Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with To the Stars’ Liana Liberato

Liana Liberato has quickly become one of Hollywood’s most sought-after leading ladies. Best known for projects that include Light as a Feather, The Best of Me, and Banana Split, Liana will next be seen in the highly acclaimed new film To the Stars.

Set in 1960s Oklahoma, To the Stars follows the unlikely friendship that forms between farmer’s daughter Iris Deerborne (Kara Hayward) and the worldly but reckless new girl Maggie Richmond (Liana Liberato).

Pop Culturalist had the pleasure of speaking with Liana ahead of the release.

PC: Tell us about To the Stars, your character, and what drew you to this project.
Liana: To the Stars follows two young teenage girls in rural Oklahoma in the 1960s and how they form this unlikely friendship. It’s a period piece about these two very layered women. That’s exactly what drew me to this project. Women living in the 1960s had societal expectations on their shoulders. I love that the story dissects and questions that. Maggie is an incredibly intricate and layered character, and I was excited to explore her.

PC: With this being a period piece, did that change the preparation?
Liana: Yes and no. Martha Stephens [director] wanted us to wear authentic clothes all the way down to the bras that we were wearing. Those bras from the 1960s were very uncomfortable. [laughs] They change the way you walk and the way you sit. It was really interesting.

But it was cool because I as Liana hated it. And so did Maggie. There was a time where we were looking for clothes to wear and for the first time ever, I saw pants in Maggie’s wardrobe. It was specifically for the scenes where Maggie starts to rebel against her family and do things her way. We were like, “Yeah, Maggie should be wearing pants during this moment.” She’s throwing caution to the wind. That was cool to get to think of those things, which you normally don’t when you’re working on a piece that takes place in the present.

PC: You’ve said in previous interviews that when you received the script, you started jotting down notes about Maggie. What were some of your early observations? Did they change in the course of filming?
Liana: A lot of my notes were regarding where Maggie came from. They never really explain where the Richmond family came from. You know that she’s from a city, but you don’t know how they ended up in Enid. They never really clarify that. So we built that. I came to Martha with some ideas, and we fine-tuned them. Then we also thought about where Maggie went. I’m sure a lot of people have different theories. So we created a scenario for Maggie once the movie ends. But yeah, not much changed. It was more defined.

PC: There’s a lot of different layers to Maggie, which you peel away at throughout the film. Which was your favorite to explore?
Liana: My favorite to explore was the lack of love and acceptance within herself. We know that the town and society doesn’t accept her, but what does it do to a person’s mind when they know that. How does that affect the way you think of yourself?

I was grappling with the idea that Maggie thought she had this monster living inside of her and she wanted it out because this is sort of what a woman who had those desires may have thought about themselves during that time. I liked the idea of her almost wanting to disassociate from that. That was fun to explore.

PC: There are some really intense moments within the film between Maggie and her family. As an actress, how did you get yourself in that mindset for those particular scenes, and what was it like collaborating with Tony Hale and Malin Akerman?
Liana: Working with Tony and Malin was incredible. The way that I like to work is I like to leave my work on set and on the camera. Once the camera isn’t rolling, I like to detach because I do feel like mentally that could be stressful, especially if you’re living with Maggie for a long time. It was nice being around two actors who I believe worked similarly. They wanted to create a fun environment on set. So it was nice because when the cameras were rolling, there was this coldness and tension. But when the cameras weren’t rolling, we were all hamming it up and talking about our families and where we grew up.

PC: The film’s been really well received on the festival circuit. What do you think it is that’s resonating with audiences? What do you hope that they take away?
Liana: I’m from a small town in Texas. While I think our country has made tremendous strides towards accepting all types of people, I do believe we have a long way to go. I think what excited me about this project is that you fall in love with Maggie. When you find out this deep, dark secret that’s been embedded in her, you love her the same. Sadly, there are a lot of people who don’t accept the LGBTQ community. I’m hoping that a movie like this will open people’s eyes and humanize everyone.

To keep up with Liana, follow her on Twitter and Instagram. Catch To the Stars on Digital today.