TIFF Interview: Lisa Ray

Canadian actress Lisa Ray has had a very busy couple of years. After starring in 2002's Bollywood/Hollywood, directed by Deepa Mehta, Ray filmed Ball & Chain in 2004, Water (Canada's entry for Best Foreign Film, also directed by Mehta) and Seeking Fear in 2005, and Quarter Life Crisis and A Stone's Throw in 2006. A Stone's Throw, the directorial debut of producer Camelia Frieberg, played at the Toronto International Film Festival, where Ray graciously sat down with Cinematical to talk about the film and what's up next for her. Ray had just flown in the night before, to catch the end of the fest and spend some downtime visiting her parents in Toronto.

Lisa Ray: It's actually such a weird day, I've never experienced doing interviews on the last day like this! It's very cool because everyone is mellow.

Cinematical: Yeah, because we're all exhausted. (laughs) Can you tell me about how you got involved in A Stone's Throw?

LR: Camelia contacted me and said she was directing her first film and maybe I could read for one of the roles. I remember I was traveling a lot then and so I received the script on the road, and loved it, I really loved it. In particular I was really drawn to the character. I developed my own back story for her, of course, but I liked that she was quite complex.

Cinematical: What did you like about Lia as a character?

LR: Well, the way that I read her is that she's someone who is very in touch with her environment, there's a great – a very earnest and sincere appreciation with what she sees around her. She's trying to give her daughter a great life. She's trying to conform to living in this small little town in Nova Scotia, but I see her as someone who has probably suppressed a lot of deeper ambitions and desires and passions that she doesn't even confront anymore. And then this guy breezes into town and kind of makes her confront all that. So for me that was kind of the core of the character. And of course the love story, and the idea of redemption through love.

Cinematical: I got the sense watching the film that at the beginning there was this underlying passion to her, but she was very compartmentalized into her role as a single mother and a kindergarten teacher.

LR: Exactly, you know what it's like, we do that to ourselves all the time. And it's really challenging to have a child and yet maintain your own identity. And at the same time she's living in this small town, and when you really aren't a conformist at heart, how far do you conform? And then how far – it's different, the public face that you show, and then how much does that begin to seep into your personal life?

Cinematical: Especially when you're in a rural small town like the one in the film, as opposed to a larger city like Toronto or New York where you can be different and still blend in.

LR: Exactly. In a big city you could just be out there. It's so different.

Cinematical: I understand the Waldorf school where your character, Lia, teaches, is a real school that (director) Camelia Frieberg's kids go to.

LR: Yeah, it is an actual Waldorf children's school, and they're really fighting to maintain that as well. It was interesting to get an insight into that part of the world. That's how I get an insight into the world, through acting.

Cinematical: What was it like working with Camelia as a director instead of as a producer?

LR: I didn't know Camelia well until I got involved in this project, but she is great. I love working with people who are dynamic and who have passion and this great sort of ability to immerse themselves wholeheartedly. And we were in her house, her kids' school, she really knew the environment.

Cinematical: How was the chemistry between you and Kris (Holden-Reid, who plays Ray's love interest in the film)? This was the first time you'd worked together, right?

LR: Yes. I think he's adorable and extremely talented. And I loved working with him because I learned a lot. We were on a really tight shooting schedule – we shot the film in 15 days. That was a challenge in itself as well, and something I hadn't experienced before. Kris and I realized that we had to be prepared, and we had to be well into our characters when we showed up on the set. We started prepping before that, and working together on forming these characters, and I really enjoyed that process. I liked his process and the way he works is similar to mine, so we really gelled on that.

Cinematical: Did the environmental element of the story attract you to the film?

LR: I'm always attracted to projects that have something more to say. There's no doubt about it. I hate calling myself anything like an "environmentalist" but I think it's definitely something that should be foremost in our thoughts these days, environmental issues. So I was really happy to take on the project for that reason. But then what happens as an actor is you have to put aside issues and messages and just put your head down and do your character and you don't really think about that. But overall, as an element of the project, it was attractive to be involved in a project that had these sort of things to say.