Interview with Jen Lynch (April 24, 2013)
Hi Jen! It’s so incredibly nice of you to take some time to answer a few questions. Let’s start right away! You are a writer and director. That makes me curious: What is your favourite book and what is your favourite movie of all time?
Such a hard thing to answer. I don’t have a favorite of either, but I can certainly share a book and film that have held a place in my heart and echo in me. “A Woman Run Mad”, written by John L’Heureux, blew my mind. I think I was 14 when I read it. Found it in a pile of books my mom had. Could not put it down. It opens so bravely and had me feeling things I did not expect to feel until the end. I’d love to make that into a film, but it’s a perfect book. As far as films, I loved Hitchcock’s Rear Window. Wilder’s Sunset Blvd And Jaws. I watch Jaws every time it’s on tv. No matter where I tune into it. I’m stuck there. See, I lied… I can’t name just one… two for the road, The Excorsist, The Owl and the Pussycat, Annie Hall, whatever a favorite is… for me, exists in all of these and more… I get lost. I feel alive inside.
I think there would be a lot of people captivated with the idea of you adapting ‘A Woman Run Mad’! What would it take for you to get you past the considering stage, into production?
I’d need the right to option the book and the money to do so!
I’m sure a kickstarter campaign à la Veronica Mars would bring you far! I hope this will happen for you.
You wrote ‘The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer’ when you were 22. I read in an interview that, when you were younger, you wanted to read other girls’ diaries to know if they had the same thoughts and desires you had, or if you were different. Did you discover you had things in common with Laura when writing her diary, or was that not the case at all?
I discovered many things in common with Laura, as I think I would have with any young girl. There is so much hope and fear and energy and change alive inside a teenage female. there is all of that naturally, and when seasoned or struck by dark events or abuse, all of this becomes accelerated. As if she were burned, and then touched too forcefully by sharp tools or dry hands: The way a young girl adapts to things is both beautiful and sad. I think the girl I created in that diary was as much me as she was the me I imagined I would become if faced with the same traumas. She is fantasy, sure, but she is born of a real source. There are two thins in the diary taken directly from my own life. One is the dream Laura recounts where the rat is trying to get at her and eat her foot… so she eats it herself to make him go away. The second thing is something I’ll keep private forever. LOL. Ultimately what Laura and I had in common is what all girls have in common. We are scared, but intensely brave. We feel different and worry it will make us unlikable. We think we are less and wish we were more. We want to love as much as be loved. We are often willing to smile so that others don’t feel they have to take care of us.
What about Laura Palmer (and her life) intrigued you the most?
Even the most beautiful bouquets of flowers grew from dirt and carry a few bugs deep in their petals.
Your screenwriting and directorial debut, Boxing Helena, was burned to the ground when it came out, and treated like a hostile entity–which I can only imagine has left its marks on you. Nowadays, I’ve seen people refer to the movie as a misunderstood diamond in the rough. Do you consider yourself a misunderstood filmmaker? Was the time not right maybe, for your creation to be fully appreciated the way it was meant?
I guess there have been intense moments where I felt, not misunderstood as much as ‘not seen’. Or more specifically, when I felt audiences could not get clear of their own knee jerk reactions to images to see what was actually being said. It was the harshness of response that got me. The comments from women’s organizations calling me misogynistic and saying I did not deserve to be loved because I had made this film… I wrote it at 19 and directed it at 24, and for the life of me I could not figure out how this strange fairy tale I had made was being seen as torture porn. Also… I don’t visit a museum and upon seeing a piece of art that doesn’t appeal to me, begin thinking the artist is undeserving of love. Some stuff we like, some we don’t. But man oh man, all of us deserve love. If we all had it, there would be a lot less to worry about.
I do think with the years passing, that people are better able to see the film. Someone told me the other day they had loved it when it came out, but had been too embarrassed to say so then. It was an unpopular opinion to have. Strange world this is.
People can be absolutely horrendous! After ‘Boxing Helena’ you distanced yourself from the movie industry for fifteen years. What specifically about the industry drew you back in?
