Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist - Lily Collins

Episode Date: March 27, 2022

In its first month of streaming in the fall of 2020, Emily in Paris captured the attention of 58 million viewers and made actress Lily Collins a bona fide star around the world. But the 33-year-old’s latest role in the intense, claustrophobic film Windfall is a world away from Paris. In this week’s “Sunday Sitdown,” Willie Geist talks to Collins about that new movie, as well as the global success of Emily in Paris and what it was like growing up the daughter of legendary musician Phil Collins. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey guys, Willie Geist here with another episode of the Sunday Sit Down podcast. My thanks as always for clicking and listening along. Got a great one for you this week with Lily Collins. She is, of course, the star of the Netflix sensation Emily and Paris, which just had its second season with two more now on the way. As I begin my introduction, I would warn you that see it next to me at this very moment is my seven-month-old puppy Bronco. He is the best. But if you hear another voice in the chorus. That's him. So Lily and I got together at this cool little restaurant in the village in New York City, beautifully covered with flowers and roses and just a perfect setting for her. It felt almost European, which is appropriate for the star of Emily and Paris. But she wasn't there to talk about Emily and Paris entirely. She's got a new film called Windfall, directed by her husband, Charlie McDowell. How to explain it? I think I'll let her do it, but it rolls out almost like a play. It's all in one setting.

It's a tight 90 minutes. And it's basically about a robbery, a home invasion. But believe it or not, as dark as that sounds, there's some comedy in it. It's kind of a really cool film. That's also on Netflix. We get into that. Of course, we talk about Emily and Paris, the explosion of that show. It was the number one show in 90 countries for Netflix somehow.

It's just incredible, truly a sensation. We also get into her childhood. You may not know, or maybe you do. She is the daughter of Phil Collins, the great Phil Collins. He of innumerable solo hits and also, of course, of Genesis. He's still out on the road with Genesis with his 21-year-old son now as the drummer. There's just so much to talk to her about. She's really bright, totally charismatic, fun, cool.

She's all of the things. Lily Collins, right now on the side. Sunday Sit Down podcast. Lily, it's so great to see you. Thanks for doing this. Thank you. We brought out the flowers for you. It's so beautiful in here.

I want to come back and actually have a meal or a drink in here. It is really cool. I was going to say a pop of color, but this is more than a pop of color. You arranged it beautifully. Thank you. Thank you. I was early before Dawn, getting it ready for you. We have so much to talk about.

Let's start with windfall. We were just discussing what a cool setup it is, how well written and acted it is. It feels like a really good play, but with more action. and exciting. So just for people who are going to watch this, and we won't give away too much, though, there's so much. I would love to ask you closer to the end. I'm like trying to find the line where I should stop asking questions about it.

But just set up the story a little bit for people who may want to go see it. So this film is, like you said, very much like a play and intimate, in that there's three and at 1.4 characters. It's essentially the reality of what happens when someone robs someone's house that's never robbed a house before. and ends up finding themselves surrounded by the people whose house they're robbing. So there's a robber and a CEO and his wife, and it's one of their vacation homes, and they're now stuck together for 36 hours.

There's dark comedy. There's kind of a Hitchcockian dark thriller element to it. But it's a really interesting psychological study on relationships and the inner workings of what happens when you're put into an unexpected situation. for me specifically as wife. She is at the same time of having a downward trajectory and kind of a spiral. She is gaining a voice and building confidence.

So there's these weird mixtures of trajectories going on within each character that was so fascinating to play around with it, like you said, felt very much like an intimate play. For people watching, wife, it's just the title of the character. Yes. There's not an off-hand reference. No, there's no names. There's CEO, wife, and nobody.

Yeah. And that was done on purpose because as humans, we associate emotions and connections or memories with names. And when you all of a sudden have empathy for someone based on a name because maybe you have a memory with someone with that name or you didn't like someone with that name, it's already unfairly pitting one character against another and you already have your picking sides in a sense. And everyone in this movie has flaws and everyone made a choice in order to get to where they are. And so by having them just be these titles, it almost starts them off on somewhat of an even playing field. And then progressively through the movie, each of them becomes very much what their character represents to each other. Nobody is just a nobody to CEO and wife. CEO is just that rich CEO billionaire to nobody.

And wife is very much undermined, undervalued, and quite silenced at the beginning and just seen as the wife. But then as you learn, she starts to gain a voice. So it was interesting to play someone without a name. So obviously, this is directed by your husband. So he's working on this project. You know that he's working on this project. He's developing it with his friends and writing it. Were you sort of poking your heads in door and saying, hey, I might be good in this.

