Pretty much everyone knows what a DeLorean is. Only a lucky few actually owned one of the stainless steel beauties, but the car itself- due in major part to BACK TO THE FUTURE- has become a symbol of the 1980s. While most people are familiar with the winged ride, not as many are aware of the man behind the car, John DeLorean, and one of the biggest scandals of that decade. In Nick Hamm's latest film DRIVEN, the director tells the tale of a drug smuggling pilot named Jim Hoffman (played by a mustachioed Jason Sudeikis) who is trying to escape that life in suburban San Diego with his wife Ellen (the always effervescent Judy Greer). In a strange twist of fate, the Hoffmans find themselves living on the same street as none other than the DeLorean Motor Company impresario himself (portrayed by an brilliantly uncanny Lee Pace). When the tycoon's ambitious endeavor begins to falter, the neighbors hatch a wild scheme that may or may not be influenced by the federal investigators who have Hoffman in their pocket.
DRIVEN (not to be confused with the other DeLorean flick with Alec Baldwin coming out this year), is a wonderfully entertaining take on Hoffman's perspective throughout the DeLorean debacle. The timeline of the story makes for some terrific early 80s design and fashion that Hamm lovingly features throughout the period piece. Though the subject matter probably looks pretty serious on paper, Hamm manages to create a somewhat light and humorous take on the controversy that scandalized the nation in the decade of excess.
As Ellen, Judy Greer plays a major role not only in the film, but also in keeping the overall dark tone of the story from becoming too overbearing with her saucy yet sweet portrayal of Hoffman's rightfully jaded wife. I recently had the opportunity to chat with Greer about the film. I hope you enjoy our chat about DRIVEN, 80s fashion, and what it's like being part of some of film's greatest franchises.
Annette Kellerman:
Hi Judy. How are you today?
Judy Greer:
Hey, good. How are you doing?
Kellerman:
I'm doing really well. I am excited to talk about DRIVEN with you.
Greer:
Yeah, thank you.
Kellerman:
It's such a cool movie. I always love to ask actors, can you tell me like what it's like playing a real person versus a fictional character? I'm sure it fundamentally changes your approach.
Greer:
Well, you know it's interesting because I feel like I still kind of can't because the character Ellen that I play in the movie sort of disappeared into thin air. She's in the witness protection program and there isn't really much to go on. So I kind of felt like my preparation was sort of unfortunately the same.
Kellerman:
Right! That was my next question. It's got to be tough to do research on someone who has been gone for 35 years, but I guess you kind of have to wing it and sort of do your own thing with that. What would you think if she's out there somewhere and she got to see this film? I mean, what are your thoughts on that? It's so wild.
Greer:
I hope that's the case. I mean that would be so cool. I hope... well obviously I hope she is happy with my portrayal of her. I hope she's happy with the movie as a whole. I mean I have a 100 questions I wish I could've asked her, but it's got to be strange if they are out there still and the kids... I mean I wonder about that with kids. It's like how-
Kellerman:
I know!
Greer:
... how do you tell an eight year old or however old those kids were like, "You have different names and you can't talk to your friends ever again and you can't ever see your family ever again." How do you sell that? And then when the kid is old enough, are they ever like, "You know what? F off. I'm going to go back to who I used to because I'm 18 and I can do whatever the hell I want now. Like, "Bye. I hope you don't get killed." I don't know. The whole thing is so, it's so curious.
Kellerman:
It is so curious. It's such a wild story too. I mean I knew a little about John DeLorean and of course the car and knew that it was not popular and turned out to be a really bad business deal for him, but I had no idea about this whole coke deal and all this-
Greer:
Me either.
Kellerman:
... craziness.
Greer:
I didn't know any of it. I'm happy to say I was too young, but yeah, the car has always had this sort of mystery around it and it's a legend. I was at a stoplight the other day and there was a DeLorean at the other intersection across from me and people were taking pictures of it on the street. Even still it's so interesting to me. I know that wasn't the intention of John DeLorean. He wanted it to be that time period's Tesla- not environmentally speaking, but...
Kellerman:
Iconic, like that.
Greer:
That car, that iconic car that and it was. I mean thanks to BACK TO THE FUTURE it is. He weirdly got what he wanted. You don't feel like, "Oh look at that car." You say, "Look at that DeLorean. There's a DeLorean." I'm like, "It's not a car. It's a DeLorean." It all happened. It didn't make him any money.
Kellerman:
Nope, it did not. Have you ever ridden in a DeLorean?
