‘I wasn't going to show the violence': S.F.-raised Eva Victor on ‘Sorry, Baby'
But first, Victor, who uses they/she pronouns, demanded perfect attendance during a Q&A on Tuesday, July 1, after a crowded screening at the Alamo Drafthouse New Mission theater of ' Sorry, Baby,' which Victor wrote, directed and stars in.
'Good night!' Victor said to laughter as a couple was walking out just as the discussion got started. 'If you leave, I will call you out, it will be horrible for you. Don't leave!'
Victor, best known for a recurring role in the Showtime series ' Billions,' is trained as a comedian; they have performed at SF Sketchfest when they were with the satirical website Reductress and was very entertaining as they discussed 'Sorry, Baby.'
But while the movie has sharply funny moments, it is a serious and unique drama about Agnes (Victor), a woman processing a sexual assault — called 'the bad thing' — and her life-saving friendship with Lydie (Naomi Ackie of ' Blink Twice ' and ' Mickey 17 ').
While Victor insists the film, which counts Barry Jenkins (' Moonlight ') as a producer, is 'narrative fiction,' it is based on an incident they experienced and admitted to the audience, 'I made this film about a time and experience when I felt very unheard, and it means the world for you to be here and listen to what I have to say.'
Hours earlier, during a Chronicle interview at the 1 Hotel, Victor said, 'I really wanted to write a film about trying to heal. … It was a real joy to fictionalize an emotional truth in my life.'
Victor was born in Paris, but their family moved to San Francisco when they were 2. They went to the International School from kindergarten through 12th grade before going to theater school at Northwestern University.
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
A: When I was a kid, we lived in the Marina, and my favorite place to go was on a walk to Crissy Field, go to the Warming Hut, get a cup of cocoa. That's a nice spot.
Q: Did you enjoy school?
A: It broke my brain, and I still don't know if I've recovered. The best part of it was my junior year of high school. I started doing theater, and that was amazing because (Berkeley-based actor) Michelle Haner was my teacher, and I was in 'Spring Awakening,' the musical, and my director was Brad Korman. They were both incredibly supportive teachers and treated me like an adult and took me seriously. And that made me want to go to theater school as a college student. So I'm very grateful for them.
Q: How in touch are you with your French heritage?
A: I would love to get French citizenship. Once I got a job on a TV show, I got to have a little more money so I could go to France. I feel very, very connected to Paris. It was very fun to go to the Cannes Film Festival (in May). I think it's beautiful, and I would love to spend more time there.
Q: Your previous directorial experience consists mainly of comic videos you made on social media. How did you come to direct 'Sorry, Baby'?
A: It was definitely intimidating. I didn't want something to get lost in me taking on too much. I wrote this really privately, just in a house by myself with my cat, and I was desperate for someone to read it, like I didn't want to be alone with it. I really wanted to act in the role, and I thought, 'Well, we can hire someone to direct it.'
Then I went to think about it for a month or so and quickly realized I desperately wanted to direct it. I just needed to figure out how. So I spent a couple of years preparing to direct in various ways.
I knew how I wanted it to look and feel. I just needed to learn how to communicate that to heads of department, who will then ideally challenge you on your vision. The nice thing about directing the film is you spend a lot of time building the film with other people, and then you shoot it and direct it. It's like this really long journey of creation together.
Q: A key casting choice was who would play Lydie. How did you find Naomi?
A: We met, and she was just such a warm ray of light. I'd seen ' Lady Macbeth ' (2016) and the Whitney Houston movie (2022's ' Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody '). I was so overwhelmed by how goofy she was. The universe sent her to me, and on set, it just clicked.
Q: You chose not to show 'the bad thing' but instead show her walking into the place where it happened, then later walking out. Why?
A: I always knew I wasn't going to show the violence. It was for a person like I was who couldn't sit through a film like that; it would turn my body into shock mode, and I didn't want to put anyone through that.
Her body goes in, but I don't think her spirit does. I think this might be more of a memory of what that experience was like. It's frozen and disconnected. So it's kind of out of body.
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