Momentum Pictures(NEW YORK) — Black Bear is an unpredictable new indie flick that tackles complicated relationship dynamics and what it’s like to suffer for your art.
Split into two different yet intertwined parts — one of which features a movie within a movie — it stars Aubrey Plaza, Christopher Abbott and Sarah Gadon in a unique kind of love triangle.
Plaza’s role of Allison, a filmmaker/actress, was written by director Lawrence Michael Levine specifically with her in mind. Plaza tells ABC Audio she felt the pressure of taking on the project.
“I was terrified, actually,” the former Parks and Recreation star says. “I mean, even the way that the script was written was so hyperbolic in the sense that it said things like, ‘And then Allison does another take and gives the best performance that anyone has ever seen,’ you know, as the description for the scene. And I’m going like, ‘Larry, how can you write that and expect me to do that?’”
Ultimately, Plaza was drawn to the challenge.
“It felt like he was kind of going like, ‘Are you up for this? Are you down?’ And I’m a very competitive person,” she says. “I’m always drawn to things that scare me or things that, you know, are challenging. So…I felt very excited when I read it.”
As for the movie’s mind-boggling plot, Plaza is eager to see the theories and discussions that come out of it.
“I really do think it’s the kind of movie that you need to watch more than once, because it could really go either way,” she says. “It’s really interesting for me to hear what people think about how the first part relates to the second part.”
Black Bear is in select theaters and on VOD today.
By Andrea Tuccillo
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