Movies - The Sweet East : Let’s talk with Talia Ryder

By Mulder, Paris, Hôtel Bienvenue Paris, 29 february 2024

The Sweet East, directed by newcomer Sean Price Williams and featuring Talia Ryder among others, premiered at Cannes 2023 and takes viewers on a surreal road trip across the USA's East Coast. The plot kicks off with a high school girl's journey turning bizarre after a pizza parlor incident, leading her into encounters with various cults and sects. Despite initial financing doubts, Alex Ross Perry's networking secured a stellar cast, enabling production. The film, after its Cannes debut, was picked up by Utopia for U.S. distribution and Potemkine Film for France, showcasing at the New York Film Festival before its U.S. release in December 2023, with a French release set for March 2024.

Q: What was it like making the transition from stage to screen, and how has that shaped your approach to acting ?

Talia Ryder : I come from a dance background, so dance heavily influences everything I do. I never really planned on doing film or anything like that. I never planned on being an actor, but I'm so glad that I found film. It's like one of my favorite mediums.

Q: What initially drew you to the role of Lillian in The Sweet East ?

Talia Ryder : I found Lillian to be a very powerful character, and I like that she's mysterious. I like that she always has the upper hand and that men around her feel like they're using her, but really, she's getting something from them. We're in a world where everything feels like an adaptation and a remake, with so many unoriginal stories. This felt to me like a truly original story in a real time capsule during the crazy time we're living in.

Q : How do you prepare for the role, given its unique narrative and setting ?

Talia Ryder : Fortunately, I had a great understanding and knew what I needed to do. I left a lot of my decisions to the set because of the nature of the script and the story. It really felt like four separate movies, so you can have ideas of what you think you're going to do and how things are going to go, but you really have to be open to what happens.

Q: Can you share any memorable experiences from the filming process ?

Talia Ryder : The whole experience was amazing. Sean, Nick, and Jeremy are some of my best friends now. It was just a really positive experience for me, and I don't think I've ever been in a situation where the writer and director gave me so much power and agency on set, which was really exciting.

Q: What was it like working with Sean Price Williams on this project ?

Talia Ryder : I felt like, and maybe that means he's a good director, when things weren't working, he never let me know. I had a good time.

Q: How do you relate to your character, Lillian, on a personal level ?

Talia Ryder : I relate to her in a lot of ways. As a young person in the time that we're living in, it's hard to have people you look up to and want to be like. I feel lost in certain ways. I guess she throws away her phone at the beginning of the story, and I'm so envious of people who got to grow up without phones and social media. Unfortunately, it is such a big part of my life, and I leave my phone at home a lot. I really don't like traveling with a phone on me.

Q: The Sweet East has a very distinct tone. How did you navigate the shifts between humor and drama ?

Talia Ryder : That's a good question. I don't really think about how it's going to play out. I really just think about it in terms of the character and the overall story I'm trying to tell. If people think it's funny, that's great.

Q: Can you talk about the dynamics between your character and the other characters she meets throughout the film ?

Talia Ryder : As I mentioned earlier, Lillian is looking for inspiration and something interesting to latch onto. I think there's a performative element to her, and she fits into the other characters' worlds that she meets really well in order to receive information from them. She lets on that she doesn't really know what's going on and seems naive but really has a handle on the situation. There are certain situations that might be technically dangerous that she puts herself in, but I think she knows that she could defend herself if needed.

Q: What was the atmosphere like on set, given the film's adventurous spirit ?

Talia Ryder : It was a lot of fun.

Q: How has your perspective on acting changed after playing Lillian ?

Talia Ryder : I don't think it really changed after playing Lillian. I've never played a character who is an actress in the film, yes, and getting to play an actor was cool. I guess it didn't really change my perspective on acting.

Q: What do you want people to feel when they watch the film ?

Talia Ryder : Whatever they want to feel, okay.

Q: As The Sweet East made its debut at Cannes, what was your experience attending the festival, and how do you feel it has impacted the film's reception ?

Talia Ryder : It was a lot of fun. I'm seeing her over there; it was a lot of fun, and Sean didn't... I don't know, it was a lot of fun, given your unique perspective and experience with the film.

Q: Given your unique perspective and experience with the film, how did the song 'Evening Mirror' resonate with you in the context of the movie's storytelling and themes ?

Talia Ryder : You know, that was added later; it originally wasn't in the script. Okay, and we shot the film in two halves: we shot part of it in the winter and came back in the spring so we could have two different seasons. Before we came back to do the second half, Sean asked me if I would sing this song that his friend Paul wrote. When I read the lyrics and heard his plan for it, because it wasn't in the script, I didn't know where it would go in the movie. I was really appreciative of the addition of the song because it was a fun challenge, and it also gave me the chance as Lillian to acknowledge the camera and break the fourth wall, which I was doing throughout the film, but it was nice to have a moment where she does that for the first time. I feel like it made a lot of the story make sense in a way. It's like she's stepping into the role as the main character and into her life in a way too.

Q: Your collaboration with Olivia Rodrigo has garnered significant attention. Can you discuss the nature of this collaboration and what the creative process was like working together ?

Talia Ryder : She's great, but I would rather talk about the movie we're doing.

Q: Can you say some words about the upcoming movie The Little Death and about your upcoming projects ?

Talia Ryder : The Little Death is a film that I'm in; it premiered at Sundance, and I don't know where else it'll play, but I really like that movie. Another film I was in, Joy, is coming out in Europe right now.

Synopsis :
Lillian, a young high-school student, runs away from home on a school trip. In the course of her encounters, she discovers an unsuspected world. The mental, social and political fractures of the United States, filmed like a fairy tale or a variation on Alice in Wonderland.

The Sweet East
Directed by Sean Price Williams
Written by Nick Pinkerton
Produced by Craig Butta, Alex Coco, Alex Ross Perry
Starring Talia Ryder, Earl Cave, Simon Rex, Ayo Edebiri, Jeremy O. Harris, Jacob Elordi, Rish Shah
Cinematography : Sean Price Williams
Edited by Stephen Gurewitz
Production companies: Marathon Street, Base 12
Distributed by Utopia (United States), Potemkine Films (France)
Release dates: May 18, 2023 (Cannes), December 1, 2023 (United States), March 13, 2024 (Frace)
Running time : 104 minutes

Photos : Boris Colletier / Mulderville