In case you missed my review of Gifted you should go read that and then come back here. Nah, seriously though, by now I’m sure you know that I was blown away by McKenna Grace in the film. McKenna did such a great job with conveying the complex emotions Mary faced throughout the film. And I got the chance to chat with her and find out a bit about how she did it!
Chris Evans her co-star had nothing but good things to say about her when I spoke with him and after speaking with her I could see why. McKenna has an outlook on life that makes her mature beyond her years.
What was it like working with the cast and crew of Gifted?
Oh my goodness, I loved the crew, I loved the cast and I loved working with Chris even though I couldn’t go anywhere with him because there were always ladies following him around and screaming. I loved working with Octavia because we’d always have dance parties, and I’m so thankful I got to meet and get to hang out with all of those people for two months.
Where do you tap into the emotions that you portray? Where do you get that drive from?
Well, I kind of just make in my head, I really put myself in Mary’s place and I really tried to think if I really am Mary and if I really am in that scene, and that’s really happening to me. (Edited to avoid spoilers) I just kind of go into a dark place in my mind and just think about some bad things that have happened to me and that might not happen, and just think about sad things.
How did you handle all the hard math problems on the set? Did you have to memorize the equations?
Yes, I did. But, my mom and I, we turned it into a little song that I sang in my head. I still remember that tune to this day because it was so catchy, it had to be a catchy tune or else I would forget it.
Bullying
Well, kindness, kill them with kindness. I think that no matter what, we should all be kind to one another and if you see or experience bullying, then you should tell an adult and try and fix it by telling someone or maybe saying hey, that’s not really right to do that. I think that you should be friends with everyone that, just everyone, because if someone is alone, then you should sit next to them because you don’t know what’s happened to them in their life. They could be looking happy or fine on the outside, but they could be really hurting on the inside. (Isn’t she the sweetest?!)
Favorite scene.
One of my favorite scenes to shoot, probably, even though I had a really bad allergic reaction in this, it was probably whenever I got to snuggle Fred inside of the bed. That rhymed, but it really didn’t, I really did not want it to rhyme. But there was a short split scene in the movie, and it was where I was asleep in my bed with the cat. I really enjoyed getting to snuggle him because he’s such a sweet cat.
To learn more about GIFTED, visit –www.GiftedMovie.com
Facebook – www.facebook.com/GiftedMovie
Twitter – www.twitter.com/GiftedtheMovie
Instagram – www.instagram.com/GiftedMovie
Thank you to Role Mommy Writer’s Network and Fox Searchlight for letting me be part of the call.
