Lady Bird director Greta Gerwig on casting the film's rising stars

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Sure, we all know how incredible Lady Bird leads — and recent Oscar nominees — Saoirse Ronan and Laurie Metcalf are.

But the film’s star power doesn’t end there. Take Tracy Letts, who plays Lady Bird’s father: not only is the actor a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright for August: Osage County, you can see him on HBO’s Divorced and in another best picture nominee, The Post.

And he’s not the even the only cast member pulling multiple best picture duty this year. Just take a look at the young men of Lady Bird: there’s Timothée Chalamet, who is also up for best actor for his work in Can Call Me By Your Name. “I didn’t know it was going to happen in 2017, but I did know that he would become a heartthrob,” Lady Bird director Greta Gerwig told EW. “He has that kind of energy that draws you in,” adds Metcalf. “He’s so charismatic.” And the Oscars are familiar ground now for Lucas Hedges. The actor, 21, who is also in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, was nominated last year for his work in Manchester By the Sea.

Then there’s Beanie Feldstein, who plays Lady Bird’s best friend, Julie, and just finished a successful Broadway run in Hello, Dolly! alongside Bette Midler. And Odeya Rush is an aspiring filmmaker herself — she’s directed two short films. “And they’re good. She’s really talented,” says Gerwig. “It was a special group of people.”

Hear more from Gerwig, Ronan, and Metcalf in the video above, and check out our cover of the trio below. And to read all about the Oscar nominations — we have a 47-page complete guide to them! — pick up the new issue of Entertainment Weekly.