
LARS AND THE REAL GIRL
About The Production "I've had many weird jobs,” recalls writer Nancy Oliver about the inspiration for Lars
and the Real Girl, "during the course of which I often wander around the Internet.” Oliver came
across RealDoll, a company based near San Diego that manufacturers lifelike "anatomically
correct” silicone sex dolls. "These dolls were so bizarre they stuck in my head, because you can
totally see the reason for them. How many people do you know who can't operate with real
human beings? That's a large part of Lars' journey: he's been so deprived of female
companionship and mother love, he's hungry for that kind of comfort and softness.”
But where it would have been easy to descend into bawdy humor, Oliver chose instead to
write a sweet, off-kilter story about loss and pain and the power of kindness. "It seemed to me
there were a lot of movies that were dark, edgy, sarcastic and sometimes mean-spirited. I wanted
to write something about compassion and goodness, something that was sincere, because I wasn't
seeing any of that anywhere. And this particular story ties together a lot of the themes I work
with often.”
The script was sent by Oliver's agent to producer John Cameron "Lars immediately
grabbed me. I hadn't heard of Nancy, I didn't know anything about the script or the story—it was
sent from her agency in an envelope without any kind of pitch—so it was a cold reading that
turned warm very quickly.”
Cameron immediately knew whom he wanted for director. Cameron and then
commercials director Craig Gillespie had been friends for years, ever since they were introduced
by actor Frances McDormand, and Cameron had been "blown away” by Gillespie's reel. "It's
very funny, really great stuff,” says Cameron. "So in addition to getting to know him better, I
kept an eye on his work. Recently he won the DGA award for Best Commercial Director after
having been nominated three or four times. This guy knows narrative. He knows theme. I
thought this would be a great project for him in terms of his sensibility. He approaches
everything from an extremely realistic perspective. He doesn't look at a scene and say, ‘What
can be funny here?' rather he asks, ‘What's the idea that we're trying to communicate?' If it's
funny, great, but his approach is real from the get go. And I thought a movie about a man who
falls in love with a life-size doll, if not grounded in some kind of reality, would become farce, and
that's not what the script is about.”
Both men knew, however, that the story would be a difficult pitch. "It's very delicate,
intimate, and life-affirming but it's not easily pigeonholed,” explains Cameron. "The plot sounds
ludicrous when you encapsulate it too briefly. Thematically it's a little easier: It's about a
damaged, sweet, shy young man coming to terms with a trauma from his past. And beyond that,
it's a movie about community, how his family and the folks around him come together to help.”
"It scared a lot of people,” confirms Gillespie, "because it's such a tightrope to walk. We
had a lot of trouble trying to set it up with studios because everybody knew that it was such a fine
line to pull this off. I always felt I had a really strong handle on the tone and the delicacy of it,
but we had it for three years before it got off the ground. I think people just didn't want to take
the risk. But we had lots of meetings because everyone loved the script so much.”
Bill Horberg, President of Production at SKE had gotten the script, loved it and shared it
with SKE President Jim Tauber who had the same enthusiasm for it. This became a high priority
for them and they quickly set a meeting with John Cameron and Sarah Aubrey who filled them in
on Gillespie. There was a lot of competitive interest in the project and SKE was eager to get it.
Horberg and Tauber brought Gillespie and Cameron in to meet with Sidney Kimmel w
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