If you could tell your younger self anything, what would it be? That question forms the basis for My old assa delightful coming-of-age comedy starring Aubrey Plaza and Maisy Stella.
In the film, directed and written by Megan Park, 18-year-old Elliott (Stella) comes face to face with her older self (Plaza), who gives her a stern warning about her love life.
It’s been a while since a coming-of-age film about women has been released, one of the last being Olivia Wilde’s Booksmart in 2019. Before that there was 2017’s Ladybird. My old ass is already a hit with critics and audiences alike, sitting at 91% on Rotten Tomatoes. So why is this genre so overlooked? Plaza and Stella have some thoughts.
“I think it’s hard to get right and I think we’re still in a time where there just aren’t that many female directors, statistically speaking. Those stories have to be on the page first,” Plaza said. “I think it’s [also] about female voices being raised. We’re still trying to flood the world, I think, with those stories. I think they’re happening, but not as fast as traditionally male stories.”
Stella agreed, saying that these kinds of films are “very difficult to make.”
“I feel like the younger generation is really excited about movies like this and really latches onto them,” the 20-year-old actress explained. “And that’s why Bookwise, Ladybird or films like this, they’re such standout films and they’re such standalone films that are so cherished. But they’re hard to nail and they’re hard to write and they’re hard to make. It takes a lot of trust. I hope we get more.”
Fans know Stella from NashvilleBut after playing Daphne Conrad on the hit series for six seasons, the child star took a break from Hollywood and the music industry. Her four-year hiatus from being a “normal” kid ultimately prepared her for her film debut with this project.
“The four years that I was not on Nashville and I just went back to school and lived completely without any obligations or work was literally my preparation,” she said. “I can’t really imagine what it would have been like if I hadn’t quit my job and this was happening. After having four summers, it was very similar to what Elliott went through … minus the mushrooms.” (Plaza’s character comes to Elliott during a mushroom trip the summer before she leaves for college.)
Square (The White Lotus, Megalopolis, Agatha Always Already) has had the opposite of a breakthrough, but says she couldn’t pass up the opportunity.
“It really hit me,” Plaza said. “I felt very strongly that [Megan] something to say with the film and that she would do it the right way. I think there are a lot of ways it could have gone wrong or just been handled differently. It could have been a little cheesy… I just felt like I was in really good hands.”
The film is a love story, but when you watch it, that might not be immediately apparent.
“I hope people feel the healing of the whole thing,” Plaza said. “I think it’s such a story about healing and grief. I’m such a romantic person — I want to tell love stories always. I want to be in love stories, I want to watch love stories and those are my favorite kinds of movies. So even though it’s so sad — there’s something sad and intense happening — it’s ultimately a love story. Front and back and sideways. You’re almost living it backwards and it just doesn’t happen, but it’s still there. It’s romantic.”
My old ass is now playing in select theaters and will be available everywhere from September 27.
