Interview: Megan Park and Maisy Stella on ‘My Old Ass’
Megan Park’s sophomore feature, My Old Ass, hit Sundance this year with a bang, earning glowing reviews and solidifying her status as one of the freshest new voices in filmmaking. Starring Maisy Stella and Aubrey Plaza, the film follows 18-year-old Elliott Labrant (Stella) as she navigates her final summer on her parents’ cranberry farm before college—only to be interrupted by a hallucinatory apparition of her future self (Plaza), warning her not to fall in love. But Elliott’s best intentions unravel when she meets the one person her future self warned her about.
For Park, the idea for My Old Ass came naturally, born out of a situation where she found herself having to sleep in her childhood room during the pandemic. However, where other films would have chosen to make Elliott’s future self the entry point of the film, My Old Ass instead chooses to focus on the younger version of Elliott, allowing the audience to see the events unfold from her point of view. “It happened organically,” Park says of her decision to make the younger Elliott the main character of the film. “It just felt like a lighter headspace to be in for most of the film, this youthful headspace.”
For star Maisy Stella, My Old Ass was more than just another project—it was the perfect vehicle for her return to acting after her role on Nashville, the musical drama series that kickstarted her career. Stella hadn’t acted in anything after Nashville concluded in 2018 aside from a voice acting role in Netflix series Spirit Riding Free. She had, however, started auditioning for projects, which is how she first came across Parks.
“I had met Megan through [Parks’ directorial debut] The Fallout,” she says. “I had taped for that and then my sister [Lennon Stella] and I ended up writing a song for that. I just had a very strong knowing feeling that it [would be] Megan that [would be my] re-entry [into film]. I just wanted it to be with Megan. It literally could have been anything that she had made.” Stella stresses that it wasn’t just the project, but the filmmaker herself who felt like the right fit. “I just felt really connected to her and felt really safe,” she says of her experience auditioning for The Fallout and subsequently writing a song for the film. “I just had a really strong gut feeling that we were going to work together at some point.”
Stella lights up when she talks about the script, which she says hooked her immediately. “When I read the script for it, I was just beside myself,” she gushes. “I really, really loved it so much. It was such an undeniably perfect script. Anyone that read it just immediately latched onto it.”
It’s not just the writing that drew her in—it was also the opportunity to work alongside Aubrey Plaza, who plays the older version of Elliott in the film. “If you had asked me, ‘Who would be your actual number one dream person to do this?’ It would be Aubrey,” she says. “I have adored her forever. I admire her so much. All of it was such a dream.”
My Old Ass might center on Elliott’s journey, but it’s the film’s exploration of universal themes like self-discovery, love, and growing up that gives it its broader appeal. Park notes that while Elliott’s story is intensely personal, it will also strike a chord with anyone who may have navigated the tumultuous waters of adolescence – regardless of which generation they may come from. “Even though it’s sort of primarily younger Elliott’s journey,” she explains. “It also really is older Elliott’s story and ultimately takeaway in a weird way, or lesson to learn at the end.”
My Old Ass is now playing in theaters.
Ahmad W.
Aspiring critic and poster designer.