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Alia Shawkats career could be described as a study of womens intimate relationships with each other.
What number Sundance is this for you?My fifth!
Youre an old pro now.Oh, yeah.
Ive got it down pat.
You have a tendency to star in projects that deal with an intimate relationship between two women.
Is that something you look for consciously?Yeah, thats true.
I think that womens relationships, romantic or friendships or familial, are really fascinating.
So its just where my interest lies right now.
I relate to it, I get it, I dont think there are enough of them.
In this one, Tyler I like to go out, socialize and drink.
It was kind of fun, and also not necessarily hard but interesting, to see that balance.
I was sitting in that space a lot.
And we were also in Ireland, so I was doing a lot of method acting.
A lot of beer drinking?A lot of Guinness.
Did you ever have a Tyler-esque phase?For sure, yeah.
It wasnt as big on the drugs scene Id smoke pot.
I never did, like I grew up in the desert.
Theres nothing going on there.
Just lots of wanting to get so fucked up, as fucked up as possible.
The thing with Tyler thats interesting is that shes frozen in it.
Shes almost 30 and shes acting like this carefree 19-year-old whos like, Fuck it!
I can wake up the next day … and its just starting not to look so good on her.
And I think shes unaware.
Its funny for me to watch.
And then when I watched it, I was like, Shes kind of a sad character.
She has these one-liners, its a little cheesy.
Shes a sad person whos not self-aware or knows whats happening.
She reminded me a little bit of a young Miss Havisham.Oh, I dont know that!
Oh, fromGreat Expectations.Oh, yeah, yeah.
]She has some kind of grandioseness about her.
Do you buy into the idea that women have to grow up?
And have you?Yeah.I wouldnt call it growing up, but yeah.
You have to have a routine.
You have to be healthy.
I dont believe that a tortured artist makes the best work.
It works for some people, but it wouldnt last.
Ive been getting in a routine, starting to write again.
I have to go to sleep at a certain hour.
I have to work out.
It just creates positive work and more energy.
But you come back and cleanse yourself and put out what you just saw.
Its the mix of both.
You have to have the time to get something out, an idea.
Im gonna be drained forever.
Are you an introvert?I think Im both.
Then Im ready to socialize again.
Are you in L.A. or New York?Im in L.A. now.
So its probably easier for you to retreat there.It is.
I have a home base thats really set up and spread out.
I have a beautiful house and my family lives next door.
Animalsalso reckons with the way that women are expected to behave and look and act in public.
Is this something you think about as a public person?Definitely.
Ive always been frustrated by it, since I was younger.
And youre like, Okay, but I dont fit in this one.
This didnt work out for me.
Even just realizing I was bisexual was a huge thing for me.
I just have to be the way that Im comfortable, and you end up drawing the right soul.
Its an endless amount of rules that just keep going.
The state is still trying to control our bodies.
It gets really frustrating.
Because it influences all my work.
Its all I want to do.
I lose it.Im like, Well, you may think this is what Im supposed to do, but!
Were all trying to find our own ways of rebellion.
And then also a calm understanding, a way to communicate.
Its a double attack.
They just made me think I had to feel bad about that.
Right, we cant win.Right.
But Im made to feel like somethings wrong with me.
We have to really unteach ourselves these things.
All of our mothers, too theres great ones and bad ones.
Im not carrying it on.
And you have to set these rules and really practice them for them to feel real again.
As a queer woman, its even harder.Everybodys used to the normal, so everything else seems abnormal.
Eventually hopefully well get to that point.
I love clothes and expressing myself.
It means a lot to my identity.
Its how I feel comfortable and express myself.
But its evolved so much.
It used to feel a lot more like role-play.
You put on the clothes for the person you want to be that night.
And feeling like I had to keep that in a very specific folder.
And now I feel sexy and comfortable and a lot more connected.
Especially as an actor, there are these red-carpet events.
Do you have to push back a lot?The people I work with are supercool and understand it.
Im not one of those actors putting a style together.
Whats the vibe today?Today is Ice Warrior.
[Points to her black Issey Miyake dress, black turtleneck, and combat boots.]
I wanted heavy boots and futuristic-looking kinda stuff.
Can we talk about the clothes in this movie?
That one coat you wear especially.
Shes so fucking talented, shes so creative.
She has the best style ever and shes so intuitive; the wardrobe fittings were such a blast.
At the end, they had a big sale, and there were just racks of these clothes.
It was a mix of vintage, some rentals.
My silver boots, which I loved, were rentals.
But Tyler had theseoutfits.So Id have a cigarette rolled and try on these outfits before I went to set.
It got me in this flamboyant mood, like,I amkillingit right now!
]Normally I dont even look in the mirror before I leave the house.
Im like,Yep, thatll do it!And just run out.
It was fun to feel fabulous in that way.
Are you writing anything right now?I am.
Im writing a pilot for a show about me and my family.
Its going really well.
Its something Ive been wanting to write in a weird way my whole life.
Sometimes you write something personal and youre like, Who gives a shit?
I just think its fascinating because its my story.
But when you watch it and it works like, watchingHoney Boy, it hit me.
I really was affected.
When something is honest enough, it hits everybody.
It was a good boost, like, Right, it is good to tell your own story.
So its not set in space?Its set in the desert.
Kind of like space.
It takes place where I grew up, in Palm Springs.
Im getting it ready so we can start it as soon as possible.
You told me earlier you shaved your head forSearch Party.
But you cant tell me why.No, it would be a spoiler.
My head is already a spoiler!
How long did you have to have it shaved for?We did it the last day.
And then shot the scenes that needed it.
It was an interesting process.
My hair was a very specific look for me, too, and part of my identity.
We have a lot of attachment to hair.
It felt really freeing to let it go.
I was really nervous in the days leading up to it.
Will you keep it?Yeah, Im in no rush.
Whenever women shave their heads in pop culture, its always supposed to mark some radical change.
Did you get that sort of reaction?Yeah, people thought I lost something.
People were like, Did you lose something in your life?
Everyone has projections and a lot more for women.
I see guy actors all the time who shave their head, and everybody is like, Nice cut!
Nobody is like, What made you DO that?!
She was like, Oh my god!
I was like, Oh, I did it for a role.
She was like, Oh, otherwise I just thought you were insane!
I was like, … Well!
Good thing you dont have any daughters.
Im always in a steadier space and it takes me no time to get ready.
I just put argan oil on it.
I think more women should do it.
At one point in the movie, the question What kind of person are you?
How would you answer that?When Im asking Laura?
Thats such a big question.
I weirdly know for myself in ways that I cant express, more than I ever have.
Everything I say is going to sound cheesy.
Im a person whos getting better at trusting my instincts.
Sometimes I go against them, but I have a strong voice thats like, Trust this.
Ive just been trusting and following my gut a lot more than I ever have.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
