THE GOOD HALF Interviews Part One: Elisabeth Shue!

Meeting Elisabeth Shue (Lily Wheeland)

Elisabeth Shue, currently starring in The Good Half, is a renowned American actor, best known for her roles in numerous well-known films, such as The Karate Kid (1984), Adventures in Babysitting (1987), Cocktail (1988), Back to the Future Part II (1989), Back to the Future Part III (1990), Soapdish (1991), The Saint (1997), Hollow Man (2000), Piranha 3D (2010), Battle of the Sexes (2017), Death Wish (2018), and Greyhound (2020).

Ms. Shue was nominated for an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award for her role in Leaving Las Vegas (1995). On television, she has starred as Julie Finlay in the CBS procedural forensics crime drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation from 2012 to 2015, Madelyn Stillwell in the Amazon Prime Video series The Boys and The Boys Presents: Diabolical, and reprised her The Karate Kid role in the third season of Cobra Kai. She currently stars as “Anne” in the Netflix dramedy series On the Verge.

The Good Half

After years spent avoiding his problems, Renn Wheeland (Nick Jonas) is forced to face his greatest fear: the recent death of his mother, Lily (Elisabeth Shue). While traveling home to Cleveland for her funeral, he forges a new relationship with fellow passenger, Zoey (Alexandra Shipp), and later, heals an old one with his overbearing sister, Leigh (Brittany Snow). Together, with the help of his eager-to-connect father, Darren (Matt Walsh), an old high school friend, and a hoarder priest, Renn tries to confront his past, his problems, his step-father (David Arquette), his grief, and his new reality.

Interview

Glen Dower:

Ms. Shue, how are you?

Elisabeth Shue:

I’m good. I’m good. How are you? Thank you for covering the movie.

Glen Dower:

Absolute pleasure. So, you play Lily in The Good Half, I have to say, when you are not on screen, the film misses you. It reminded me of watching Walk the Line with Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon because it has that effect of when June is not on screen, the character Cash misses her, the film misses her, and the audience misses her.

There is a reason behind that, because, spoilers, you have passed away in the movie. You are seen through a series of flashbacks, of course. So, I just wanted to check, did you audition for the film, were you approached? Because whoever approached you deserves an extra dollar in their paycheck.

Elisabeth Shue:

Oh, well, I was approached. Robert, I think, got in touch. I think he knew one of my agents at the time, whatever. And so, I read the script. Yeah, and I got on the phone with him and I was fortunate that he thought of me because I just loved the script immediately and thought, wow, these aren’t the kind of movies that you get to see very often these days.

And my son is writing. He’s just graduated from college, and he’s writing, wants to be a writer, and he’s tutoring. So, of course, that touched me. And yeah, it just reminded me of the movies from the old days when people cared about human relationships and the subtlety of a family going through a funeral. So I was just really lucky that I got the opportunity to do it.

Glen Dower:

Yeah, for sure. Because when you’re on screen, the color palette changes and it just becomes a completely different movie. When’s Elisabeth back? I’m sure you haven’t checked YouTube comments or anything about the trailer, but I’ll sum them up for you…‘I’m here for Elizabeth.’

Elisabeth Shue:

Really? That’s amazing!

Glen Dower:

That’s right. 100%. Yeah, so kudos to you. It’s a heartbreaking film, of course. But there’s the idea of hope, and there’s that idea of not giving up once someone so close to you has passed. And that idea of regret, but not saying goodbye. Did that hit you hard as a mom as well, yourself?

Elisabeth Shue:

Definitely. I felt like that Lily’s story and how she dealt with her illness was something that I think everyone could learn from, including myself if God forbid that ever happens to me, is that it’s important, I think, for people to face those moments and want to embrace them. And she should have called Ren and said, hey, of course, I don’t want you to see me this way.

I want you to remember me the way I was. However, this is part of life, you know, get your ass over here and let’s deal. So it’s not all on him that he doesn’t participate in those, in the bad half of her life, so to speak. I think it’s also on her. And I thought that was very interesting. You know, she was very childlike in a lot of ways, her whole, you know, kleptomania and just not wanting to grow up, her choice of a second husband. I love that theme of it. I thought that was interesting.

Glen Dower:

I was going to touch on that casual kleptomania just really made me giggle. Reminding me of my mom as well. I said, Mom, what are you doing?

Elisabeth Shue:

Now I think about it whenever I go to restaurants, I think about like, what would I steal if I wanted to? But yeah, no, I enjoyed stealing gum when I was little and I got caught so it was good to learn my lesson.

