'Jump, Darling' Filmmaker Phil Connell On the Power of Drag & Working with the Late Cloris Leachman

Phil Connell's "Jump, Darling" impressed audiences and swept up awards all throughout its festival run last year; now, after a brief theatrical run in the U.S., the tender, funny film heads to DVD and VOD courtesy of Breaking Glass Pictures.

The story of a Russell (newcomer Thomas Duplessie), a young, aspiring drag performer who breaks out of his familiar life and relationship in order to take a chance on his passion, "Jump, Darling" co-stars legendary film icon Cloris Leachman in her final film role. Leachman was 93 years old when she took the part of Margaret, Russell's grandmother, a strong and independent woman now facing the prospect of being relocated to an elder care facility. The self-absorbed Russell begins to find there are rewards to looking out for someone other than himself –�and among those rewards are the courage and confidence to commit himself to the creative life he's chosen, whatever the risks might be.

Writer-director Connell brings warmth, wit, and surprises to this, his feature debut, while Leachman, a veteran of seven decades as a professional entertainer, has an undeniable onscreen chemistry with Duplessie. The film's real life behind-the-scenes story is just as engaging, including the sweetest surprise ending of all: Connell and Duplessie found they, too, have a special chemistry, and are now a couple.

EDGE had a chance to chat with Phil Connell and hear about his experiences working with Cloris Leachman, diving into the world of drag, and, ultimately, falling in love.

EDGE: You've done short films, as well as TV, commercials, and music videos. Was your intention throughout your career to build up to this, your first feature?

Phil Connell: Yes, I would say that was always kind of the goal. And I would say everything leading up to that was about building up the reel and the experience so that I could eventually get there. Absolutely.

EDGE: So, when you're showing off your reel and your filmmaking ability, is it as much about convincing the talent you want as it is about obtaining the financial backing for a project?

Phil Connell: Yes and no. I would say from my specific experience that you've got to build up some kind of credibility as you go along the path to making a film and getting all the money and the people and everything else you need.

Now, the flip side of that is I wouldn't say that as I was shopping around this script and looking for people to come on to it, that there was a huge interest in seeing examples of my previous work. There were certain producers that wanted to see previous material and assess the quality of it, or the artistic voice –�you know, "Does this person have something to say? Does this person have a point of view?" In some cases we had funders and producers who came on board this particular project after we shot it, and we actually had sort of a teaser, if you will, of footage for the film [to show them]. So, yeah, I think you need to establish the track record.

EDGE: You've mentioned that the origin for the story of "Jump, Darling" was the conversations you had with your own grandmother around end-of-life issues. Do the witty, acerbic comments that Margaret makes in the film come, to some extent, from your own grandmother? Or were some of them perhaps ad libs from Cloris Leachman?

Phil Connell: The character and how she expresses herself was very much inspired by my grandmother – her tone and her manner of speaking, which provided me with no end of entertainment throughout my life, and that was something I wanted to bring to the script. Some of the way the character expresses herself definitely came from my grandmother as well.

Cloris actually did stick to the script pretty closely. There might have been a few moments here and there of ad-libbing, a bit of improv in the way she handled the material, or little moments she would share with Thomas and perform in certain scenes, but in terms of the actual words on the page she was pretty close to the script.

What was interesting about Cloris that was maybe a bit of a surprise was that she really was an actor first; she didn't really want to get involved in some of the broader questions around the production. She wasn't someone who was really questioning the direction you would give her or who wanted to negotiate what she was going to do in a scene. She wanted you to tell her where to go, where to stand, what to wear, what was happening – and not because she was 93. You got the sense that that's the way she worked. She wanted to stay in her lane. When you called action, it was like, "I am going to bring life to these moments." That was where the magic really happened –�the way she would bring life to those moments, and make them her own, and make them fresh every time.

EDGE: I got the sense watching Cloris Leachman's performance that she arrived in this role with her box full of colored pencils, and all those pencils were sharp – she just needed to know which colors you wanted her to use.

