Kristen Stewart and Alia Shawkat on ‘The Wrong Girls’: Breaking Down Their Characters and Acting Approach

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The Wrong Girls is a stoner comedy about two codependent best friends, Frankie (Kristen Stewart) and Molly (Alia Shawkat), whose lives spiral into chaos after a case of mistaken identity.

They live paycheck to paycheck and spend much of their time getting high, until they are mistaken for other people and end up with experimental drugs that give them lingering telepathic abilities when mixed with pot. That discovery puts them in the crosshairs of dangerous rivals who want the substance for themselves.

The Wrong Girls characters might appear as overly-familiar stoner stereotypes. Kristen Stewart and Alia Shawkat discuss how they approached the outrageously hilarious script and infuse the story with character moments.

What were your initial thoughts after reading The Wrong Girls script?

Alia: When I’m reading something for the first time, sometimes I feel like the best tell of whether it’s good or not, is the pace at which you read it.

Sometimes it feels like in 20 minutes, I’m just like, boom, I got it. I know the story, I hopped right into this, and I couldn’t get up to get a glass of water because I just wanted to finish it.

And then sometimes you’re sitting there and you’re like, ‘Okay, where was I again? I’ve got to finish reading this thing. It’s really long. When it came to this script, it was such an easy, breezy, fun ride.

It just felt like I read it in one sip. I guess breaking it down when you’re actually going to make a movie is a different thing and reading it for a second or third time is another thing.

I read the script a couple more times, so you get really familiar and you notice other things that you didn’t the first time around. Sometimes I’ll highlight, sometimes I’ll circle. I also like to do more work on the character separately and then learn the script later.

Kristen: I’ve read a number of screenplays that I’ve really loved, but did not find myself in.

It’s a particular kind of call – not to make it sound overtly dramatic. It’s something that you know is in you or not; even if it feels like there’s a buried nugget within this piece that can unlock a part of you that you’re unfamiliar with, that might be a little bit harder to access. But it is in there somewhere. That’s the most exciting thing.

I think reading something for what it is to see if it’s whole and reliable is one thing, but then finding access points to your own path – things that you may want that you don’t know you want, is another. The best thing is when you’re like, ‘Oh my God, I think I can do this.’

Every movie is such an alive and different thing.

If you read it quickly, you get it. I’ve never struggled through something and then been like, ‘I think if I read it again, I’ll get it.’ Screenplays are not novels. They’re notes to people to activate them. Instead of being something that should feel impenetrable, it should feel like an invitation that you cannot ignore.

The Wrong Girls is a deep character study of friendship and sisterhood. How did you break down your characters ?

Alia: I think that at the core of Molly is she likes to have a good time and smoke some weed.

I think that she’s learned to like enjoy life in a way that might be harder for other people. I think Molly has her priorities in really good shape. She does what she loves. She’s around people she loves. Maybe she’s a little intimidated by the idea of wanting a lot more, but at the same time, I think that’s actually quite healthy. We’re all trained to want so much and it’s never enough.

I was leading into her satisfaction. She’s a really a simply-satisfied gal and she doesn’t let things get her overwhelmed. And she’s quite heart-centered.

I think she’s sensitive, so she might get hurt, but she’s just a really open kind of gal who’s having a good time. I think that was the core of living in that. I think all of us have that in us if we’re lucky.

So it was really fun to exist in her for a while. Molly and Frankie are the yin and yang of each other in a way, but I think Frankie is what sparks Molly. A lot of Molly is in reaction to Frankie because they really are two halves of one person. They’re their best when they’re around each other.

Frankie (Kristen Stewart) & Molly (Alia Shawkat) Photo courtesy of NEON

Kristen: Frankie is so crippled by all the things that you were just describing, Molly being unfazed by everything. I think they chose each other for intrinsic reasons. There’s a vital ‘filling in the blanks’ that they do for each other because it’s like when your best quality is also your worst and your worst is your best.

Frankie can be neurotic, angry and reactive. And her ambition, she just drowns in it. But then, she’s the one who has it and is hungry.

Then there’s this satiated, beautiful presence next to her going like, ‘Dude, I really believe in you.’ Molly slows her down and she speeds her up. Then they reach this perfect pace.

And if we’re going to take bookends, they pace each other out. Frankie’s totally ahead of herself. Molly can be a little bit behind.

And not in a way that’s bad. They both meet in the middle. They find stride together.

Did you reference other people in popular culture to shape your characters or was it all your workshopping?

Alia: It was definitely a mix.

I love to watch movies before I shoot something to get inspired or just to remind yourself what’s been done in that world before.

I think Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion is a great movie, just showing the friendship and how the pair are such clowns.

They’re so funny and they’re playing really dumb, but the emotional intelligence is so great. They know everything they’re playing and it’s so smart. I also really like watching Smiley Face. I thought Emma Farris’ performance is great.

There’s not a lot of opportunity, sadly, for female characters to be innocently clownish and kind of dumb. They’re facing adversity and we’re conquering it. Those roles are great. She’s smarter than the rest of us.

I feel like there’s something really refreshing about it. And edgy; just a little more forward thinking to be dumb.

Kristen: Ren and Stimpy, Beavis and Butthead and Romy and Michele.

For the first time I recently watched The Blues Brothers. There’s something about capturing two people in a frame like that.

I can feel other movies and I can feel Dylan’s [Meyer] taste and sensibilities like Repo Man and Daisies and movies that you might not think are exact comparisons, but they definitely are in there. Even Ghost Worlds.

The movies make us and then we make them. And it’s just a revolving exchange.

How did you navigate the absurdity of the premise?

Kristen: I’m annoyingly serious. I would never be able to like do anything else.

I totally believe it. I have no interest in seeming or showing like I want to experience something absurd. And so I’m there for really selfish reasons.

Sometimes you have to like fill in the blanks and tell a story. And it’s a performance. But truly, without being the most pretentious person on earth, the whole world’s a stage.

I’m definitely never messing around when I’m making a movie. I’m making memories. Big ones, stupid ones, and serious ones.

Alia: I think with comedy, you have to play it serious.

That’s how it’s funny. It has to be taken with all the characters. The world is completely taken by what’s happening. And if there’s any softness on it, or they don’t take it as seriously, the stakes aren’t as high. It’s not as funny.

You think about something like the old school classic – comedy, physical comedy. It’s like, when they’re completely unaware that something’s happening to them. And that’s just naturally really funny.

Buster Keaton doesn’t know a train is coming right for him. But we see it and he’s just completely like, ‘Is everything okay?’ It’s almost like we’re laughing because of death all the time.

And everyone’s like, ‘Look, they almost died.’ But I got to laugh at it.