All Of It with Alison Stewart

Episode: 'His Three Daughters' Follows Estranged Sisters in NYC
Date: September 25, 2024
Guests: Elizabeth Olsen (actor), Azazel Jacobs (writer/director)
Podcast: WNYC

Episode Overview

In this episode, host Alison Stewart explores the making and meaning of the new Netflix film "His Three Daughters" with actor Elizabeth Olsen and writer/director Azazel Jacobs. The conversation delves into themes of grief, the creative process, the specificity and universality of family, and the unique character of New York City apartments. The film follows three estranged sisters as they reunite in a cramped Lower East Side apartment to care for their dying father—a situation that forces them to confront old wounds and possibly forge new connections.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Genesis and Focus of the Film

• Azazel Jacobs explains the deeply personal roots of the story in his own experience with grief and entering the life stage where caring for aging (and dying) parents becomes a collective experience among friends.

  • "It was really me just trying to find refuge and then reaching out to actors and people that I love and asking them to kind of help me grieve together." (03:02)

• Jacobs didn't set out to specifically write about sisters—the characters "just emerged" as he began to write, soon realizing he was envisioning specific actors in the roles.

  • "Decide would be the wrong word. I really just started writing and this is who emerged... I realized I was writing for these three actors as well." (05:43)

Character Dynamics and Family Realism

• Elizabeth Olsen provides insight into Christina, her character—the youngest, a west coast free spirit who copes with family tension through avoidance.

  • "When we meet Christina, she is in a place of avoidance...she's learned how to survive with her family by muting her own opinions and letting the two of them battle it out." (04:27)
  • "I think it's a survival mechanism if you're around it a lot and you're the youngest...you get to choose if you want to participate in it or not." (05:07)

• The sisters represent a blended family with different backgrounds and lifestyles, but their return to the family home creates a "pressure cooker" that exposes old patterns and encourages growth.

  • "What's unique about these women...is it's three different New Yorkers that chose totally different paths and have to return back to their home." (06:52)

The Power and Presence of Place

• The choice of a real New York City apartment, specifically in the Lower East Side's Hillman Co-Op, was deliberate to anchor the film in authenticity.
  • "It was extremely important to me that the place was real...the history of those apartments...the fights and the laughter and the long family, the generations. I feel them so deeply." (08:08)
  • "I really wanted this to be a collective story, even though it's so individual." (09:34)

Collaboration and Creative Process

• Jacobs wrote with Olsen, Coon, and Lyonne in mind, recognizing their talents would elevate the characters beyond what he could imagine.

  • "It was exciting to write with them in mind. It really was like an incentive...even having that as an aim was exciting." (10:12)

• Dialogue and performance are intentionally "language-forward," with pacing and tone carefully calibrated by both director and actors.

  • "I think a lot of it is in the writing. It was clear to me the goals that Aza had from a tonal perspective. And it's also about creating a sense of pace." (16:12)

• The film was shot in chronological order, a rare feat made possible by the contained setting, which allowed actors and crew to evolve together alongside their characters.

  • "Every time we were shooting a scene, we could talk about a previous scene...we all got closer, we all got to understand each other." (18:32)

Blending Humor and Sorrow

• Despite the tragic setting, moments of humor naturally arise—often in awkward, true-to-life moments among siblings, or in the subtle reactions of Natasha Lyonne’s character.
  • "There’s this revolving door almost of the sisters worrying about why [Christina] is sitting so awkwardly in a chair against a wall, looking at nothing, doing nothing. And so I think those are moments that are supposed to be there to create this sense of humor." (17:10)

Artistic Constraints and Independence

• Olsen notes the creative intentionality afforded by independent filmmaking—especially limitations that become strengths, such as limited coverage and the discipline of shooting on film.
  • "There’s such clarity and intention behind everything you’re doing...there’s no working from fear to cover yourself later." (20:06)

Growth and Collaboration

• Stewart asks how Olsen has grown as an actor since "Sorry for Your Loss," prompting Jacobs’s admiration for her ability to reveal the complexity and resilience of her character over the course of the film.
  • "To go from that place to where Christina ultimately goes...there’s this amazing strength and resilience that I think that she reveals." (21:47)

Notable Quotes & Moments

• Azazel Jacobs on grief and filmmaking:
  "I wanted to take something that I love doing...and turn it towards something that there's been no control on. The joy has been fleeting and strange and odd." (02:46)

• Elizabeth Olsen on family dynamics:
  "You immediately assume the role that is asked of us in a family...it's almost like whatever growth you've had as a person, you immediately just go right back to what they want you to be." (13:24)

• Azazel Jacobs on the setting:
  "The history of those apartments...the fights and the laughter and the long family, the generations. I feel them so deeply. They feel haunted in kind of the most best ways." (08:08)

• Elizabeth Olsen on blending humor and grief:
  "The more overwhelmed one is, it could also be kind of funny…you're trying to play with the range...yes, this is about grief, but we're also going to be playing with humor." (14:42)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [01:18] – Introduction to the film and the cast
• [02:35] – Azazel Jacobs on exploring grief through filmmaking
• [04:27] – Elizabeth Olsen discusses Christina's avoidance and family survival strategies
• [05:43] – Why the story centers on three sisters
• [06:52] – The uniqueness of the sisters’ relationships and the realness of the apartment setting
• [08:08] – The importance of using a genuine NYC apartment
• [10:12] – The process of writing for specific actors
• [12:04] – (Film clip) Christina processes her father’s decline and distance from her own family
• [13:24] – Olsen explains reverting to old family roles
• [16:12] – How Olsen conveys hidden emotion and tension as Christina
• [17:10] – The role of humor in the narrative
• [18:32] – Shooting the film in chronological order and the impact on performance
• [20:06] – The benefits of indie filmmaking and working with intention
• [21:47] – Jacobs praises Olsen’s nuanced performance and growth

Summary

This episode of "All Of It" offers an in-depth look at the personal, creative, and thematic elements that shaped "His Three Daughters." The conversation reveals how grief can be both isolating and communal, how family forces us into old patterns, and how authenticity in storytelling and setting deepens resonance. The interplay of sorrow and humor, the subtle power of performance, and the embrace of indie filmmaking constraints are recurring themes. Through candid discussion and illustrative quotes, listeners are given a rich, behind-the-scenes view of a film that is both specifically New York and universally human.