Geraldine Viswanathan on Fame, Freebies and Drive Away Dolls

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Geraldine Viswanathan logs onto our video call from her apartment in LA, first thing on a sun-soaked morning, before she jets off to Paris to sit front row at Loewe during Fashion Week. The circumstances are decidedly showbiz; the Australian actor has topped nearly every next-gen Hollywood list going. But as our chat progresses, it's clear that her new status is something she wears lightly, owed in part to her self-confessed cynicism. She often retorts to the labels she’s given with zingers like “Well, you're either ‘rising’ or you're dead, as a woman”.

Geraldine’s standing as ‘one to watch’ has only been cemented by her latest project. She stars alongside Margaret Qualley in Ethan Coen’s Drive Away Dolls, previously titled Drive Away Dykes. It's been a big year for sapphic cinema - from Emma Seligman’s Bottoms to the upcoming Kristen Stewart movie Love Lies Bleeding, and the subsequent magazine covers-slash-thirst traps gracing all of our feeds. In Drive Away Dolls, Geraldine plays Marian, an uptight office worker who arrives at the dyke bar in a full skirt suit and pussy bow blouse. She’s a woman that gets in her own way – exiting makeout parties early to read in her room and squirming during sex chats – who uncharacteristically decides to get out of town and embark on a roadtrip with the most uninhibited person she knows.

A short, sweet romp, Drive Away Dolls more than earns its place in the canon of lesbian cinema. Coming in at just under 90 minutes, the film is a road trip movie, a queer comedy and a touching tale of romance all in one, as absurd as a John Waters flick and as camp as But I’m a Cheerleader. I loved it.

I sat down with Geraldine to find out where she falls in the three hour film debate, the best freebie she's ever received, and the joy of working on Drive Away Dolls…

So to start, how are you? How was the cover shoot?

Oh my god. It was incredible. It was so fucking sick. It was just the photo shoot of my dreams. I showed Emma [Craft, photographer] this photo of me as a kid [below] but when they sent me the mood board, and it was all like leopard print, I was like, ‘Wait a minute!’

I watched Drive Away Dolls yesterday at 10am with no-one but me and a security guard in the room, which I felt was a strange way to watch.

Oh, no. That's not right. That's not how it should be watched.

But I really enjoyed it.

That might be some like, forced intimacy with you and that security.

I know! Well, nonetheless, I really really liked it. And I loved how short it was. Where do you fall on the like, three hour movie versus a short film debate?

I say enough. We've got to rein it in folks. It's too much, we don't have enough time to commit three hours unless the story really calls for it and you're really doing something you have no there's no reason to make it that long.

I completely agree.

I find that when things are long I'm in my head while I'm watching editing out scenes. Like get me in the edit! I'll help you.

I read in a couple of interviews, you're saying you are not very LA. But then also you've said that being an Aussie makes you a cynic. What are the big cultural differences between the two places?

They're pretty big. Australians downplay everything. Very laid back, but also quite genuine. And then LA is sort of like the opposite of that. I had to sort of practice being a little bit more fake. Sometimes I'm too real for this shit. [Laughs]. I don't know.

When I first came to LA, I was like, “Wow, this is really interesting and exciting, people are so enthusiastic.” It's very open hearted and very outgoing, and like anything is possible. Bigging yourself up is what you should do here. And I think it's a contrast to my Australian culture - but saying that, Indian culture also loves bragging. When I'm talking to my grandparents, I'm like, “Okay, let's talk about how much money I made and watch a video of me looking like a Hollywood actress.” That versus Australia, it's like, we don't talk about my career at all. When I'm in Australia, this world completely falls away because no one really asks me about it. It's more like, why aren't you married or something?

Have you basically moved to LA now?

I kind of straddle both. I mean, I bought a car. I have a storage unit. I'm looking for a spot here. But I like to go back and forth and kind of chase summer a little bit. I love the summer in Australia. And I love the summer here.

I also read that you want to make your own stuff, I was wondering if you could divulge more…

I want to collaborate with people that I respect and admire and have a good time with and just sort of create, and be a little bit more in the driver's seat of who's involved and what's happening. But I'm just trying to make some funny freaky shit [laughs].

I'm a Gemini and I get kind of easily bored of things. So when ideas hold my attention for a long time that's when I'm like, “Okay, there's something here.” I am developing a show in Australia. And I think that's like all I can officially say…

So I'm happy you brought up your horoscope. Do you know your rising and your moon?

I do. I always forget but I have a Note. Let's see. Okay, sun in Gemini. Moon in Aries, ascendant in Scorpio. Yeah, right. It kind of flips in my head. But all I know is that's intense. I had someone read my chart and be like, “Whoa, are you okay?”

I actually don't know anything about Aries. But I know Gemini and Scorpio to be handfuls! How similar are you to Marian, your character in Drive Away Dolls?

It's funny, with the ascendant in Scorpio, people might read me as coming off as quite brash, I've played a lot of brash characters, or Scorpio energy characters. I think I can find parts of myself that are both similar to Jamie [Margaret Qualley’s character] and Marian, like, at first glance, I definitely was like, “Oh, I feel like more of a Jamie. I'm more like, let's go.” But deep down, I do think that I'm a Marian. I related to her kind sensitivity. She feels a little precious with her heart. She's kind of old school, but I'm not. I will say that the way that Marian can't help but be anything but herself, I relate to.

