On 30th September the beautiful Janet Planet arrives to buy or rent on digital platforms. Written and directed by Annie Baker, Janet Planet is set during the summer of 1991 in rural Western Massachusetts. The story follows 11-year-old Lacy (Zoe Ziegler) as she spends the summer of 1991 at home, enthralled by her own imagination and the attention of her mother, Janet (Julianne Nicholson). As the months pass, three visitors (played by Will Patton, Sophie Okonedo and Elias Koteas) enter their orbit, all captivated by Janet.
A film driven by mood and feel, settling in with Janet Planet has the uncanny ability to reconnect the audience with their younger selves, whatever their upbringing. It is a magical film, made even more special by the captivating performances of those involved. Ahead of the digital release of Janet Planet, THN spoke with Julianne Nicholson, who plays the titular matriarch of Janet Planet. Right from the moment that Nicholson began speaking it was clear why Annie Baker cast her in the film. Nicholson possesses a wonderfully calming energy, and once off of the call, this writer felt oddly tranquil, as if I’d just been through a guided meditation or similar. In reality we had delved into the creation of this beautifully magic film, covering Julianne Nicholson’s return to Western Massachusetts for filming, 90s nostalgia, and bonding with co-stars with Uno.
What was it about this project that stood out as something that you wanted to get involved with?
I’ve always been a fan of Annie Baker’s. I just think she’s got such a particular voice. I loved this telling of a mother and daughter relationship, especially set in the very particular place of Western Massachusetts, where Annie and I both grew up. I moved back and forth from outside of Boston to Western Mass, but I had a substantial amount of time there, and I remember it with such fondness, but hadn’t been back in close to thirty years. So it was an invitation to kind of go back in time and it was incredible.
What was it like returning all these years later?
It was incredibly moving. It all felt still so familiar. I almost remember more from that place and that time in my life, 7 to 11, than I do any other time. It was so rich. I don’t know if that’s just the childhood brain, or if it was particular to my life. It was pretty powerful and to be able to have that relationship to the place and bring that to Janet, and to the movie, just felt like such a gift.
Most of the story is played in little vignettes, with much of the dialogue kept light in favour of conjuring certain moods and tones. As an actor, how do you approach a project like this?
Well, I trusted Annie’s vision. I think she just has impeccable taste and such deep, emotional intelligence, and it’s for me fun to create in that way because you don’t have expectations. You can’t have expectations because if it’s not on the page, you can’t imagine what it’s going to be. So I love that discovery. So much of our life is the moments between the scenes, you know? And I felt like that would be an exciting thing to get to live in.
Although a film about the people who drift in and out of Janet’s life, Janet Planet is much more a story about mother and daughter. How was it working with Zoe Ziegler?
Well, she’s just a remarkable young woman and actor. Having never done it before, she just showed up and was so present and available. She just created this remarkable character, with Annie’s help of course, and the words on the page. But she just brought an extra sort of loveliness and surprise. I wrote to her mom and to her before we were filming. We had a reading first in New York and then I just kept in touch with them a little bit, just sort of checking in, to see how she’s doing, send her sweatshirt, just sort of start the relationship before we get there. Then we went to a river one day and stacked some cans by the side of the river and went and had meals together, and played lots of Uno, and just tried to build a relationship so that when the cameras were rolling, you felt like these people knew each other intimately.
That can sometimes be quite stressful for a production with a young actor, knowing how they are going to handle the attention and the work. Obviously with Zoe, you guys really lucked out.
We sure did. It is definitely a different stress on the production around hours and locations and everything. But I think once Any met Zoe, there was no one else she could see in that role, and I totally agree.
We should also talk about some of your other on-screen collaborators. How much time did you spend with them? In the film these characters drift in and out. Was the film filmed in order or not? How did the process work?
We had the great privilege of being able to sort of film in those three chapters. I had the most time with Will [Patton], I would say, because he was there first. He was there during the rehearsal period. So we spent some time together and I also had to practise acupuncture on him, which he very generously let me do. I probably got to know him the best, and spent the most time with him. But it was funny because then, one actor would leave and then the next would enter, much like the story. They’re very different people and so you just sort of start again, make a new friend.
It kind of feels almost like a summer camp when you’re watching it. I imagine it was, given the people coming in and out; that’s a little like what the experience was. Do you have any highlights or memories from the set that really stand out to you?
Playing Uno with Will and Zoe when we first started was really sweet. I’ve been a huge fan of Will’s forever. I had no idea what to expect because he’s quite shy, and he always seems a bit reserved or intense in his characters, which he is, but he’s also incredibly loving and goofy. It was just so fun to be sitting on grass, Zoe having never played, like kicking both of our asses. It was really fun.
For a while now the 80s has been the era that has been romanticised, but here it is the summer of 1991. What was so magical about that time do you think?
Well, for me, in our movie, it’s the 90s in this particular place. So I think it was a real moment of, much like Janet, searching, collective searching. What do we believe? The Reagan Era is over, what’s next? Luckily, it was right before everyone had phones, right? I think I got a phone in like, 98 maybe. So we were still – my kids would kill me for saying this – we were still IRL. It was mostly analog where it’s mostly paper and phone calls and “meet me at the mall”, so I think it’s still the nostalgia of that.
Just the little touches that are peppered within the film too. There’s a troll doll very early on, I was that generation that collected them, so seeing one on screen instantly took me back.
I think that’s sort of the beauty of Annie’s movie. That one is sort of featured in the moment because she hands it off, but there’s so many of those touches throughout the film that maybe the camera just even pans by, or maybe the camera never even lands on it. We had a year of chatting and I told her about this cream called Skin Trip that my mother would get us every year for Christmas and put in our stockings. I think it’s still on the counters at Whole Foods and various Natural Food Shops. And that’s by Janet’s bed. I had Guatemalan Worry Dolls in the 80s and crystal. No detail was overlooked. She takes such care in creating a real world. I think Annie’s amazing.
Janet Planet is perfect counter programming to some of the bigger studio offerings, why do you hope that audiences take a chance on this film?
Well, I think it’s a way to sort of, do a little gentle time travel. I feel like Janet Planet really casts a spell. I think it’s good for your nervous system. If you don’t get annoyed by some of the talking, I think it’s a lovely nervous system reset. It’s just a way to go back to your own childhood. I mean, when I watch it, I feel like I’m watching it through my eleven-year-old eyes, and my 50-something year-old eyes. I’ve had a lot of people say that, men and women. It’s not just a girl’s story. It’s a childhood story, and yeah, I think it casts a lovely spell.
Janet Planet is available to Buy or Rent on Digital from 30th September.
