'Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret' Director Kelly Fremon Craig Praises 'Enormous Talent' of Cast, Favorite On-Set Moments (Exclusive)
The film based on Judy Blume's book is now streaming, and available on DVD and Blu-ray.
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret debuted in theaters earlier this summer, to much critical acclaim. The film was helmed by accomplished filmmaker Kelly Fremon Craig, who previously wrote and directed The Edge of Seventeen. In support of the film's physical and digital release, PopCulture.com spoke with Craig, who praised the "enormous talent" of the movie's cast members, and also shared some of her favorite on-set moments.
Based on the iconic novel of the same name by Judy Blume, Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret stars Abby Ryder Fortson (Ant-Man, A Dog's Journey) as Margaret Simon, an 11-year-old girl who is forced to move to a new town, away from her grandma — played by the legendary Kathy Bates — and start a new school and make new friends, all while begging puberty and wrestling with the concepts of faith and spirituality. The relationship between Margaret and her paternal grandmother is one of the most standout dynamics in the movie, and Craig explained that putting a spotlight on their bond was necessary.
"Plot-wise, it's really important in the book that this move feels especially devastating to Margaret," she told us. "It's not only that she's moving away from her home and all her friends and everything that she knows, but also the person who loves her most in the world and she has this wonderful relationship with, and is like a fairy godmother grandma-type person. Just feeling the love of that relationship and how the distance is difficult feels important to the story. Also, it feeds into the way the story pays off in the end, when both sets of grandparents come and everything blows up."
Margaret's parents, in the film, are played by Rachel McAdams and Benny Safdie, adding to the incredible cast that Craig got to build her film around, and having such high-caliber performers was something that the writer-director found to be invaluable. "I think just in general, when you have somebody with enormous talent, you just can't even express how much they bring to the table," Craig said. "Really, I was just so impressed by how much everybody, each of the actors, thought about their own character just so deeply and on a level that you kind of can't, as the director."
She added, "You think a lot, but an actor really dives deep and brings to the table a lot of really interesting ideas and questions. To me, the most exciting day on a set is when you think what the scene is going to be like, but then everybody's ideas combined together make it into something that you didn't imagine, that nobody imagined. It's the collaboration that creates something that you couldn't have fathomed."
With a skilled and engaging cast in tow, Craig set out to make her coming-of-age dramedy, and it was every bit as fun as it looks on screen. "I loved filming the girls at summer camp," the director confessed. "That was just like...there's just a wistful, awesome nostalgia that was wonderful. It was a day where we were all running around this beautiful summer camp and kids in inner tubes, and there was just such joy."
She continued, "I also loved filming Abby when she dances around with the sock boobs. She makes a little music video in her room. That was just a day full of so much laughter and joy. I have to say, there's something about filming with kids. It's bananas, but it is so much fun. It's so much fun and they bring so much energy and joy, and it's hard not to smile on set."
One of the most compelling aspects of Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret is that it maintained the 1970 setting of the book. This is something that both Blume and Craig both wanted. "In the very first meeting, the very first time we sat down, it was one of the first things that we talked about. I said, 'It absolutely has to be set in 1970, when the book was published.' She said, 'Phew,' because she wouldn't want to do it if somebody wanted to modernize it. Luckily, we were on the same page from the very beginning on that."
Craig later noted that the story is simply depicting the real-life scenarios that young girls deal with as they grow beyond adolescence, and those realities have been the same for decades, if not centuries. "That's exactly part of the reason that I really wanted to set it when it was actually published, because there is something about that," she explained. "There's something connective about realizing that every girl has gone through this, throughout all of history. There's something about that that I think is just a relief in some way."
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret is a hit with both critics and fans alike, coming in with a 99 percent Fresh rating from Rotten Tomatoes critics, and a 95 percent score from audiences. Craig is quick to credit Bloom, however, for the story's ever-lasting popularity. "I think so much of it is a credit to Judy Blume. I mean, she wrote this book that has been so lasting. I think she wrote it in a way that was so deeply honest, it transcends time. It's true. It's true every decade."
Finally, we asked Craig about the chances of a sequel to the movie, and she explained that it would all be up to the author. "People have asked Judy Blume that for years," she said. "I'd love if she would write something, but I think this is it. She's expressed this is it." Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret is available now on Digital, On Demand, and on Blu-ray™ + DVD + Digital Combo and DVD, from Lionsgate."
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