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Amy Smart, star of Rally Caps






Bridgestone Media Group releases Rally Caps on VOD on September 10th, 2024.


NYC MOVIE GURU: Which was more challenging for you to dive into as an actress: Nora's heart, mind or soul?

Amy Smart: I think that the heart part was probably the hardest because I feel like she had to juggle so much after her husband passed away and she has to be the strong mom to the two boys. Her heart is a bit broken from her husband dying and also from her older son who stopped talking to her. So, she's having to carry a lot and be a strong person and yet have all these feelings and not wanting to be too vulnerable along the way. She's strong and a bit guarded, yet there's so much going on underneath the surface.

NYC MOVIE GURU: Which emotion do you think is most challenging for Nora to process?

AS: For Nora, the sadness is the most complicated and maybe unprocessed emotion that she's experiencing. With any kind of grief, there's different stages. To me, she's sort of just steamrolled past the death and continued to have to really be the mom and the dad for her two kids and with the help of her dad which is such a great backbone. Again, like with any family, it takes a village to raise a kid. But for her, I think there's this hurdle of sadness that she hasn't really dealt with: the grief in her life. So, I think that Rally Caps is so powerful because it addresses things that everyone deals with on a regular basis: anxiety, fear, grief, uncertainty, and then, mixed, like you said, with lots of joy and laughter and funny moments and lightheartedness. It's a rollercoaster, but I love this film because it really shows the colors of what people go through. It doesn't paint just a pretty vanilla picture; it shows the journey that we all face on some level. So

NYC MOVIE GURU: Which emotion is most challenging for you to capture as an actress?  

AS: I naturally wear my heart on my sleeve. I'm very emotional, so portraying that to me comes a little bit easier than holding back. It's the holding back part that's so nuanced and truthful with the people who are just trying to get by in life---just take it one day at a time, deal with it or maybe not deal with it, but just keep going. What I did like about Nora is that she's in the medical field. She's taking care of people when she's not taking care of her kids. She's finding little time to actually take care of herself.

NYC MOVIE GURU: If Nora were to have more time for herself to relax and discover herself, what would you imagine her doing? 

AS: I sort of picture her finally finding a really sunny place whether it's cruising to the Caribbean or finding some close girlfriends. She doesn't seem to me like she has a ton of friends. She doesn't make time for that. So, maybe discovering friendships and possibly new love. I think that that's the least of her priorities. So, finding a softer place inside so that she can have some hope and some openness to a new person to love.

NYC MOVIE GURU: How introspective do you think Nora is?

AS: I really think that introspection is one of the many important things that we need to have in life. We are our own best friends and worst enemies. As humans, we're so nuanced, layered and filled with our past and life experiences. So, to awaken to what we're experiencing and being your own therapist to yourself. To me, the most important thing to do to grow forward and to evolve as a human is to really be honest about where you're at and what you've experienced because that will move you through life a little bit more honestly than just not dealing at all.

NYC MOVIE GURU: Would it be fair to judge Nora? 

AS: I think that the human response is always to judge. That's just how we view things as we make opinions about them. But I feel like playing her, to me, I'm not really judging her like, "Oh, she's a good mom!" or "She's a bad mom!"; I try to walk in her shoes and what she's going through. People do make different decisions. It kind of goes back to, "Don't take this personally." Most people will take life personally and things personally, and yet most of it is just the internal struggles of whatever that person is going through. When you look back, your hindsight is 20/20 and you can see what you've done. I think that Nora doesn't really see the negative impact that she's having on her kids and with her husband, until the funeral and until it's all come up to the surface. I think that she's just trying to maintain life before that. So, yea, hindsight is 20/20 and I'm sure that she has regrets and wishes that she was a more stronger person to help her son in those moments when it was harming him

NYC MOVIE GURU: When Nora tells her older son that she's there for him if he wants to forgive her, what do you think that says about her? Do you think that she forgives herself?  

AS: I think that she's adult enough and mature enough to ask for forgiveness. If you don't even see your part in it, then you're just a narcissist. She clearly recognizes that things didn't go the best way and she probably should've made better choices. I think that she's caught in the grey at that moment when she made those choices of supporting her husband and being a parent. Does she forgive herself? That's a really deep question because, who knows? When you've wronged somebody, it's so hard to find that forgiveness inside yourself on whatever level---it could be a small level. But it's so hard not to feel ashamed about it and to let it go. It would be nice if we could let those bad feelings about ourselves find a new home---not with somebody else, but to just let it go in the ethers so that we're not carrying around these weighty, horrible feelings that can last forever.

