If you’re in need of a film that’ll fill your heart, look no further than Matt Smukler’s narrative feature debut, Wildflower.
Inspired by Smukler’s own family, Wildflower stars Kiernan Shipka as Bea, a teenager born to intellectually disabled parents played by Samantha Hyde and Dash Mihok. Nearing the end of high school, Bea struggles with feeling obligated to care for her parents, leaving her minimal time to just be a kid and doubting if she can leave home for college.
With Wildflower hosting its world premiere screening at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival, Smukler, Shipka, Hyde, Mihok, and Kannon Omachi who plays Bea’s best friend in the movie, all swung by the Collider Supper Suite and Media Studio at Marbl to talk about their experience bringing this story to screen.
To kick things off, Smukler offered a little insight into how Wildflower came to be:
“It was actually a little short that I had done for my niece, so it's based on a true story and it was really inspired by my niece's situation. My sister-in-law was born with a mental disability and so the piece was meant to help [my niece] get into college, which it did, and then we decided there's so much joy and so much laughter and happiness and hope with this family that I wanted to kind of do it in a narrative and use this real family as an inspiration point.”
Shipka hasn’t met Smukler’s niece, but she did get the chance to screen a documentary Smukler made about her experience. That film helped Shipka pinpoint a specific aspect of his niece’s journey that would be vital to emphasize via her performance. She explained:
“I think there was just such a sort of specific drive in the way that she spoke and there was a wise beyond her years-ness that I really loved because I think you can be mature and grounded and independent and thoughtful, but also be a kid, and that’s what I really wanted to find and be, was sort of this duality where, on one hand, she's incredibly responsible and has to be responsible for a lot more than a lot of people her age are, but at the same time, is still finding herself and growing up. So that kind of balance was what was so, so, so compelling to me in the character.”
Hyde also had a particular quality of her real-life counterpart that emerged as a top priority when bringing Sharon and Derek’s personalities and dynamic to screen:
“I really wanted to focus on the love that they share, but also the innocence and the childlike wonder with the world and how easy it is to just love everybody.”
That love is palpable and makes up a significant amount of the beating heart of Wildflower. There are quite a few strong connections featured in the film, but a standout is the chemistry between Mihok and Hyde. Mihok noted:
“There's these sayings, and I will totally talk talking points, but about being neurodivergent and neurodiverse, and for me, I grew up with Tourette syndrome and it has subsided over the years, but there's things that I have within me that over time I've allowed to foster and make my work easier, so working with Sam who was kind of like the rookie on the set — I'm not trying to big up myself, but I wish that I had somebody that when I was excited and young and ready to blow and wanted to do everything that I thought that I’d planned on in my obsessive compulsive brain, that I had somebody to talk to, and instantly she and I connected on that level.”
Given how stacked the ensemble of Wildflower is and the fact that Shipka is the cast member who gets to share scenes with every member of that main ensemble, I asked her for the co-star with the most similar process to her own and also for someone who has a different approach to the work who challenged her to adapt or try something new. Here’s what she went with:
“I think that Charlie Plummer and I work very similarly. We had had probably the most experience pre-shooting doing scenes because I did a chem read with him. Maybe that was a reason why I felt like we were sort of super in sync, but I feel like we just sort of clicked and got each other and also I think the dynamic of the two characters lent itself to a certain amount of closeness and comfort that we just really had, and I don't think that's something that you can manipulate or make up. We got really lucky that we had kind of genuine chemistry and like a real peace around each other. And someone that works differently. We didn't have time for people to be not prepared. [Laughs] This was an indie. I will say, and this is not really answering your question and it's not spoiling anything either, but to be in a coma and kind of listen into the most pro, pro actors that I could possibly dream up act over me and talk about me was a really surreal experience.”
Looking for more from team Wildflower on their experience making the movie? You can catch our full TIFF 2022 conversation at the top of this article!
Special thanks to our TIFF 2022 partners A-list Communications, Belvedere Vodka, Marbl Toronto, COVERGIRL Canada, Tres Amici Wines, Toronto Star, and Blue Moon Belgian White beer.