She obviously wants to be more loose or more of a free spirit, but then just finds it really hard to unravel, which I think is something that's really relatable about her character.

Yeah, my first impression of her was someone who can't help herself. And in many ways, I think we all kind of can feel that in the way we hold ourselves back out of fear, so that's another thing I saw.

I feel like you play characters often that are quite similar to her – a very ‘straight down the line’ woman, like in the Beanie Baby film as well. What do you think draws you to that kind of character? Or is it just type-casting?

I remember on Miracle Workers, for the first couple of seasons, I was very much that. For the last season, I was like, “Can you make me dumb, like, stupid?” Maybe there's something about the way I look that makes you go, like, ‘straight down the line, nerd’.

Something about you that screams: “That is a serious girl.”

I enjoy playing the logic of scenes. I think that it's simpler to be reasonable in things. And I think that I'm very reasonable in my life, so I'm able to do those kinds of roles. But I also really enjoy doing the opposite of that, because it's a bit more of a departure from who I am, right?

It’s obvious that working with the Coen brothers would be a dream. Did working with Ethan Coen live up to expectations?

Oh, my God, he went above and beyond. I think, you know, legendary directors like that, you expect to have a demanding process or are gonna be assholes as they could be if they wanted to. But Ethan, he's just so lovely, and down to earth, and funny and silly. And I just think he's such a king for making this movie. I really think he made it with and for his wife, Tricia. I think for him to use his platform and experience to make a story informed by Tricia's experience and perspective, that's so cool. I love him. My reverence for him as a director really extended to him as a person. He's just the best of the best. And in my experience, the people who are the best at what they do are good people as well. So more of that.

How much fun you had is reflected in how funny the film is. What was the most fun day on set for Drive Away Dolls?

There was one day when Margaret and I really just had an unhinged energy. We were making our own 73 questions videos. Which, you know, can never see the light of day, but that was a fun day. The Matt Damon day was pretty fun. I watched him get confused for Mark Wahlberg. I just watched him be an angel about it, and fully put this woman at ease. It was me, him and someone else in the car. She was like, “I loved you in Family House” or something, and he was like 'that's Mark Wahlberg.' And she immediately was like, “I want to die. This is my worst nightmare. And he was so funny and nice about it. Another king on set.

Which other directors would you love to work with?

I'd love to work with Sofia Coppola. She slays. And Jordan Peele, Mike White. And... Greta Gerwig, why not?

I feel like Sofia Coppola just has a cult of girlies like no other person.

She's in a pocket that like no one else is. It's clearly resonating with a lot of people and I think in the film world is a bit undervalued but I think she's brilliant. And I just love her movies.

In every interview, you're asked about being a ‘rising star.’ But at the same time, there is this kind of groundswell of interesting people that are in Hollywood and are starting to make things - whether it’s Emma Seligman and Rachel Sennott, or Ayo Edebiri. I just feel like it's so many good things happening at the moment. We’ve had Rachel on our cover too; and to see her going from a quote unquote “Twitter person” to a legitimate celebrity is amazing. I feel like audiences have more control over that kind of process now, in terms of supporting people that they actually like, who don't just come out of nowhere and we’re told, “Wow, that person is famous now. Let's decide if we like them or not.” What do you think?

That's it. It's giving people's princess. I think the Internet has a big big say.

Were you an internet girl growing up?

Oh yeah, I had an Instagram account before I knew it was like a social media thing - I thought it was just a photo editing app. I archived them all now because it's really embarrassing, but we were listening to The Kooks and would put the Polaroid filters over photos of us skateboarding, like I just thought that was so cool. But now I'm definitely weaning off. It's less fun now. It was more fun when it was just random people and my friends.

While I've been researching you, I read the viral Taylor Swift story. I'm happy for you. What's the best freebie you've received ever, apart from the bag she gave you?

Great question. This is kind of a boring answer but my aura ring. It's a ring that you wear to sleep and it measures your heart rate in your sleep. I'm a big sleep enthusiast. I have an orthopaedic pillow, I have my pillow mist. Sleeping is a hobby for me. So it's just a thing that I got for free that actually changed my life and that I use it every day. And it's my morning routine - the first thing I do is check if I got my little crown, because if you get eight hours sleep you get a crown. That's my first feeling of accomplishment of the day. But there's got to be something spicier. I love free stuff so much. It’s the best. I just got these little Reformation kitten heels. Kind of life changing.

Finally, I wanted to talk about the fact that it's a big year for lesbian cinema - with Bottoms, Drive Away Dolls and Love Lies Bleeding. Why do you think this is happening now? It's especially interesting considering Drive Away Dolls first entered development in 2007.

Lesbian films have been made for so long, and there were some really radical queer movies in the 70s. It just ebbs and flows, depending on I don't know, politically what people have the appetite for. There's a difference between like indie films, and more commercial films - the ones we're talking about from this year are like commercial, wide releases. That feels new. And that feels exciting. You know, the kids are alright. That's what kids want to see. And we're moving in the right way.

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