The film's based on Beverly D'Onofrio's memoir of her life between 15 and 35. I play Bev. I related to her because we were both considered bad girls. I sort of fell on my face in front of everybody and Bev got pregnant in Wallingford, Connecticut, when she was 15 in 1965. That's a no-no.
I loved the challenge of playing someone who was a mother raising a kid and is brutally honest about the times she was selfish and the mistakes she made - not many are willing to admit that. She was a valiant mother and gave up her own life as a kid to protect her son - she even kicked her husband out, because he was damaging the family. All her complexities and her bravery really spoke to me. Even though at moments she is unlikeable, in the end she's triumphant.
I went deeper into this character than I had before - living and breathing her and just not being myself on weekends. To live in that mind frame for eight months was difficult on everyone - I wasn't the most chipper person because it was exhausting.
It affected me profoundly because for the first time it made me able to put myself in the shoes of my mother - and it made me more forgiving to her. I was actually able to start a relationship with her again through the major realisations I had on this film.