Glen Dower:

And the scenes you were in, they seem, I don’t want to say light-hearted, but they seem the most improvisational. Were you given that opportunity by the director? Because it just seemed like very, very easy-going and very conversational. Were that in the script or did you have a chance to improvise as well?

Elisabeth Shue:

A little of both. Yeah. The one scene that I think we started to kind of riff on a bit was the scene at the bar. Nick and I just talking about his life and his writing, and he’s trying to convince me to get away from my second husband. Yeah, we were messing around with stuff there, but I would say the rest of the scenes are pretty, yeah, pretty strict to the script.

Glen Dower:

it’s a very touching film because you want to see true to the story, I suppose, in that way. So I just want to talk to you briefly about the other parts of your career, of course, because I’m a cinema scholar, so I’d be remiss of myself not to touch on other areas of your career, if I may. When I heard I was interviewing you, I had to be scraped off the ceiling and I went around all my friends and relatives and colleagues. And the thing was, I noticed everyone had a different movie that they loved you for. Back to the Future, Cocktail, Leaving Las Vegas, The Saint, The Hollow Man.

Elisabeth Shue:

Really?!

Glen Dower:

First of all, you are known for all these roles throughout your career. Is there one or two that you feel don’t get the love, or maybe are underrated and deserve a little bit more love and affection?

Elisabeth Shue:

Hmm, interesting. Wow, I get out all my resentment and bitterness now. I’m kidding.

Glen Dower:

Go on, let’s go.

Elisabeth Shue:

Well, one movie I like that people aren’t as aware of is Soapdish. I feel like, not my part specifically, I think my part was fine. I think I could have done a better job, but the cast in that movie is crazy. And Kevin Kline, I think is so brilliant.  Oh my gosh, he’s so brilliant. And that movie, it’s my favorite part he’s ever played. So I feel like that is one that was just amazing that people didn’t see. I would also say I love Hamlet 2. I have a small part in that.

Glen Dower:

I was going to say Hamlet 2. A colleague of mine said it’s the most underrated comedy there is.

Elisabeth Shue:

I love that. I love that movie. That movie makes me so happy. I think, yeah, just like Steve Cooley, like perfect, a perfect movie. And yet just timing, it’s always timing when things come out. And obviously, the movie business has shifted quite a bit. So those small kinds of movies are going to have a tough time. I mean, this movie might have a tough time. I would say getting out in theaters and having people come to watch in a theater might be challenging. Hopefully not, but you never know. What else? Oh my gosh, there’s so many.

A lot of movies I’m happy people haven’t seen. I’m like, oh, thank God nobody remembers that I did that one! Oh, I love Gracie. Gracie’s a movie that’s very close to me. My husband directed it. My brothers helped produce it. It was loosely based on my life as a soccer player. Those are the three that come to mind. I love the idea of young girls seeing Gracie and I like the message it has for young girls. I care about a movie getting out there just for that reason, it might be inspirational for certain people.

Glen Dower:

Perfect. Then the other side of the spectrum, of course, we have Leaving Las Vegas. I just want to run a quote that you made. ‘The darker, more complex, and emotional the part is, the easier it is for me.’ Was that the case in preparing for Sera?

Elisabeth Shue:

Yes. it’s so much easier for me to play people who are opposite from who I appear to be because I was just growing up, I never really was the way I maybe appeared to be. And however, or maybe it was just those first few parts that I played.

So it was nice to break the mold of just being one-dimensional in some ways. I mean, I guess that’s terrible to judge yourself as being one-dimensional because even ‘Ali with an I’ had some dimension. She was very upset when her radio was stolen. My favorite scene in the whole Karate Kid is when I start punching them when they try to break one. That’s really who I am. I grew up with three brothers, so I did a lot of punching! Leaving Las Vegas will always be a very special movie to me for obvious reasons.

Glen Dower:

We could just list the awards you received and nominated for we would be here all night for sure! Another area I want to talk about is your work with Robert Schwartzman as director in this film, who had made that leap from actor to director with this being his third film as director. But you also worked with Chris Columbus on his first film, all the way back with Adventures in Babysitting. What was that like?

