Caroline Lindy’s debut feature, Your Monster, tells the story of Laura Franco, a Broadway baby, whose life seems to be falling apart after her writer-director boyfriend, Jacob, dumps her while she is recovering from cancer. Locked away in her childhood home, only to be visited ever so sparsely by her elusive best friend, Mazie, Laura finds the courage, with the help of the monster living in her closet, to audition for the show she helped develop with her ex-boyfriend, who left her in the wings for his moment in the spotlight.

Offscreen Central had the honors of talking with two of the film’s biggest supporting talents, Kayla Foster (‘Mazie Silverberg’, and one of the film’s producers) and Edmund Donovan (‘Jacob Sullivan’) about getting this quirky film set in the world of theater made, and the motivations that drive their characters. 

Vannah Taylor: Thank you so much for your time today. I wanted to start off by asking you both what drew you to this project? Kayla, I know you are also a producer, so if you could talk about how you first got involved and the journey to where we are now? 
Kayla Foster: Yeah, so Caroline got a grant from Women in Film, an amazing organization, to make this concept into a short film, and I met her after that process. She showed me the short film and I thought it was brilliant and weird and cool and funny. So, we, by hook or by crook, made it into an independent feature. I was really honored to tell her story in this way, and I was drawn to just how different it was. I had never seen anything like it, and I still think I can say that about the feature. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. 

Vannah Taylor: And for you, Edmund, you were just in Civil War earlier this year. Your character in that film, Eddie, is really menacing, and then in Your Monster, you are also kind of the villain here. Is there something that draws you to a villainous character? 
Edmund Donovan: I don’t know if it draws me, or I draw it. I find myself in that position a lot and it is funny that I have never really drawn that through line… But yes, I tend to play bad guys, and I don’t know why. I’m a pretty nice guy in real life. 
Kayla Foster: He’s the nicest, nicest, nicest guy in the world! 
Edmund Donovan: But actually, I mean I did think the villainy of this guy was really fun when I first read the script for Your Monster, but I was most drawn to the humor. Caroline is so funny. The script is so funny. There are so many things but that really stood out to me. Kayla, Caroline, and I, and many of us come from theater. So, the opportunity to send that stuff up was really exciting to me. I liked the idea of playing a theater person. 

Vannah Taylor: Both of your characters, I would say, kind of say something about ambition in showbiz, and what that does to your personal relationships. Can you both talk a little bit about that aspect of your characters and the inspirations you brought to the role? 
Kayla Foster: I think Mazie is a little bit different. Jacob is more straightforward, which I am looking forward to Edmund talking about. But I think Mazie’s ambition comes from staying afloat emotionally, and always feeling like the biggest, strongest, baddest bitch in the room. That is her ambition. The thought of that waning at all would totally make her fall apart. She doesn’t even audition for the show and then Jacob ends up putting her in it. I don’t know that “career” matters too much to her as being “big” matters to her and that *that* is something that without it, she would drown. 
Edmund Donovan: Yeah, you used the word “ambition” that I find myself using over and over when talking about this movie and specifically about this character. It’s all about ambition for Jacob. This musical is everything to him. He wrote it. He is directing it. He’s young. There are not a lot of people his age in real life, or in the world of the movie, that get to direct on Broadway at that age and have a lot of eyes on them. This is a huge opportunity for him and he’s thinking, “I can’t mess this up.” It’s a very New York story, too. In many industries in this city–I mean in many places but, especially in New York, just to speak to my experience because I live here– this is how people are. Career comes first, and then your girlfriend or boyfriend or whoever. For better or for worse. I don’t necessarily think it’s a good thing, but I think he is very much a New Yorker in that way. Maybe that’s mean to say? 
Kayla Foster: No, I agree with you. I was like that and am like that. 

Vannah Taylor: Agreed. I love all of that! Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me today! I can’t wait for people to see this film. 
Kayla and Edmund: Thank you!

Your Monster is available on PVOD.
You can find our review of the film here.