RADiUS-TWC Ethan (Mark Duplass) and Sophie (Elisabeth Moss) go on a weekend retreat to work on their relationship in 'The One I Love.' When Elisabeth Moss read the script for the indie dramedy "The One I Love," she knew that she wanted to star in it.
But now that she's promoting the movie, out in theaters Friday, she's having a hard time discussing it.
It's not because she's not proud of it. She's being careful because the film features a major plot twist that occurs within the first 15 minutes.
"It's not like we're not trying to spoil the ending," Moss laughed. "Basically we can't talk about most of the movie."
What she and writer/director Charlie McDowell can talk about is their film's premise, which is about a married couple named Ethan (Mark Duplass) and Sophie (Moss), who turn to therapy in order to work on their relationship, which has been rocked by infidelity. Their therapist, played by Ted Danson, recommends they go on a week-long retreat at a beautiful estate.
What happens next falls into major spoiler territory. But even though the film depicts the couple having an increasingly surreal experience, their relationship problems always remain relatable. McDowell said that is by design.
"I wanted to make a movie that felt like a really real relationship dramedy," he said. "I wanted any decisions that were made to feel like they were real and organic to these characters and this situation."
Moss said the challenge for her was to figure out "what is a real girl in a real relationship after four years of marriage."
"It was really important for us to make it all real," she added. "Even though there's a supernatural element ... I felt like it wasn't going to work if you didn't believe in this couple, and you don't believe this marriage is real, in all scenarios."
Both Moss and Duplass had a hand in shaping their characters in order to make them feel relatable. In fact, Duplass, best known for starring in the indie romance "Safety Not Guaranteed" and writing and directing films such as "Cyrus" and "Baghead," is the one who came up with "The One I Love's" premise.
McDowell and co-writer Justin Lader took inspiration from Duplass' idea and made it into a screenplay, which became the duo's first feature film. "The One I Love" was only shot in 15 days, a breakneck pace that was greatly accommodated by the fact that the movie only had one major setting: a beautiful house in Ojai, Calif.
Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images Mark Duplass, director Charlie McDowell and Elisabeth Moss attend the after party for the premiere of 'The One I Love.' McDowell, 31, knows the home well because he grew up in Ojai, a small town located just outside Los Angeles. He said that the residence, which features a guesthouse and pool, actually helped him and Lader figure out the screenplay's plot.
"We wrote it specifically for that location, which is a really interesting way to write something," he said.
"We kind of reverse-engineered the script specific to the location, which is a kind of bizarre way to do it but ended up working very well," he added.
The writer-director also drew on his Hollywood lineage in making the film. The son of actors Malcolm McDowell and Mary Steenburgen, he cast his mother's husband in the pivotal role as the therapist, while her voice is heard during a phone call.
Despite his famous family ties, McDowell said he originally didn't want to pursue a career in Hollywood.
RADiUS-TWC 'It was really important for us to make it all real,' Elisabeth Moss said about the film, which features a surreal twist. "I was very anti the industry for a while because I didn't want to be in the shadow of very successful people and wanted my own identity," he explained.
One of the few times he has appeared onscreen was in Steenburgen's 1989 film "Parenthood," as one of the kids in the birthday party featuring Steve Martin dressed as a cowboy. He recalls getting "cranky" while working "in the hot sun" as an extra, but that seeing director Ron Howard "sitting in the shade watching a monitor" piqued his interest.
"I thought, I want to be that guy," he laughed. "Which was funny because so many years later, that's what I ended up doing."
McDowell, who is the youngest-ever graduate from the American Film Institute, said that directors who inspire him include Paul Thomas Anderson, David Fincher and Spike Jonze. He said that he admired Jonze's work "in terms of taking a high-concept idea and (marrying it to a) traditional story at its core, and then taking you on this wild ride."
It's also an apt way to describe "The One I Love." Moss, 32, described the experience of watching the film as "great movie magic," but even with the strange situations her character finds herself in, she could see a parallel between Sophie and Peggy Olson, her character on "Mad Men."
RADiUS-TWC Elisabeth Moss, left, and Mark Duplass encounter an unusual dilemma in 'The One I Love.' "Sophie, in a way, sort of represents the everywoman in a marriage, as Peggy sort of represents the everywoman in the workplace," she said.
"Peggy is one of the people who has sort of taught us that we should be able to do it all," the actress added. "But as women we're still human and we still have vulnerabilities and we're still not perfect. And so I think that that sort of struggle to find lasting love is a question they're both trying to answer."
"I think Sophie is better at it than Peggy though," Moss joked. "Maybe Peggy should be sent off by Ted Danson to the house. Try a little therapy."
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