Yes, I distanced myself. The fallout really messed with my head. More than I was able to know at the time. I felt I should do something no one would dislike me for, or misunderstand. I had the most beautiful baby girl I have ever seen and raised her, and myself, blissfully. I wrote stories, and told her stories and kept creating privately. I produced films for friends and others I respected greatly. It was a potent and healing time. I had suffered a great deal after a car accident (at 19) and needed back surgery. I coul not put off that truth. There was almost a year where I was bedridden before my third surgery. I knew in those months that no matter what I had to do… even if from that bed or a wheelchair, I wanted to continue telling stories on film. It was in me to do it, and I had to listen.
So in a way, you nurtured the bouquet of flowers that is Jen Lynch into one that was stronger, without losing the beautiful heart / nectar that was so attractive for the bees to feast upon. The stories you wrote in that time, are they inspirations for those you put on film since then, or may we look forward to them being released themselves at some point?
Most I will keep for myself as seed for future projects… but you never know when they will show up!
You often opt out of a soundtrack for your movies. Why is that?
Funny you say that. I guess you mean a soundtrack of ‘songs’. To me, each of my films does have a soundtrack. Beautiful beds of low vibrating tones. Purposeful silences. Machine songs… etc. I think of sounds as an equally important character in the film. It sits in the rooms with the actors and has a voice. I suppose as well that there are not many moments in my work so far that, for me, require companion music in its traditional sense. I did use and revel in, The Violent Femmes in Surveillance… I had to have it. It was the way I dreamed those moments sounded.
I have to agree that I do not miss, indeed songs, from your movies–the eerie, suspenseful sounds do the scenes justice and make the scenes more intense. In that specific scene in Surveillance, the song serves a purpose. Now that we are talking music though–do you have a musical style or band you listen to a lot?
I really do listen to all kinds of music. From Cat Power to Rammstein, Sarah McLachlan to Bats For Lashes… Mozart, Industrial Work… Old Punk Rock…
In many of your movies, violence (against women) and murder are important factors in the script. Power and powerlessness seem to be main themes, as well as revenge (or the gaining back of control). What makes these such fascinating topics to you?
I have a really happy life. I spend a great deal of time saying “thank you” under my breath. I love my work. I love my kid. I’m going to marry the most amazing man I have ever known. I love and am close with my family. My friends are creative and honest and supportive… What fascinates me are the things I have experienced very little of personally. Some dark things have happened, for sure. But I feel they are a part of how I balance myself. Like the planet which is half dark and half light at all times, so am I. So, I believe, we all are. I try to explore that in my work. Not in all of it, but in most people see. I want to make films I haven’t seen. I want to create dialogues about subjects we keep hushed about, and yet are flooding our news feeds. Child abuse, the human monster, our part in how that cycle of violence continues because we look away. I also want audiences to feel treated as intelligent. I try to do that with each story I tell. I’m also fascinated not by capture or torture, but by what humans do when they cannot just leave a situation. I love human beings and their adaptability. I love the way we fall. I love the way we fly. I work with characters who cannot just get up and go. They have to find another way to survive the moments. I love it.
My favourite movie of yours, Surveillance, has barely any truly likable character in it. Was this an intentional choice, or did the story just pull you there?
This cracks me up. Maybe I’m about to admit something I shouldn’t, but I love all of those characters. I think they are all likable because they are real. People are like that. And the reasons they are like that are what I’m looking at. No one is a jerk unless they feel threatened. No one is a bully unless they feel small. The human wound is amazing, and is everywhere. I feel badly for the jerks. It can’t feel good to be that afraid and not admit it. I find that saying, “I’m scared”, or “I don’t know”is the bravest thing I can do. Not admitting it is cowardly. I don’t learn anything by keeping it in and I certainly don’t feel good. If I say I’m afraid and then continue forward, I am bound to grow. I don’t want to sit in a safe place all my life and not grow. Fear is healthy, sometimes, and certainly can save our lives… but most fear, I believe, can in fact stun or kill us, by keeping us from life. I’d rather fall down than never risk it at all.
