind each word your character says. When I say that Iris chooses her words carefully, I mean that there’s something behind every line. There’s an intention behind when you speak, and you have to really take in and listen to whatever the other characters are saying [through words and] their body language. There has to be a response.”
Do you watch your own performances?
“Well, I like to go see the movies when they come out and support them. But I’m not going to lie. It’s really hard for me to watch myself.”
Are you very critical of yourself?
“Oh, yes! I am my own worst critic, for sure.”
When you’re transitioning in and out of character do you have any particular techniques? Is it easy for you to transition in and out of character?
“That really depends upon the characters. it depends upon what in that character you’re connecting with. It also depends on what the characters are like. I’m usually able to go in and out of characters pretty easily. You have to be able to learn to do it because a lot of times you’ll have auditions and tapes that are all on the same day.”
Did you cry when you saw the movie?
“Yes, oh my gosh. Liana Liberato has a scene that makes me cry every time. Every. Time.”
I cried too.
“I’m glad you were affected by it. I’m sorry that we made you cry.”
Don’t be. I love when a movie strikes an emotional chord. Is there anybody you haven’t worked with that you would just love to work with?
“Of course! This world is filled with incredibly talented artists. In terms of directors, Paul Thomas Anderson, Quentin Tarantino…gosh who else? David Fincher - that would be really neat. Actors - too many to name: Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep, Susan Sarandon…I love Amy Adams.”
Do you have any projects on the horizon?
“I do. I’m not sure how much I can say about it, but we are supposed to start as soon as this coronavirus lifts a little bit, and things start to become less scary. I cannot wait. I just want the world to be a little safer.”
What’s your favorite aspect of being an actor, the thing you love the most about it?
“I love the whole process of it. I love becoming or finding aspects of your personality that connect with the character you had never really thought you’d have anything in common with. When the assignment’s there, and you’re trying, and you’re able to find some part of yourself to connect, it’s so interesting. I love working with creative people. There are so many brilliant people you meet on a film set that can teach you so many things, so many tricks about how to make your own art better. I love the traveling.”
Do you have an ideal location at which you’d love to go shoot?
“The Bahamas. I’m trying to go somewhere warm and tropical, and make TO THE STARS TWO in Aruba.”
I don’t know that a sequel would find our characters in Aruba, but I wish Kara Hayward the best of luck with that. TO THE STARS is currently available on digital.
