If you’ve seen our interview with Kristen Stewart and Mackenzie Davis, and the one with Alison Brie and Mary Steenburgen, you’re already well aware that I adore Hulu’s Happiest Season. But, we’ve still yet to cover one of my favorite components of the movie, Mary Holland’s character, Jane.
Stewart and Davis lead as Abby and Harper. Even though Harper still isn’t out to her family, she decides to ask Abby to come home with her for the holidays to meet her parents and sisters. The thing is though, they’ve got to keep their relationship a secret. While Harper and her big sister Sloane (Brie) are constantly battling to be #1 in their parents’ eyes - adhering to mom and dad’s (Steenburgen and Victor Garber) lofty expectations of them in the process - their younger sister Jane is mighty content loving the things she loves regardless of what anyone thinks. Jane’s heartfelt enthusiasm is infectious, and Holland is an absolute joy to watch in the role.
Having written the Happiest Season screenplay alongside director Clea DuVall, Holland did go into production with a firm understanding of what makes Jane stand out from the rest of the ensemble, but there was still more to discover about the character once she was surrounded by one of her favorites things in the world, her family. Here’s how Holland put it:
“Jane really just came to life in me in a way that was so fun. In writing Jane, we knew that we wanted her to be this joyful character and this person who just really has such a deep level of self acceptance. But being on set I was, as Jane, just so excited that everyone was in the room and to be around everybody, and that lead to this sort of bouncy energy physically that was cool to discover on the set in those dynamics.”
If you’d like to hear more from Holland about her first feature screenwriting experience and from DuVall about the directors who’ve influenced her craft behind the lens the most, be sure to catch the full conversation at the top of this article!
Clea DuVall and Mary Holland
- DuVall highlights the acting projects that have influenced her craft as a director.
- Happiest Season marks Mary Holland’s first feature screenplay. What surprised her most about the feature screenwriting process?
- Even having worked on the screenplay, Holland still discover more about Jane on the set.
- DuVall on adapting to working with child actors.