Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with BLUE MOON’s Emily Ruhl

Emily Ruhl is one of Hollywood’s most exciting up-and-coming storytellers. She first burst onto the scene as a model, gracing the pages of international magazines including Teen Vogue, Marie Claire, Elle Canada, Nylon, and more. She then went on to make her acting debut opposite Nicholas Hoult in Drake Doremus’ Newness.

This year she made her producing, directorial, and writing debut with BLUE MOON.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to speak with this rising star about her multifaceted career, BLUE MOON, and more!

PC: How did you discover your passion for storytelling and the arts?
Emily: I was always a theater kid from the very beginning. The first memory that I have was being obsessed with Grease growing up. I knew every song and would play the soundtrack and movie at the same time. That’s where it first started.

Also, I grew up in Dallas, and I never felt like I fit in where I grew up. Film and fashion were how I escaped that and where I found inspiration. I remember we would go to this shop called Video Village, which is like a homegrown Blockbuster, and I’d get to rent my DVDs for the weekend. For me, it was always super exciting. The smell of popcorn still gets me going.

I remember story time was always my favorite as a child. Then, I started doing musical theater when I was about twelve. That was actually the goal—I wanted to be on Broadway. That was my initial dream. But then I started modeling at a young age. I think as a child I realized how it could take me to faraway lands and places. I could learn so many things about people who had different perspectives and different experiences than I did. That’s where it all started.

PC: Who or what has had the biggest influence on your career?
Emily: When it comes to filmmaking, I’m a huge fan of Spike Lee and Sofia Coppola—both the Coppola’s (Francis Ford and Sofia). Also, Wes Anderson. They create such a beautiful aesthetic within their films. Also, their tones are very specific. The same with Martin Scorsese. You know a Scorsese movie when you see one. They’ve been huge influences.

My mom as well. She’s a female businesswoman. Watching her do it all has always been very, very inspiring. What drives me every day to do this is to prove to that twelve-year-old that we all have inside of us who feels like they’re not good enough or they can’t do it that we can. That’s what drives me—to prove that little voice wrong.

PC: You got a new project out now. Can you tell us about BLUE MOON and the inspiration behind the story?
Emily: BLUE MOON is a little love story that takes place in a single night. One of my good friends is actually in the film. Her name is Olivia Berris, and she plays Maya Davis. She recently started dating women and came out. I’ve been so grateful to be a part of that journey with her and to witness all of that. She’d always mentioned how she didn’t feel represented in the media and how that really had affected her discovering her own sexuality.

I had an experience where I felt this love in a night that we show in BLUE MOON that was wild. It existed in that one night. I was sharing it with her, and we started collaborating and thought how cool it would be if we could combine both worlds. I would write the script, and she could be in it. We cast another queer actress, and that’s how it came to be.

It was supposed to be three minutes on my iPhone and was going to be them in a bedroom together for the entire night and we would explore that dynamic. It was going to be called Little Spoon. That went out the window as I started writing it; it really expanded. I had my own personal experiences, which definitely related to the plotline of BLUE MOON, and it continued to grow.

PC: You wrote, directed, and produced the film. How challenging was it to wear all those different hats?
Emily: It was wild. I didn’t have time to think about it. I also self-financed the film. When you do that, and once you spend a certain amount of money, there’s no going back. Failure wasn’t an option. I just put out the fires as they came. I had no clue what I was getting myself into. I just rolled with the punches. I’m shocked I’m doing it to myself again.

I loved doing it so much, though. It didn’t feel hard as much as it felt tiring. When it was over and we were done shooting, I got very sad. I thought I would be relieved that now I can rest and work on other stuff, but I was really sad that it was over. It’s challenging, but it’s really fulfilling. I imagine it’s like parenting in a way. It feels like a child that’s a pain in the ass and breaks things, but we love them—that’s how it felt.

PC: You’re an actor yourself. How did that help you approach the way that you collaborated with the team?
Emily: Being an actor, you start writing things a little differently, and you communicate a little bit differently. It was important to me that the screen time was flattering even in the editing room. We really tried to edit the takes that gave the best performances on both sides. We were lucky that there were only two characters, so that was easy to do.