Elisabeth Shue:

Oh, great. That was a wonderful movie to work on. Like you said, because it was his first film. I think it was the writers’ first film, and the producers, Linda Obst and Debra Hill. I think it was their first big film. Yeah, it was my first starring role. There was a real innocence about that movie and excitement that, you know, years go on that you just long for that. ‘Wow, I can’t believe I’m doing this movie. It’s so exciting!’ Each scene was so fun, terrifying, but fun. You know, Singing the Blues was just that one scene in itself was kind of just incredible to be able to have in my life. That was a special moment.

Glen Dower:

You’ve been in three, let’s say quite well-known franchises with two most recent: The Karate Kid, of course, with Cobra Kai and this little show called The Boys. Both of those franchises are coming to a close in the near future. Are you interested in how their outcome as an audience member?

Elisabeth Shue:

I would watch no matter what and I have to say I’ve watched most of Cobra Kai. I need to watch the third season. Also, I feel very fortunate that I was part of The Boys universe. I enjoyed playing that part. That was one of my favorite parts for sure.

Glen Dower:

That was a bit darker as well like you said.

Elisabeth Shue:

Yeah. It was fun to be the villain. It was fun. The twisted weird relationship I had with Homelander was awesome.

Glen Dower:

And you must have heard a recent Anthony Starr came out and said you were his childhood crush. You must have read that recently.

Elisabeth Shue:

I did read that. And he never told me that! So I thought that was funny. At first, I thought ‘Come on. You’re probably doing all these press junkets. And you’re, you’re getting bored saying the things you have to say over and over again.’ But I never knew that. He never told me that.

Glen Dower:

I guess he wouldn’t say ‘Hey Liz guess what?!’

Elisabeth Shue:

I know. I know. I’m gonna have to give him shit about that. Ha!

Glen Dower:

Yes, look, he had nothing weird to do with you in that show anyway. So it’s okay.

Elisabeth Shue:

No, he’s awesome. I’m so excited for him that that show has launched him in such a great way. It’s awesome.

Glen Dower:

I just have to ask about your death scene. Because obviously, you had no idea what it was going to look like. The audience was in shock awe and horror. What do you feel about your death scene in The Boys?

Elisabeth Shue:

I liked my death scene and thought it was very dramatic! I liked that my eyes were burnt out so that there was no possibility of me coming back alive. Although after it was a huge hit. I remember calling Eric and thinking like, well, isn’t there some way that she could have like, maybe she wasn’t killed. Maybe that was a doppelganger. At the last minute, a doppelganger was sitting there. And it wasn’t her and she had this all planned out.

Glen Dower:

Yeah, shape-shifters everywhere.

Elisabeth Shue:

I know! I was bummed that I wasn’t continuing. But he tried to remind me that it was my decision, even though I’m not sure it was. But I think it was.

Glen Dower:

You must be pleased these franchises have had an impact on your career because people may say ‘You went away for a while.’ But you have had a steady career, with film and TV roles like CSI. What would you say your position is now because I say you’re a ‘prestige player’. Now you come in, bring the quality. You have that effect now and people are excited to see you in projects again. Does that make you feel good that people felt you had a comeback? Or would you like to explain that you didn’t go away?

Elisabeth Shue:

I made movies. I made TV. Was a mom for a while. I never went away. It’s part of the plan! I’m trying to make people just want me more so that I just do a little bit of work so that they’re like, ‘Oh, we want more!’ I don’t know. I find the career in quotation marks a complete mystery, how it evolves, how it goes up and down. And I would just say at the end of the day, if you can just continue working, even if there are large breaks in between, and even if some of the films or shows don’t pan out to be what you hope they would be. I do feel like that’s kind of the goal just to keep working.

I’m happy about that. And I also feel like in some ways, it’s given me a lot of time to be a mom, to have the other aspects of my life just as full, lots of breaks, lots of time off, waiting for something exciting to do. So it’s all balanced out in the end. But yeah, of course, we all want to do better work and work with, you know, do great movies with people you want to work with. I wouldn’t be honest if I didn’t say that. I also still long for that.

Glen Dower:

What a perfect way to close. Ms. Shue, thank you so much for your time. It’s been a real pleasure. I’ve been watching your movies and TV shows for decades. You never went away for me.

Elisabeth Shue:

I do love the connection that I have with people who watch the films and that they’re generational. Younger kids now can watch The Karate Kid or Adventures in Babysitting that holds up over time. So yeah, it is a wonderful part about being an actor is connecting to the people that watch your films. So I appreciate you watching them and caring. Thank you. I’ll try my best to stay in the game.

The Good Half premiered at the Tribeca Festival on June 8, 2023. the film is scheduled to be released theatrically in the United States on July 23, 2024.

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