I believe a writer should love the characters they create, because they know their whole life story and entire background–they are your children–and even if no one else can see them as likable in any way, they are loved. So in that aspect I do not think your ‘confession’ is strange at all. But do you mean to say that you show your wounded characters as a mirror, so people who look at them can learn from the reflection that they should be open, and not afraid to fall down as not to become … a monster?
Maybe not that they not be afraid to become a monster… but to see the human within the monster. See their part in its creation. Again, never excusing the behavior, but hopefully understanding it enough to help it to happen less and less as we evolve.
Officers Jack Bennett and Jim Conrad (Surveillance), Bob (Chained): You do have an exceptional talent for eternalizing horrible characters on the screen. Is there a character (not created yet) you would love to add to that list?
I have one, yes. And he is horrible. he is horrible for several reasons and the way he chose to respond to those reasons. Ultimately, the bad guy has to go… but understanding him – not excusing him – understanding him is where humanity comes in. I can’t tell you more than the fact that I have another character… several in fact… but I can tell you that I love them already. I know they have felt misery the likes of which I will never know.
A lot of your work shows an interest and deep understanding of psychology. When (and why) did your affinity with the mysteries of the mind start?
I think this love of mystery has always been there. The ‘why’ of someone’s behavior is thrilling to me. Mysteries are great. It is secrets I find most poisonous.
At the moment you are working on the thriller A Fall from Grace, featuring Tim Roth, Vincent D’Onofrio, and your father David Lynch. Could you tell a bit about the project? What can we expect?
You can expect yet another romantic comedy from Jen Lynch. ….No?
A Fall From Grace is the story of a homicide detective who, after having been shot by the killer he is searching for, becomes addicted to painkillers and falls deeply into a world of self abuse as his obsession with solving the crime grows. As the crimes continue, he tries to survive himself long enough to end the danger to others. He is also dealing day to day with the deconstruction of his personal life and his inability to stay numb long enough not to feel the ways he has hurt others he loves.
I can’t wait to see it!
You and I seem to share a love for open endings. Can you tell me what draws you to such conclusions of your stories?
I like to wonder at the end of films. I like to be able to dream past the images when the lights come up. I think I also like the idea that the characters live on after the film… In another space.. Open endings let me feel that and at the same time, offer the audiences a chance to dream their own future for those they have spent 90 minutes with.
You’ve directed both movies as well as tv series (Psych, Warehouse 13). Which do you enjoy doing more and why? What is different about directing tv series from directing movies?
I love them both. Equally even. They are different creatures and yet require the same love and attention. I love the speed of television and I adore comedy. Having been lucky enough to work on Psych and Warehouse 13, I get a real kick out of that expression. In television there are also many folks above me to please. They deserve to be pleased, it is their show. I want to make them happy. In that, I find we are both happy in the end. I still have plenty of room to make my choices and leave a bit of me in the episodes. In film, I’m basically the final word. Myself and the producers. But I have been fortunate in most cases to really decide what goes or what stays. There are always sacrifices, but that is true in all things. Ultimately I love both mediums. I hope soon to have my own show created and to make the ultimate dream come true for my work heart.
Would you be willing to share a bit more about that ultimate dream of your own show? What sort of show would it be?
Dramedy… working on it now!!!!
Are there other tv shows from USA Network apart from Psych, which you would like to direct an episode for?
I would love to direct more shows from USA. They have great taste, those folks. Really fun taste. I can only get better and have more fun by doing. I’m a fan of the network and would jump at the chance to work with them on everything they put out.
With characters always being so important in your body of work, I think you and USA Network are a perfect fit! That makes me wonder; Do you watch Psych recreationally? If so, do you have a favourite episode / character?
This is not a line of BS… I love them all. swear to God. The beauty of the show is that each of them lifts the others. They all matter and they all have my heart. My DVR is set on Psych.