How did that work? It was interesting, actually. I think what it started out as kind of, I think, a mental health check-in with his friends. Andrew Kevin Walker, Justin Later, his writing partner in Jason Siegel, they were just on Zoom saying, hey, guys, what's up? you know, how are we going to be creative? Let's do something in a single location, which is something that Charlie's done before, and write something that can take place and have the feeling and essence of that claustrophobic feeling of being stuck in one's own environment, but not ever reference COVID.

So it's not a COVID movie, but it was done within the constraints of what COVID would allow. And they would just be on Zoom, checking in and kind of coming up with the concept, drafting, scripting, and I'd just be in the kitchen or I'd be in the living room or I'd like overhear these conversations and I as like a supportive fiancé would just ask questions and he'd talk to me about the characters and there's only one female. So I would just kind of pipe in and say, well, yeah, I would think what about this idea or how about this? And I started to become very attached to her but not in the way that I ever thought I would play her. I wasn't even discussed at the beginning. We talked about other actors and actresses for roles. And then

And it just, you know, Jason was always going to be in it. And then Jessie. And then wife was coming to fruition. And they had a conversation with me. But it was never a given. And I'm so grateful to have gotten the opportunity because I feel, like I said, I felt very attached to her in a lot of ways. And there's so much about her character that is based on a backstory that isn't even

developed and written. It's very much something that I kind of had to create or imagine because there's so many moments of silence that if you're just sitting there not thinking about anything, it's pretty clear to an audience. So you have to kind of create your own, which is really fun. I'm laughing as you say that because Emily Blunt tells a similar story when John Krasinski was developing a quiet place. Yeah. There's this woman and she's like flipping her hair. Hello. Oh, yes, you'd be great. I'm like, I will be with you anyway. I mean, it just makes sense. More family time, right? Yeah, exactly. So as you looked at the character, you talked about offering

suggestions and how she could grow and develop and find her power, and she really does. Because I think when you walk in as a couple, you go, okay, here's the big CEO guy and his wife. How did you want to help her sort of move up and find herself? Because, boy, she does change in the span of 90 minutes, extraordinarily. Thank you. Yeah. Well, her trajectory was always one that really intrigued me because it plays very much against type for me in terms of characters I've played.

And to be given the opportunity to showcase in 90 minutes a total change as maybe outward change. You know, inside, I think she's been feeling a lot of these resentments or feelings for a very long time. But I think when we get to the ending, I wanted it to pay off, but also to track, in a sense. because there aren't a lot of moments like CEO where she has, where she verbalizes how she's feeling, should I say. And so in those moments of silence or kind of unspoken communications with her and her husband,

I wanted people at the end to be able to go back, rewatch it, and track certain moments where they're like, oh, she's capable of X, Y, and Z, or she's maybe been feeling this for a long time. There's a fine line to toe between being silent and quieted, but also completely active, reactive, and not say anything. And for me, creating a backstory where I could feel a type of attachment to her and a potential for what's to come, but also keep myself guessing in a lot of ways.

There's a scene with her and nobody at the fire pit where she's explaining her life before CEO. And there's a lot of questioning that's going on in her mind. And you wonder, though, as an audience, is she doing this because she wants to relate to or is she doing it because her husband said get close to him? And so there's a lot of ambiguity in those moments that as an actor is so fun. You get to play around a lot. And hopefully while the audience is questioning, you're also kind of figuring it out in the moment because so much of this movie happened in the moment.

There's a lot of moments that, for instance, when Jesse and Jason are on the couch and he's tying his hands behind his back and Jesse just CEO goes like this, that stemmed from the fact that Jason wasn't properly tying Jesse's hands behind his back because the camera wasn't on him. And Jesse, as the character got so frustrated, he's just like, oh. And then that tone, that dark comedic tone, all of a sudden took hold, and the movie changed gears tonally in a lot of ways. And so it was this kind of really intense maybe film school or comedy troupe Casavetti's

type feel that was really fun in something I'd never done before. Yeah, it's funny. Nobody in a weird way felt like somebody who finally would listen to her to, to wife, in a way her own husband wasn't listening. This guy who's holding her captive is finally sitting by the fire and she at least gets to say out loud what she's feeling. So what was just the experience like? You're on one location.

