Tyler Treese
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ComingSoon Editor-in-Chief Tyler Treese spoke to Clock star Dianna Agron and director Alexis Jacknow about the psychological horror movie. The film debuts on Hulu on April 28.
“Clock is the story of a woman who enrolls in a clinical trial to try and fix her seemingly broken biological clock after friends, family, and society pressures her to have children,” reads the movie’s synopsis.
Tyler Treese: Dianna, there’s a lot of meat in this psychological thriller, so what aspect of Clock really drew you to this film?
Dianna Agron: Personal life experiences, the intensity, and beauty of this writing, Alexis’s work — it was just all such an easy yes for me. Then we really hit the ground running. This film was greenlit at the top of last year, and Alexis was off to Austin to prep. I mean, you can speak to that aspect, Alexis.
Alexis Jacknow: Sure. Yeah, it was a very quick turnaround. I mean, just overall, we were shooting this time last year, and here we are ready to release in a week and a half. Very much so Dianna got this script maybe two or three weeks before we started shooting, which is, really, a huge compliment to her that she could show up with that amount of prep time for a 90-something-page script where she is in every single scene of the movie and just be ready to go, ready to show up, and ready to bring it every single day.
Alexis, what was it about Dianna that really convinced you that she was the perfect choice for Ella? It’s hard to imagine anybody else doing that role.
Alexis Jacknow: 100%. There are many things. I’ve been a fan of Dianna’s work for, whatever, 15 years now. She is so emotionally available and grounded. She has a very grounded voice, which is something I really wanted for Ella — that was very important. Ella is somebody who is confident and sharp and radiant, just as she is in her everyday life, until she’s torn apart by her own decisions. These were all things that I saw in Dianna, in her work. All of these different shades that she chooses, from Glee to Shiva Baby and everywhere in between. She can do anything and this character has to do everything. So she was a wonderful choice.
Dianna, I loved your scenes with Melora Hardin — they’re so engaging. What stood out the most about her as a scene partner while filming Clock?
Dianna Agron: Oh, we loved working with Melora. I remember having just one quick rehearsal before we started shooting with Alexis, and it was just palpable. Melora’s work is extraordinary. What I really appreciate about her as a scene partner is she is so very much there. And while she is a very warm person in real life, the intensity that she brings as this character is so necessary. I really felt that, opposite her. I didn’t know what I could trust. There was this very cool dichotomy of the two opposite each other. I was really, really so happy that she was my scene partner, because you need them to have these moments. Alexis, I’m sure you have some other things to say,
Alexis Jacknow: Melora is a total professional, you know? She’s been doing this since she was literally a child, and when she walks on to set, everybody just sits up a little bit straighter. [Laugh]. And, um, I was just so blessed to have her. She came down the last week of shooting, which is when everybody’s just exhausted, and we’re locking our final locations, and it’s just a race to the finish line. She came in and was just the power that we needed to get through to the end of the shoot. I’ll never forget her first day on set. She shows up, and it was the day we were shooting her tank sequence, so I don’t want to do any spoilers for anybody, but there’s some very graphic imagery in there. It was like, “Hi, I’m a Melora Hardin.”
“Welcome to [the] set. Let’s get you in here to do this really creepy thing.” And she was just ready and game and walked right in and got it done. I just adore her. I also want to say that, on a personal note, I’ve always looked for a female mentor in this business, and I think I finally found one in Melora. She has just taken me under her wing, even since the movie, and has been such a beautiful guide to me in this industry and career and as a woman, and I adore her.
Alexis, what made you want to tackle these topics of societal expectations that women face, especially about having kids, with Clock? It’s obviously not something I think about all the time. This movie left me with so much to think about after I finished watching.
Alexis Jacknow: I’m so glad. It’s a very personal story for me. It’s tortured me for years, the decision about whether or not to have children, and I felt a tremendous amount of pressure from friends, family, society, my culture … I’m a Jewish woman, and there are things that come with that that feel like a pressurized situation when it comes to motherhood as well. I just felt like, what better place to write a horror story from than the thing that’s keeping you up at night, you know?
Dianna, one of your famous roles was Glee. Now that that series has been over for a while, how do you look back at that time and the impact it had on your career?
Dianna Agron: Hmm. I really moved to Los Angeles and dreamed of doing a musical. I grew up watching musicals. I think that was something that Alexis and I loved speaking about on set as our loves. It was such a beautiful job for so many reasons, because it was something that spoke to me and because it opened up the doors to be able to make the choices that I’ve been making ever since. So it’s an interesting feeling. I just shot a TV show for the first time in 10 years, and we were working with young people who had never acted before, and they were 13, and they were asking me questions about this industry and what it’s like to make things. So there was a lot of reflection in that moment.
And I had just come off of doing this film with Alexis, and they’re like, “What is it like to make things?” And I was like, “Well, I just did a horror film, and let me tell you about these stunts I was doing.” They were like, “You were harnessed to a rope that was tied to a tree? Then you were leaned over a 60′ high cliff throwing up?” I was like, “Yeah!” They’re like, “That sounds so cool!” [Laugh]. “It is cool and terrifying and wild.” They kept saying, “How many years have you been doing this?” I was like, “More years than you’ve been alive.” I think that’s the joy of being an active member of this community is you get to try on some cool characters and work with incredible people. Alexis, I am not letting her go. She is a friend for life, whether she likes it or not. [Laugh]. I mean, what a joy.
Alexis, you also have experience as an actress. How has that informed your directing?
Alexis Jacknow: Yeah, I trained as an actor at NYU, and it informed that technical background. So I think, hopefully, my strength as a director is to be able to jump in and be able to speak to actors quickly and effectively. I speak fluent actor. I also empathize with what they’re going through on the other side of the camera — wow, it’s a lot. I understand what they’re feeling. I try to be very protective of them because of that. I am very protective of them. But that’s what I love about directing, is the collaboration between myself and my actors, and my creative team.
So it’s really informed my directing, and it’s also informed my writing. I want to write roles that actors want to chew on and that they’re attracted to. Something that I would be attracted to, something that I would jump at and say, “Ooh, I want to play that role because she’s written something that is playable up there.”