Surviving a sexual assault is some kind of terrifying, hallucinogenic adventure that forever haunts…
As Joy Ride evolves, it should become more distinct but in an impressionistic way. It starts off as an ordinary day, except that it’s Kate Stewart’s birthday and the girl just wants to have fun. Open for anything -- it’s the unimaginable that arrives.
In an instant, she’s bleeding, threatened with the possibility of more violence and planning her one opportunity for escape. It’s that descent into the land of noir -- tension and suspense, pacing and energy, living in the moment – that interests me.
From the beginning, we get the sense that Kate is a woman mostly happy and in control of her life. She forms strong friendships. Her car is her pride and joy. We see her go from a stylish young woman to a survivor bloody and wild.
It’s the last journey of an innocent and staying alive requires Kate to be heroic in the subtlest ways. She can’t shut down, must constantly adjust to her kidnapper’s moods and whims and live totally in the now. It’s important that we see her thinking, changing, adapting… at every single turn, so she lives to the next moment. Kate will fight becoming a casualty.
All the male characters represent a different aspect of maleness and attitude toward women.
Moustache is the bad guy in charge. No doubt about it, he’s done some terrible things in his short life but has he killed? Raped? The fact that he is equally surprised at Kate’s blood gives us a hint that he just might be a first timer when it comes to this kind of violence -- an interesting through line for an actor to play. It is this subtext that will make him compelling rather than a cliché.
Moustache needs to dominate but in the end, he walks away from Kate. Is it as random that their mutual love of Mozart’s Queen of the Night aria saves her? Or does he get his kicks by just seeing a strong woman terrified? After all sexual assault is about power. What stops him? Ultimately, these are the actor’s internal choices but I can offer lots of discussion and questions to help find the performance.
Long Hair is the follower -- the seemingly happy-go-lucky guy -- who could switch dangerous at any moment. Insecure in his own identity, he lacks the emotional strength to stand up to his buddy and this undercurrent provides the actors with lots to play off each other.
Anderchuk is the doubting cop -- seen too many “truth-stranger-than-fiction” moments to be otherwise. He measures the facts and to his accounting, they come up short. An attractive woman, perhaps she enticed them? Made it up? Having an affair? He’s too world-weary to see the brave woman using every fiber of her being to stand up to him and not succumb to naked emotion. Whatever happens Kate will not let Anderchuk make her cry.
She’s a survivor skirting with post-traumatic stress. Exposing a trauma often helps…. but Anderchuk denies her that healing. His action is almost the most unforgivable because refusing to believe leaves Kate in limbo.
I’m hoping to create a safe environment where the actors can run with the ball and find the emotional truth of their characters. I’m hoping that the rawness of story and performance will give pause and consideration to the nature, dynamics and definition of sexual assault.
In my previous photographic career and most recently, in my screenplays, I have focused on how ordinary women rise to meet the extraordinary. I see Joy Ride as a continuation of that artistic current.
Interested parties should contact Michaelin McDermott at Bedazzled Pics.
