Summary

• Location of the bones
  offers a feminist approach to the Western genre with complex female characters and a refreshingly different perspective.
• Heather Graham discusses with her acting coach the challenges of filming on location and building her character’s backstory for a more informed performance.
• Graham also shares her hopes for a return to the
  Twin Peaks
  franchise and uncertainty about the fate of her character after the cliffhanger ending of the second season.

Heather Graham returns to the Western genre with Location of the bonesGraham has explored a variety of genres throughout her acclaimed career, from her early work in Gus Van Sant’s crime drama Drugstore Cowboy to Jon Favreau’s buddy comedy Swingersthe surreal mystery show by David Lynch and Mark Frost Twin Peaksand Mike Myers’ Austin Powers – Spy in secret missionary positionamong others. These include two earlier attempts in the Western genre, namely the well-received drama based on a true story The Ballad of Little Jo and the Sam Worthington-led The Last Son.

Graham plays the lead role in Location of the bones as Pandora, a woman living with her daughter on a remote ranch, mourning the death of her husband and struggling to provide a meaningful life for them both on the harsh frontier. Her quiet life is turned upside down by the arrival of Calhoun, a wounded outlaw on the run from a gang after a bank robbery goes wrong and several of his gang members are killed. As she carefully tends to his wounds, Pandora and her daughter must prepare for a possible confrontation with the gang’s ruthless leader.

In addition to Graham, the ensemble Location of the bones Cast includes The Umbrella Academy Alumnus Tom Hopper as gang leader Bear John, Corin Nemec as Calhoun, Brielle Robillard as Pandora’s daughter Hester and Cowboy Cerrone as a member of Bear John’s gang. She never died Director Ashley Cummings offers a refreshing, female-led approach to the Western genre in the style of Viggo Mortensen’s The dead don’t hurtand also offers a surprising twist at the end.

In honor of the release of the film Screen Rant interviewed Heather Graham to discuss Location of the bonesa feminine approach to the Western genre, the unique challenge of shooting the film on location, the joy of working with new young actress Brielle Robillard and her thoughts on her Twin Peaks Fate and possible future.

Location of the bones Offers something “Really rare“In the Western genre

“The female characters are really complicated and interesting.”

Screen Rant: Heather, it’s great to see you again and talk to me Location of the bones. It’s really quite a refreshing take on the Western genre, as it has a very feminist feel to it. What made you interested in the project and wanting to be involved in it?

Heather Graham: It’s great to see you back, too. Thanks for talking to me about this. I love the script and I like that it’s a woman’s story and we had a woman director, Audrey Cummings. The female characters are really complicated and interesting and we see the film from their perspective, which I think is really rare in the Western genre.

The location of the ranch in the film was “Really uncomfortable“Filming in

If I read correctly, this film was shot in Los Angeles, but it is very reminiscent of the old westerns where they were shot in the desert, in the middle of nowhere. Can you tell me a bit about filming on location?

Heather Graham: Yeah, we were in the middle of nowhere. I actually stayed there overnight. It was kind of near Magic Mountain, but we were on this ranch and honestly we were freezing our butts off. It was really uncomfortable, but you can imagine what it would have been like living in those times when there was no heat and no water and you were just trying to survive.

Graham developed her character’s backstory with her acting coach to improve her performance

What I love about your character is that so much of your backstory is hidden. Other than the death of your husband and the mention of a father figure, nothing is really told explicitly. How much did you discuss with Ashley and the writer before and during filming to figure out who this character really is?

Heather Graham: Well, I have this amazing acting teacher. I want to give credit to her, her name is Warner Loughlin, and together we made up all of my memories from my backstory. I made up these really vivid memories of what happened, you know, I had this abusive father in my backstory, and I just fell in love with my husband and he died, and just my daughter growing up. So I made up a complete story that kind of made me who I am, which was really fun and creative.

Graham tried to create a “Supportive, loving, good presence” For Robillard on set

Speaking of your daughter, I’d love to hear about working with Brielle and building a relationship with her because there really is this sense of teenage angst between the two of you, but also love and care between the two of you.

Heather Graham: Yeah, she’s a great character because in some ways she’s just frustrated with me, but in other ways we really love each other and it’s fun. She’s new, she’s young. She hasn’t worked on that much stuff, so she’s just so excited. It reminds me of myself when I first started, and you’re just so happy to be working on a movie and how much you love acting, and it just reminds you of that pure joy of, “Oh, it’s so exciting to be in a movie.”

Was there perhaps a little nugget of wisdom that you shared with her that you hope will benefit her in future projects?

Heather Graham: I hope I was just a supportive, loving, good presence for her so she could do her best work. Because the story is really about our love for each other and my desire to protect her. And I think watching the film last night and her performance, I taught her to be that tough bada – you know, so we’re both these tough badass types. We have a lot in common in some ways.

Graham hopes to do more action after that Location of the bones

“I just got a new job where I have to do a lot of fight scenes.”

Speaking of tough guys, as the film progresses it gets really exciting and you become part of the action. There’s obviously a difference between modern action filming and action filming from that era and I’d love to hear how that compares for you?

Heather Graham: Well, we had a great cinematographer, Andrzej Sekula, who shot Pulp Fiction. He did some really cool western-style shots where you’re up against somebody else. It’s fun to run around, shoot guns and fall over. I love it, I haven’t actually done that much action in my career and I’d love to do more. In fact, I just got a new job where I have a lot of fight scenes, so I’m excited. It’s actually like a horror thriller, action comedy. It’s called They Will Kill You and I get to fight with Zazie Beetz. We have some pretty cool fight scenes.

Graham is ready for a Twin Peaks Returns (and asks fans for help)

Before I let you go, I am also a big Twin Peaks fan, and in the years since, I’m still searching for a proper answer for Annie on screen. I know Mark Frost has a book out that gives an answer, but I’d love to hear what you think about what happened to Annie and what you think about her coming back if they find a way to bring her back.

Heather Graham: It’s so cool that people love this show so much, and I’m a huge fan too. I wish my character was still alive, and I wish I could be in more of the Twin Peaks stuff. I think it was the question, “Did she die?” But I would love to come back to life and be in more Twin Peaks stuff. (laughs) I want to hear about the book. I’ve never actually read it. I want to be brought back to life. Let’s get it out there!

More about Location of the bones

On a remote ranch, a mother (Heather Graham) and her daughter struggle to survive when a wounded outlaw seeking refuge brings a notorious bank robber and his ruthless gang to their doorstep, desperate to recover a stolen fortune, in this action-packed horror western.

Location of the bones will be released in theaters and via VOD on August 23rd.

Source: Screen Rant Plus