Molly Gordon is having a good summer, professionally speaking. Her directorial debut 鈥� ,鈥� which she made with some of her best friends, is in theaters. On the small screen, fans of 鈥淭he Bear鈥� are falling for her in the popular Hulu show鈥檚 second season, too. It鈥檚 a moment, by any definition, but for her it still feels a little surreal.
鈥淚 think I鈥檓 still kind of catching up on sleep,鈥� Gordon, 27, told the Associated Press in an interview conducted before .
The writer-actor-director has been on a breakneck schedule for about a year. Last summer, she and some of her oldest friends, including Ben Platt, got together in upstate New York to make their 鈥� a comedy about a charming but crumbling kids musical theater camp that鈥檚 based on many of their own experiences. She鈥檇 spend the next several months rushing to edit their many hours of largely improvised scenes into a coherent and enjoyable film in time for the Sundance Film Festival deadline.
鈥淲e had just finished the movie, like, just before Sundance. And we hadn鈥檛 shown it to many people,鈥� Gordon said. 鈥淭he reaction was overwhelming. And then all of us stayed up until 6 a.m. 'till we knew who was going to buy it. It was a very special experience.鈥�
鈥淭heater Camp鈥� was one of the splashier acquisitions at the festival, going to Searchlight Pictures with a rare theatrical release attached to it. Gordon is thrilled about it being the shop that bought 鈥淟ittle Miss Sunshine鈥� out of Sundance years ago, but mainly she just feels lucky knowing how many, 鈥渋ncredible movies still haven鈥檛 sold.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 such a strange time in our business,鈥� Gordon said.
She doesn鈥檛 have any illusions about how difficult it is to make a living in the industry, either, as she's been watching it from the inside her whole life. Both of Gordon鈥檚 parents are in the business. Her father, Bryan Gordon, is a veteran director and producer who works primarily in television, from 鈥淭he Wonder Years鈥� up through 鈥淕race and Frankie.鈥� Her mom is a film producer, writer and director behind 鈥淐orrina Corrina鈥� and 鈥淚 Am Sam.鈥�
鈥淚 grew up in such a creative household and I had so much energy,鈥� Gordon said of her Los Angeles childhood. 鈥淚 was this kind of wacky, annoying, Shirley Temple-esque young girl, and they didn鈥檛 tell me to stop that. They were like, let鈥檚 put all this energy into creativity. We had a dress-up box and I went to dance class and I went to art class. I was brought to films at such a young age. And I would see my parents breaking down stories at the dinner table and realizing, oh, they鈥檙e making these stories that I see at the movie theater.鈥�
One memorable early movie experience was watching 鈥淭he Graduate鈥� with her dad at age 11, which she calls 鈥渁 bizarre move鈥� but one she鈥檚 grateful for.
鈥淚 just loved it so much,鈥� Gordon said. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 understand that at all but I still remember seeing those images for the first time, the shot of the tank and the fish and the shot of him underwater and my dad telling me why they were so important to him.鈥�
For as long as she can remember, it鈥檚 been her dream to be part of it all. She was fascinated to go onto sets and see just how many people worked to create the things she loved: Hairstylists, makeup artists, costumers, the art department. A bunch of artists working together creatively? She was in.
New York was always the goal for Gordon, who made the move at 18 to go to NYU, but soon she realized that college wasn鈥檛 the right path for her and she dropped out, got a job at a restaurant and continued working, both auditioning and creating things with friends. One of her most famous breaks came in where she stole scenes as 鈥淭riple A.鈥� That experience introduced her to producer Jessica Elbaum, who saw in Gordon sparks of a writer-director and encouraged her to pursue those. She鈥檇 go on to produce 鈥淭heater Camp鈥� for Gordon, too.
After 鈥淭heater Camp鈥� sold at Sundance, Gordon got to work on what she likes to call a 鈥済low-up鈥� of the movie. She got to test it with audiences, learn what worked, what didn鈥檛 and tweak the many other options she had. Often this would be at night on her computer since she鈥檇 also gotten an impossible-to-pass-up call to be in the second season of 鈥淭he Bear," where she joined on as Chef Carmy's love interest, Claire.
鈥淲e just found a way to do everything,鈥� she laughed. 鈥淚 felt rather free because I was just so tired and kind of more honest, which was I think was good for me because going into being on a show that鈥檚 so successful is a very nerve-racking thing.鈥�
Gordon is happy bouncing around between acting, writing and directing. She wants to do it all and feels lucky that she got to nurture both sides of that this year, regardless of the toll on her sleeping hours.
鈥淒irecting is such a huge responsibility. So after doing that, you kind of want to go into an acting job where you don鈥檛 have to do the schedule at the end of the night and you can just hang out with the cast and the crew,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd when that鈥檚 over you鈥檙e like, I want to go back and direct.鈥�
She has a film and a show that she鈥檇 like to do next, but she won鈥檛 be working on anything until a fair deal is reached.
鈥淚t鈥檚 so upsetting that people can鈥檛 just get paid for their work,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd I can support the strike in every way, but I also still hope that people show up to the theaters and see movies."
Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press
