Aubrey Plaza Takes a Dramatic Turn

In Ned Rifle, the final installment of writer/director Hal Hartley's Henry Fool trilogy, actress Aubrey Plaza takes a dramatic turn as a scholarly stalker with an ulterior motive which has been years in the making. The film screened at SXSW 2015 in advance of its Vimeo on Demand and limited theatrical release on April 1. Plaza spoke with the Chronicle about making Ned Rifle, the importance of detaching from reviews, and more during her recent visit to Austin during SXSW.

Austin Chronicle: How familiar were you with the story of the Grim family before taking this project?

Aubrey Plaza: I'd seen Henry Fool, which is one of my favorite Hal Hartley movies, so I knew that movie. I had not seen Fay Grim, so once I read the Ned Rifle script I went back and watched Fay Grim, which I also really liked. Yeah, so I was totally familiar with Henry Fool.

AC: What kind of director is Hal Hartley to work with?

AP: I loved working with Hal. Obviously, his movies are very dialogue-heavy, so that was a really interesting, appealing thing for me coming from a more improvised background. I feel like a lot of people think of me as an improviser and hire me to improvise funny lines or whatever, but it was really a nice change for me to actually dive into a script and really explore every single word that I was saying and have to nail it. He's very specific, Hal is, when you're shooting with him – he loves actors. When you're shooting with him it's almost like choreography, like, I can relate it to dance choreography, almost. He's very focused on movement and when things happen and at what time, and that's something that was really different for me: to have someone tell you, "When you say this word, pick up a cup and drink out of it," you know? It was very choreographed, which was kind of cool and different.

AC: How invested do you get in the critical reception of your projects?

AP: I would say not very invested. I have no real control over anything like that, and I think if I were to be invested in the success of anything, then I'd probably be very disappointed [laughing] in my lifetime. So I just tend to do things that I really like, and work with people that I respect, and after the movie's made, I just kinda let it go.

AC: That sounds healthy. I'm sure it would drive you crazy if you cared too much.

AP: Well, I'm not a director yet, but I'm sure when I direct a movie someday I'll be very invested in the success of it. As an actor it's a different kinda thing: You can kind of go from project to project and not feel that – I'm sure not everyone feels that way. I would love to direct someday. I went to film school; I studied directing, writing. I would love to do that someday.

AC: How challenging is it to perform different roles for different projects in the same time frame?

AP: It's challenging; you feel schizophrenic. I like it. I like that challenge. I like shifting gears and diving into things that are totally different, but it's weird, you know? Going from shooting Parks and Recreation to shooting an independent film is vastly different, and a lot of times I have to remind myself not to stare straight down into the barrel (of the camera), which I did a lot of on Parks and Recreation. They're totally different things, but I like both equally.

---

Ned Rifle is now available for streaming and download at www.vimeo.com/ondemand/nedrifle.