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The stars play estranged sisters who reunite in a deserted rural town.
They both need cash quickly and desperately, so Ollie returns to selling oxy.
Three quarters of all cowboys were actually men of color, most of them black and Mexican.
Black women were able to create lives for themselves because they were kind of lawless.
Its a very fascinating time, so Ive always been drawn to the idea of the frontier.
But were all just in one country, which the same sort of inalienable rights, et cetera.
I found this boom town in Northwest North Dakota, Williston, by accident.
I just went and decided to tell the story about these types of women.
At what point did you actually travel there?
I had no money to do traveling to research the script.
They wish to donate their time to be here for that.
She came out there, and [Luke] Kirby came up there and thats how we met.
At that point, I wasnt really familiar with her work.
And obviously shes an amazing actress, so my instincts were right.
She really was the best collaborator so open, so giving, so generous.
Ollie and Deb werent sisters, they were just friends who met in high school.
But theres something about being sisters, and them being so different.
Im so different from my sister.
Its such a complicated relationship, but its so full of love.
I find it so fascinating and also so relatable.
That was a big thing for me.
I thought it was just important to tell this bigger tale through this really intimate story.
In other interviews youve called it the gendered experience of poverty.
It made everything more heightened.
Its just because that world is rich and full of those problems.
Its a very different existence.
I just feel a great privilege to be able to tell a story about that.
I think Deb and Ollie wouldve dropped out of school but for different reasons.
Ollie has always been the one taking care of everyone.
I love these women.
Now I want to see all of that stuff, too.Theyre so much work.
I love them, too.
Honestly this could be a TV show, I dont know.
It helps that Tessa and Lily have such a natural chemistry as sisters.
With Lily, we talked during prep.
It was like, I dont know if shesCinderellaCinderella.
Is she gonna be a pain in my ass?
[Laughs] But she was totally down and amazing, and I love her.
I couldnt have known that the dynamic between them was gonna be so great.
What was the trickiest scene for you to shoot?
There were lots of scenes in that cramped RV that seemed so suffocating.
The physicality there was so great.ThatfuckingRV.
Honestly, it was the best because it was exactly what I wanted.
But, unfortunately, exactly what I wanted.
That bar fight was tricky too, the one where Tessa punches the guy.
I have to ask you about the yee-haw agenda, and Did you just say the yee-haw agenda?
Is that Lil Nas X?
Yes, but just generally theres so much discourse right now around a resurgence of a country aesthetic.
Even though Bradley Cooper is just wearing a lot of bronzer.
Its a big piece of our mythology, pursuit of happiness, life, liberty, land, etc.
Westerns are fucking fun!
I like the idea of having historical films about black women who are just having fun.
Shes an amazing actress, first of all.
But I was so drawn to Annette Bening.
I thought, What about her, whats happening to me, watching her?
Then I realized: Oh, shes an amazing actress, thats why Im watching.
Im watching acting and shes really fucking great at it.
She was really my gateway drug into appreciating actors, period.
I mean, shes continued to do amazing work.20th Century Womenis Icant.
I have to ask you something aboutCandyman.
In the bathroom, people would either say Bloody Mary or Candyman.
Virginia Madsen, and what, bees?
It was very much of that.
