Disney+'s latest original film is the family superhero comedy Flora & Ulysses, a live-action adaptation of the children's novel of the same name, the movie follows a young girl named Flora Buckman (Matilda Lawler), an avid comic book fan and self-avowed cynic dealing with her parents' separation, who adopts a very special pet squirrel named Ulysses.
Before they tackled the intricacies of bringing a superpowered squirrel to life, director Lena Khan and her team had a much more monumental task on their hands, as they had to first find the star of the piece, Flora. In their extensive search, they auditioned nearly one thousand young actresses and ultimately found their needle in a haystack in the show-stopping Matilda Lawler, who is an absolute revelation in the film.
Khan explains the process,
"We had Emily Schweber, our casting director, who was leading this effort. It was very difficult. She helped us look through a thousand girls and it was very hard to find somebody that has that same maturity and vulnerability and also that dry humor. She’s basically a young Juno and that’s really hard to find in a 10-year-old, so we found nobody else but Matilda.
I told Sean Bailey at Disney when we were first submitting our people and you have to submit three and I told him that I can’t imagine this movie with anybody except Matilda. Fortunately, he agreed, so that worked out."
The film also reunites Khan with her The Tiger Hunter star Danny Pudi (Community; Mythic Quest), someone she vows to work with for the rest of her days, "He’s not just a good luck charm, he’s the most lovely person ever and actor. I will put him in every movie that I do as long as it’s possible as long as I live."
During our lengthy conversation, we also delved into Khan's burgeoning career and she told us about the different filmmakers and kinds of movies that first inspired her to pursue filmmaking herself, which wasn't initially her plan after finishing college, as she originally intended to become a teacher.
"I like so many things, it’s weird because I got into film for people that aren’t the types of movies that I make. I had finished poli-sci and history, so I thought I was going to teach, and so I was like I’ve always been making movies my whole life, maybe I could use that as a way to teach through, except through entertainment and hopefully in a way that doesn’t feel like a teaching movie, just something that kind of feels like it moves the conversation forward.
So, I always really respected people like Spike Lee, who were able to do so much to tell stories for communities or issues and things like that, but me, myself, aesthetically, I love people like Edgar Wright or Danny Boyle or Taika Waititi - those guys are amazing in my book. I think you just need to be able to take those playful risks and have fun with it and not hold to a formula and that’s something I love most."
As a fellow first-generation immigrant like Khan, I was curious to know whether Indian cinema, namely Bollywood films, had influenced her work in any way, and while she seems to be a fan of the iconic Shah Rukh Khan, she admits that those kinds of films weren't really her cup of tea when she was growing up.
"I didn’t as much, I feel like I watched the big one that came every three years like Dil To Pagal Hai or Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. Other than that, I have two older brothers that were a big influence, so my favorite movies growing up were The Usual Suspects and Se7en. They were very different from the sort of things that I might be doing, although I’d love to do something like that."
Khan also serves as a mentor to many aspiring Indian and South Asian filmmakers, and to cap our insightful conversation, she shared some advice for anyone hoping to break into and find success in one of the most challenging and unforgiving industries in the world.
"I think there’s a few things when I meet people, especially people from minority communities because we often, this is a problem that happens - first, make sure your stuff isn’t just good enough for your community, but is good enough for everybody because we get so excited when we see rising talent in our community like they have a new YouTube skit or something like that, but you have to make sure that that’s not enough.
You have to keep working at it and keep honing it, so that even the really critical people will like what you’re doing. Then, I basically tell them go ahead and try it as long as you’re willing to fail for like ten years before you get any success and then go ahead and try it."
As for what's next for Lena, she's currently working on Mindy Kaling's Netflix series Never Have I Ever and is also developing a pair of very different projects.
"I have this old folktale that I’m making into this weird comedy and then the dark comedy about a magician. It’s a really weird project. It’s by the screenwriter Mark Laner, who just debuted his new novel, which is just a crazy, insane, weird book, so you can only imagine what the screenplay is like."
Check out our full video interview with director Lena Khan below and don't forget to like and subscribe!
Flora & Ulysses is based on the Newbery Award-winning book about 10-year-old Flora, an avid comic book fan and a self-avowed cynic, whose parents have recently separated. After rescuing a squirrel she names Ulysses, Flora is amazed to discover he possesses unique superhero powers, which take them on an adventure of humorous complications that ultimately change Flora's life--and her outlook--forever.
Flora & Ulysses premieres exclusively on Disney+ on February 19