'The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat' cast praises Tina Mabry for taking care of them emotionally in honest, vulnerable film
"There's been a gap in the canon of movies that come out about what our friendships look like," Tina Mabry said
A true love story about female friendship shines in the film The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat (now on Disney+ in Canada), based on the book by Edward Kelsey Moore. Directed and co-written by Tina Mabry, starring Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Uzo Aduba, Sanaa Lathan, Tati Gabrielle, Kyanna Simone and Abigail Achiri, there's a authenticity to the way friendship is portrayed in this story that particularly appealed to the women involved.
"From the moment that I read it I was like, 'Oh my God. I see my friends. I see myself. I see my aunt, I see my granny,' grandma for some people who aren't in the south," Mabry told Yahoo Canada. "I saw women, and powerful women, that were in my life, and showcased in a way of, what does it look like to have a love story between friends? And that's really what I wanted to do."
"We haven't had films like Fried Green Tomatoes or Steel Magnolias or Waiting to Exhale in a very long time, and there's been a gap in the canon of movies that come out about what our friendships look like, and that also goes into the sense of what chosen family looks like."
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The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat operates in different timelines. The origin story of the friendship between young Odette (Simone), Clarice (Achiri) and Barbara Jean (Gabrielle) begins in 1968, when Odette and Clarice help Barbara Jean escape her abusive stepfather after her mother's death, with the help of local diner owner Big Earl (Tony Winters). All these women came into the world in "out of the ordinary" circumstances, and created a bond that endured for decades.
Achiri highlighted that while many stories centred around women and their friendships are very "vanilla" in films, not particularly complex, that wasn't the case for The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat.
"I love the fact that Odette and Clarice had very different, polarizing views, but in friendships that happens, we're not always going to agree," Achiri said. "I think just that rawness and that honesty of conversations that women are having is what really drew me to the film and to the character."
"The honesty, the thoroughness of these women's lives, Tina did not shy away from any ugly part," Gabrielle added. "To look at a lifetime in so many facets, ... it's not something that you get to see a lot in films."
"I think this film allows women to be validated in a very strong way that you don't get to see often, especially in today's time."
'I really don't think we become childless cat ladies'
In the later timeline, taking us through to 1999, we see older Odette (Ellis-Taylor), Clarice (Aduba) and Barbara Jean (Lathan), and the evolution of their friendship that has taken them through personal tragedies, falling in love, motherhood, racism, traumatic events and health concerns.
The scenes in The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat range from intensely emotional to laugh-out-loud funny, exemplifying Mabry's commitment to showing the full scope of people and their relationships, but also allowing actors of different ages to have fulfilling stories and character arcs to sink their teeth into.
"We go from being a leading lady, and you're in your 20s, and you get monikered, 'Oh, you're attractive. You're a sex symbol.' You hit 36 and above, and then they say, 'We'll see you at 60, when you're a grandma.' And it's like, what happens in between?" Mabry stressed. "I don't think we disappear. I really don't think we become childless cat ladies. Nothing is wrong with that, love a cat, ... but the thing is, why are we invisible at that point?"
"These are three phenomenal actresses. You've got an Academy Award nominee, you've got an [Emmy winner], another Emmy nominee. You've got women who have been doing this for 20, 30 years of their career, true thespians, and it's like, where's the material for them? There's a gap. I wanted to make sure that, not only were we needing of telling stories of women in this age range, but more importantly, providing very good material for these women to sink their teeth in and show what they can do."
'You can do your job and not be in a toxic environment'
In order for actors to execute incredibly heartfelt, emotional and vulnerable scenes, they have to work in an environment where they feel safe and "empowered" to go to those places emotionally for those characters. For Mabry, that safety and trust was something that was incredibly important to have on set.
"You cannot make a film about this kind of honesty without creating a safe environment, because that means you've got to be vulnerable, and there's no way you're going to ever be vulnerable when you don't feel safe, you don't feel supported," Mabry said. "It is my responsibility to make sure that one, everyone is equal, everyone is seen, everyone is heard, and also that you can do your job and not be in a toxic environment."
"Let's not forget the joy that we have. Somehow we're convincing people to pay us to make movies and we're so miserable sometimes because of our work environment, of not being supported, of not feeling you have the luxury to fail or take a misstep. You're on my set, you're going to always feel empowered. You're going to feel like you can say something, your creative input is warranted, and it doesn't matter if it's coming from my cast or it's coming from my crew, you will be heard. You will be uplifted and no one will ever stand on you to make themselves feel tall."
The director stressed that it's those elements that happen behind-the-scenes that really get reflected on screen in the final product.
"You may not feel safe in this world, because this world does that for us as women at times, it does feel very predatory, we're very ignored, but as long as I can make sure that as long as I'm behind the camera and I'm directing, or I'm writing, that not only will you be seen, you will be protected, so that you can do your best work," Mabry said. "But more importantly, so you can go home at night and not be psychologically scarred."
"I think you can see when you take care of people emotionally, you take care of them physically, they're able to do their best work, and you get to have fun doing it. I think we forget to smile, have some joy, have a good time, and the fact that we were able to tell a story that had some very hard scenes to go through, we laughed for 30 days. ... It was the most laughter with the most tears on camera that I think I've ever had, but that's something that's really a testament to the crew and the cast that we were able to assemble."
As Simone described, Mabry "truly cared" about everyone on the production.
"She came from a place of nurturing, a place of love and passion," Simone said. "There were times where we would have very intense scenes and we're low on time, ... but Tina's like, 'Everybody come in,' and we all hold hands. She's like, ... 'I need you to be okay.'"
"That's something that I personally don't really get to experience, but she had that human connection. ... I think that's what made it all work."
"She shielded us from the pressures that were coming from just being on set, and it was very important to her that we felt safe," Achiri added. "As the actor, at least for me, sometimes I'm so in my head about getting it right and I remember when I was [playing] the piano [Tina] just came up to me and said, 'Abigail, you're just playing a song to somebody that you love and miss.' And it just brought me back to the reality of the moment."
"I felt so emotionally safe to go there, because she was inviting me to take her there. And then we got the cut and she was just like, 'OK moving on.' It was never a situation of like, 'I just want to see this again and again and again,' it was like, 'We're moving on. I got what I need. Do you feel good as well?'"
Gabrielle echoed Simone and Achiri's comments, saying that Mabry really created a "place of safety."
"She wanted us to be as human as possible and so she came as human as possible with us," Gabrielle said. "She led with heart, which made us have to lead with heart, there was no other choice."
