Desiree Akhavan is creating waves in the film
world with her debut feature film Appropriate
Behaviour, a playful dark comedy about life as an New Yorker, Iranian and bisexual. So how did this 'outsider' narrative get so
much exposure? As well as writing and
directing the film, Desiree also plays protagonist Shirin in the film, and will also star in HBO's new season of
insanely popular Girls. I grabbed some time with her during the
preview of the film at last year’s BFI London Film Festival, where she talked
to me about how she started out and why she is definitely here to stay.
You started out
acting. How did the desire to write and
direct come out of that?
I did start my career acting, but I would get
constantly told that I don't fit the mould.
I see actors that are blank canvasses that can be moulded into their
parts, and I'm so not like that! I guess
I realised that i've always been a storyteller and I needed, and love, to tell
stories.
What kind of
stories?
I had this dark humour when I was younger and
I don't think that I've shaken that off.
I used to write plays when I was around nine years old. They mainly consisted of these surreal dramas
and black comedies! I realised comedy
was where I was happiest so decided to pursue that. Appropriate
Behaviour is definitely something that I've been planning to do since I was
very young.
How did you make
the jump from web series to feature film?
After graduating film school in New York I
started to study the film festival 'format' and then went away to try and make
films that would fit this mould. I just
wanted to make these short films that would do well in festivals. After some time, I realised that it really
wasn't working and I was missing something.
Once I started making the films that I actually wanted to, about topics
that meant a lot to me, the films organically started reaching the right people
and everything was so much smoother.
That's when I made my web series which got a lot of attention online and
opened my eyes to that platform. I met
my perfect producer in Cecilia (Frugiuele) and talked to her about the feature
idea. She really got everything going
and I knew that it was the right time.
Was it smooth behind the scenes making this
movie?
Making this film was smooth as butter compared
to the others I made, where I was constantly trying to fit a square peg in the
round hole! It had it's difficulties,
obviously directing myself in the film I had to take a step back and look at my
performance critically. But in the end I
am super happy with the result.
How did you get
your part in the upcoming season of HBO's 'Girls'?
Honestly, it was the easiest role to get! I met Lena (Dunham- creator of 'Girls') after
she'd seen my film. She asked me to come
in and that was that! It's such an
unbelievable honour that she liked the film and I was so excited. People keep asking me whether I'm part of
this 'new wave' of feminism happening right now, spurred on by the amazing work
that Lena and others are doing. I think
that women are strong and their voices are important, and if that makes my film
feminist, that's great!
What advice do
you have for people starting out in the industry today?
My advice would be to be authentic and true to
your voice. The minute I started writing
what came naturally, everything fell into place. My web series got a lot of attention, and I
became able to get my feature ideas listened to, so you need to find the right
platform to get your work out there.
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Appropriate Behaviour is out today in selected
cinemas, and is screening during the BFI Flare Festival in London throughout
March.