Introduction
Jocelin Donahue stars as Marie Aldrich in Mickey Keating’s new film Offseason (2022). In the film, Maris returns to the isolated island community where she grew up, drawn in by a mysterious letter. When she arrives it is with little time before the vacation community closes its bridge for the winter. Darkness seeps from every cove. Marie realizes that the stories that her mother used to tell her may have had more truth to them than she knew.
Cinema Scholars’ own Devin McGrath-Conwell recently interviewed Jocelin Donahue to discuss her performance in Offseason, as well as her creative inspirations, and what it’s like to commit to such a dark tale.
Interview
The following conversation reflects edits for length and clarity.
Devin: Your character in Offseason, Marie, is someone with a lot of family baggage and hometown mythology to work into a personal background. What goes into your preparation process when you’re playing a character with so much baggage?
Jocelin: You immediately picked up on the things that drew me to the project in the first place. The mythology that [director] Mickey [Keating] invented for this place and this family. Marie is still reeling from her mom’s death, and she’s generally kind of a closed-off person. She doesn’t like to be vulnerable. You can see that she hasn’t really shared too much with [her partner] George. So there is that internal work of thinking about what her mom’s death meant to her. That’s still really raw. And then, also, the double whammy of learning this crazy family secret. The horror of learning a secret once somebody is gone, and having to process that without them.
Devin: Must bring a whole new meaning to skeletons in the closet for you.
Jocelin: [laughter] Yeah, for sure.
Devin: Something else I was thinking about watching your performance is while you have a lot of colleagues to play off of at times, a lot of this movie has you on your own. What’s that process like to know that you’re walking in, and you’re gonna have to carry a lot of this narrative by yourself?
Jocelin: Yeah, it’s true. Marie is solitary and silent for a lot of this movie. So it was kind of important for me to kind of build out her internal struggle through her demeanor and expressions. Convey how the realization about the island gradually dawns on her as more and more evidence piles up. She has to accept that what seems beyond belief is now undeniable. There’s also this nightmare logic that’s throughout the film, where things just don’t make sense. Or, you know, there’s a dead-end where there wasn’t one before, or she ends up in a room that she wasn’t expecting. Even though sometimes she turns around and someone she was talking to is gone.
It’s also kind of like just feeling this pure emotion of unease, the kind of surreal quality of what it feels like to be in a nightmare. It’s amorphous. When I’m in the scenes with other characters, I get to work off the relationships, the dialogue, and the drama. But when I’m by myself, it’s important to convey that internal work. Showing what you’re feeling and thinking and trying to stay in the moment and be with the audience as Maria’s learning the truth alongside them.
Devin: It struck me as similar to so many of the old Twilight Zone episodes, how Marie is just dropped in and stranded in this nightmare realm.
Jocelin: Definitely. I had that thought when I was reading the script.
Devin: Moving past that a bit but sticking with the quirks of playing Marie, this is an incredibly physical role. You’re asked to commit to a great deal of running, breaking through barriers, and scrambling through the underbrush. Do you find that sort of work invigorating? Challenging?
Jocelin: I love when I get to do my own stunts, or you know, stunt choreography or physical things. It just really grounds you in the scene. You can’t not be exhausted and freaked out if you’re running miles. And luckily, I have always been a runner. I ran cross country and track in high school. Maybe that led to this experience. But yeah, it just really helps when you get to be physical, whether you’re fighting or running or hyperventilating. All of those things can help you get in the moment.
Devin: I can only imagine, especially when you end up running all over the island in this one. Which, speaking of the island, brings me to the next question, through the always desperate attempt to make a seamless transition.
Jocelin: [laughter] I’ve heard a lot of worse ones.
Devin: I’ll take it. [laughter] So, I’m from Maine and grew up working at a seasonal hotel. Resort areas are always sort of creepy during the offseason, and this movie just pushes that out to the extreme. What was it like for you to think about being in this otherwise blissful locale that’s suddenly revealing the darkest parts of itself?
Jocelin: You know, the original seed of the idea came from because Mickey grew up in Orland and actually used to go to New Smyrna Beach where we shot Offseason. It was where he would go for his family for vacations. And I think he ended up thinking, what if this place was abandoned? Because it does seem straight out of the 1940s. That little Mainstreet is basically untouched. So there’s something uncanny about being in a place that’s meant for lightness and joy and family vacations. But then things turn dark, it’s abandoned, and you’re isolated there. It does have this ghost town, eerie, creepy vibe. Twilight Zone-y, like you said.
Devin: Did you watch or spend with anything, in particular, to prepare for what the character and narrative demanded?
Jocelin: Mickey gave me a couple of touchpoints. The first things he gave me were Southern Gothic short stories. A couple from William Faulkner, one being A Rose for Emily. Also The Summer People from Shirley Jackson.
Devin: Two all-timers.
Jocelin: Oh yeah. Just these dark stories about urbane people who come to a small town, and you don’t know if they’re judging them unfairly at first, or if they are actually in danger. He also mentioned Red Desert (1964), the Antonioni film, for a visual reference. It’s just so gorgeous, has such a heightened sense of isolation. And there’s so much fog in that movie as well. Loneliness, and sadness. Alongside that, I also revisited Carnival of Souls (1962) for that creepy, uncanny, dreamy, nightmarish, and twisted side of things.
Devin: Those all make so much sense. Carnival of Souls, in particular. I can see a lot of that in this. There’s so much fog, so much darkness.
Jocelin: Plenty of both for sure in that one and our movie.
Devin: Zeroing in on Offseason one last time before I let you go, is there a certain scene or sequence that jumps out to you as your favorite work on the film?
Jocelin: Well, I mean, working on the early monologue in the car with Greg, which I delivered to the camera was a little bit daunting. I had never done anything like that before. I hope that it works and that the audience feels like I’m speaking to them because I’m kind of vulnerable and embarrassed at that moment. That was a good emotional moment to play. And then also, I do have to add on, the few scenes that I have with Melora [Walters, who plays Marie’s mother], are incredible. She’s such a powerhouse, actor, and she’s so present as a scene partner. Getting to create those kinds of family dynamics was really interesting.
Offseason opens in theaters and VOD starting Friday, March 11.
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