Pop-Culturalist.com

From playing Katie in Wet Hot American Summer to Connie Moreau in the Mighty Ducks franchise, actress Marguerite Moreau has left her mark on pop culture history with the iconic characters she’s brought to life on the screen.

She can now be seen starring opposite David Sullivan in Monuments. The must-see dramedy follows a young widower as he navigates grief and loss, and sets off on an impulsive odyssey through America’s heartland to find something he lost long before her death.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to speak with Marguerite about the film.

PC: Tell us about Monuments and your character in the film.
Marguerite: Monuments is a wonderful road trip film that’s very magical and quirky but ends in heartbreak. It’s a bit Cohen Brother-esque. My character, Laura, is one of the leads who is searching for more in her life and not wanting to get stuck in a rut. Then, her life suddenly ends. Her journey is coming to terms with thinking that she had all the time in the world and wasn’t living to the fullest. She tried to let go and go for it, but it’s a little bit too late.

PC: You’ve done it all in your career. What was it about this particular project and character that stood out to you?
Marguerite: It was really interesting to explore how much permission you give yourself in your daily life, and what happens when you have nothing to lose because you’ve lost it all. It was a nice way to think through grief.

I lost my dad before we started filming and was surprised by how weird grief was, but I had a small child that kept me present in my day-to-day. I needed to be alone to process everything that I’d been through, and this movie gave me that opportunity. Work is great mediation, if you will.

I also really appreciated the levity in this film. From what I’ve heard, so do the people who have seen it.

PC: The film does a beautiful job balancing comedy and the more emotional moments. For you as an actress, is one more challenging than the other?
Marguerite: Comedy is more challenging—you have to have a lot of energy to drive and sustain that. I have appreciated being a part of projects that were both, but I do have a real relationship with drama. I want to get right in there in all the deep stuff, so it’s good for me to do comedy as well to keep me on my toes.

PC: How did you and David prepare to tackle the journey between your two characters?
Marguerite: We would take our drive in the morning to set together. We lived about an hour from where we were filming. We had these long drives, and we’d listen to Off Camera with Sam Jones, which is a great podcast where he interviews actors about their process—it was super juicy. By the time we got to set, we were like, “I’m channeling Javier Bardem today. I’m channeling Rebecca Hall today.” Listening to that made us excited to jump in each day. Like I was saying earlier, we needed that energy. We were up before dawn to get to set.

PC: Is there a particular scene that you’re really excited for your fans to see in this movie? Which was the most challenging to film?
Marguerite: The scenes toward the end were the most difficult to film because you’re watching her deteriorate, but the scenes I think they’re going to really enjoy are her on the road with Ted and running into the sirens. There’s a real loose interpretation of Homer’s Odyssey in this.

PC: There are so many timely and relevant themes within the film. Is there one that hit home for you?
Marguerite: Make the most of each day because you never know when it’s going to end. I know that sounds so cliché, but my dad was retiring the week he found out that he was sick. All these plans that he had were gone. He was super angry. I really understood that. He had worked his whole life and definitely enjoyed himself, but he was setting up for a whole bunch of fun. All of a sudden, it was like, “Nope.” It’s hard sometimes to think about that day to day: “Well, today might be my last.”

To keep up with Marguerite, follow her on Twitter and Instagram. Monuments is available wherever you stream movies.