When Maisy Stella was a little girl in her first acting role — as Connie Britton’s daughter on ABC’s musical drama Nashville — she received some life-changing advice. She’d gone out on an audition for another role that she didn’t get and was struggling with the resulting blow to her self-esteem when someone on the set helped her put the machinations of show business in perspective. “All they did was tell me that producers are looking for something so specific that it’s not personal if I don’t fit those specifics,” she says. “For whatever reason, it sunk into my bones and gave me the strength to audition for 10 years straight without getting any role besides Nashville — I just kept going.”
Now, a decade later, Stella has landed another role, the lead in My Old Ass, a disarming coming-of-age dramedy from writer-director Megan Park and producers Margot Robbie and Tom Ackerley about a teenager whose mushroom trip allows her to meet an older version of herself. The feature — which sees Stella playing opposite Aubrey Plaza as the titular old ass — was a standout at this year’s Sundance Film Festival (THR’s David Rooney likened Stella’s breakout performance to that of Alicia Silverstone in Clueless), selling to Amazon MGM for a reported $15 million. A month later, she booked her next role in Warner Bros.’ secretive new project with J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot.
That’s all to say that the early advice really worked — if only she knew who it came from. “I would cut off a limb to remember who told it to me,” she jokes during a Zoom interview from her home in Nashville. “It could have been Connie? Hopefully, whoever it was will read this. Please show yourself! I owe you my life.”
What felt most different about leading My Old Ass compared to your experience on Nashville?
I had just turned 18 when we filmed the movie, so I really came into myself. Just like my character, I’m battling wanting to be a full person but also still being really young. It felt so different to be at work alone — even though my mom was a great set mom — for the first time. I felt so much more like I was making art. The experience made me absolutely sure that this is my forever thing.
We see your character, Elliott, exploring her sexuality in a way that feels narratively fresh — how did you connect to the material?
I felt really aligned with the queerness of the film, specifically Elliott’s lack of a label. I had always been that way, but I’d never seen it in a character before. What I liked most about that storyline is that it’s a part of her, but it isn’t the only thing about her. Megan was really collaborative around that, as a lot of the cast was queer and wanted to have a say in the portrayal, so we had a lot of conversations about it, and I think it ended up with more about me than the original version.
You just finished filming your next role, right? The top-secret J.J. Abrams movie?
Yes, that I booked a month after Sundance. It was actually fucked. (Laughs.) I got the email about sending in a tape and saw Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor were attached, so I was like, “Well, there’s no way I’m getting this.” But I never pass on an audition — I have done every single one that is sent my way. And then when I got the job, my first thought was, “Wait, I don’t think I’m good enough for this yet, it’s too big of a leap.” I thought I would do 100 movies before I did something like this. But I did do it!
From left: Kerrice Brooks, Stella and Maddie Ziegler in My Old Ass.
Courtesy of Amazon Studios
Who do you turn to when you’re in that kind of crisis of confidence?
I’m really lucky that I’ve gotten to work with people that I’ve admired forever. Margot Robbie gives brilliant advice, and I asked her a lot of questions on the set of My Old Ass. My sister [musician and former Nashville co-star Lennon Stella], besides being the best person I’ve ever known, is also really good at lifting me up when I’m feeling incapable of something. I bounce my feelings of self-doubt off people, because if I don’t acknowledge them, it’s man down for me.
There’s a scene in My Old Ass where you dance and lip-sync to a Justin Bieber song. How did that come to be?
During preproduction, Megan decided we needed a musical number and asked what my generation’s iconic performance was. “One Less Lonely Girl” came into my head. I remember going to sleepovers and watching the videos where Justin would bring someone up from the crowd — imagining that one day it could be you felt otherworldly. I’ve never seen him in concert, but I did have a pillowcase with his face and a speech bubble that said “Sweet Dreams, Maisy” on it.
This story first appeared in the Sept. 11 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
Source: Hollywoodreporter
