Actor on the Rise: A Talk with Sam Littlefield on 'Mother's Little Helpers'

It's always thrilling to see exciting new faces on the cinema screen, even more so when they turn out to be incredibly talented. And when they can also wear different creative hats successfully, well, that's rare and something to cheer about.

Such is the case with the team behind the new indie film, "Mother's Little Helpers," starring Kestrin Pantera (who also directed), Milana Vayntrub (a co-producer), Breeda Wool (an executive producer), Sam Littlefield (a co-producer) and Melanie Hutsell (another co-producer). All five actors, who play siblings and mom, respectively, are credited with co-writing the film as well. And they're all rather sublime, achieving the kind of honest ensemble acting one rarely sees anymore.

The film world premiered at SXSW in 2019 and went on to screen at OutFest.

For more information, visit the film's website.

The story came from a real family death that Pantera experienced. That was the springboard for the narrative that focuses on four estranged siblings who reunite at their dying mother's home and must now deal with lingering familial demons mostly brought on by the mendacious matriarch.

One of the standouts in the stellar group of thesps is Sam Littlefield who, as Jude, a queer recovering addict with obligatory Grindr compulsions, manages the remarkable feat of complimenting his terrific fellow actors while also stealing every scene he's in.

As producer and writer, Littlefield's short film "Plus One" premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2009 and his stage show, "Extropia" bowed in L.A. in 2010.

In addition to his work in indie shorts and features (Offer Egozy's fascinating film "Fantastic," among his credits) and a variety of TV stints, the Los Angeles-based actor can currently be seen as the villainous Mouse in the CW's "Batwoman" series.

EDGE recently had the pleasure of speaking with Littlefield.

Playing siblings

EDGE: You and your fellow actors are all credited with co-writing the screenplay and I was curious about how this endeavor came together.

Sam Littlefield: Well, Kestrin called all of us basically, like, a week before filming and she said, "I can't pay you, I want to make a movie..." So we all put our heads together. She had this beautiful layout of the basic fundamentals of the story and we got in there and we worked out the script. For the most part, it's improvised. And Kestrin was generous enough – it's a little silly because you'd think that people would do it more often – but she was generous enough to give us all equal writing credit. And that's a testament to her and how she operates.

EDGE: Was there any rehearsal time or did you just plunge right in?

Sam Littlefield: We didn't really have time. It was just a "slap happy, throw yourself in, get wet and see what gets made" (project). I think there was one week of pre-production. And then we filmed for like nine days. I'd never made a film like this before and it was so fun. I was just so inspired by [the] other actors.

EDGE: There was great chemistry between you and the actors who played your sibs. Did you all know one another beforehand?

Sam Littlefield: I knew Kestrin. And I knew Breeda a little bit. But [with] everyone else, this was the beginning of our friendship.

That gay sex scene

EDGE: I loved how Jude's being gay was not the central focus of his character. Did you have any input with that?

Sam Littlefield: I don't know if that was something I necessarily fought for. There were a lot of things that I fought for along the way...There was some show back in the '90s about a Spanish family. And I remember the mother saying please don't ever say that we're Spanish. They see it, they feel it and they experience it. We don't need to be exploitative about these things. And I feel the same way. I think that just in the dynamics of the family and the dynamics of him specifically with his mother, it's latent within there and you don't need to draw focus to it necessarily. I mean there is that gay sex scene. (Laughs)

EDGE: (Laughs) I was going to bring that up actually, because it's so real and it's so hilarious at the same time.

Sam Littlefield: Well, thank you. That scene was my idea. (Laughs) But when we were filming it there were some angles that we shot it at and I was like, 'Kestrin, if you use that footage, we are no longer friends.' And we're still friends, so... (Laughs)

EDGE: I'm surprised to hear the film was mostly improvised because it feels so scripted but in a way that makes it appear like it was improvised, if that makes sense?

Sam Littlefield: Absolutely. I was quarantined with my sister and she and her husband wanted to watch the movie again. And I was watching it and I was like, I cannot believe that this was improvised. It just all seemed very specific and carefully laid in -all of the exposition and everything...

EDGE: Did your process meld with Kestrin's?

Sam Littlefield: They absolutely melded. She approaches her whole life with a very generous spirit. I feel like the main rule she laid out for all of us was, I really just want you to bring you. We were really all the specialists of our characters. Any time we wanted to try something she was always like, 'yeah try it.' She, very much, has an editor's mind so she's constantly thinking, 'how can I make this work within the construct of the scene and the construct of the film?' She just has a 'game on' approach which was so liberating and artistically nourishing.

Playing Mouse

EDGE: What was the OutFest experience like last year?

Sam Littlefield: It was so wonderful. Breeda and I both have a long history with OutFest so it's very near and dear to our hearts. And after going to South By (Southwest] it was just kind of a consensus that we had to get into OutFest, so we just pulled out every stop because it just felt like the perfect home for our west coast premiere... This whole experience has just been so wonderful. I am so grateful for the relationships and the experience making this film. I'm feeling liberated and just excited.

EDGE: Tell me about your role in the CW's "Batwoman."

Sam Littlefield: I play Mouse. He is a very complicated character, incredibly complicated–surprising that network television even allotted for such an interesting and dynamic person that I was getting to know throughout the course of the season, myself... People consider him to be a villain but I think that he's just go such a dynamic background... These next episodes, when the scripts came in it was continually delightful and exciting.

EDGE: Exciting things seem to abound for you right now, pandemic notwithstanding. What are your feelings about where you are career-wise?

Sam Littlefield: 2019 was such a–the world opened up for me and I experienced a level of visibility that I hadn't really before then. I experienced the fruits of having a platform to stand on and to share my stories and my ideas and all the things that I've been working on my entire life. And I guess I just hope I am able to continue that in whatever way I can.

"Mother's Little Helpers" was released on all major streaming platforms on May 5.

For more information about "Mother's Little Helper," visit the film's website.

Watch the trailer to "Mother's Little Helpers":