Corey Fogelmanis & Tommy Dorfman Talk Banned Book Movie I Wish You All the Best
ComingSoon spoke with I Wish You All the Best director Tommy Dorfman and star Corey Fogelmanis about their new coming-of-age movie, I Wish You All the Best. The pair discussed the book that it’s based on being banned in schools by the government, using “boy drag” as a narrative tool, and more. Lionsgate will release the movie in theaters on November 7.
“In this refreshingly modern coming-of-age story based on the best-selling book by Mason Deaver, a high school junior (Corey Fogelmanis) comes out as nonbinary and is thrown out of their family’s home. With nowhere else to turn, they move in with their estranged older sister (Alexandra Daddario) and her husband (Cole Sprouse). After enrolling in a new school, they find support from an eccentric art teacher (Lena Dunham) and form an unexpected bond with a kindhearted student (Miles Gutierrez-Riley). With the help of their new relationships, they navigate the awkward hurdles of young adulthood in this sweetly funny journey of self-discovery that celebrates the power of being true to yourself,” says the official synopsis.
Tyler Treese: Corey, what I enjoyed about the movie was really seeing Ben coming into their own throughout it, and we see them become more confident throughout. We see it visually with the clothes you’re wearing, and you really channel it during the dance at the end. How was it charting that progression throughout the movie?
Corey Fogelmanis: Oh, it was so exciting. Like you said, a lot of it was done with clothes. We were thinking a lot about how much Ben was hiding themselves at any given moment. There’s also this concept of like boy drag where like earlier in the movie and even like as confidence wanes, like you’ll see Ben wearing baggier jeans and hoodies, and that was something that really made me feel connected to my body at an even moment. So it was really cool.
But Tommy was really helpful in helping me track all of that because obviously we shot it out of order over a very short period of time, so we were in different modes of the movie. On any given day, we were doing multiple sections of the movie. So it was a lot, but it was really fun.
Tommy, this surprised me, but I saw that Mason Deaver’s book is banned in schools by the Department of Defense. What does it mean for you to be getting this message out via this film and reaching people who might not be able to read the book now? Because I thought that was so ridiculous.
Tommy Dorfman: Yeah, I mean, I think all of the book banning currently is atrocious, and it completely limits our ability to be educated and learn and engage with the world and all of its complexity and beauty. I think that this movie acts as kind of like a resistance against that and censorship in general right now.
I think it’s exciting that anybody who maybe doesn’t have access to that book for one reason or another will have access to Ben’s story through a visual medium, whether you’re able to see it in theaters or you can catch it on demand or streaming at some point in a year or two. Like, I think what’s nice about this is it lives on in a way that just adds more accessibility to this non-binary coming-of-age film that feels really, really important in our current political climate.
Corey, you have some really wonderful scenes with Miles Gutierrez-Riley. What stood out about him as a scene partner? Because you two just have a real chemistry, and you work off each other really well.
Corey Fogelmanis: Yeah, Miles is so present, on and off camera, and so much of this movie was my head kind of spinning and trying to ground myself like Ben, but also I feel like as myself in a lot of ways. Miles came in and was just like with me, and so playful and spontaneous, and it was just the best collaboration ever. I loved our scenes together.
Tommy, this is your directorial debut. There are so many different roles from post-production to marketing that you get involved with as a director. What was the biggest surprise of being behind the camera throughout this whole experience?
Tommy Dorfman: I think for me, from beginning to end, was the ease I felt with it. I think when you haven’t done something, it can feel really scary. And I had a lot of anxiety leading up to starting production and in prep. Then once we were shooting, it just felt so calm and grounded to me, which I think is perfect. I think it just perfectly suits my brain, which is constantly thinking about like 40 different things at the same time. So that works really well as a director.
I think the most challenging part was post-production and editing the film. That was the thing I was least experienced with. Marketing, I’ve been doing since, I guess, the beginning of my career. So that didn’t feel too stressful. And I don’t know. I had a really clear vision of what I wanted this movie to be and how I wanted it to be in the world. And I’m really grateful that it’s finally gonna be seen.
Thanks to Corey Fogelmanis and Tommy Dorfman for taking the time to discuss I Wish You All the Best.
Source: Comingsoon.net