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Clea DuVall Reunites with Cheerleaders Natasha Lyonne & Melanie Lynskey in Her Directorial Debut
Clea DuVall wrote, directed, and stars in The Intervention, a film that reflects her sexuality as she sees it.
We've been keeping an eye on Clea DuVall since her early beginnings in 1998's B-horror The Faculty to 2012's Oscar-winning Argo. Our favorite, of course, is the now-cult But I'm a Cheerleader, in which DuVall played the love interest to Natasha Lyonne's conflicted protagonist. Their love scene in that movie still stands as one of the most intimate and beautiful scenes between two women.
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Now, DuVall has reunited with two co-stars from that film, Lyonne and Melanie Lynskey, in her new movie The Intervention, which is also her feature writing and directing debut.
The film, which follows four couples on an eventful weekend retreat, received favorable reviews at Sundance, with Cosmosaying it "feels like a modern version of The Big Chill." DuVall counts Lyonne among her close friends, so it was natural for the pair to work together again, appearing onscreen as lovers for the second time.
At a recent panel, DuVall discussed how the film came about, and how directing it was not her initial intention. The character actress, whose memorable face gives an extra edge to the roles she chooses (like her current run as Marjorie on Veep, in which she plays Julia Louis-Dreyfus's lesbian bodyguard), says she "didn't feel like anybody would be able to tell that story the way I wanted it told."
DuVall also talked about her career choices: "I always look for women who are not the kind of stereotypical women, because generally in TV or film, the woman is there because of the man or for the man, and there is a real gender role thing at play there that in my life is not interesting to me, obviously."
"I don't think I'm the best person to represent that on-screen," she adds. "I really identify with the feeling of being 'other.' And those are the characters that I'm really drawn towards, because I just think they're more complicated and they're more interesting."
DuVall says she's finally embracing her sexuality on her own terms, and as an actress. "I've played a lot of gay characters, but I haven't really played a gay character that is gay in a way that is the gay that I feel like I am, if that makes sense," she says.
We think it does!
The Intervention, which opens next week's Outfest in Los Angeles, hits theaters August 26.
