Anton Yelchin and Felicity Jones star in Drake Doremus’ film Like Crazy, the largely improvised story of lovers Anna and Jacob forcibly separated when Anna is sent home to London after overstaying her student visa in L.A.
Their attempts to reunite take time, money and patience, and patience is something neither has.
Yelchin says his character may have over invested himself in a difficult, upsetting love affair due to loneliness.
“He has a mother that doesn’t give a s— about him,” he says. “He doesn’t have a father so he’s very alone and to himself and everything that is exciting about him on the inside comes out in his desire to create something. She is completely distant and not connected to him. The father passed away and so he doesn’t have anyone he goes to, there’s no one.”
Doremus’ goal was to shoot 30 minute improvised chapters, and the stars didn’t know each other so being thrown into an intensely intimate situation was tough, says Jones. “It was quite petrifying, especially considering what we were about to embark on. I met him and thought this is going to be difficult if he’s not that cool.
“But luckily he was extraordinary and we became great friends.”
Jones learned to rely on her imagination in her first improvisational role. “You can’t help but bring something of yourself to the role, your own instincts. We were keen for there to be some separation of who we are and the characters. Anna is a lot more impulsive than I am and I liked that about her. She makes decisions without really thinking them through, which is how they get her into trouble. There were many things I wanted to examine and think about.
“It was frightening, but it was a good thing.”