Your husband's directing. You're with a couple of actors that I assume you got very close to if you weren't already on such a tight set. What was the experience like shooting it during the pandemic in one place with that close-knit group of people? It was really special because it very much felt. It was like all hands on deck. Not only were we acting in it, we were also producing. We were also moving furniture from our house to be on the set, artwork.

Some of my, like, bath and beauty products, I'd come home and Charlie's, like, taking them out. He's like, we need them for the set. I'm like, wait, what? And so it was a major team effort. But to do it in the pandemic, we all just wanted a creative outlet. We obviously wanted it to be as safe as possible, but this one location allowed for that because you're all basically quarantining together. We shot it up in Ohio, California,

which has so much beautiful air to breathe and nature to surround yourself with that it felt as constraining as the time felt and the location felt more and more through the movie that you got. It was a very freeing environment to be creative during this time. And Charlie has known Jason since film school

and Jesse Jason and Charlie had worked on a movie previously. so I was kind of the newbie to the group. But working also with Charlie, who is such an actor's director, he's incredibly communicative and collaborative and just grounding as a director, which is what you also want in a life partner. And so there were moments when I completely forgot that he was my husband to be and he was just my director, which is awesome. We worked really well together,

and it was all about making sure that the absurdities that are discussed in this movie felt real and grounded. And so to be surrounded by Jesse, Jason, and Charlie, three men that really championed this female voice was really empowering. Yeah, I was wondering about that, what it's like to work with your then-fiancee, now husband, in a way, I mean, is he giving you notes the way he would every other actor, or is it a little more intense pull aside because you're so familiar with each other? Like, what is that dynamic like compared to other directors you've worked with?

Interesting. Well, I think, you know, for this experience, something that was super different for me, was I was always quite used to be making the best of what I was given. Whereas in this situation, because they all conceptualize it together, it was, okay, here's what's written and I thought it was brilliant, but also what do you want to change about it? What do you want to bring to the table? How can you make it better? And that freedom, that creative freedom at first was quite jarring because I hadn't experienced that yet, but to then have your life partner as well as your director really champion and encourage you to bring whatever it is to the table that you want and play around with

it. Even if we don't end up using it in the edit, just the ability to feel free was so wonderful. And at moments, of course, he's giving intense notes to all of us because depending on the moment in the movie, it can be intense. But otherwise, it just felt like we all had such a shorthand of communication regardless of if we were together or I was talking to Jason or Jesse. And so it all felt like a constant open conversation, which was so great. And we were also planning the wedding at the same time, which was so fascinating because we would shoot and then go home and write invites. So it was definitely a mixing of the world in the best of ways. So it's giving you notes on your performance and on what the napkins are going to look like at the wedding.

It's a lot. You don't want to get those two things confused. No, exactly. It has to be very gratifying to see the success of the movie already. It's just been out for a few days, but when I popped up on Netflix to watch it, there it was right on the list of the top movies. And it's not a blow-up Marvel movie. It's like an intimate movie that has captured people already. And to have done that with your husband, I imagine, is incredibly gratifying.

It is. You know, it's like kind of that little engine that could in a lot of ways. We really, there's a sense of ownership of it because we all made it and then hoped that it would get picked up or get sold or, you know, and Netflix believed in it so much, and we're so grateful to them because obviously that goes out to countries all over the world to so many households and to be able to have a story like this that feels so independent, but also kind of sprawling and epic in its own way, which has a lot to do, I think, with the score and the music.

You know, the composers that Charlie works with wanted it to feel freeing and quite larger than life, even though the film is contained and smaller. And to be able to see that there is this constant conversation about the movie now, whether people love it or hate it, they're truly talking about it. And I think it sparks a lot of conversations because this movie deals with so many different themes. And it is, like I said, a very introspective psychological exposure of human nature and instincts. And that's going to spark up a lot of conversations. So we're really proud of it. I have to tell you, I'm not a gasper at a movie. Two gasps. You mentioned, we're not going to talk about them at all, but I just want you to know. Oh, thank you.

