DANIELLE MUSTARDE MEETS ALIA SHAWKAT AND HOLLIDAY GRAINGER, STARS OF SUNDANCE DARLING ANIMALS

PHOTOS PICTURE HOUSE ENTERTAINMENT

Would-be writer Laura (Holliday Grainger) and her bff Tyler (Alia Shawkat) share a Dublin apartment – and a penchant for sex, drugs and er, lots of wine – in Sophie Hyde’s Animals. But when Laura meets Jim (Fra Fee), a sweet, straight-laced – and very sober – pianist, Tyler worries the party may be over. What did it take for this pair, Shawkat and Grainger, to form that on-screen bond? And, as the two move into their 30s, was there any crossover IRL?

DIVA: What attracted you to the story?

ALIA SHAWKAT: I like the idea of a friendship that’s changing. I experienced it in my own way and I liked the idea of portraying it. Plus, I really love Sophie as a director. I’d seen her work in 52 Tuesdays and also Holliday Grainger’s work. It was like, “Yeah, I wanna do this with these people!”

What’s Tyler like?

She’s definitely someone I relate to. She reminded me of the little devil inside myself.

How do your own politics and identity come into play when you’re choosing roles?

I think, “Can I imagine doing this? Would this be a fun person to play? Is it a person worth seeing?” And then, also, what parts of myself I see in this person – it’s not about trying to play people who are most like me; it’s actually the people who are least like me that are more fun. [Tyler] was a part of me that was hidden or that I was a little more embarrassed about, so it was fun – and hard – to play that version of myself. The part that I’m not the most proud of; the version of me that’s still too drunk when everyone else has already gone home… Tyler’s in that mode all the time.