LEILA FADEL, BYLINE: If you could go back in time and give some advice to your teenage self, what would it be? I have so many things I would say. And that's the question at the center of a new movie. Elliott is an 18-year-old girl, partying in the woods near a lake with some friends. They experiment with mushrooms. And while she's high, she meets her 39-year-old self.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "MY OLD A**")
AUBREY PLAZA: (As Older Elliott) Dude, I'm you.
MAISY STELLA: (As Elliott) You're me?
PLAZA: (As Older Elliott) What's up (laughter)?
FADEL: She's as real as you or me. Young Elliott asks questions. Older Elliott offers a glimpse into her future.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "MY OLD A**")
STELLA: (As Elliott) Just tell me something good.
PLAZA: (As Older Elliott) Something good.
STELLA: (As Elliott) Why are you struggling to find something good...
PLAZA: (As Older Elliott) Ooh...
STELLA: (As Elliott) ...From the future?
PLAZA: (As Older Elliott) ...This is good.
STELLA: (As Elliott) OK.
PLAZA: (As Older Elliott) You're going to be psyched...
STELLA: (As Elliott) OK.
PLAZA: (As Older Elliott) ...To know...
STELLA: (As Elliott) Tell me.
PLAZA: (As Older Elliott) ...That you are a Ph.D. student.
STELLA: (As Elliott) Did you just tell me I'm in my 40s, and I'm still in school?
PLAZA: (As Older Elliott) Thirties - 30s.
FADEL: Older Elliott then gives one cryptic warning - one thing she absolutely must not do. And you can guess what happens when you tell a teenager not to do something. The movie is called "My Old A**." The older Elliott is played by Aubrey Plaza. It was written and directed by Megan Park.
MEGAN PARK: I started out with just the feeling of being really nostalgic. I was home in Canada. It's such a beautiful place. And I was like, why did I ever want to leave here?
FADEL: (Laughter).
PARK: Sleeping in my childhood bedroom and just thinking about the last time, like, my whole family had all slept under the same roof together - and if I'd known it was the last time, would I have appreciated it more? - and things like that. And then it was sort of this idea of, like, if I could talk to my younger self, would I even want to? And then the mushrooms came much later.
FADEL: Aubrey, the central theme of this movie is, as Megan pointed out, cherish the moment you're in now. What drew you to the script and the character?
PLAZA: I love the combination of, like, it having this really high concept with this weird time-travelly (ph), magical element to it, but then it also just has this really grounded and subtle nature to it. So I just - I thought - it's my favorite kind of movie. And then character-wise, I just - I don't know. I just - I think the concept really spoke to me. You know, I turned 40 this summer. I was 38, 39 when I was shooting the movie...
FADEL: Right.
PLAZA: ...So I understood it. I kind of - it hit me in the kind of moment where I'm at in my real life.
FADEL: You and Maisy Stella, who plays the younger Elliott, at 18 - you're so great on screen together. How did you work together to play the same person two decades apart?
PARK: We sent Aubrey some dailies to kind of watch Maisy's physicality, but we tried to not get caught up too much on, like, mimicking, although you did do that.
PLAZA: Although I did some - I did a little mimicking.
PARK: You did, but...
FADEL: Yeah.
PLAZA: You know, and I was not mimicking, but, like, she's got a Canadian accent, kind of.
PARK: Yeah, like, a Canadian Nashville accent.
PLAZA: A Canadian Nashville accent.
PARK: (Laughter).
PLAZA: It was a very interesting - oh, my God. I don't know. There were little things that I felt like, if I could just infuse little moments here and there, like, it'll kind of help make it feel right. But it was more about capturing her spirit, I think.
PARK: Aubrey has two younger sisters, and there was just, like, this, like, maternal warmth to her. And I could tell that she took to Maisy so quickly, and there was just this really beautiful energy between them. I think the greatest actors can build chemistry so quickly, and Aubrey is, like, a master at that. And not only that - it was, like, truly a master class in watching the improv. And the back-and-forth in the campfire scene was so funny, obviously.
FADEL: Aubrey, what stood out to you about Megan as a director?
PARK: Oh, gosh.
PLAZA: Well, the first thing was...
FADEL: Not to put you on the spot.
(LAUGHTER)
PLAZA: In real life, the first way I met Megan - we had a Zoom before. She kept saying to me on the Zoom, like, it's going to be a really good vibe. And now...
PARK: (Laughter) Says myself (ph).
PLAZA: You said that. But I was like, is it? And then cut to when I met her in person for the first time. I was on the dock of my place, where they put me on the lake, and hers was across the lake. And she just paddled up to me wearing, like, a life jacket and, like, holding a bottle of champagne.
PARK: (Laughter).
PLAZA: And I was like, I've never met a director like this. And she really did create a very good vibe.
FADEL: Now, Aubrey, in the film, you give the younger Elliott some good, pretty simple wisdom that comes with age - don't take family for granted. Wear your retainer. Moisturize. If you think about 18-year-old you, what would you tell her if she conjured you when drinking shroom tea in a forest?
PLAZA: Eighteen-year-old me - like, I've thought about it a lot. I think I would tell her to, like, enjoy the ride a little bit more. I think I was so ambitious as a young person. And I was so tortured and wanting my dreams to come true so bad and all of these things that, like - I don't know. I would just probably say, like, be in the moment. Enjoy it. You know, it's all going to kind of unravel and work out the way it's supposed to.
FADEL: Yeah, I relate to that (laughter). Aubrey, I don't know if you know this, but you're kind of a big deal. Between "Parks And Rec," "White Lotus" - you know, people know you, and they love you in this deadpan approach.
PLAZA: They do not.
FADEL: They do (laughter).
PLAZA: They wish.
(LAUGHTER)
FADEL: I mean, they think they know you (laughter).
PLAZA: No, I know. I'm kidding.
FADEL: I mean, when you were talking about talking to your younger self and telling them to appreciate the moment, do you appreciate the moment right now?
PLAZA: I do. I think I do. I try. I really try. I think I'm always slightly tortured. I don't know why, OK? I'm trying my best, but...
PARK: I think you do.
FADEL: Do you need...
PARK: You live in the moment, actually.
PLAZA: I do. I do live in the moment. I think having perspective on, like, my career and, like, where I'm at in that way - like, I have a hard time with that because I - in my mind, I'm, like, moving right along. Moving right along, going to the next thing or whatever - like, I don't have, like, perspective on that. But I'm able to, like, be in the very, you know, tiny moments.
FADEL: Do you need 60-year-old you to come back and give you some advice?
PLAZA: Yes. We were just saying this yesterday.
PARK: Yeah.
PLAZA: I was like - 'cause on the other thing that I'm promoting right now with Patty LuPone - I've been around her for so much time.
PARK: Is she your old a**? And she's my old a**, and I'm like...
FADEL: (Laughter).
PARK: (Inaudible).
PLAZA: ...Man, I cannot wait until I'm 75 years old, and I'm just going to be just like Patty.
PARK: She's 75?
PLAZA: I think she's 75.
PARK: God, she's so cool.
PLAZA: And you would never know, but she's the coolest. But, yeah, I just - I can't wait. It's like, I'll just have even more permission to just be insane. It'll be great.
FADEL: The movie "My Old A**" is written and directed by Megan Park, and it stars Aubrey Plaza. Thank you both so much.
PARK: Thanks for having us.
PLAZA: Thank you.
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