You mentioned the fourth character who comes in? Oh, my gosh. He's lovely as well. Yeah. Oh, yes. And you have to leave it right there. I know. But that's a tease for the audience. It is. It is, gasping. Yeah, there are a couple of gas moments, even if you're not a gas, right? Thank you. Well, congratulations. It's really, it's really great. And as of course, if I keep scrolling a little bit, but not too far on Netflix. I find season two of Emily and Paris, which was another massive hit. And you've already got season three and four coming. We were just talking about the, I don't know if it's a surprise or what, I think the breadth of the success has to at least be a surprise to you that it was so well received in so many corners of the world with Netflix as sort of the delivery

system. It was so wild. I think after season one, we were all hoping we'd get the opportunity to go back and then we got to go back and when Darren called to say it got picked up for two, that feeling is, it's just, it's so wonderful because we know where we want to go. Like there's so much more to say, but you just never know in this day and age if people are going to resonate with certain shows. And for us, making the show was so special, but having it come out when it did was completely unexpected. And for me, part of what I love about what I do is that art is healing and it can be

therapeutic, whether that's something like I did a movie called To the Bone that deals with eating disorders. And I was very much open about my experiences with that and how film can amplify stories that need to be told that are sometimes considered shameful and how that can be healing and therapeutic to audiences. And then on the flip side, something like Emily and Paris that provided laughter and smiles and reminded people of what fun and travel felt like during the pandemic, that's also healing in a sense. And to be able to. able to be a part of something that worldwide, regardless of the language you speak, does that, is it's so special. And it provides all of us, the cast and crew, that as well. I mean, we're so

close. We're very much a family. And to know that now the next couple years of our lives are going to be able to be together, sharing that story is really special. It's interesting because as this show was exploding, you had no way of really knowing that because no one was out in the world. There's no way for you to feel that. So when was the first moment or day when someone told you or you sort of recognized, oh, something's happening here? I think, honestly, when, so you're right, we experienced the first one over Zoom, which felt very strange. And then we went back for season two, and there were no international travelers in Paris at that time, because it was total lockdown. Only pharmacies and supermarkets were open. And we were in our little quarantine bubble. And Ashley and I felt

like kind of the only Americans in Paris at the time. And we went out and we were going to have coffee and we took our mask to drink coffee. And about 10 to 15 people in the span of the next three minutes came over in France. So they were the, you know, French citizens coming over all ages going, oh my God, Emily and Mindy, Lily and Ashley, you're in Paris. Why are you in Paris? What, you know, and it felt like all of a sudden the city completely embraced the show and were so, like wanted to explode and tell us everything about the show and what they felt about it and what they loved about it. And it felt so lovely to be back in Paris. And then while we were there, it all of a sudden hit home as to, oh, it translated.

It meant something. It has brought lightness here as well. And we hadn't been in public with the show. So being able to see us shooting in those streets as well and the access that the show has provided, based on its success is also so wonderful, being able to go to Versailles and these crazy locations that as a traveler you want to go and experience and then to be able to have a set inside those is so wonderful. And the escapism, as you said of it, to be sitting kids who weren't even going to school in many cases or we were all stuck at home to be transported to Paris and to see people joyful and

enjoying themselves was so nice. What is it about Emily, the character, that you loved when you first read it and maybe you love even more now. What did you see in her? I loved her positive can-do solution-driven attitude, which I didn't know I'd love as much as I did during the pandemic as well, when all of a sudden you need to be as able to pivot and solution-driven and positive. I just also love that she's so unapologetically herself.

She's work-driven and proud of it, but not for the sake, like we were saying earlier, of being money-hungry by no means. She just loves what she. what she does and isn't afraid to express that. And she's good at her job. And when she fails, she acknowledges it. And she asks for help.

And she's bright, bold, bubbly, and a little bit obvious. And that's okay. I think that sometimes all of those attributes could be considered as something that's not possible. Whereas with Emily, she just is who she is. And like I said, unapologetically so. And I think that's really refreshing. You've given a lot of young kids and young girls. I have a 14-year-old daughter, I told you, a sense of adventure, I think, and what's possible.

And do you see that side of it as Emily being sort of a role model for kids, not just in travel, but in enjoying their work and working hard, but, you know, taking time to enjoy the pleasures of life as well? I think so. She's someone that inspires me, for sure, ever since playing her, there are moments in my life when I'm like, like, well, okay, well, what would Emily do? I don't know. Maybe, maybe there's a little, another way of looking at this situation. But she was thrown into a foreign situation, literally, you know, going to a city she never been to, leaving a relationship she felt no longer serviced her, and going into a completely unknown workplace and trying to make her own and start her own journey. And that can be scary. But I think sometimes if you just put yourself out there willingly and

