Exclusive Interview: Willa Fitzgerald Discusses Watergate Film 18 1/2

Willa Fitzgerald has emerged as one of Hollywood’s most sought-after actresses. She’s brought compelling stories and characters to life in projects including Royal Pains, Scream: The TV Series, Little Women, Reacher, House of Cards, and Dare Me.

Her latest film, 18 1/2, finds Willa stepping into the shoes of a White House transcriber who is thrust into the Watergate scandal after she obtains the only copy of the infamous eighteen-and-a-half-minute gap in Nixon’s tapes.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to speak with Willa about 18 1/2, her love for independent filmmaking, the powerful women who shaped the artist she is today, and more.

PC: Tell us about 18 1/2 and your character in the film.
Willa: 18 1/2 is about the eighteen-and-a-half-minute gap in the Watergate tapes and a transcriber named Connie who takes it upon herself to be a whistleblower and publicize the eighteen-and-a-half-minute gap that she’s found. It’s a politically salient comedy-thriller.

PC: You’ve worked on projects that marry unlikely genres. Like you were saying, 18 1/2 is a political thriller meets dark comedy. How fun has it been for you to be a part of projects that defy conventional norms? Was that one of the reasons why you were attracted to this project?
Willa: Definitely. As a viewer, I really appreciate any show or film that is doing something that’s different. Because it’s easy to stay close to the comfort zone. As a performer, I also love to play within those genre-bending worlds. They’re more interesting to me as an artist and more exciting than something that’s a little more cookie-cutter.

PC: Throughout your career, you’ve brought these powerful female characters to life on the screen. Who are the women in your own life who have shaped the person and artist that you are today?
Willa: Definitely my mom. She’s a wonderful person and an incredible artist. She’s more creative than I could ever hope to be and has certainly been incredibly supportive of me my entire life. She’s given me the space to do whatever I want to do. There are so many women in the industry that have been so supportive of me and inspiring to me over the course of my career. A lot of women in theater. I worked with the Wooster Group experimental theater company when I was in college. Kate Valk and Elizabeth LeCompte are two women who are so strong and so powerful. They make such interesting and unexpected work. The list is very long, but my mom obviously has to be at the top.

PC: 18 1/2 was one of the last projects to film before the shutdown and one of the first features to pick up with the new protocols. How challenging was that for you? During that six-month gap, did it change the way that you viewed/approached this character?
Willa: It was such an intensely weird time. I don’t feel quite far enough away from it to really understand it since I’ve been working in a lot of places that were in lockdown even until last year. But did it change anything for me about Connie? I don’t think consciously, but I’m sure that there was a different energy brought to the character when I picked it back up however many months later after everything that had happened. We all have been profoundly affected in ways that I don’t think we will even realize for a bit. There’s going to be some decompression time.

PC: You and John have this incredible chemistry on screen. How were the two of you able to build that bond? Was it just natural from day one?
Willa: We got lucky. John is great. We vibed very well right off the bat. He and I actually have the same agents. I heard that he was great and I knew second-hand that he was very beloved. We shot together for a week and a half before anyone else came. We had a full week and a half of just our scenes. We both had such a fun time playing together as those characters, and by necessity we had a drink after work, chatting, and grew that connection that way too. But he’s fantastic. He’s such a great scene partner.

PC: Something that really stood out to me in this film was the incredible set design and the costumes. How helpful was that as you transported back to the ’70s and as you prepared to step into Connie’s shoes?
Willa: We lived in the motel that we shot at. We were living at the Silver Sands Motel. We were waking up in our rooms and then going to someone else’s room to shoot the scene of the day. It was fun. That’s one of the really fun parts of an indie film. It feels like summer camp. You’re kind of making a play together. It’s an experience you don’t have when you’re shooting something big-budget. It’s really a bonding experience, and it very much keeps you in the world that you’re doing.

PC: The film has made its way around the festival circuit. It’s been incredibly well received. What do you think is resonating most with audiences? What do you hope they take away when this film drops?
Willa: It’s a really interesting historical fiction film that’s part comedy. It’s speaking to a lot of the political questions that a lot of us have been asking for a few years. It’s doing it in a way that’s not smacking you over the head and that gives you this space where it asks, “How do you want to engage with this topic of Watergate?” The filmmaking trusts that the audience is smart and interested in actually watching the film and making connections and associations, instead of being like, “This is what you should think and this is why you should think that.” It’s open-ended, and I hope that people engage with it.

PC: Besides 18 1/2, what’s next for you?
Willa: Right now, I’m on House of Usher, which is Mike Flanagan’s new show for Netflix. That’s what’s coming up next.

To keep up with Willa, follow her on Twitter and Instagram. Watch 18 1/2 wherever you stream movies.

Photo Credit: Josh Wool