Kelvin Harrison Jr., Lucy Tcherniak, Brad Oberhofer, Pippa Bianco, Avan Jogia, and Yalitza Aparicio

PRADA turtleneck, pants, socks, shoes, and sunglasses. AN ASSEMBLAGE OF RISING TALENT ACROSS WRITING, DIRECTING, ACTING, AND COMPOSITION Presenting: Kelvin Harrison Jr., Lucy Tcherniak, Brad Oberhofer, Pippa Bianco, Avan Jogia, and Yalitza Aparicio Featuring Prada Spring-Summer 2019 Written by Miles W. Griffis Photographed by Carlos Serrao in collaboration with Alice Isaac Styled by Mui-Hai Chu If the winter rains happen to curtain the Californian desert, russet flats collect puddles. Dormant seeds scattered and buried by the past years’ winds begin to drink. And in spring, if the conditions are just right, a superbloom can crawl from the Anza Borrego all the way to the craggy blips of Death Valley. We open here, in a lesser visited corner of the Mojave with drone footage of rose quartz mountains and valleys of sprouting asters, lilac sunbonnets, and bear poppies. We open here, with close ups of twining snapdragons, cottontop barrels, silver chollas, hummingbird trumpets, yerba mansas, jewelflowers, wild heliotropes, live forevers, forget-me-nots, cream cups, pink rushes, and a few very showy milk vetches. Like most features filmed in the Mojave, this one is a western. But it isn’t your problematic grandpappies’. This is a revisionist, anti-western heavy on the florals. Yes, in the lineage of Eastwood’s Unforgiven and Dominik’s The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, but much more so in the spirit of Georgia O’Keeffe’s “Light of Iris” (1924) and Leslie Marmon Silko’s short story “Yellow Woman”—an old tale told in a colorful way. But that isn’t to say this feature, boasting its unfair share of talented actors, writers, directors, and composers, is one that is scared of the absurd—this is just as much an acid western galloping quickly through the metaphysical. A story scored with electric dobros that tramples over clementine-hued badlands choked with arroyos, through psychedelic valleys of extensive periwinkleness, and into townships with hootenannies that would lasso John Wayne’s bigotry and drag it to dust across the sagebrush. This is a script ornamented not only with once-in-a- lifetime footage of a night-blooming cereus, but also one that ventures 29 million light years away to the dustlane of the Sombrero Galaxy. This is a super bloom bouquet of Hollywood’s blossoming brilliance—interviews complimented with botanical footnotes about the native flower of our six featuree’s biodiverse homelands and their kindred characteristics. 214 215 This page and opposite: PRADA turtleneck, shorts, socks, shoes, and bag. Kelvin Harrison Jr.1 While only 24, Harrison has stood out from the crowd with a prolific streak of acclaimed roles, including Travis in the 2017 horror film It Comes at Night and Weeks in Dee Rees’ Mudbound. His ascent continues in 2019 with a slew of projects, including the films Luce, The Wolf Hour, Gully, and the T.V. series The Godfather of Harlem. Besides your natural talent for acting, we read you’re quite the accomplished trumpeter and pianist, and that music is a family tradition. My mom’s a jazz vocalist and my dad’s a jazz saxophonist, so music is a huge part of my family. My uncle, my cousins, almost everyone in my family plays music to some extent, so it was something that naturally happened. I played piano in the church, and music was a huge part of my upbringing. My dad wanted me to be a musician because we have connections and we understand the art form in the world, so it was something that felt fixed. So to derail from that path and start acting felt like a bold step. Your latest film, Luce, about an adopted boy from Eritrea living in America debuted at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Why is Luce Edgar’s story such an important one to tell? What was the biggest take away from playing the character? At first I had a lot of questions, because I judged the character. And you can’t judge the character or else you won’t be able to play the role. But I was like, why would this kid have such a vendetta? Why is he so angry? Then I started to peel back the layers and it was such a fascinating exploration of what it feels like to be a young man from another country, trying to find his place in America. [Luce] has been asked to take away pieces of himself to become who he needs to be to find some type of equality in a world that doesn’t necessarily offer that to him as a black man in America. That was interesting to me, and that’s what I kind of wanted to explore. I identify with his struggle to protect his identity. It seems like you’re taking on some pretty heavy, rewarding roles. It also seems like the process of becoming these characters is a big driver of empathy for you. Would you say that acting helps facilitate that empathetic connection? When I look at scripts I’m always like, ‘What do I have to offer, what can I learn from this?’ If I can learn something from it, then I believe other people will too. That’s how I approach it. If it seems really simple, at the end of the day, it’s about expanding the level of empathy that I have for the world2. I love acting. It’s all good and fun, but it’s for a purpose. If it’s not for a purpose, then what would I be doing? 1Harrison was born in New Orleans, Louisianai iIris giganticaerulea, the Louisiana Iris, is the state wildflower of the Bayou State. 2Beardless irises usually (though, alas, not always!) offer the tremendous benefit of being strong of constitution, resilient and, most notably, free of the scourge of rot! Plus, these beardless irises, the Louisiana irises in particular, are beautiful to behold, with a natural grace and charm that has to a large degree disappeared from the excessively hybridized bearded irises. Dillard, Tom. “The History of the Louisiana Iris.” 216 217 Lucy Tcherniak1 PRADA blouse, bodysuit, PRADA coat, socks, shoes, skirt, belt, and headband. and headband. Writer and director Lucy Tcherniak does not shy away from difficult subject matter. Where fires have burned and bombs have popped, Tcherniak finds a way to make stories bloom from the rubble. She first gained attention with her short film Lay Me Down (2014) and has gone on to direct the critically acclaimed series The End of the F***ing World (2017) and Wanderlust (2018) for television. When conducting interviews to humanize your characters, how do you go about the process of getting subjects to open up to you? I think going into research interviews with an open mind and trying not to have any preconceived ideas or judgements is key. The most important thing is to put someone at ease and really listen to them. I guess it’s kind of similar to how I like to work with actors and crew on set. For me, the most successful creative collaborations are when egos are left behind and everybody’s heard. One of the most talked-about episodes of Netflix’s Wanderlust was the fifth episode, which you directed, where Joy visits her therapist Angela. The two share the screen for the majority of the episode, almost the length of a real-life therapy session. How did you keep the energy throughout such an intense and intimate scene? What was the filming process like? That episode was like nothing else I’d ever shot before. Thankfully, I had Nick Payne’s brilliant writing and the incredibly talented Toni Collette and Sophie Okonedo on my side. It’s such a long, complex and emotionally draining scene. I worked closely with Toni and Sophie during prep to find natural divisions between emotional beats, but during the shoot we often found it was working better for them to keep going longer than planned. We were sometimes doing 15 or even 20 minute takes2! I had to balance this unconventional shooting approach with the very particular way I wanted to use the camera, gradually zeroing in on Toni’s character Joy, as her therapist does the same. Can you tell us anything about the upcoming feature you’re working on? Only that it was one of those rare scripts that leapt off the page for me as soon as I read it. It’s a truly wild and compelling story and I’m very excited to be telling it, all the more so because Julianne Moore will be playing the lead. I’ve forever been such a fan of hers, so I’m feeling incredibly lucky to be working with her on my first feature. 1Tcherniak was born in Londoni, England. i.Chamaenerion angustifolium, the Rosebay Willowherb, is the county flower of London. 2The Rosebay Willowherb only takes a few months to colonize an ecosystem after catastrophic events like wildfire, bombing, or heavy logging. The plant is often utilized for its ability to recycle the nutrients left in the ground soil soon after a fire. 218 219 PRADA turtleneck and pants. PRADA turtleneck, pants, socks, and shoes. Brad Oberhofer1 Brad is the lead singer of the band Oberhofer. If you didn’t manipulate someone into loving a terrible mind-numbing catch them a few years ago crooning in the desert winds at medication through well-strategized background music, or Coachella, surely you’ve heard their pop/surf rock rhythms you could motivate someone to fight for better education, or soundtracked in shows like Gossip Girl, Teen Wolf, and BoJack to advocate for something you find to be morally just.

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