knowing the consequences of, okay, this could go two ways. It could go great. It could not go great. But if I don't take a chance, I'll always regret it. And that's how I've lived my life for a while. It's, okay, if not now, when. And if someone says no, someone else will say yes, or maybe I can do something to make that a yes one day. And I just feel like showing vulnerability is a strength. I've always said that, you know, self-care is not selfish. It's self-love. And being able to be vulnerable is a total strength. And I think Emily really embraces that sentiment. Her and Mindy together, that friendship as well is so inspiring to me. Ashley is like one of my best friends. And playing Emily, I think, has forever changed me in a lot of ways. And to hear other young women say that that's the

case as well is that's a gift. And I just, I'm so happy to get to still play her. Well, it really is a great example. It's probably hard for you to see it from where you are, but it's happening to to young girls everywhere. You've talked about the show growing season to season. You made some changes, season two coming off season one. How did you want the show to look and feel a little different season two and then maybe even going forward in three and four? You know, the beauty of being able to go to a second season

is that from season one, you can kind of analyze a lot of the thoughts and the comments that came out about the show or people's discussions surrounding the show. And you can make creative changes. you can do better in a sense. And all of the ones, all of us behind the camera, were speaking about how can we enhance the show for season two? What are the things that we already had wanted to do?

But within 10 episodes of a season one, it's impossible. You can't go into everyone's storylines right away. So for season two, we wanted to have more for all of the characters, which we did, and being able to see more of their lives outside of just Emily's point of view. More diversity in front of the camera and behind, and we were so proud to have an incredible casting crew and new characters join us. And also more French, which was fantastic,

being able to have the French language, which I actually ironically grew up studying. I need to keep practicing a little bit more. I know. It's hard when Emily doesn't know French and then I did growing up and I used to dream in it, then now all of a sudden I'm playing someone who doesn't, and it gets confusing.

But to be able to really enhance, the show with more France and more French language and more French culture. And that, I think we did season two. And I think we just want to keep doing that more and more for three and four. And just keep telling stories that can be applied to many people all over the world's lives, regardless of if they're in that industry or not. Because we're all going through very similar experiences in the way that they make us feel. And that's something growing up, I wanted to be a teen therapist because I wanted to just have open conversations with people and say, even if we're not in the same industry or live in the same place, we can still relate on some level. And I think with

Emily, there's little bits of people in all the characters. And maybe that's part of what makes it feel a little universal. So it's continuing to tell those stories. So is there anything you can say about season three? You know, I just recently asked those questions myself because I'm like, so I know we're going to go back soon. What happens? What do I do? And they're like, well, we're figuring it out. I'm like, I don't get to know. I do know, though, that there's going to be more fun fashion. There's going to be more comedy.

There's going to be more drama. I'm hoping more adventures from Mindy and Emily, as always. But, yeah, I don't know yet, and I wish I could say, but hopefully soon I'll find out myself. But we know you're going to Paris. We can safely say that. I mean, it's definitely, there's going to be Paris in it, sure. Okay. We don't want you go We love Chicago. I'm from Chicago, but we don't want to be all.

I don't know, though, if there's going to be a part about Chicago. So all I know is that it's Emily and Paris. There's going to be Paris. But other than that, I literally have no idea. Okay. If you don't know, nobody knows. So we'll leave it there. I know. I believe me, I've been asking. Hey, guys, thanks for listening to the Sunday Sit Down podcast. Stick around to hear more from Lily Collins right after the break. Welcome back now more of my conversation with Lily Collins. I'm curious for you when you're talking about dreaming in French growing up, when the performance thing started for you?

Was it like, there are some actors who said I knew when I was four years old, I used to get up and sing and my parents knew it was going to happen, and some people found it later in theater and college or whatever. When was that for you? No, I was early. I always was dressing up. I was always part of theater programs or the like village nativity play in England as the angel number three or something.

I did stage plays when I was younger in musical theater. And I think I was two years old when I did a show in England, which I remember very little of. But I do remember very specific moments of being on set as a very young kid and feeling just kind of comfortable. And I always loved when my dad and mom would read me books before bed. my dad would do different accents and characters. And that world that I went into in my head and that escapeism, I felt, I thought, okay, I want to help people get there. And that's what I will do if I act. I'm going to be able to tell stories that help people either, you know, escape for a little while out of their daily lives or take them somewhere they've always wanted to go or never thought that they go or now meet characters that they have empathy for.

