Mara Ellison lives in the last summer before everything changes. To play her, I had to go back to seventeen — and stay there for three weeks.
The preparation
Every morning began with a swim before sunrise. Cold water does something to your voice — it strips the polish off, and Mara has no polish. I filled a notebook with overheard sentences from the local teenagers the story is borrowed from, and by week two I was dreaming in her slang.
The forty-minute take
The pier scene was scheduled for a full day of coverage. Instead, the light began to fail, the crew went quiet, and Jonas let the camera run. Forty minutes, one lens, no cuts. What you see in the film is minutes thirty-one to thirty-eight — the moment Mara stops performing happiness and simply feels the evening.
“Some roles you rehearse. Mara I simply remembered — she is every girl I grew up beside.”
What stayed with me
A brass ring Mara wears in every scene now hangs on my dressing-table mirror. It was a prop; the wardrobe department let me keep it. Some characters leave when the shoot wraps. Mara stayed for breakfast.
Adriana Vale
Actress & Model