Phil Connell: I would say that that is absolutely true. She saved all of her energy for the work, and when we weren't shooting she was a little lady that you weren't sure would have the energy or fortitude or presence of mind to, you know, to step into what she was being asked to do. But then you'd call action and she would rise up, both physically and mentally and, like you say, dig into her toolkit. It was incredible to see that she was someone who just lived to do this kind of work.

EDGE: The other main character, Russell, is alienated from his family in a way that many LGBTQ people might recognize. But it's different because they haven't rejected him, and yet that gap is still there. In your mind, what was that all about?

Phil Connell: Obviously, there is a queer story in there, but it isn't the kind of classic coming out story or story of acceptance with regard to who he is. But there is a story of acceptance –�both his own acceptance and his family's acceptance – related to his commitment to a life of artistry. it isn't just the queer thing. It's about what he's choosing to do with his life, and also the fear of those around him leaving him isolated and poor and misunderstood.

His character's journey is really about finding the courage to do this thing that he wants to do, in spite of the fact that there's many people around him, his family included to some degree, [who doubt the artistic path he's chosen]. And with the weight of this family history of mental illness, with his grandfather, who was also an artist and flamed out and had addiction issues. The weight of that history is looming large over this family. So, it's like, "Can I make these life choices and not just end up just like him?"

Drag is so interesting in that regard, because it brings those two things together. If you're a drag queen, you are making the story of your queer identity to your art, and be out there performing that all the time. For me, his story is about finding the courage to do that – to bring his identity [together with] this desire to do this thing that is difficult and will be misunderstood and will be judged, and rising above that.

EDGE: It seems like Fishy Falters, Russell's drag alter ego, is a more mature and confident version of himself that he's projected, but not yet reached. She's what he's set out for himself, and what he's in the process of turning into. Is that about right, do you think?

Phil Connell: Yeah, absolutely. There definitely is this idea that Russell is wrestling with all these questions and judgments with respect to his choice to commit to drag and everything that entails. But when he tries it on, the questions go away. That's the thing, right? When he actually is doing it, he can forget about analyzing it, or thinking about it, or being crushed under the weight of what it means, and just invest in the thing. He feels great, and he feels empowered.

Some of that idea actually came from conversations I had with many drag queens when I was writing the script, and that was something that was fairly consistent that came out of those conversations – there's an empowerment factor. It comes up all the time if you watch "RuPaul's Drag Race," when Ru says, "That power you feel in drag is available to you out of drag." I think that's what that is right? It's about finding this amazing confidence.

EDGE: Did your experience making music videos come in handy for the scenes when Fishy Falters is performing, or even after hours at the bar, creating a performance for herself?

Phil Connell: Yeah, a little bit. I mean, I haven't made many music videos. I've only made a couple, really. I think it was probably more my time out on the scene, consuming drag and being around performers just generally in my life. And again, some of those conversations with drag queens, you know, like, "How do you get ready for some performances?"

[And they'd tell me,] "Literally, I throw in my earbuds and I work it out in my living room. I put together a toolkit [of ideas] so I can pull things out of the drawer while I'm on stage."

In terms of the choreography and how the scenes were going to go, most of that came from Tom. It was like, "Okay, here's the narrative quality of the scene and what we're going for, and what kind of needs to happen story wise," but in terms of the actual choreography, that was his. He would show up with pre-prepared routines and we kind of shaped them, but they were ultimately his. We needed it to feel like an artist figuring it out, trying things on, figuring out their range. It couldn't feel like this kind of professionally choreographed kind of thing.

EDGE: Drag has been an important part of the gay male experience for a long, long time –�and recently, it's become a popular art form in the mainstream, so obviously it's something everyone can appreciate. Did you get an insight for what is so attractive about this art form for a wide audience?