You know, all of these kind of adventures. And that's what acting is. And I just always knew. It's weird. I've always wanted to be a storyteller. I like that you're already turning your children's books into movies at five years old. Oh, yeah, always. You're like going into the pitch for the movie, casting it out.

There was a moment, too, right, where you wanted to get into broadcast journalism for a bit? I did. I studied broadcast journalism in school. I reported on Obama's inauguration for Nickelodeon. Nickelodeon. And I was working for all these different channels for. for red carpets and kind of thought behind the scenes of things. And yeah, I loved meeting people and talking people and picking their brain and just having

taped conversations. That's what I always viewed it as, not like, okay, if I ask you A, B, and C, but you go off on a tangent, but I'm not paying attention, you're going to miss out on something that only you may have gotten. Exactly. And it's really just being a curious person, which I am in life. I am as an actor, and I definitely was as a journalist. So I always think like, how can I make that happen again?

Keep that in your back pocket. Maybe we'll call you when you're ready. The Today Show, let us know when you want to come. When you need a gig. Did you pick up on your father being the performer that he was, that life at all of what it could become, just in terms of being a performer, but also when you're a kid, you can't imagine being at a sold-out Wembley Stadium,

but that your life could be that kind of life? I mean, I think I remember being a kid at Disneyland with my dad and having someone come up and ask him for a photo. And I think I was just so confused because I was like, well, Disney was nothing to do with him. But it was that kind of recognition no matter where he went that he had touched the life of somebody in a very profound way. And if you're an entertainer, regardless of whatever industry that might be in, you are putting your heart in your sleeve. You're being vulnerable. You're telling parts of your soul to the world through lyrics. or through a part, and to be able to have the kind of confidence and strength to do that

and also maintain a sense of privacy, that's a fine line. And I knew having seen my family go through it, that that's always a risk, or it's just part for the course. Obviously, social media didn't exist back then, so now there's a whole other level to it, but there's a way to maintain a balance. And that's not always easy, but it is something that comes with it. And it's not by any means something that I would ever want to prohibit me from continuing to do what I love. Because I truly, I love what I do.

And I feel like I grow so much as a human through what I do that it takes the work sometimes to make it balance out. But I learned a lot. So do you have conversations because your life clearly in the last, it's called it, year, year and a half has changed, where if you walk into one of the 90 countries, where Emily and Barris was number one on Netflix, people are going to know you. Do you talk to your dad about that, the fame side of it and how to handle it?

I don't. I don't. I think he, I mean, he says, obviously, that, you know, he's proud, but we don't really talk about that side of things. I share my work, but I think I've witnessed and learned and grew from what I saw as a kid and continue to still see.

and we kind of keep it separate. And like I said before, social media, and there's so many elements to it that didn't exist then, that exist now, that I'm navigating it in a whole new way than I think anyone would have 10, 20, 30 years ago. So it's very nuanced in its own way. That's probably an awkward conversation anyway.

Dad, how should I be famous? Yeah, exactly. And it's such a weird. I still don't even, if someone recognized, I'm still like, oh, I don't, I can't compute it sometimes because it's just, I just, I'm doing what I love. And we, like you said, specifically with Emily, we experienced it during COVID. So it's a very weird thing to now be coming out of that bubble and talking to people about the show. And at the same time that Emily came out, I was fortunate enough to work with David Fincher in a film, which is a very,

kind of a very different audience. And so that also came out during COVID. So it was like, you're British with an accent. Oh, but you're also Emily. And it's like, well, but I'm an actor. Right. Right. I like to switch it up and play around. Another great movie, by the way. Thank you. You've been on a run here. It's been fun. It's been a wild ride. Stick around for more of my conversation with Lily Collins right after a quick break. Welcome back. Now the rest of my conversation with Lily Collins. Got to ask you about your first movie, The Blind Side. Yeah.

What was that like to, in your first film, act alongside Sandra Bullock, who won the Academy Award for that performance. What an introduction to the business. What an intro. People kept saying, this is not normal. Your first film does not normally do this. I was like, okay. I had just turned 20. It was a couple days after my 20th birthday when I found out that I'd booked the job.

And at that time, I don't think I knew it was Sandra Bullock. It was just you're going to leave in two weeks to go do this movie. It happens to be the character. Your character happens to also include your last name. I was like, oh, my God, okay. And I went to Atlanta, and, you know, Tim McGrath is playing my dad, and Sandra Bullock is playing my mom, who was the perfect person to introduce me to what this would all be like.

