Alice Englert chatted about her film “Bad Behaviour,” which she stars in, wrote, and directed.
Aside from Englert, it stars Jennifer Connelly, Ben Whishaw, Grace Palmer, Dasha Nekrasova, Ana Scotney, Marlon Williams, Karan Gill, and Beulah Koale.
Englert is the daughter of two-time Academy Award-winning director and screenwriter Dame Jane Campion (“The Power of the Dog” and “The Piano” respectively).
The synopsis of the movie
The synopsis is: Lucy (Jennifer Connelly), a former child actress, seeks healing from the traumas of her life. She embarks on a spiritual retreat, only for it to become anything but healing: she’s easily annoyed by the other attendees and wants attention from the retreat’s new-age guru Elon Bello.
Even worse, she has become destructively obsessed with the retreat’s celebrity guest, a model named Beverly.
As Beverly finds “enlightenment” easily, Lucy’s feelings of insecurity continue to rise to the surface. During this time, Lucy also tries to connect with her stunt performer adult daughter, Dylan (Alice Englert) who is currently on set in New Zealand.
Dylan’s falling into an obsession of her own: a bad romance with the main actor Elmore (Marlon Williams), whose insistence on doing his own stunts will have disastrous consequences.
Brutal incidents in both women’s worlds force them to back together to confront their personal demons and their own relationship.
Englert on starring in ‘Bad Behaviour’
On starring in “Bad Behaviour,” she said, “I loved it. I loved making it and I loved acting in it. It was one of my favorite things I’ve ever done, to be honest. It was such a beautiful team. Jennifer Connelly is such a genius, generous, and beautiful soul.”
Englert on playing Dylan
On playing Dylan, she said, “I really wanted to play this role, and I really loved it. It is interesting when you want to create a proxy or a scapegoat for the emotional pain through the old physical pain.”
“I have a lot of jock friends who are very good at all that stuff, and I was fascinated by the way an accident would create this rupture in that flow or that literal running away.
“I loved watching them be fierce in the world and be fierce in the inside too. I love this character.”
Lessons learned from this role and screenplay
On the lessons learned from this film, she reflected, “This movie taught me many lessons. It doesn’t matter how much work you do on your film, the things the film says is not the same as understanding them as a person.”
“You can be very good at articulating something in a story in a movie, but living it is an entirely different thing, which is funny,” she noted.
“All my life, I thought I knew that and I thought I understood that but I was secretly hoping that in making this movie I would get over all my issues,” she added.
The digital age
On being a part of the digital age, Englert responded, “I don’t know. I’m not sure about it to be honest. I am really happy that people can see the movie. I really love that everything is at your fingertips.”
“You can spend a lot of time alone in your head and then something can actually happen, and go on the outside, and then, other people can think of it alone in their heads. That quality of it is extremely exciting, and it is quite cute,” she elaborated.
Career-defining moments
On her career-defining moments, she remarked, “There are so many. I am always exfoliating my soul in this industry just like I think growing up around it and feeling how much paradox there is… the sense of the unattainable glory of it all, and also how much that is an illusion even for the people who do have it.”
“At the end of the day, you are still in your flesh and your own bones. That is something that I’ve always thought was fascinating,” she added.
Advice for young and aspiring actors
For young and aspiring actors, she said, “If you are getting into acting, there is a lot of pressure right now to feel like you have to be an Internet sensation, and you don’t have to be.”
“Being an actor and being a popular, successful person are really different. What is going to make you happy is not necessarily the kind of success thing,” she noted.
“I would say do the things that make you feel real and connected and safe in your spirit because nobody else will know how to do that better than you. Be kind to yourself and be real,” she added.
Stage of her life
On the title of the current chapter of her life, she said with a sweet laugh, “Romance.”
“Romance in everything,” she explained. “Just the romance of it all… I am writing a romance right now. I am in love. I think everything is romantic.”
Superpower of choice
If she were to have any superpower, it would be “the ability to accurately answer things in a more concise way.”
“I would to be better at answering questions,” she admitted. “I would love to have some answers.”
Success
On her definition of success, she remarked, “For me, success feels like friendship. It’s that feeling! It has got respect, space, and connection.”
Message for her fans about ‘Bad Behaviour’
For her fans, she said, “I really appreciate them. The fans are beautiful. Thank you for being supportive. They are amazing.”
“I hope with this movie, the fans see something that feels intimate and honest, as well as something that is crazy and loving,” she concluded.
To learn more about Alice Englert, follow her on Instagram.
