Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

(L-R) Olivia Cooke as “Rachel,” Thomas Mann as “Greg,” and RJ Cyler as “Earl” in Me and Earl and The Dying Girl.

Based on the book of the same name by author Jesse Andrews, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl tells the poignant, sweet and refreshingly honest coming-of-age story about high school senior Greg Gaines (Thomas Mann), who has pretty much “flown under the radar” throughout his high school years by not drawing attention to himself and consciously avoiding any meaningful or deep friendships. His one friend and constant companion Earl Jackson (R.J. Cyler), with whom he makes short film parodies of classic movies, describes him more as a “co-worker” than a best friend.

But all of that is about to change. During his senior year, Greg’s mom (Connie Britton) insists he spend time with Rachel (Olivia Cooke), a girl in his class who has just been diagnosed with cancer, and through visiting her he allows himself to become vulnerable, and ends up discovering the true meaning of friendship.

In Boston recently to promote the film, the three actors chatted with the Banner about what drew them to the script and their individual experiences on working on the movie.

Each of your characters was refreshingly honest. What was it about the script that made you want to be a part of this film?

Olivia Cooke: It was just that. It’s rare that teenagers are depicted in a way that’s not just a fantasy to teenagers. They’re real people. They’re much more astute to things nowadays. They’re exposed to a lot of things. They’re smarter. It’s much harder to fool a teenager. Then they’re given a tragic circumstance to try to overcome. You’re not equipped with the things to be able to cope when you have to deal with that stuff. You never are, but especially at that age. It’s just so confusing.

Thomas Mann: The honesty. As an actor you get to play all these different things. At least for my character you get to do all these crazy accents and be in all these fun films, but then also it’s so emotionally resonant. You get to go to these deep places that, as an actor, I hadn’t really gotten to go to before. It’s so rare that you get to find a role that allows you to play this wide range of emotions. And the honesty of the characters is something that just reminded me about the kind of teenager I was in high school and how I might have dealt with this situation similar to this.

R.J. Cyler: For me it was a sense of familiarity. It’s just like each character in the movie was somebody that was relatable to somebody in the crowd. So, you know, when this plays on the screen, it’s somebody in the crowd or in the audience that’s just like, ‘Oh, that’s me.’ I think that’s another thing that makes it close to the audience that watches it. In my case, it’s Earl, obviously. I thought Jesse and Alfonso were stalking me throughout my 20 years because they knew who I was and just played it off by writing a movie with me in it. ….When I read the script I just had to have it.

Thomas, I read in the notes that after the audition with RJ you felt that he was the right person for the role, that he was Earl. Is that true?

He just had this really raw quality. It’s not like he had over rehearsed the scenes and had one way to do them. He was so open to direction and kind of reacted to what I was doing. It just felt right. It’s not something you can explain or teach even, but he had this natural quality. I felt like the whole time we were shooting I was working hard to be as natural as he just already is.

Olivia, you mentioned at the Q&A that you chose to shave your head for the role after going to Children’s Hospital and also created a chart of Rachel’s chemotherapy. Did you find that after meeting the young girl at the hospital, that that was necessary to get into the role of Rachel?

Definitely. Just seeing how still she was on the bed and kind of just void of anything that would distinguish her. When you shave your head, that’s kind of your identity just gone. You look almost like a newborn. You haven’t grown into yourself yet, but yet she still had One Direction posters on the wall. She loved popular culture. She was very much a 16-year-old. You’re still the same person. You don’t lose your personality or your sense of humor or lose what you learn or what you don’t learn because you’re going through this illness. Seeing that, I didn’t want to make Rachel a victim or a tragic character. ‘Oh, she’s so strong.’ She’s the stronger one out of this relationship with Greg. But, I think it was very necessary for me to shave my head. Just for me as an actress to get into the role and to feel all the emotions; to try and feel as much as possible without actually having cancer. The scene where I tell Greg the reveal, where I lost all my hair and I tell Greg, ‘I feel so ugly.’ We shaved my hair the night before and I don’t think I’ve ever been as honest as I was in any other thing I’ve done. I felt everything. But also visually I didn’t want anything on me like a massive big bulky bald cap to take anyone out of the film because the whole film is so honest. That would definitely have taken everyone out of the movie.

R.J., this was your first movie. How do you feel?

I feel like a flower. I never got the chance to open up. I feel really, really, really blessed to be on this movie as my first, and also at the same time a little scared because it doesn’t get any better than this. You’ve got the perfect director, perfect cast, perfect script, and perfect writer. It’s also fun. It was literally the perfect set, the perfect movie to be a part of. And so, they’ve set the bar so high, I’m like ‘Dammit, you can’t get better than this.’ Now, every other director or cast has to live up to this. [Laughs] I’m just like, ‘It wasn’t like that on Me and Earl.’

Did the movie change you in any way?

Olivia: It taught me to share more and to connect more with people and also to not fear the inevitable. I’m always so far away from home, so I’m always constantly worried about something happening to my mum and I can’t get there in time. These stupid things that you think of that probably will happen one day, but I shouldn’t fear them because I don’t know when it’s going to happen.

Thomas: I feel like I’ve reached a new extreme point of empathy and just kind of getting to know not only the actors but empathize with the characters and through that kind of relating it back to my own life and not taking things for granted. It really opened me up emotionally. I cry at movies and I never used to do that before.

R.J.: I just became more appreciative of things now, even small things.