Eden Brolin is storming SXSW with “I Dream Too Much,” a charming indie from first-time director Katie Cokinos about a recent college grad (Brolin) spending the winter in upstate New York caring for aunt instead of hitting Brazil with her friends. But first, Brolin has to get through our Breakthrough questionnaire. “I’m terrible at answering questions. I don’t even know what I’m saying half the time,” she warns. “So I wish you the best of luck.” Performance that inspired you to become an actress: Perk of fame you’re most looking forward to taking advantage of: Biggest audition blunder: The last thing you Googled: The best person to follow on Twitter or Instagram: Ideal Saturday night: Follow Ned Ehrbar on Twitter: @nedrick
I wanted to be an actress when I was really young. I grew up watching some incredible films, but I also chose to watch the films that were happening at the time, and I was super into “Star Wars.” I loved “Star Wars as a kid. I even cut my hair like Luke Skywalker when I was 6 years old. So when I was a young kid, “Star Wars: Episode I” was coming out, and I saw Natalie Portman as Queen Amidala, and I flipped. I was like, “That’s what I have to do with my life.” (laughs) That’s the first thing that comes to mind, honestly.
Ewww. I don’t know if I’m ever going to be famous, Ned. That’s a little bit far-fetched for me. OK, I guess … I don’t know, I’m hoping for less fame and more work. I think a big part of being successful is being able to choose great people to work with and have opportunities come about that are much more interesting than having to just go with something to get your rent paid, you know?
I really don’t know. I try and forget about all of them after I go on them, because it’s just awful, auditioning. Probably the first three or four years I was auditioning, I would go in and I would talk about the weather. I’d be like, “Man, you guys are missing a beautiful day outside!” It’s just like, “No, Eden. Bad Eden. That’s why you didn’t get a job for four years.”
Your name. I Googled you so that I could look at a couple of your articles, because I love Metro New York. A lot. I used to do the crosswords every day when I was in school. But I wanted to just, I don’t know, learn a little bit about you before our interview. (laughs)
OK, I’m not on Twitter a whole lot. I’m really bad with Twitter. But when I do go on Twitter, I like to follow music. I follow Spin magazine, which I like because I get to find a lot of new and interesting music. But I think the best person to follow on Twitter is not a person, but a Twitter-bot named Olivia Taters. It’s the most fantastic thing. It’s a Twitter-bot that takes the first half of one completely random tweet and takes the other half of a completely random tweet and puts them together, and somehow it makes the most absurd but perfect sense, and it’s hilarious to me.
I would say … I think it’s really fun to go to shows and get dinner before and then stay up really late and get tacos after you’ve eaten and gone to a show. I don’t know, that’s dumb. That’s not my ideal Saturday night! What are we talking about? I don’t know, Ned, that’s a really hard question. OK, here’s an ideal Saturday night. I guess my ideal Saturday night would be for me having a couple of friends up to the ranch in my hometown and having a fire down by the pond, playing some music, laughing and joking around. I like campfires a lot.
The Breakthrough, SXSW Edition: Eden Brolin
Courtesy of I Dream Too Much
