Danielle Macdonald, who we were introduced to in “Patticake$,” takes on the lead in “Dumplin’,” a story about a teen girl who enters her mother’s (Jennifer Aniston) beauty pageant as a form of protest. “Dumplin'” is about acceptance, self love, and the expectations we place on ourselves — and how those expectations shape how we see the world. Women and Hollywood had a chat with director Anne Fletcher about the film, which hits Netflix and select theaters today.
This interview has been edited. It was transcribed by Keno Katsuda.
W&H: Talk to me about “Dumplin’” and why this project was something you wanted to get involved with.
AF: Originally, I read half of the script and called my agent immediately to let them know that I had to do this movie. At that point, it was really about friendships and the mother-daughter relationship. I felt that there was a lack of movies speaking to what makes a girl a woman and what outside voices can say–be they teachers, friends, magazines, or movies–to tell you you’re perfect exactly the way you are, and that it’s what’s on the inside that matters.
From the book written by Julie Murphy to the script by Kristin Hahn, I was just completely invested and in awe. We took it a step further by using Dolly Parton’s music, which I thought was extremely smart on Julie’s part. I’ve always seen Dolly as the quintessential woman, who is completely empowered and in charge, and that’s on top of being incredibly witty, talented, kind, beautiful, sexy, and goofy. There were just so many fun layers to what was going on in this script that I had to participate.
W&H: I thought what was handled so well was bringing together storylines that weren’t necessarily easy to mesh together. The mother-daughter storyline was interesting, as the two characters didn’t connect and didn’t know how to talk to each other.
AF: At its core, the story is a drama–there are characters dealing with grief, but it’s all done in a fun way from the point of view of a 17 year-old girl. She judges her mom for not understanding her. One of the things that I love about the story is that both Rosie and her sister Lucy were born big girls but Lucy embraced it. In doing so, she conquered the world and lived a great life. Rosie didn’t have the same confidence that Willowdean did, which most of us women can relate to. So she decided to conform to society’s norms and lose the weight, and entered the beauty pageant to confirm that her decision was right.
Because Willowdean doesn’t know her mother’s story and understand it, she just relates to her aunt who looks, sounds, and behaves like she did. It’s just a beautiful dynamic of people living under the same roof who don’t connect, who are wronged by their judgments or point of view.
W&H: How were you brought onto the film?
AF: Jennifer Aniston was already attached because she is Kristin’s producing partner. I was approached by Kristin and producer Michael Costigan to do this movie. I don’t know their reasoning, but I was extremely excited to do it. There were so many dance performance moments, and I loved digging into the nuances of the characters and figuring out what made them tick. I met Jennifer and we sat down and talked about Rosie.
Like all people, the character is full of beautiful flaws. We started crying because we love her so much and try to connect with everything she’s struggling with as she both loves her child and doesn’t know how to be a mom.
W&H: Was Netflix involved in the project from the start? One of the things I’ve been noticing there is the uptick in women-directed and women-centric content.
AF: We made this movie independently and they acquired us. It is also being released in theaters. As Dolly also wrote a bunch of the songs in the film, we are potentially hoping to get a nomination for one of them.
W&H: Dolly is so huge, but at the same time she’s not really in the “Hollywood mindset.” She’s bringing in a whole new audience to the cinema because of her involvement.
AF: I know her fans are super excited for the soundtrack because she and Linda Perry created so much original content and sang some duets covers of some older songs. So we obviously have her fanbase. I’m also excited because even younger girls know the name Dolly Parton, and every young person should absolutely be aware of her talent.
W&H: You’ve done studio movies previously. Was it a different kind of challenge on an independent film compared to some of your other projects?
AF: We shot the film in 30 days so we were always flying by the seat of our pants. For the most part, I’ve always had great experiences working in the studio system. When everyone is in their place and knows their role, it’s just a great creative experience. This was no different. You’re still making decisions, bringing your producers along, and deciding what to do.
W&H: As things have changed in Hollywood in the last year, can you talk a little about how the new climate with the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements have changed or helped you? What have you noticed?
AF: For myself, personally nothing has changed. I used to be a dancer. As a dancer, you are a piece of a machine and you don’t think of yourself as male or female–you’re just a dancer. The same thing happened when I became a choreographer and later a director–I’m a piece of a machine used to tell a story. As far as in the global consciousness, women are being more respected and being brought to the table. How quickly it’s shifting, I don’t know.
Hopefully, it’s not a moment and is actually a continued movement for us to become equals at the table. We’ve proven time and time again from war movies, action movies, and superhero movies that women have a valid point of view, and it’s always exciting to see take place onscreen.
Everywhere I turn, another woman is directing a film or is starring on a TV show. Even cinematographers and assistant directors are really branching out. I wish change was quicker, but it is what it is, and I’m grateful it’s happening. In this movie, we have women all over the place in key departments which is lovely.
W&H: Was there a desire to hire more women because it’s such a strong female-led film?
AF: It was never going to be my decision to do that because I feel if we want to be equals, to exclude women or just to spotlight men is not just equal, we’re still in a balancing game if that makes sense.
W&H: I understand what you’re saying, but for many women doing affirmative action in this way, it’s not discrimination against men. Rather, it affirms that we need to be more inclusive and work our way into a world where we can hear everyone’s story.
AF: I agree. Ultimately, this movie says a lot of things, but its key theme is being who you are and embracing yourself. There are things that we can’t change–curly hair, height, weight, acne, being gay, or transgender–these are things that are normal and should be embraced as such. You’re not any different from anyone else struggling with their own insecurities. I wanted to make sure that this film spoke to anyone who felt like they were on the outside of society’s expectations. You should just love who you are from the inside out, and the people who see you for who you are will love you no matter what.
Since the film is from the perspective of Willadeen, a pretty blonde girl appears on screen, and she is immediately perceived as a bitch. But if you get into the blonde girl’s mind, it turns out she has her own insecurities, but it’s hard for us to see it that way. Even Willa couldn’t see for the life of her why Bo would like her, which is heartwrenching. He actually saw her heart, soul, personality, everything. She had to come to terms with her liking her for her.
I wanted all the girls in the movie to be nice, to be able to see how every one of the girls is struggling with something like we all do.
Hopefully, people walk away from the movie thinking that they are unique and special, right here, right now.
