There is a purity in female friendships, especially in relation to what often feels like a dangerous world. This is the first way I connected to This Is Not My Mail, through Elsie and Mollie’s friendship. Many women have learned a fear of men and the unknown; a fear that is unfortunately based on lived experience. With female friendship comes joy and laughter, and to me, it’s a purity that combats the learned fear. Mollie’s mistrust of Eugene comes from her lived experience, while she wants to preserve Elsie’s more optimistic world view, she also wants to protect her. When Elsie does learn the lesson at the end of the film, it’s Mollie who brings her grandma’s bracelet back to her. She brings safety and laughter to an otherwise impossible-to-handle situation.
It was such a joy getting to work with Chaney and Olivia on the connection of their characters. Through improv, we explored how the two of them met in college, how they became friends, grew to rely on each other, and the moment they decided to move together. If inside jokes happened between the actors, the characters had the same jokes. The characters had different ways of seeing the world, but I think each girl helped balance the other. Mollie wouldn’t stand for people using Elsie’s people pleasing to their advantage, and Elsie helped Mollie to take the risk of connecting to others. Even in rehearsal, we never fully ran the last scene of Mollie going to comfort Ellie. I wanted that moment to be mostly improvised, and I was very happy with the tenderness that we captured. It was the culmination of weeks of hard work and some very talented actors.
With Eugene, I connected with him through grief. The loss of his wife and the need he has to have her back are his driving forces. I began working on this film while dealing with a personal loss, and it’s something I referenced while working with Ray. Channeling personal experiences into art must be done carefully to be done safely, but for me, this project came at the perfect time.
Eugene is dealing with personal grief mixed with mental and degenerative illness. In order to feel the full loss, we worked on telling some stories about Eugene and his wife. Through improv, we explored how he met Ellie and instantly fell for her beauty, grace, and kindness. It’s that same honeymoon feeling he experiences when he meets Elsie, and in his delusion, he truly believes that this is Ellie returned to him.
This was a dream of a project because it boiled down to making a movie with my friends. I was honored to be trusted with the story, which I immediately found exciting and full of potential. Who doesn’t love a thriller?! Immediately, Liberty, Cole, Angel, and I dove in, and it was such an amazing feeling having such a passionate team. Filling out the crew meant putting together the dream team: bringing on friends met on set, past collaborators, and finding new connections. There was an amazing spirit of collaboration on set. If someone had an idea, it was welcomed with open arms. I want to thank every member of the crew, especially for dealing with my method for scaring Olivia during the night unpacking scene, which consisted of me banging baking sheets together at random intervals. Together, we got through loud mechanics, adorable mice, broken breakaway glass, stubborn fake blood, consistently wet hair, and unhappy dogs. I hope the film delights, surprises, and scares our lovely audience.
Alana Areyzaga, Director.