CraveOnline: Was California not available for financial reasons?
Jean-Marc Vallée: Yeah, it was a financial thing. There was a financial tax credit thing from Oregon. We shot one day in California, which was the beginning of the hike where she first starts her hike on the PCT. That was the actual, real location where Cheryl was. She was there with us [on set] and she was very emotional that day.
Was there she there the whole time?
No, she was there sporadically. She was there, and she almost became my technical advisor with the backpack stuff and the details.
“[Cheryl Strayed] went, ‘My only comment is that I think the brother needs to be there.'”
At any point while she was on the trail, while you were shooting with her, did she ever remember something she left out of the book and go, “Oh no! We have to do this. You have to put this in the movie?”
No, it didn’t happen. She was very respectful of not trying to interfere. She let go and she knew it was a book, now it’s a film, it’s our show now. No, it never happened. Although in prep it happened with the brother. He wasn’t there at the beginning. She went, “My only comment is that I think the brother needs to be there.”
Was he in the movie at all in the original draft?
No. [Nick Hornby] wrote the first draft without the brother, and then we put it back. We put it in.
I think that was a wise choice.
Yeah.
William Bibbiani is the editor of CraveOnline’s Film Channel and the host of The B-Movies Podcast and The Blue Movies Podcast. Follow him on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.