She's the most eloquent, knowledgeable, kind, like, down-to-earth woman who treats everyone the same, asks such intelligent questions on set, and takes power and ownership of herself and her character, but also just nurtures those around her. Like, it was my first experience, and she made it something that I wanted to continue doing. Because it can be very scary, and if you go on your first set and it doesn't go well, it might deter you for wanting to do that for the rest of your life. And working alongside Sandra, and then subsequently, after that, working, with women like Jennifer Connolly, Julian Moore, Annette Benning, just Julia Roberts.

I mean, I've been so fortunate to be surrounded by these incredible, powerful women who not only are they insanely talented actors, but they have families and they also have private lives. And it was this amazing lesson to me early on that if you work hard and you are able to balance, you can have both. You can have a life and you can have a life at work. And have that, now I understand it as a producerial voice, but before I knew what that was about having a say more than just the lines that you're given to say.

And that's taught me so much. And what an example, just to have someone that, okay, I want to be like that. I want to treat people that way. I want to act that way. Yeah, it starts from the ground up or it starts from number one on the call sheet. Right. You know, and that trickles down. And it makes the world of different.

because everyone wants to be there then. And everyone wants to work for the common goal when the top starts out being so collaborative and on an equal playing field, which it really does make a world of difference. So what's still out there for you? I mean, you're still so young and you've had this crazy hit show

that goes for two more seasons and you're doing these really smart, interesting movies. When you look out at the future, if you're able to, what else is out there for you? I'm excited to have a family one day of my own or our own to continue producing. I want to keep telling stories behind the camera as well as in front, but to give other people opportunities, whether it's other filmmakers, other actors, to tell stories that are maybe small,

but we can bring them to a wider audience, much like we've had the opportunity to do. But also to continue surprising myself with the roles that I play, But just continuing to surprise myself in the everyday, I think. We never knew that the last two years would be what it was. And I've found comfort and kind of a therapeutic way of living through nature and lots of different travels that my husband and I have been on and adventures around the world and trying to just stay as in the moment as possible.

I think I acknowledged in the past two years that I actually have a lot of anxiety. And so what does it take to calm oneself and be real and stay in tune with ourselves? And that's really important because if we don't have that connection, we're just going to be floating. Like, I want to stay here, not up there. And that's something that is sometimes a constant thing you have to really take note of and finding new ways for that. It's interesting to hear you talk about anxiety and mental health you wrote unfiltered and you just like put it out there. I don't know if that was a hard thing for you to do or it felt great after the fact. But again, another good example for young girls who are watching you and Emily and Paris

and look up to you that it's okay to talk about this stuff. And in fact, it's important to talk about it. It is. And thank you. Yeah, I actually, I loved writing. You know, I studied journalism and writing that book, ironically, I wrote a chapter about my experiences with mental health and eating disorders a week after I got the script for To the Bone, which was a, to me, a life, someone telling me something like. Like, this is important for you to talk about because it was extremely therapeutic, but at the same time then when it comes out, of course, there's like, okay, there's the nerves and the anxiety of I'm putting this out there.

But I'm also someone that weirdly wants to be held accountable for certain things because I think it helps me grow and kind of pay attention to things I don't necessarily know I need to myself. And I'd love to write again and continue through whether it's the work that I do with the Go campaign or work that I do just in general with young girls or young people in general talking about using your voice and vocalizing insecurities and issues and problems. Because like I said earlier, it doesn't matter if you've done the exact same thing or work in the same industry or have the same problem. We all feel very similar problems and things. So talking about them is a strength. And it's really important. To talk about mental health is really, really important. And it's been nice in the last, I don't know how many years, decade, that that taboo has started to sort of slip away.

That well-known people, and that trickles down to other people are like, okay, it's a right to show vulnerability or you thought it was weakness, but it's not. Completely. No. And it's really important. I'd just say thank you as a father of a daughter to put that out there and make it okay, because it's so important. Congratulations on Winfall. This was so fun talking with you. Thanks for the time. Thank you.

Good to see you. My big thanks again to Lily for a great conversation for spending some time with me. You can catch her new film, Windfall, streaming now on Netflix, and season three of Emily and Paris, sometime in the future, TBD. My thanks to all of you for listening. If you want to hear more of these conversations with my guests every week, be sure to click follow so you never miss an episode. And don't forget to tune in to Sunday today. every weekend on NBC. I'm Willie Geist.

We'll see you right back here next week on the Sunday Sit Down podcast.