Greer:
No, I haven't and I was promised I was going to be able to and then it didn't work out. It was a total drag, but you know what? I'm not giving up hope. I actually saw one for sale. I was in the Oxnard and Channel Island area a year and a half ago and I saw one for sale and I was like, "Babe," I said to my husband, "Should we buy this?" It would just be so fun to own a DeLorean. Still to this day I'm from Detroit and I love cars and I was just like, how cool would it be to roll around LA in a DeLorean?
Kellerman:
Oh my gosh, it would have be so sweet. One of my friends actually owns one and it's all tricked out and-
Greer:
Really?
Kellerman:
Yeah, but whenever you get in there it's like...still a 35 year old car. It's super cool though.
Greer:
Yeah, I mean it can't be that fancy at all. Probably no way to even be upgraded to make it that way. A Prius is probably easier to drive around than the DeLorean.
Kellerman:
Definitely, definitely. Did you get to have some fun with the period, kind of late seventies early eighties fashion and all that stuff? I mean it's such a girl question, but I can't help but ask it. You got to wear so much fun period stuff. Did you have any input?
Greer:
Well I did wear a pair of my own jeans and my own Doctor Scholl's in the movie. That was fun. I have these vintage Levi's. I wore a lot of halter tops, which I was not looking forward to because you know, who wants to wear a halter top when you're in your forties? But I ate a lot of salads leading up to shooting the movie and I was like, "I think this is probably the last time I'll be able to really do this, so I'm going to do it up." I really loved the hair and the makeup and I love, I just, yeah, I mean this is one of my favorite time periods for fashion. So for me it was kind of a dream come true.
Kellerman:
So this is kind of off the subject a little bit, but you're part of the Marvel franchise and then also you're kind of in a total-
Greer:
We call it the Universe.
Kellerman:
The Universe, that's right. Oh god, my nine year old son would completely correct me right now if he was in here!
Greer:
Well I'm glad I did it for him.
Kellerman:
Yeah, exactly. So the Marvel Universe, but then you're also part of the new- or I guess latest- Halloween franchise. Can you talk about what it's like being part of such iconic franchises and also what genre do you prefer?
Greer:
Well, I have taught myself and learned through joining the Marvel Universe to love- I love specifically ANT-MAN of course- but I've really come to understand and love that whole fan base and that genre. I sort of get it now in a way that I never did before as far as like, I've been lucky enough to dip my toe into several. I got to be in the JURASSIC WORLD, the first kind of reboot of that movie which was so iconic and so huge when they brought that back. It was so fun to reintroduce it to kids. I guess what's really fun about that one was the kids now who... I had it when I was their age, and now they get our version that's like their first experience of it. Or being the parent who's like, "Before we go see Jurassic World, we're going to watch Jurassic Park which was the first one," and it's really fun to tell a story to different generations and that one specifically, I thought they did such a great job. Then I got to also be a part of the PLANET OF THE APES franchise which was a huge deal for my husband. And then that has its own really super specific niche fan base. And retelling those stories- especially kind of now- they feel really politically charged in a way that unfortunately we didn't anticipate when we were making them. And then I've sort of finished with HALLOWEEN. I mean what an honor. Especially having spent so much time now with Jamie Lee Curtis and her ownership of that franchise- and I mean it kind of metaphorically because she does primarily own part of the franchise- but like, the emotional impact it has on her and the telling of the story is, I was like "Cool! I'm gonna be in HALLOWEEN! That's so rad! I always wanted to work with Jamie Lee and David Gordon Green. Oh my God, that's so cool." But then when they got there and we started shooting it, I started to realize that this isn't a real story about trauma and seeing how seriously Jamie took it and that it isn't just like, "Oh rad, we're making another one of these scary movies." It's like you can't be in these franchises and not take them seriously and see the stories that you're really telling, the meta-story. I think that's why these franchises live for so long. They have so much life and they have so many fans because people are finding where they feel most heard. And then to look forward to getting that again and again and again- I can only imagine. I mean I was just so excited when SEX IN THE CITY made a second movie. I can't even imagine if I was a die hard ANT-MAN fan that's like, "Oh they're going to make a movie about Ant-man. That was my favorite comic!" But I feel it's a real honor. Anytime you get handpicked to be a part of these stories I think it is a real honor because you are jumping onto a train that has been on the tracks and has been running for so long. It's really great.
Ms Greer's Asst:
Apologies you all. We are all out of time.
Kellerman:
Well, thank you so much Judy. I really appreciate you taking the time to chat with me today.
Greer:
Yeah, sorry if I talked to much about that, thank you.
Kellerman:
No! I love it! Thank you so much. Have a great day.
Greer:
Sure, you too.
What a delightful interview! Greer was so easy to talk to- I hope you enjoyed our chat as much as I did. DRIVEN opens in theater, on digital, and On Demand in 8/16. Check it out!
Rebecca Elliott
Aka Annette Kellerman
