Adelaide Clemens leads Lindsay MacKay’s The Swearing Jar as Carey. She’s deeply in love with her husband Simon (Patrick J. Adams), but they do find themselves succumbing to marital frustrations every so often. Things get especially tense when Carey finds out she’s pregnant and the news sparks some mixed and very complex emotions. Meanwhile, Carey also finds herself falling for a local bookstore clerk, Owen played by Douglas Smith, a highly appealing puppy love-type connection compared to the more adult responsibilities weighing on her with Simon.

And did I forget to mention The Swearing Jar is also a musical romance? Kate Hewlett’s script, adapted from her own play, also uses music, exquisitely sung by Clemens, to further explore the dynamic between the film’s main players and the impact their choices have on one another.

While in Toronto for The Swearing Jar’s world premiere at TIFF 2022, Clemens and MacKay visited the Collider Supper Suite and Media Studio at Marbl to discuss their experience making the film.

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Image via Gravitas Ventures

While The Swearing Jar does offer great access to Owen, Simon, and his mother’s experiences (Kathleen Turner), the narrative is largely focused on Carey’s journey, a deliberate choice Hewlett made during the adaption process. Clemens explained:

“[Kate] said last night there were more characters in the play and then in the screenplay, I’m just sort of representing her here, but she said that she kind of focused on the principal role of Carey, that way, in film, you can kind of be up close with that character and experience what they're going through. But I think also with the music, it was a play with music in it. It doesn't feel like a musical, like a classical musical. It feels more akin to something like Once where music is such a part of the characters’ lives. I think in film as well, you have the ability to kind of overlap and you're not moving from musical number to scene so much that they layer in.”

I can’t emphasize this enough; Clemens' singing in The Swearing Jar is phenomenal. So good, in fact, that it was a shock to learn she had never had any proper training or professional singing experience.

“I sing by myself, but I didn't really have the confidence to — it's a very different thing. Your relationship with your voice on your own is very different to your relationship with your voice and people seeing it or hearing it. So I just got this audition and I wasn't sure what they wanted, and so I just recorded myself singing a Leonard Cohen song, I think it was Chelsea Hotel, and then I took some singing lessons and here we are.”

Adelaide Clemens Talks The Swearing Jar
Image via Photagonist

Clemens’ singing is shockingly good given it’s a rather new thing for her, but less surprising is the strength of the other components of her performance. Between the access she offers to Carey’s headspace and the complexity of her connections with every member of the main ensemble, her work well supports the more mysterious elements of the story heavily tied to this carefully constructed romance.

Carey’s relationship with Owen in a particular is an intriguing one given they’re in two completely different situations and stages of life. Clemens explained:

“For me, I feel like Carey is imperfect. She's made a decision at some point subconsciously or not to engage with denial. I think a lot of parents can probably relate to it. But she's dealt a really challenging deck of cards and she is just coping, she's just coping. And I think Owen comes along and he's kind of comfortable being imperfect, and that is what gives her permission to then look at herself and he kind of holds up a mirror to her in a way.”

Opening it up to the full ensemble, Clemens took a moment to highlight her scene partners and how important it is to assemble a team of people who truly want to be there:

“I felt so comfortable with everyone. It felt really seamless. Like Douglas was perfect for Owen. When we met him we were like, ‘What? Did Kate know him before she wrote this?’ And then Patrick, he was so grounded and surprising, and he’s so experienced and he just kind of took charge in a way that was so liberating for me, and I think we needed that in Simon. We really needed someone with a lot of gravitas. And then, of course, Kathleen is just, I mean, [I’m] so fortunate to have worked with her, and she's so experienced, she’s so fun, she loves film, she loves filmmaking, she loves acting. Everybody wanted to be there, you know? It was pretty special.”

Looking for more on The Swearing Jar? We’ve got just that for you in the video interview at the top of this article! The Swearing Jar is now available to watch in theaters and on demand.

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.