For Emily Skeggs, a theater kid born in New York City, starring in Dinner in America, in a story set in the Midwestern American suburbs, proved to be a deeply personal journey. In our interview ahead of the film's limited theatrical release, Skeggs recalls how the script was sent her way in the spring/summer of 2018 and that it was "pitched to me as a Napoleon Dynamite-punk rock love story." At this point, Kyle Gallner (Veronica Mars, Scream) was already attached to play Simon, the film's lead, and Skeggs was up for the role of Patty. "When I first read the character, I was like, 'Who is this? What am I going to do? How do I make her a real, fully-fleshed, relatable person that the audience is ultimately going to root for?'" she says. "It was really meeting [director] Adam [Carter Rehmeier] that solidified for me what this movie really was. Yes, it's Napoleon Dynamite. Yes, it's SLC Punk!. But it has this really bizarre, unexpected beating heart of a love story that I don't think that I even really saw when I first read the script."
Indeed, as the trailer for Dinner in America suggests, the film follows the unconventional love story between punk rock singer Simon who, while on the run from the police, meets the weird and lovable Patty, who is obsessed with Simon's band and music. Unaware of whom he really is — Simon wears a mask on stage when he performs — Patty quickly becomes enamored by Simon, and the two form a friendship that, throughout their short time together, grows into something more. Skeggs is completely right in the Napoleon Dynamite spirit within Dinner in America. Going even further, one can even say the film vibes with coming-of-age movies of the 2000s, particularly for Patty who, by the end, comes into her own.
"I think that, really quickly, I realized how personal the character was for me, how I felt very deeply like Patty for a long time in my life and had never really looked back on those memories very fondly," Skeggs says. "Coming to this movie and playing this character, it was both a little painful and strange for me — and also really liberating — because I was able to go back to that part of me and see these things that I [initially] thought were flaws or things that I thought I needed to get rid of [in order] to conform to some shape that was acceptable to society, and see these traits as things that are positive, that should be celebrated, and [are] parts that make me unique. To really value them, and fall in love with them again, was really liberating and really healing."
Dinner in America is a Portrait of Midwestern America
Dinner in America certainly doesn't hold back in its portrayal of Midwestern American suburbia. The Irish Times, in fact, called the film a "cringe-making firecracker of a comedy" that is "shocking for all the right reasons," while Variety reviewed the film as an "ingratiatingly rude comedy." These are, of course, compliments in a way: underlying the love story between Simon and Patty, Dinner in America is also an examination of the United States itself. "It's definitely there," Skeggs says when asked about the film's subtle commentary on the infrastructure of American society. "Adam grew up in Nebraska, and he very much has a punk sensibility and is a punk. And I think we all share the same sentiments that the movie hints at — that there are some things about our country that we're not all proud of and don't think should be." Between the offensive language used by some characters and the shocking visuals — an early shot in the film sees Patty looking down at a dead, fly-infested cat — there's the initial gut reaction to deny the film entirely, but Skeggs sees value in it. "You have to realize [that] this is a lot of people's worlds in this country. I think we should acknowledge that and talk about it."
Considering the slice of, at times extreme, life Dinner in America portrays, and considering her own personal connection to Patty's circumstances, when asked how Skeggs navigated it all throughout production, the actress extends her gratitude to Gallner and Rehmeier. "Without Kyle and Adam, it would have been really hard. Adam is a really collaborative, beautiful person to work with. And so is Kyle. Incredibly generous, incredibly thoughtful, we always had each other's backs in this really beautiful way that's really rare. It felt like summer camp, making this." When asked what it was like to experience Gallner's Simon first-hand — a character that more or less rages throughout the beginning of the film — Skeggs said: "I personally find opposites to be really, really funny. I don't think either of us knew who these characters were until we were in front of each other. Then, we realized what we needed to foil and what we needed to complement."
The Watermelon Song
One of the tenderest moments in Dinner in America — and in each of Skeggs and Gallner's performances, for that matter — comes towards the last act of the film. Patty and Simon are in his basement and, mixing a track, Simon suggests that Patty sing a song using one of the poems she wrote in her journal for the lyrics. The result is Watermelon Song, an original track that Skeggs co-wrote with Rehmeier for the film. "It was one of the first things that [Adam and I] did when we got there, which really set the tone for and guided us towards where we knew Patty and Simon ultimately needed to meet."
Filming this scene was actually one of Skeggs' favorite moments during the production of Dinner in America. "I don't quite know why," she says. "Maybe because we shot it down the barrel. So, when I sang the song to Kyle, I was actually looking straight into the camera, and his reaction is looking straight into the camera. As an actor, you're told explicitly not to do [that], so it was really strange to do. But it also demanded a lot of honesty and vulnerability from both of us. [...] Adam was really strong in his conviction that it was the right [shot]. And I think he's right. I think it really offers a window into these characters' vulnerability."
Dinner in America is now playing in select theaters and will be available on digital and VOD June 7, 2022.