You did almost all of the work on this film— what was that experience like?
Jessica Kingdon: I did have a close cinematographer, Nathan Truesdell, and we shot it together. But, yeah, it was very much a film that was coming out of my own mind.


You did almost all of the work on this film— what was that experience like?
Jessica Kingdon: I did have a close cinematographer, Nathan Truesdell, and we shot it together. But, yeah, it was very much a film that was coming out of my own mind.

The following questions and answers are excerpted from a conversation that followed the NBR screening of The Guilty. There are many constraints built into this film… you’re in a call center, on the phone, there’s limited space to move. What drew you to that? Jake Gyllenhaal: I guess I’m a fan of creating a certain type […]

Stephen, you’re no stranger to bringing musicals to the big screen, and you’re no stranger to stories about teenage longing and discontent. How did you get involved in the project?
Stephen Chbosky: I saw the show about three years ago, on Broadway. And I loved it. I didn’t know anything about it when I saw it. And I loved the show.

You both had so many roles in making this film. How did you two connect to make this film during Covid?
Mark Duplass: Natalie and I were acquaintances; friends of friends who had met a few times and I think we had the sense that we respected each other’s work and we had hit it off and liked each other. I knew I wanted to work with her and ideally share the screen with her at some point, and we hadn’t really had that opportunity.

What was your initial reaction to the script?
Elijah Wood: I came into the script about five years ago, at a film festival in Austin, Texas, called Fantastic Fest.