Mariana Treviño stars in AppleTV+ sequence “Stick,” taking part in the mom of a proficient however weak younger golfer (performed by Peter Dager). Owen Wilson and Mark Maron co-star as a former professional golfer and his caddie/coach, who’re making an attempt to information him.
In an interview with RogerEbert.com, she talks to us about making an uncommon selection in top-of-the-line scenes within the sequence to this point, and about the perfect recommendation she ever acquired about appearing.
This interview has been edited for readability and size.
How did the position of Elena come to you?
I solely “met” Elena as I used to be attending to Vancouver to shoot it. I acquired the audition as I used to be ending a present in Mexico, and every part occurred so quick. I did 4 auditions on Zoom, after which I flew to L.A. I had a chemistry learn with Peter. And proper after that, I used to be wrapping up my different present, and I used to be in.
I used to be so glad and stunned. However then I misplaced my passport. I misplaced my so I couldn’t fly instantly I I hoped I didn’t lose the job due to it. Fortunately every part aligned and I may get to Vancouver a bit of bit hurriedly however as soon as I acquired there, I simply acquired in keeping with every part that was occurring on set.
All people was actually welcoming, actually candy since day one. I need to in truth say that it made it very straightforward for me to only settle in and focus on assembly Elena. Happily, I had some days the place I didn’t movie the place I had time to learn every part, do the work, and meet with Peter to speak about our characters. I didn’t have months; all of it occurred fairly rapidly.
How did the 2 of you create that chemistry that rhythm, that familiarity with one another that makes the viewers consider you as mom and son?
As actors, typically it occurs and typically it doesn’t occur. There’s a language that’s simply the language of hearts making an attempt to attach, simply human sensibilities making an attempt to create a fact within the second. The whole lot appears synthetic when you find yourself filming. You see the cameras and the units. The RV will not be an RV. It’s in a set, and you understand all this. For the good and magical creation of this actuality, this theatrical illustration of what life is, the very heart needs to be an actual connection.
I believe it’s simply actually doing the work of opening your coronary heart and making an attempt to attach with that sensibility you will have, that non-verbal and non-rational connection that occurs between as a result of there may be an interchange of soul, of vitality and of two souls coming collectively and wanting to inform the identical story and looking for a typical fact. That magic does occur if we method one another with the best sensibility, how open you might be, and the way receptive you might be to the opposite actors.
Owen as a producer and [showrunner] Jason Keller and the entire solid created that for us. All of us felt actually welcome on a regular basis. And that simply makes you open up simpler.
My favourite scene up to now is one the place Marc Maron’s character, Mitt, tells Elena that she inadvertently mentioned one thing terribly hurtful to Owen Wilson’s character, Pryce. A number of actors would have had a really huge response, however yours was much more significant as a result of it was so delicate and inner.
It was one in every of my favourite scenes, too. I simply love that second for Elana as a result of it’s the second the place she sees, someway, not rationally, however by means of her coronary heart, what Pryce goes by means of, the grief that he’s carrying. She didn’t know at first the way to measure him. She’s very doubtful and he or she’s very vigilant, defending her son from this affect. I really like that you just seen that the motion there may be sitting down. That’s how I wished to undertaking it as a result of it’s a second of realization within the coronary heart of the character.
That second for Elena is the place she stops her antics of being defensive and he or she says, “Okay, I’m going to have a special method.”
Thanks for noticing, as a result of for me, it was a ravishing second, and with Marc, we constructed that collectively. We had been each engaged on a really skinny line there, and we suspended there, and we maintained it. It was lovely, and on the finish, we had been hugging. We had been on the identical web page, and that felt actually good.
What will we find out about Elena from the garments she wears?
The artists within the costume division wished to offer this really feel of Elena that she was a quite common mother within the sense that they wished to create a typical picture of her that was very accessible to everyone who sees her. She’s a down-to-earth mother, an everyday mother who buys her garments wherever she will, however she has her moments of freedom, with female little particulars, a bit of aptitude.
A number of Latin mothers nonetheless put on the sorts of pencil skirts and pantyhose from the 80s, and that’s what Elena wears when she goes to the financial institution.
What’s the greatest recommendation you ever acquired about being an actor?
Once I was younger, I performed Puck in A Midsummer Night time’s Dream. I used to be dressed like an elf, all in inexperienced. I bear in mind I used to be speaking and speaking and speaking with one other actor backstage earlier than I went on. One of many older actors who had all this expertise got here and he drew me apart and he mentioned, “Hold your vitality for scenes. Don’t waste it. And do your work on the stage.” That was nice, nice recommendation that I at all times remembered as a result of it’s true. Every actor has their very own methods to organize to enter a scene. Some must be speaking, or must be leaping, or go and do train, and every kind of various preparations. However I believed it was so smart to say that you just don’t waste your vitality as a result of it requires plenty of vitality, plenty of consideration, plenty of emotional vitality to carry out.