I believe you haha! Last season you directed “Autopsy Turvy” for Psych, and this season you did “Cirque du Soul” and “Juliet Wears the Pantsuit”. Can you tell something about the process before directing–are you asked for specific episodes or are you given a choice?
I am assigned scripts by the powers that be… and so far I think their choices have been stellar.
Absolutely! Something I have been wanting to know for a long time: As the director of a tv show, how much influence do you have over the casting?
I have to say that I do. Sure there is a consensus needed. But I always feel truly heard when I give an opinion and many times my choices are honored.
If you’d been given the choice, what kind of Psych episode would you direct?
I’d like to direct an episode where all of them are stuck in one place. Perhaps an earthquake or a bad guy keeping them all together… dependant on on another…
Oh yes! That would be an amazing setting! Please let this happen…
The Cirque dancers in ‘Cirque du Soul’ were absolutely amazing; were you involved in their direction as well or did they have separate directions from their choreographer?
The dancers were incredible indeed and were given direction by both myself and their choreographer / fellow performer. It was a magical thing. So much effort and skill. Truly incredible fun and the privilege to be a part of it.
What was it like, spending time on set with Cirque dancers?
They were great. Their enthusiasm for their work is something I adore and feel in myself about my work. In that, we had a common ground. As far as abilities and a bond that way… I can’t even do a pull up, and my jiggling skills end at catch.
Was there, as far as you know, a version of the script where Lassiter proposes to Marlowe, instead of them just announcing their engagement?
To my knowledge that never existed. But the writer’s room is a magical place, and that Saladin is a magical guy.
What scene(s) did you enjoy directing most in ‘Cirque du Soul’?
See, there’s that question again… enjoyed most, and favorite are tricky. I can say that when the guys have been hired for the circus and enter the lunch room… I added the long arms on Gus to that. I thought Dulé ran with it so masterfully… I laughed my *** off while we shot it.
Were there any more scenes your put your stamp on that way? Could you tell more about that?
There are… but ultimately it is such a collaborative show… I tend to see it as all of us just working together. Those folks are so freaking good at what they do… They inspire all of us visitors to be better.
Tonight, your next episode “Juliet Wears the Pantsuit” will be aired. This episode has huge changes in the dynamics as we’re used to–can you tell something about the ambiance on set while filming?
This was a special episode indeed. I felt lucky to be there and involved. I think most touching were the times I felt the crew reacting to events in the action and dialogue. Their emotional investment is real. They are fans themselves. That was a great thing to see.
Psych often goes from one extreme to another in a matter of seconds–combining intense drama with crazy humor; is it difficult to switch between emotions in a shoot when the entire cast and crew are that invested in a scene?
I don’t think it’s difficult… I think the cast and crew enjoy that fast switch. Certainly demanding at times, yes, but always a real adrenaline surge. Gotta love the rush!!
The episode is written by Britt Hilgers, has you as a director and focusses on Juliet, played by Maggie Lawson. In what way, if any, did the power of three amazing and talented women work its way into the episode?
It definitely was talked about as ‘The Girl Power’ episode… I hope it feels that way. It sure was a great experience… and all the emotion combined with the action and suspense… what a blast!!!
The break up scene between Shawn and Juliet at Lassiter and Marlowe’s wedding caused a lot of emotional havoc in social media amongst fans. What was your initial reaction when reading the script for “Juliet Wears The Pantsuit” and finding out ‘Shules’ was no more?
I was devastated.. but knew it was coming. Psych has a beautiful way of honoring what actually happens in real life… and Shawn’s secret had to come out… I guess I was always hoping he would find a way to tell her himself… in hopes of sparing a Shules breakup!
If you could give any personal advise to Juliet in this phase of the series, what would it be?
Remember everything around the lie… not just the lie. See the compassion, protection, devotion. Then make a choice. Surely Shawn’s absence is going to cause a cavernous hole in which all of the good memories will echo.
Indeed! That’s great advise, now let’s hope she listens… That brings me to my final question: Will you direct more episodes of Psych in the future?
I sure hope so. I’d be there in a heartbeat.