Circling back to my mom who has her own business, I really learned from a young age how to treat the people that are on your team and make sure they feel appreciated, heard, and valued. That was really important to me because there are long hours and it isn’t an easy job. I was probably bossy because that’s my job, but I did it with kindness and love. It came down to communicating with everybody with a certain level of respect and understanding that we’re all trying to do our jobs.

In order to get the best performances, you have to create a really safe space. When giving notes, it’s an interesting line that you walk because you don’t want to be critical because then you’re not going to get anything from anybody; they’re just going to close up. That was an interesting discovery for me.

I was lucky that we brought on my personal acting coach named Lena Georgas, who’s amazing. She came on set the second day. It was very helpful when we shot the sex scene, which I didn’t know how that was going to go. I had never done anything like that before. She did an incredible job making everybody feel at ease and being able to be the middleman. I told her the direct and blunt note that I wanted, and she translated that into a way to get the performances we wanted. It’s key to hire people that know more than you.

PC: You recently won an award for the short. Congratulations, by the way. What has that response meant to you?
Emily: I’ve equated it to people who run marathons and then there are these little stations where they give out Gatorade—that’s how it feels, where it’s like a nice pat on the back because I’m sprinting. It’s a nice thumbs up that I’m in the right direction. I’d never done any of this before, so the only person I had telling me that I could do it was myself. It’s nice to get recognition and know that you’re on to something. This is what I want to do with the rest of my life. It’s nice to have positive reinforcement because things go wrong. You don’t get into a lot of festivals; for every yes, there are three nos.

PC: Great answer. What do you hope audiences take away after they see the short?
Emily: I hope they have a warm and fuzzy feeling. That’s been my answer. I hope they see that love is love regardless of gender or sexual preference—that’s a big one. That vulnerability is how you connect with other people. It’s such a beautiful and precious thing that sometimes there’s a tendency to be fearful to expose who you really are. Granted, you can definitely overshare, [laughs] but vulnerability is being human. It’s a really, really beautiful thing.

PC: You’ve teased this already, but you’re working on another project. Is there anything you can tell us about that?
Emily: I’m super excited about this one. It’s kind of BLUE MOON‘s older sibling. It’s called 13 Stepping, and it follows an AA group in New York City and how their lives intersect and intersex with one another. There are thirteen characters. I want to pitch it as proof of concept for a series. So, thirteen episodes, each episode from the perspective of one of the different characters.

The first episode is from the perspective of the character that I play named Lily. It’s provocative, it’s sexy, it’s a little grungy, and it’s a bit dark. It really explores addiction and the human condition, and how not all of us are good or bad; there’s a lot of gray in the middle. It also explores community, humor, and a whole bunch of different topics.

But I’m super excited. The tone is a lot different than BLUE MOON. It’s kind of ’90s, and a lot of reds and dark blacks. We’re shooting in this really cool old high school gymnasium, so all of the typeface is going to be like the collegiate lettering. Our press is going to be a yearbook, which will be super cool.

I think shooting in New York is really amazing for me because I lived there from ages fourteen to eighteen. I romanticized New York because nothing bad had happened to me yet in life. I never had a breakup. I was just living as a teenager in New York. It’s very romantic to me. The script is 80% based on who I was as a teenager, so it’s been a really cathartic and healing process as well.

I’m super excited about it. Acting in a project that I’m writing, directing and producing, and providing emotional support for is a little overwhelming, but I don’t think I would have it any other way. It’s a story that I could only tell. I had contemplated, going back and forth, should I just cast someone? And I think that if I did that, I would’ve regretted it. So here we are, and balls to the wall doing everything.

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

PC: Guilty pleasure TV show?
Emily: The Real Housewives of any city. All of them. Anything on Bravo. I’ve even dated people who have been on Bravo. I’m a huge Bravo fan.

PC: Guilty pleasure movie?
Emily: How to Lose a Guy in 10 Day.

PC: Favorite book?
Emily: Meditations by Marcus Aurelius.

PC: Favorite play or musical?
Emily: The Addams Family on Broadway or Spring Awakening.

PC: A band or artist that fans would be surprised to learn is on your playlist?
Emily: Jonas Brothers.

PC: Dream role?
Emily: Something in a film by Sofia Coppola.

To keep up with Emily, follow her on Instagram. Learn more about BLUE MOON here.

Photo Credit: Martina Tolot Moroder