Eva Hassmann is the writer, director producer and star of the new drama Willie and Me where she plays Greta Weingarten, a German housewife who is trapped in a stagnant marriage. One evening while serving her successful but bland husband dinner, she hears a radio announcement about Willie Nelson’s farewell concert. Through his music, she is transported back to her disjointed childhood. Greta is suddenly overwhelmed by the need to see Willie Nelson and will do whatever it takes to be at his last concert in Las Vegas. She takes off to America, leaving behind the husband and comfortable life she knows. With everything against her but so much ahead, she realizes that the return ticket becomes her heaviest piece of luggage.
Eva stopped by to chat about the film.
Where did the idea of Willie and Me come from initially?
The idea was coming really, kind of spontaneously when I started to listen to Willie again, after I stopped listening to him as a child. Then I told a friend of mine about the story I want to write, and she urged me saying “you have to write that down” so, yeah, that’s how it came together.
You wrote, directed, starred and produced it; how did you find wearing so many hats for the movie?
You know what? It kind of happened because I had a producer and the financing and that all fell apart. Then to make the film I also needed to learn producing and so more and more came together. First, I just wanted to direct and act in it and then producing came up on top to make it happen.
What was the process for writing the script?
It was very intuitive I would say and emotional because it’s kind of a biography of my childhood and so everything came really very spontaneous. The first draft, I basically locked myself in for about two months and I just started writing. I mean, I had a concept and a treatment, basically how the storyline will go. But then pretty much the characters were kind of talking to me and I was just listening and writing and so I would say it was very intuitive.
How hard is it to direct yourself? Do you follow instructions?
(laughs) Yeah, I was kind of directing myself, in a way; like it was mostly focused on the other characters, honestly. While I was directing, and the rest kind of happened, through the scenes, and through what I wanted to tell. She’s kind of a clumsy character, and confused and lost. I have to say, while I was directing, I was sometimes so overwhelmed with all the responsibilities and being very spontaneous and quick and making decisions while accidents are happening, and that all kind of helped me to play the character, so I didn’t really need to play so much (laughs).
Yeah, I was going to ask you that actually; how much of your own personality was in Greta?
I would say the circumstances helped; I didn’t have a lot of sleep and needed to be so focused all the time, so it was not so hard to play the character being messed up (laughs).
How long have you known Willie Nelson? Did you know him before starting working on this movie?
No, Peter Bogdanovich introduced me to Willie and his management and that was after Peter saw a short film I directed, wrote, produced and acted in. He saw it at a festival, so he contacted me and from then on, everything started. I already had the treatment; I wrote the first script version and Peter was just was so kind to forward it to Willie’s management.
I was reading how the film was inspired visually by David Lynch, who I love; I was trying to think what film that would be and I figured it would be Wild at Heart?
Yeah, I love David Lynch. I love also John Ford and all these older directors, the classic Golden Age films. So, yeah, a lot of inspiration came through that kind of idea to tell Germany more in the claustrophobic, cold atmosphere compared to the US, which is white and colorful.
Yeah, I noticed that; the colors are darker and greyer in Germany and then there’s bright and sunny in America.
Exactly. It’s so beautiful.
Yeah. What is your process for working with the other actors to help develop their characters?
Rehearsal, lots of rehearsal. I also got really lucky with my actors they completely filled in the characters and the spirit and the attitude. They were so disciplined, and it was really a blast. It made me really decide in the future to move on directing, since I figured how much I love working with actors.
Did you always have the particular songs in mind for the film or were they changed throughout the making of it?
No, it was really particular. Actually, the songs inspired me writing the scenes. So, these songs and exactly these songs were really important to me.
What would you like audiences to take away from the film or material to resonate with them?
I would like the film to give them the feeling of hope, and moving on and not giving up in a situation that is challenging; being inspired by music and art as kind of a vehicle to find to oneself when you get lost.
Thank you so much for taking the time to chat and all the best with the film.
Thank you so much.
WILLIE AND ME Opening in Theaters and on VOD on February 9, 2024
