Interview: Barbara Stepansky (2013 Nicholl Winner, 2013 Black List) — Part 3
Barbara Stepansky’s original screenplay “Sugar in My Veins” not only won the filmmaker a 2013 Nicholl fellowship, it also landed on the 2013 Black List, so I was excited when she agreed to do an interview to see what we could learn from this talented young filmmaker.
Today in Part 3, Barbara delves into the main characters in “Sugar in My Veins” and the process of writing the script:
Scott: Let’s talk about your key characters. Jillian is the protagonist. How would you describe this 14-year old childhood prodigy?
Barbara: She’s incredibly intelligent. She’s super headstrong and has this strong will of making things happen percolating inside of her. At the same time, she’s a very quiet girl. She doesn’t talk to that many people, and has no friends.
Scott: How about Sarah, her older sister? How would you describe her?
Barbara: Sarah is more like your typical next-door-girl type character. She’s kind and romantic. She wants the fairy tale romance. She hasn’t realized her potential yet. Sadly enough in the script, she really doesn’t. Some people are doomed to remain a certain way, and Sarah just never believed in herself enough.
Scott: How about Ray?
Barbara: Ray is also intelligent, but kind of emotionally stunted. He never had a long-term relationship and may have some intimacy issues. The idea was that here comes this grownup character, but emotionally he matches her age. He also went through some trauma in his early teenage years, an accident that pulled him out of commission for about two years. So he feels like he’s always still playing catch-up.
Scott: Jillian and Sarah’s parents are Norbert and Ellen. How would you describe them, and their function as characters in this story?
Barbara: To me, Norbert is pretty much your antagonist in this story but I tried to write him so that you could understand where he was coming from. He thinks his daughter has emotional issues. He wants the best for her, but he has also no artistic ambition or ability to recognize that. He doesn’t support her talent and his political career is the thing that he cares about the most at the moment.
Very early on in Jillian’s childhood, Ellen makes a big mistake of making that truce with her husband of not especially supporting her and her abilities, because they both want a normal childhood for her. She has the biggest regrets about that at the end.
Scott: Ray’s mother is Charlotte. She is basically into a pretty advanced stage of Alzheimer’s. How would you describe her?
Barbara: Her character is almost like the person that Jillian could become if nobody helps. She helps us understand where Ray is coming from and that he’s actually a really nice guy. He takes care of his Mom.
So she fulfills two functions in this story of helping us out with sympathy towards Ray, but also giving perspective to a young girl that has the same potential she once had.
Scott: Finally, there’s Tyler. He’s this younger fellow, who he seems to be setup as a potential love-in for Jillian.
Barbara: Tyler is the guy you would like to see her with, because they’re a perfect fit age-wise and even intellectually. You could see them together, a cute teenage couple. At the same time, he’s not what Jillian wants at all. Look, I not to spoil the read but I just didn’t want Ray to take her virginity. I needed somebody else to do that job so that it didn’t feel like such a big breech when they finally have sex.
Scott: How did that particular cast of characters emerge in your story crafting process?
Barbara: The triangle of Jillian, Ray and Sarah were always were there, as were the parents. Charlotte and Tyler were very new additions, mostly because I needed characters to fulfill a plot or emotional function whenever something wasn’t working.
It’s never a good idea to add more characters to fix plot problems but in this case it worked. I needed their lives feel a little richer. The script went through a lot of changes. There’s a draft where Ray was actually in a rock band. So there was a whole band of characters to introduce, because they were all playing together.
However, that band was taking over the plot to such an extent that I couldn’t leave it in. I didn’t want it be a music film only, and that’s what it would have become.
Scott: How long did it take you to write the script that you actually submitted to the Nicholl’s Competition? How many drafts do you figure you wrote in that time?
Barbara: I think this was my fifth draft. It took me about one and a half years to write it, including all the rewrites. I wasn’t happy with it until I submitted it to the Nicholl Fellowship. The kernel of the idea I’ve had for a long time. There’s actually a 2002 draft lying around, that I just didn’t touch for nine years.
Tomorrow in Part 4, Barbara elaborates on some of the key themes and moments in the script “Sugar in My Veins.”
For Part 1, go here.
Part 2, go here.
Please stop by comments to thank Barbara for taking the time for the interview and post any follow-up questions you may have.
Barbara is repped by ICM Partners and Hertzberg Media.
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