Leah McKendrick Says 'Scrambled' Is a 'Love Letter' to Single Women in Their 30s (Exclusive)

Leah McKendrick is known for co-starring, writing and producing the 2017 film M.F.A. and also starring in the 2016 hit film Bad Moms. Now the filmmaker and actress is getting ready to show off her upcoming movie Scrambled, which marks her directorial debut. PopCulture.com spoke to McKendick about the film set to hit theaters on Feb. 2. 

"It's a love letter to myself in a lot of ways," McKendrick told PopCulture. "It's a love letter to all the ladies trying to figure it out. Single in your 30s can be an awkward, messy, tough, sticky place to be. Society wants to remind you all the time that you have somehow failed as a woman. So my film was about womanhood in your 30s and the existential crisis that you go on sometimes when you are trying to fight for your fertility, like Nellie as she freezes her eggs and then she goes on a throwback tour revisiting loves from the past to see if any of them were worth a second shot, which, spoiler alert, none of them are."

In the movie, McKendrick stars as Nellie, whose story is similar to what McKendirick went through during her egg-freezing journey and enjoying the single life. Because of that lived experience, McKendick said she had an easier time directing the film.

"I think it would've been harder if I was directing Arrival, and I'm telling everyone what the aliens need to look like, and I've got Amy Adams," she said. "This was something I lived. So I think that was my saving grace. And also, as an actor, I had been working on the material for the months since I wrote it, so I was dialing that in and so that I could just throw away my acting and really focus on listening to my scene partner, which is really all acting is, is listening and reacting to somebody else what they're giving you. And in some ways, being the director is the best way to act, because you're authentically listening for once, rather than thinking the film is all about you."

Scrambled features a talented cast led by McKendrick and Saturday Night Live star Ego Nwodim, who plays Nellie's friend. "She's just such a pro," McKendrick said about Nwodim. "She just shows up. She's going to hit all the beats. She knows exactly what to do. She's fearless, she's unafraid. She does not question herself. ...She's in bootcamp on SNL, right? You only get on that show if you're fearless, if you're one of the greats because they're in front of the country every week. It's like a fever dream. I don't know how she does it."

McKendrick knows there's a chance not everyone will like her film. But the fact she made a full-length movie about something close to her is a major accomplishment. "Whether you love my movie or hate my movie, you can't take away the miracle that is actually making a movie," she stated. "And the fact that it got made, I will be forever proud of myself that I at least got to the finishing line, barely alive, starved, leg missing. But you know what? I got to the finish line and I'm really proud of myself for that."