In a world where intellectual property dominates Hollywood, Glorious is going to inject some much-needed originality into the community. In the film, the majority of the film takes place in a public bathroom. The godlike voice of J.K. Simmons in the other stall began to converse with Wes after he found himself inside a bathroom after a night of drinking. If Wes doesn't sacrifice through the glory hole in the stall, he will face catastrophic consequences.
She can proudly say that it is something you have never seen before, even if it is not for everyone. A man grappling with mistakes in his life is the subject of a novel. In an interview with Digital Trends, McKendry reveals the advice her mother gave her, why "weird" is a good thing, and how she convinced Simmons to join the project.
The interview has been edited to make it clearer.
It is as original a story as you can find. Is there a reason why you choose to make a film?
It is. I think a lot about what I can do with it that is me. Is it possible to bring my own personality or experiences into it? The weirder is the best for me. The more absurdist is the best. It has the same level of absurdity as my first film, All the Creatures Were Stirring.
I wanted to create something that was different from everything else out there, and that's the biggest compliment I've received so far. We can say we have made something you have never seen before, even if it isn't everyone's bag. Affirmative.
The word "weird" is a negative one. It doesn't mean bad. People are allowed to not know what is happening. Do you like the way that person reacts?
It's true. There were questions about who the movie was made for. I said on set that we were making it for friends. This mix of highbrow and lowbrow is what I was pushing for, because like people who get my sense of humor, they also have a similar tendency to find humor in things.
My mom used to tell me that if I wasn't confident about it, I was only weird. That is a division line and so I kind of approached this. It is going to be weird, but I know where I want it to go and I am going to be confident about it.
The best advice comes from mothers.
Yes, right? She is always there when I take her to the premiere. She was always right there when I was making Gwar videos. I will give out doughnuts. She is always there for me no matter what.
Ryan needs to buy into the story and go for it. He asked what the pitch was to get him on board.
We knew that Wes had to be kind of the lovable loser in order to be cast. You were like, "Oh my gosh, he had to be this down-on-his-luck guy." He's completely pathetic. I enjoy following him through a movie, but at the same time, it had to have a ridiculous twist. I have seen Ryan in a number of films and TV shows, including True Blood.
It's true.
Barbara Crampton, one of our producers, was the one who reached out to me. Can you tell me about Ryan? She said that he would love it. As soon as I talked to him, it was obvious that he got the humor, he got the concept, and he knew how to play it straight. The performance had to be more than just a comedy performance. The script is silly, that's why it couldn't be silly. There is going to be absurdity in this situation.
He also got the character's duality. It was going to have to be a theatrical presentation because it was going to be him alone for most of the movie. He was willing to film it with me. It was a big deal to know that we are in a bathroom for a large part of the movie.
If we were just using locked shots like I was pointing the camera here and pointing the camera here, it was going to feel really blocky and claustrophobic. I was going to keep the camera on steady so that the film wouldn't fall apart. I'm never going to stay on course. I wanted to block Ryan as much as possible so that the blocking could be completed. He was aware of it. We were able to run a rehearsal like a production. I could also block the camera and learn how to dance with him.
We would do 10-minute takes with this, where we would rehearse between Ryan's movements and the camera dancing around him. Ryan was into that as well, which was great because it was an interesting way of filming and one that I like more now. I was like, "This gets great performances because he can dig in and submerse himself very much like a more theatrical experience."
The voice of Ghatanothoa is that of J.K. You wanted the voice to be easy to understand.
That was the most important. In the middle of the Pandemic, we started shopping this project around and got interest from a few different companies. It was one of the things I told them. If they said, "Oh, you know, who would be great," and then threw an actor at me, I would be like, "They don't get it." That was the most important. It had to be someone who was friendly and personable.
The entire script contains a social construct. At the beginning of the show, a voice next to Wes says, "Hey, how are you doing over there?" Even if it is awkward, Wes feels the social responsibility to respond. He is just going to bolt if that voice scares him. It has to be someone who, through the bulk of the movie, is going to sound endearing and compassionate and make you want to make the decisions that Wes has to make. I have always thought of Whiplash as a horror movie with him playing the monster.
I think that's correct.
"Okay, he can go dark." was the first thing we started with. He is on half the cartoons my children watch as well. He has more than one side to him and it is amazing. He likes strange movies. It was a great kismet because he loves philosophy and the author of HP Lovecraft.
There is a lot of philosophy in this movie. It will take multiple viewings to pick up on all the Easter eggs. Did you try to get as many Easter eggs as possible?
The man was my husband. I will give him a lot of credit for that. He was a philosophy minor. He studies other religions. He wanted to bring that in when he passed on the script. We didn't want to rely on that alone. We brought in a bigger mythos because we wanted a bigger one. There is a lot of Greek myth. There are references to no exit. The mythology of Kronos is Greek. One of the final lines of the movie is from Jesus on the cross.
We brought in a lot of it and put it in there. The woman who he gives the coins to is named Sharon so it is supposed to be his entrance into hell. There is a lot of it in there but we didn't want to call attention to it.
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