Talia Ryder: “I would give anything to have grown up without social media”

Of the downtown From Manhattan to downtown Valladolid. From alternative bars like the KGB to the La Criolla restaurant in the Castilian city. Talia Ryder (Buffalo, New York, 21 years old) looked with curiosity at the plate of suckling lamb that was placed in front of her and that place so far from its natural habitat. tour international that has continued to present The Sweet East, directorial debut of cinematographer Sean Price Williams and his first leading role (which has just been released in theaters), has been almost like an extension of the film, in which he plays a modern Alice in Wonderland. A teenager who escapes from her mundane southern life and meets different specimens of the American East Coast: from a right-wing radical to a punk or a movie star… Vestiges of counterculture that lead her to return to her original world with her eyes more open. Lillian, her character, has become part of the actress, and since the premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, Ryder has carried with her a small video camera with which she is recording all the encounters and places she is visiting far from the stage. indie New Yorker where some speak of her as the new princess cool. He took some good images of Valladolid and its lamb.

What was your first impression when you read the script?

I read it very quickly and as soon as I finished it, I read it again. That was already a good sign. I had a lot of questions and I felt identified with Lillian because, like her, I feel like a outsiderBut, precisely because of that, I can fit in many different places.

He’s not your average teenage character.

Exactly. She’s a little crazy, she’s a little troublemaker, which is something that can be fun to play, but it doesn’t come across as a leading lady. We see all these movies with young girls who have to learn to be strong and powerful. And Lillian is that, but she’s also insecure and a liar and gets into trouble and is selfish. She’s not very nice, but she’s very curious. I’m like her in that curiosity to know the world. I like the phrase that we end with, “Everything will pass,” instead of the classic “The End”. It wasn’t there at the beginning, it came out of the joint process of creating the character. And that’s how I feel. It’s something that, by the way, is highlighted more here or in the screenings of the film in Europe than in the United States.

And yet the film is very American: it is a portrait of all those USAs that are at odds today.

Yes, at first, I didn’t know if it would be understood beyond that, there is some very youthful social media humor that was perhaps more international, but there are very niche things, it is a movie for nerdsas are I and the rest of the team. The film shows how we are all stuck in our own bubbles, each of us living in our own reality and it is difficult for us to get out of it.

The Sweet East This is the first film that Talia Ryder has carried on her shoulders alone (although she is joined in the cast by Jacob Elordi, Ayo Edebiri and Simon Rex), but she has already been dedicated to acting for a decade. Originally from Buffalo, in upstate New York, on a trip with her mother and grandmother to Manhattan they took her and her little sister to see the musical Matilda on Broadway and both emerged convinced that they, as trained dancers, could do it. They begged their mother to take them to auditions and their nine-year-old sister, Mimi, got the role of Matilda, and Talia the role of a high school girl. The family moved to New York City and both sisters decided to try out for a career in acting, which they continue in parallel. Mimi is now their younger cousin in The Sweet East.

Does starting out in this profession at the age of 12 help you mature or grow faster?

I always felt like a very normal girl. My experience at high school was normal, the only difference was finding the balance between friends at school and friends at work.

But she says she has felt a outsider…

I think in this age of technology and social media, we are all a little bit outsiders and lonely. It’s crazy. I wish I’d grown up without social media, I’d give anything to have been born before it existed. I think it’s one of the worst things happening to our world, it just creates loneliness. But I don’t know, I felt like I didn’t fit in when I was living in Buffalo before we moved to New York. I’m finding my place in acting, but it’s still a strange world to me.

Four years ago you made your film debut with Never, Almost, Sometimes, Always, which was a small indie hit. Did it represent a big change in your life?

Well, not really, because it premiered during the pandemic and everything was on Zoom. In that sense, The Sweet East It was a bigger change, it took me to Cannes, to the New York festival, here [Valladolid]to London… More people have started to recognise me.

Is that step overwhelming, being recognized by people, being a celebrity?

I don’t know, yeah, maybe. I try not to think about it too much.

Is that why you’re moving more towards the scene? indie? Although he did West Side Story and Blow to Wall Street.

I am attracted to stories and I think that in cinema indie There are more interesting stories than big budget superhero ones, but I’m not against them either. Wall Street blow It was a big-budget movie and also an exciting story that I experienced first-hand because a lot of my friends invested in GameStop. I just want to make cool movies. It’s like choosing a romantic partner, you’re giving them your time, your soul, and your energy, so it better be the right choice.

And what kind of work do you want to do? Something to do with that camera you carry around all the time?

Yes, yes, I want to direct. I come from the world of dance, and I would like to be a choreographer and director. When I started in film, I realized that it is the medium that I like the most t
o tell stories, but I would like to use it to tell my own stories, I have about four films written. I would like to make more films about dance because there are very few. I shot The American (Joika) [con Diane Kruger sobre la primera bailarina americana graduada en el Bolshói ruso]It was very hard work, but it was rewarding. Dance is the only art I have been trained in. It taught me the importance of stillness, of body language. Everything I know about acting I learned through dance, I think that’s why I can express so much without words.

You have directed a music video, do you see yourself moving into directing soon?

I hope so, but I know it’s going to be difficult. It is for everyone, I’ve seen it with Sean. [Price Williams]hoping that The Sweet East I hope they let him make another film. Anyway, I wouldn’t give up acting, I never thought I’d be doing this, but I want to keep going. And besides, I have a million good plans…

Like which ones?

All related to some art [se ríe]. Since I worked with Paul Grimstad on The Sweet East [ella canta la canción principal del filme]I got back into music, into singing, and I think my next goal could be an album. The video I directed for Del Water Gap was through my personal and professional relationship with Anthony Vaccarello and Saint Laurent. If you ask me what career I aspire to, without sharing or agreeing with many of his things or his opinions, he is not the best person, but as an artist I am intrigued by Serge Gainsbourg, how he was able to do so many things. I would like a career that is as free as that.