Relay made me fall down the Lily James rabbit hole. I'd like...never Seen It until that movie. But 1) she's hot af in a very...normie way??? It's kind of refreshing to see someone with a regular face and who hasn't done a million things to it. I like that she doesn’t have iPhone face. She can fit into a period piece quite well but also doesn’t look out of place in anything modern. She's the epitome of timeless. 2) she’s kinda really good. Does she have endless range? Debatable. I don’t think her range is MASSIVE. I wouldn’t put her at the level of Flo or Jodie. I’d blindly give those two any script and know it’d be flawless no matter what. But there’s something about Lily that the roles she’s good for I know she can NAIL. She hasn’t done many good projects which is a shame but…I wanna get my hands on her. I think she needs a script she can get gritty with and a director that can get her there. Convinced she could be so magical. She just needs someone to let her loose. I’m so sure of it that I'm asking my reps to pivot. We’re about to take out one of my new movies (that I wrote about the ex who’s had me on the verge of a mental breakdown for months 🙄) and I wrote it for another specific British actress y’all know I love (not Flo or Jodie this time lol) but yesterday I was like “Let’s test the waters with Lily first. See if that’s a swing worth taking.” One of my reps said he knows the exec that runs her pod pretty well so he’s going to ask. It’s a big genre piece and she’s done literally zero genre so far so I don’t know if it’s even going to be her thing but…I feel like she’d be FANTASTIC in this. Cross your clits for me.
But also I need y’all to know that the discourse has become so stupid online that a lot of actors of Lily’s caliber are now passing on playing queer roles and it has nothing to do with politics. And I don't think you guys understand how important it is to get bankable actors to get projects even looked at these days but a lot of them don't want to touch queer roles with a ten foot pole now because y’all are too fucking unhinged and overbearing. I was having drinks with the exec who runs another actresses company last week. And I brought up a different one of my projects I thought the actress would be great for. Leads are obviously queer and she straight up said “(her boss) won't play queer roles. Not because she doesn't want the material. Because she doesn't want to deal with the fanbase”. I told you guys your craziness was going to backfire eventually and it already has. The first question financiers ask now is “who do you have attached that ‘moves the needle’?” and if no one that actually matters will play the roles then the project is DOA. I know how bad it's gotten because we’ve been trying to cast one of my movies for SIX FUCKING YEARS. A script that has won dozens of awards already. And been invited to so many fellowships/festival labs. The script is not the problem. We’ve been told as much. I've gotten the nicest hand written pass notes from actresses I love being like “The script is incredible. And this story is so important and I can't wait for it to be made…I just can't play this role and risk getting cancelled.” That’s how far people have gone with the insanity. It’s stopping so many great films from getting made. Tone it down. I'm begging. I know a lot of these actors won't change their mind moving forward because they already have the fear of god in them, but maybe the new generation coming up might be able to get a different experience. I doubt it because every day I just see it get more out of pocket instead of better but…one can hope. Leave these fucking people alone. Stop hounding them. Be normal. It’ll be so much better for everyone.