Phil Connell: I wouldn't say that I've gotten that insight from this process. Maybe I have just by virtue of talking about it, thinking about it a lot. When I started on the journey to make this film, and started writing the script, "RuPaul's Drag Race" was probably in Season Four or Season Five, but I wasn't really a consumer [of drag]. In those early days it wasn't the sort of franchise it is now. There was a tipping point; I don't exactly know where it was. And some of those earlier seasons, that's where Cloris was a judge on the show.

My lens on the story was consuming drag on the strip, consuming drag in the club, not the sort of glossy mainstream "RuPaul," super-polished sort of version, because that was just my experience.

I think appeal [of drag] actually goes back to the earlier part of this conversation about it being this art form that requires people to really show who they are, and bring their experience and their story and their identity directly to what they do on stage. I think people connect with that vulnerability. It is performance mixed with intense vulnerability related to one's experience and identity. The fact that it's gone mainstream, I think, has to do with the platform and RuPaul, and everything that she has achieved in terms of that show.

EDGE: You've worked in the trenches of production in different ways. Now you're making a feature film. You've had the amazing chance to work with Cloris Leachman. You found a wonderful young actor to star as the main character. It's like a filmmaker's version of a fairy tale.

Phil Connell: That's a really nice way to put it. And it is, and I have to remember that it is. There was certainly this feeling in the months leading up to production – you spend years pushing the boulder uphill, and then, eventually, it starts rolling down the other side; you're suddenly going, and it's like, "Oh my god, we're running to the shoot," and people are joining, and it's this kind of chaotic period when you're finding your cast. That whole period leading right into and through production was such a whirlwind.

Cloris and her daughter extended their stay in Toronto two or three times because they had such a wonderful time here. We had drinks with them at the hotel after we wrapped, and [kept in] touch fairly regularly. So there were these moments where it was like, "Wow, what an amazing thing, no matter what happens with this movie." You get to these times when you get down on the process and down on the distribution – the sorts of fights that never really stop for the filmmaker. It's in those moments where I have to be like, "Wait a minute. Go back and remember what you got out of this."

EDGE: What really makes it like a fable is that you and your leading man, Thomas, ended up falling in love, and now you're a couple. How unexpected was that!

Phil Connell: Thomas and I did not know each other at all going into this. The first time I met him was in his callback. The Toronto gay community is relatively small; the fact that we didn't have some connection, was unusual. It was at the wrap party where we sort of had the conversation –�kind of, "Is this just me, or is, you know..." kind of thing. Because, you know, a production is very intimate for an actor and director, and crushes happen, just like they would happen in plays, or at camp, or any of these super-intense experiences that happened briefly. It could have all been fleeting, but the answer was, "Yes." And we've been together ever since.

EDGE: Now that you are a couple, would you want Thomas as a leading man in another of your films? Or do you feel your relationship shouldn't go back to the professional realm? Will he, perhaps, be your muse?

Phil Connell: Probably all of those things have crossed my mind at different stages. I'm certainly would be very happy for him to be – and encourage him to be – a leading man in other projects, but I'd also be just as happy for him to be in one of my projects again. I think the dynamics would be different, just like if you cast a really good friend, but I'm definitely open to it. Certainly in the few months after we first [got together] it was like, "Oh, we could do a play together! We could do these other things together!" We've been so busy with other things, that hasn't happened. So, we'll see.

EDGE: The film is coming to a wider audience than it had when it was hitting all the film festivals and getting raves there. This must be an exciting time.

Phil Connell: Yeah, we're, we're thrilled. We were released in Canada a little earlier, and it's got a theatrical release in Germany right now, and has just finished in Brazil. But obviously we're very excited about the U.S. market because Cloris is an American Idol. And we're so, so proud of her performance in the film. She was 93, and it was 10 full shoot days, and she needed to carry this film. To be doing that at her age was an incredible feat. We're very proud of her, and excited for people to tune in because of that, and then, hopefully, enjoy everything else the film has to offer.

Watch the trailer to "Jump, Darling"