First Look Studios has a sweet, funny little chick flick starring Heather Graham in “Miss Conception”, opening Friday, June 6 in Los Angeles.
Heather Graham - Georgina in "Miss Conception" © Anthony G. Moore / PR Photos
This film is one of those under-the-radar gems that is relatable to many women now contemplating the when and hows of pregnancy. It is a farcical light-hearted romp that addresses a hot button topic for many 30 and 40 year-old women out there wondering when, if ever.
Monsters and Critics sat down with Heather Graham in Los Angeles yesterday (to the complete envy of our male editors).
Graham is as lovely and sweet as she is beautiful, and she talked about her appreciation for good comedy, expressed chagrin at the limited projects available for women in general, shared her distaste for gore and the balancing act for keeping her personal life out of the tabloids.
photo- © April MacIntyre, Monsters and Critics
She also has a production company and two interesting scripts she is currently developing.
Unlike films from decades of yore where the end-game goal was to bag the promising husband, “Miss Conception” reflects the social and economic changes that have given all women, gay or straight, the option to plan (or not) when to welcome a child into their lives.
Star of the film, Heather Graham plays construction business owner Georgina Scott, a woman who seems on paper to possess it all, yet is tortured by her own family medical anomalies (early menopause) which is made even worse when she discovers she is down to her last egg.
The film features a nice chemistry and fit with actor Tom Ellis who plays Zak, her boyfriend and the reticent dad; he's a distractible producer who is being manipulated by a vapid American secretary who has designs on him. Interestingly, in the film the “American” secretary is in fact an English girl, Ruta Gedmintas, with very Yankee Doodle Dandy looking super-white teeth.
Graham and actress Mia Kirshner (The L Word) who plays Clem, her confidante and best friend, pull off convincing proper upper-crusty RP London accents thanks to dialect coach Brendan Gunn.
“Both Mia and I were very scared to take this accent on, but Brendan was amazing, he stayed with us the whole shoot,” revealed Graham. “That was the biggest challenge of the film for me.”
“We filmed it last March in Ireland and England, and there were so many funny little things that happened during the shoot, especially with Will Mellor our ‘sexy’ Brian the construction worker. He is from the Manchester, and they have a whole different language and words for sexual things, silly words and expressions; his scene where he was coming on to Georgina was one of my favorites, it was just a great funny moment.”
“I like doing comedies,” Graham explained, “scary films not so much. There’s not a lot of female perspective written out there which is why something like ‘Sex and the City’ has the audience it has, what else is there? I enjoy it and it’s a relatable thing for me and my friends.”
“I just wrapped a film in Texas with Jennifer Coolidge called ‘The Exterminators’ – a noir comedy that was a lot of fun to make. Texas was so easy to just ‘be,' I was able to drive anywhere, no traffic, no stress and so low key compared to LA, and the Austin area I was in is wonderful, artsy and very cool,” added Graham. “I like go about my life quietly, not make the gossip pages.”
Georgina (Heather Graham) and her sister-in-law, Rebecca’s (Maria Watton-Graham) newborn child in Miss Conception distributed by First Look Studios, photos by Nick Wall.
The premise of "Miss Conception" resonated with Graham, who laughs, “It’s a full-circle love story, but anything having to do with giving birth is scary.” She noted the plaster belly cast was a prominent prop that gave her pause for reflection.
“I admire and respect women who know what they want, regardless of the outcome. It isn’t easy for women; we have judgments that men don’t have to navigate in this life.
My character is obviously excited about having a baby but she’s also desperate about it, and I have so many friends I was able to draw inspiration and knowledge from that are going through In Vitro and some other cool advances in fertility, it’s not easy for anyone.”
“Miss Conception” takes Georgina on her “biggest hammer to kill the fly” solutions for sealing the deal during her four day ovulation spell.
Graham explained: “The idea of all these things she (Georgina) does is so over the top, but she does them earnestly, and even the gross things like the cake frosting scene - gross things like that are funny. The actress who plays my mother was delightful to work with, she is a British stage actress,Vivienne Moore; she made those scenes work well.”
Georgina (Heather Graham) and Zak (Tom Ellis) in Miss Conception distributed by First Look Studios, photos by Nick Wall.
Think the most improbable fertility scenarios, the writer Camilla Leslie takes you there. Trolling funerals; open house showings; Internet sperm donors, inappropriate employee canoodling and even a final failsafe best gay male friend seduction are drawn up and considered.
“One of my favorite moments in the film is where Georgina tries to seduce her gay friend Justin (Orlando Seale) who is horrified, it is very funny and I loved doing that scene with him,” said Graham.
Director Eric Styles keeps the pace even; each day is an exercise in futility, and every minute that ticks by is a death knell for Georgina’s perceptions of a full life and last chance at happiness.
Kudos to casting director casting directors Manuel Puro and Jeremy Zimmerman who took a chance by putting American girls as almost Sloane Ranger types (proper London girls of a certain class) and a Brit cast as a devious Yank up to no good.
Also of note were the stunning locations selected by Location manager Catherine Geary who found dazzling exteriors in Ireland that take your breath away.
The art department also deserves note, especially under production designer Humphrey Jaeger who set the story inside retail shops and interesting parts of London, and with his team decorated the flats and provide interesting props such as the alarming “belly cast” displayed in one fateful humorous scene.
The future for Heather also involves producing her own scripts and properties.
“I have two scripts that I am pushing forward with; one is a period film about the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire in New York that is a love story amidst this horrific moment in history.
Its a piece showing the criminal conditions workers faced before legislation and unionization. The other film is a comedy, the ‘Accidental Virgin’, about finding self-esteem, that’s hard for a woman. The budget for that film is around $6 million, the other is more because of the logistics of a period film.”
Another tidbit Graham shared was one of her favorite directors she admired was Billy Wilder, and that she and Mia, who run quite a bit in the film “Miss Conception”, both are fans of fitness. “Even though my character runs in the film, I am not the runner, Mia is. But I do Pilates, Yoga, hiking and dance,” revealed the svelte actress who is taller in person than expected, and has a true dancers physique.
What does Heather like to catch on the smallcreen?
“'The Office', '30 Rock', these ensemble comedies are great to watch,” shared Graham, who had a clever run as Dr. Molly Clock on the long-running comedy “Scrubs.”
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