NYC MOVIE GURU: There's a powerful scene where Nora hugs her father. What does that hug represent to you? What does a hug represent to you in general? 

AS: A hug just says everything without saying a word. It's a human connection and a support system. It's love. It's a reminder that somebody cares enough about you and is there for you. I love that we're focusing on a hug because a hug can just fill up somebody's spirit and soul. It can heal a part of yourself that feels very alone and isolated. It can remind us that we're here for each other to love and support each other and to lift each other up. I think that, for Nora, that hug also is, "Oh, I can fall back on my dad who can help me with this. I don't have to carry all of this myself."

NYC MOVIE GURU: How would you define the term "grown-up"?

AS: Well, I think that we also use it synonymously with being mature: "Act mature, not immature!" It has to do with that self-reflection and the introspectiveness of developing our humanity. Sometimes, people say that there are a lot of adults playing in the sandbox that haven't really grown up. A grown-up, to me, can be a little bit like a funny word because I feel like I'm a child on some level even though I'm also a mother. [laughs] I'm always constantly learning and wanting to grow as a person, so maybe, "grown-up" isn't the right word; it's just handling things in a mature way so that you're aware of the way that you're influencing, impact and communicating with others.

NYC MOVIE GURU: How challenging is to find interesting roles to play, especially in a film that has something to say?   

AS: I 100% live for films that will dive deep into the human experience. Some films, like Rally Caps, aren't scared to do that. They embrace it and use it in a multi-spectrum of human experience. Some films are just pure entertainment for you to escape for a couple of hours and laugh and look at the technologies and costumes. It's a fun ride, but it doesn't necessarily pull you in deep in a way that makes you think about your own life. So, I want to continue to find roles that I'm able to go into that grey area---the part that we hopefully can push aside the judgement and just have the experience and see what that is.

NYC MOVIE GURU: A director once said to me that a film's plot is just a construct that contains feelings and that often people forget plots, but remember the feelings. What do you think about that?  

AS: Speaking about feelings, what makes a film or a TV show or a character powerful is the catharsis of the character, the plot and the experiences. It's sort of like how a caterpillar turns into a butterfly. You see the beginning and you see somebody go through an experience and come out the other end. Sometimes that other end looks hopeful or really depressing or funny or inspiring. I think that it gives us the human experience to connect because we all sometimes feel like we're on our own island and by ourselves experiencing life. When you watch films and TV shows, it's so universal. It really does express what we all are experiencing. So, in a way, it brings us back to our human experience. Yes, I agree with you. I don't necessarily remember all of the plots, but I do remember how it made me feel. That, to me, is a strong gift to give to somebody.

NYC MOVIE GURU: Which fictional character do you think would Nora get along with during a luncheon?  

AS: I feel like she'll be like, "Let's have Wonder Woman!" [laughs] To me, Nora is such a strong woman. I feel like a Wonder Woman character would just be really fun, strong and playful. I feel like she aspires to be Wonder Woman kind of character.

NYC MOVIE GURU: What film do you think would pair well with Rally Caps in a double feature like wine and cheese?

AS: The Sandlot, maybe, because it has this, sort of, sweet feeling of a kids', youth and coming-of-age story and of people finding themselves through their anxiety and insecurity, and confronting it.

NYC MOVIE GURU: Which films of yours would you pair together in a double feature?

AS: Two films that I would, maybe pair together---they would not be paired properly, but my two favorites that I've done would probably be Just Friends and The Butterfly Effect.

NYC MOVIE GURU: One of my favorite films of yours is Interstate 60 which I think would pair well with Rally Caps. I'm surprised that it wasn't released theatrically in the US. 

AS: I know! It's so cool, off the beaten path, original and fun.

NYC MOVIE GURU: I rank it among the classics, at least as a cult classic. 

AS: Wow, yeah. I can see it when you say that. It was a great movie to do. Gary Oldman is amazing. James Marsden is awesome. It was just so fun to play that character too.

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