TIFF
With her effervescent charm, luminous smile and laser-focused doe eyes, the 29-year-old Drummondville, Quebec native is celebrating the release of "All the Wrong Reasons," a film best-known for its all-Canadian cast, and for being one of Cory Monteith's final projects. In the film, Vanasse and Monteith play an estranged husband and wife, who battle intimacy issues following the suicide of her character's sister. But to the always on-the-go Vanasse, the power of the award-winning film extends far beyond Monteith's legacy.
Moviefone: Congratulations on the film's big premiere! How did it go?
Karine Vanasse: It was so, so great. To be with the director and Emily [Hampshire, a co-star], and hear the reaction of an audience, and hear all of the interviews and everything, it was just great to be at the screening on Sunday night and hear the audience reacting during the film.
For sure, and Emily is so great!
She is, she is, I admire her so much. She's a fearless actress, she's touched by this character, she does odd things, she doesn't do the right things, and I think that's really cool because she's honest. I was listening to her talk about her character and it was really insightful to what she's looking for as an actress, that she was seduced by the outcast -- to say, hmm, people don't understand her. She's excellent.
She truly is -- and I also really liked your performance in this movie, specifically your relationship with Cory. What was it like to shoot with him?
It was great! Obviously, the characters didn't have much of a great relationship at that point in their life, in their marriage, but he was great to work with. I was really impressed that he, as a big TV actor internationally, just wanted to take his weekdays and come to Halifax and do this indie film. So, you could think, "Oh yeah, he just wanted to diversify his acting skills," but it takes a lot of courage to challenge yourself and your acting skills.
It really does, and to opt to work with an all-Canadian cast -- like yourself, and Kevin Zegers.
And Kevin Zegers, yes! I loved working with Kevin. I had almost more scenes with Kevin than with Cory, and working with Kevin was really nice as well. He's such an inventive actor, always trying to make sure we're doing new things in a scene, or not doing the same thing, so it's fun to see that.
Kevin said that you had a lot of time on the set, and everyone became part of a tight-knit group, and very good friends.
Yeah, and I find those kind of indie films tend to create that kind of unity. You're all there for reasons that do not have to do with money [Laughs], but because your instinct told you, "Yeah, it was a good thing to do this film." So, you're really supportive of each other, and really supportive of the director. She had such a good, a very cool attitude on-set. Have you met her?
Gia Milani? No, not yet -- I have not.
Yeah, because as a first-time director, you could be very anxious that maybe she won't stay true to her original vision, but she was open to ideas, but if it didn't make sense with what she had in mind, she would say, "Yeah, good idea, but not my film." She was really strong about that.
It's interesting too, that after Cory's untimely death, that this film is receiving eyes on it from those who may not have seen it, and from a larger audience.
You're right, and it's great because it's a nice legacy, also, of him, and a tribute to all the talent he had. It's good to be remembered for something you did, but also to be remembered to all the potential you had. But I feel these productions are just giving a glimpse on where he could have gone in the future, and that's the best review you could give him.
Plus, there's so much heart in this movie.
You could feel it in the room during the screening -- it's funny how those characters, you can all judge them, you can think, my character, she should just move on. You're sympathetic to her because at the beginning, you say, "That's enough. Enough, stop indulging in your misery," he [Cory's character] says to her. But then after a while, you go through that phase and go, "Hmm. OK, but I understand, it's tough, OK." That warmth at the end of the film that we saw from the audience was because, finally, you don't want to judge them. For some of them, it's just really sad, because life is not about choices or anything, and you're not judging their life, you're just saddened by it.
Even though Kevin couldn't make it to the Festival, it's great to see people are still appreciative of seeing the movie, in addition to [Cory's] legacy.
It is. We come here for the screening, to feel an audience watching the film, that's what you're waiting for. It's too bad Cory wasn't here to feel that, but at least he saw it himself. It's so interesting to listen to the questions during the Q&A. When a movie is really honest, the questions come from people's experience, and people are not trying to look wise or sound wise, they're just really honest and spontaneous questions. So, that was a good sign.
"All the Wrong Reasons" opens in theatres on November 1.
