On Emile Hirsch's outdoor locations and physical stunts

“ I wasn’t jealous. I mean I would be down for most of that but not jealous that he got to do it, no. It’s definitely inspiring.”

“Sean shoots a lot. A lot of our stuff isn’t done in blocks of scenes. It’s like a montage. You have to create those moments from the beginning but there’s a lot of just me and Emile hanging out.”

On the music aspect to her character

“ But it was one of the most creatively-freeing experiences. Music is one of the most emotionally expressive things you can do. If I’m not feelin’ it, I can’t sing. Those two nights [where she sings for a crowd in the film], something was going on. It’s not always you can give that much. But, yeah, it’s intimidating. I went in and played "Blackbird” for him. That’s a hard song to sing to. I’m not a singer. I can play it but he was really funny about it. He asked me if I didn’t want him to look at me. "Do you want me to turn around?” "No, you have to see it.” But, I’d never done anything like that. It takes a guy like Sean to make you come to it and pump out the words.”

On the song with Emile

“ I pre-recorded it with Emile and that was the only rehearsal time. But, once we got to set, Sean was like, "You know we have the mics set up and it’s so much cooler if you guys just do it.” But, no full out rehearsal. He’s not into rehearsal. That stuff should happen naturally.”

On Emile Hirsch

“ We hung out. Where we were, it was very isolated so you kind of hang out with each other because there’s no one else around. We were really shooting at Slab City. I cared a lot about the scenes we had to do. It’s short and sweet but kind of packed. There’s a lot in it. Emile is one of the most confident actors I’ve ever worked with. He’s like "Don’t worry. Don’t think about it until he calls ‘action.’” Just let it happen, really impulsive. We had long conversations because we had so much time to kill but it wasn’t specifically about our little story.”

On director Sean Penn

“ He’s a man of few words but just the most communicative. There’s a very unspoken thing about him. You are all there for the same reason, all invested and it’s very clear that’s all a part of his grand plan. He always says that he doesn’t pull performances out of actors but he puts you somewhere where you are comfortable enough with yourself to be able to give that much. It’s not always like that on set. You’re not always too clear about the story you are telling or who you’re playing or the other actors that you’re with but it was very cohesive. He’s the most gentle guy. It’s easy to give him what he wants. You have a driving force. He cares so much about it. He told me, "I specifically want you.” He hires people that he trusts. You can’t lie to Sean. He was good at clearing your head.”

“I feel like my character has lived there her whole life. She’s never really been anywhere else. Those people don’t really live very differently from the way we do or I do. They are just away. I sort of follow from right here [she indicates her heart]. That’s sort of what leads me and the same with them. I don’t feel like I need to get away from something. I’ve always been given as much freedom as I need so it’s not something that I fight for but, under different circumstances, I have that spirit in me.”

On Emile's character

“ I think he becomes a lot of different things. I talk to a lot of people who have read the book who are just super frustrated or there are people who actually felt a strong connection with him and could relate to what pushed him to do what he did but, ultimately, they are frustrated with decisions that he made, what he could have done differently. What I like about the movie is it comes full circle. At the end, what pushed him in the beginning, he doesn’t necessarily agree with at the end. He’s brave, not just brave though. It definitely says something about the way he was brought up. I relate to him on many different levels. I just don’t know if I’d be pushed to do something as radical as what he does.”