Erin Kelly – With A Little Love

Photos & Contributing Writing By:  Megan Cassidy

Q.  For those unfamiliar with the movie, Loving Annabelle, can you please tell us a bit about the premise and your character?

A. My relationship with Simone started out more predatory; it wasn’t on an emotional level; it turned into Annabelle falling in love with Simone. One of the questions asked quite a bit about the film, was what does this movie teach.  I really think it says, “You can’t judge a situation unless you’re in it.” The movie does a great job of portraying this because looking at it as something that has happened, and it was on the news, people would automatically judge the teacher and become very aggressive about it. But, as you watch the film, you become involved in the character’s lives and you want them to be together by the end of the film.

Q.  What made you want to be a part of this film?

A.  I met Katherine (Brooks) four years ago at a play, and she saw me and said, “Please tell me you’re an actress.” She gave me the script two days later and I stayed up all night reading it. The script is very different from the final product, but from the second I read it I wanted to do it. I relate a lot to Annabelle. She’s the rebel, independent, looking for a connection with somebody, but having the walls up, and on the outside appears as though she doesn’t want to let anyone in, but really wanting a deep connection.

Q.  Whose story is this, Annabelle’s or Simone’s?

A.  It really started as Annabelle’s film. Katherine has made the comments that when she started the script she was Annabelle, but by the time she had finished she was Simone. The process since I’ve been attached to it has been a mutual story. I do think it is both of their stories, but it definitely started as Annabelle’s, and it is interesting to see the change amongst the two characters.

Q.  You two have great chemistry in the film. Is this something you worked on behind the scenes or was the chemistry always there?

A.  I was safe to make that jump and give all of myself because Diane (Gaidry) was so supportive and there with me.

Q.  I understand there was a separate ending shot for this film. Which do you prefer?

A.  The one in the movie. We have become so used to the Hollywood happy ending and I just don’t feel it is real.  I also don’t believe it was a very sad ending. It was very clear in the end that they both knew that they were loved; and that is the purpose of life.

Q.  How did you prepare for this role?

A.  I had four years to prepare, and develop Annabelle into someone I was very comfortable with. On the set, Katherine is the best director I have ever worked with. She is very present and clear about what she wants. Whenever it was needed, she was right there with me. She doesn’t get caught up in the chaos around her. If, as an actor, you need something, she’s just present, right there, and the world just stops and we are in this bubble. I felt very safe and very taken care of.

Q.  Why should viewers take the time to watch Loving Annabelle?

A. Katherine told me yesterday that on the MySpace page, teenagers were coming out because of this film and that made me so happy. The audience seems to be a younger crowd, and just to let teenagers be whomever they want to be and do whatever they want to do, and it’s okay, is a beautiful thing, above anything, this is a love story.

Q.  What’s your most memorable moment from the film?

A. I had two that came to mind. There was one day of shooting when we did the sex scene and the scene where Diane is taken away and it was just a roller coaster of emotions; ups and downs, one after the other. And I remember Katherine, Diane, and I walking out onto the grass, and I just started crying because I was so happy. I was a complete emotional mess, but was so high realizing that the film was finally coming together.  Just being with Katherine and Diane and the crew and the setting we were at, it was just so beautiful, and I don’t think I’ve ever felt more high than in that moment.

Q.  How involved were you, Erin, in the writing process?

A.  Katherine had been working on the film for seven years, and I came in three years into it. She and I would workshop my dialogue back and forth, so a lot of my lines were developed along the way. I worked a lot on finding Annabelle’s voice.  I am not a writer at all, but in workshopping it, sometimes stuff would come out differently, and it gave Katherine a chance to hear it.  A lot of Annabelle’s aggressive behavior was cut out. Much of the original script, Annabelle was very much a predator and not so much teetering on the edge at all. I am very glad as well that her character turned out the way she did, the Annabelle we see in the film.  Gus (Gustine Fudickar), who plays Cat in the movie, actually came in two days after we finished shooting because we had a different girl. She and I had gone to school together a couple years back, and she had actually done a table read, I think like three to four years ago. We were madly trying to find a Cat, and Katherine remembered her, and got her on the phone and she came down and read and we started filming the next day.  In fact, the first time I read the script, Cat’s character was whom I really wanted to play. But, the casting was like, nope, you’re Annabelle!

Q.  Myspace has done a really wonderful job promoting the movie.

A.  Oh definitely. Some woman had flown in from Seattle and had approached me after the LA screening, and was so grateful about how much impact this film has had on the lesbian community.

Q.  Do you consider this to be a love story or a lesbian love story?

A.  A love story for sure. Well, in terms of my gay and straight friends, my straight friends are liking it more. Which I thought was very interesting.

Q.  I know that the lesbian community is very picky when it comes to lesbian characters, seeing as many films either have the lesbian ending up with a boyfriend at the end, or winding up dead. I have heard many people discussing this film, hoping that the director “gets it right.” What do you think this means?

A.  Well, in terms of the film, I think possibly, that it is realistic in that if this were a relationship between a male teacher and a female student the consequences would be the same.  That we aren’t making an exception in that just because it was a female relationship. they can get away with it; in that it trivializes a relationship between two women.