Working on The Bride!

Dearest reader, 

I’m trying to write a proper introduction but the words 'at the age of thirty seven // she realized she’d never ride // through paris in a sports car // with the warm wind in her hair' have stuck to my brain. (In my mind they’re by Marianne Faithful but writing this I’ve found it's actually Shel Silverstein (a guy).)

Much like Lucy Jordan, I myself have passed thirty seven (by a bit), and I have become aware of certain conceptions out there of what is appropriate to do at what age; for instance when it is too late to ride sports cars through Paris.

With that said, I’m beside myself with joy to announce my Hollywood debut, at the timely age of 50 :-D

Here’s what happened:

In June 2023 I got a manuscript from Maggie Gyllenhaal. It had my name on it (iiii). It was beautiful and made me tickle! The script plopped down on my desk just as I was re-reading Jeanette Winterson’s Frankissstein and so the first read went through me like a dream. This sent me down a Mary Shelley rabbit hole and gave me a whole new perspective on mother-daughter relationships and graveyards. I also did my reading on the year without summer that took place the year Mary wrote Frankenstein. Volcanos, ash clouds, starvation. 

After loudly proclaiming my interest to Maggie and Mary I didn’t hear anything about the film for some time, maybe not until November. But by then, the film was in pre-production and I got to know shooting was planned for spring 2024. Maggie also sent me a playlist to work as inspiration. It had charleston, jazz and wild, wild music from like a 100 years ago. 

By December I sent my first draft of 'Wrong Flower,' but Maggie wanted it faster and wilder. And dear reader, you of all know I can do fast and wild, right? So my teamie Johannes Berglund and I created the double tempo part. 

After the fast and wild, I was asked to do something happier, that the characters could dance Charleston to. This is how 'The Lake' came to existence. I plucked a lot of words from Mary’s writings for the lyrics and sent it to Maggie by mid February. After a few rounds of wishes and commands, we recorded some extra sax and cymbals.

Sometime around here, I was asked to consider performing the tracks in a club scene (Oh my, I thought!). I was very hesitant as I had just been out on tour and my knees hurt, but after all it sounded like too much fun to say no to. 

In April 2024, I went to New York to shoot. We had a few days of costume fitting with legend Sandy Powell, testing make-up with genius Nadia Stacey (who won an Academy award for Poor Things!), rehearsals, meetings and one day I got to attend a recording with The Sun Ra Arkestra (iii) at Electric Lady Studios (iii).

Shooting went on for two days and I got to be in the same trailer as Jesse Buckley and Nadia (iii), they were both so sweet and fun and I felt very well taken care of. Over at location I was miming 10 hours each day, in a cold, damp basement :-D I was lucky wearing clothes though as my bestie Paul Soileau (who I’ve been touring with as Christeene) and Roddy Bottum only wore thin nylon catsuits. They looked phenomenal though :-D

Now, almost two years later, it’s out!

puss and kram

fever cinema ray

My little brother Christeene