LOS ANGELES — “I Saw the TV Glow” is director Jane Schoenbrun’s coming-of-age film – an eerie story of suburban horrors in the 1990s. It follows Owen, a teenager who is introduced to a mysterious late-night television show that soon it seems more real than real life.
“I Saw the TV Glow” doesn’t just appear in the shows that keep us up at night, but also in the ones we obsess over.
But the film also tries to explore self-discovery, Schoenbrun said: in this case, it tries to authentically capture the experience of gender transition.
“I wrote it at the beginning of my physical transition,” they told Spectrum News. “I set a goal for myself, as an artist, to really capture that feeling in a way that is beautiful and overwhelming and terrifying.”
For Schoenbrun, “I Saw the TV Glow” is an attempt to unravel everything that leads to the “broken egg” – the moment when someone finally stops repressing themselves and admits who they are.
Ian Forman. (Courtesy of Spencer Pazer/A24)
Justice Smith, who plays Owen, told Spectrum News that he may not have understood the script the first time he read it, but playing his character was an awakening moment for him, which was the antithesis of Owen’s arc.
“I learned to accept myself as enough. Often when I’m doing projects, I have this obsession with the quality of my work. On this project, I really tried to abandon that and just serve the story,” Smith said. “It was scary to do that. In the end, it taught me that in my rawest, most instinctual state, I am actually okay, if not good. Owen is going through exactly the opposite, but there is hope for him.”
“The Pink Opaque” is the fictional 1990s television show that Bridgette Lundy-Paine, who plays Maddie, is obsessed with in the film. As they grew older, however, her personal obsession turned away from scary TV and toward the lighter side.
“I was obsessed with ‘Monk,’ starring Tony Shalhoub,” they said, referring to the show centered on Shalhoub’s obsessive-compulsive private eye. “I watched the show all the time with my family. I have OCD, but I didn’t know it when I was watching ‘Monk’ – but I really love his character.”
Brigette Lundy-Paine. (Courtesy of Spencer Pazer/A24)
But if “The Pink Opaque” were a real show today, Lundy-Paine would definitely watch it. Schoenbrun says they would skip it or just play in the background. Smith says he would tune in too.
“There’s probably a ‘Pink Opaque’ out there. There has to be,” Lundy-Paine said.
Schoenbrun says if they had enough money, they would do about six episodes of a show like “The Pink Opaque.”
“I Saw the TV Glow” opens in Los Angeles theaters this weekend.
Click the link above to watch the full interview.
