2009 – Wake as Tyler

Written by Suzanne on May 6, 2009

I went to the Newport Beach Film Festival on Friday, April 24th specifically to see the indie film WAKE. I read that Danny Masterson was in the film and being a fan of That 70’s Show I thought it might be fun to see him on the big screen.

While waiting outside before the doors opened I met WAKE director Ellie Kanner, producer Hal Schwartz, actors Danny Masterson, Bijou Phillips and Bijou’s mother Genevieve Waite.

For those of you that love fun music finds check this one out from Genevieve’s 1973 album, Romance Is on the Rise.

Before the screening I asked Danny Masterson a couple questions and took some video of Danny, Bijou Phillips, and director Ellie Kanner talking with the press.

he film WAKE is a dark comedy about Carys, played by Bijou Phillips, desperate to experience emotion she attends funerals of strangers. She meets Tyler, played by Ian Somerhalder, who is mourning his fiancée. Meeting him is the catalyst that sparks her emotions again but she discovers she might not be the only one hiding dark secrets.

Danny Masterson plays her best friend Shane, a mortician, a perfect fit for someone like Carys who values local funeral information. Jayne Seymour plays the role of her estranged mother who thinks Carys is better off eating cookies rather than digging up the past. Lila, played by Marguerite Moreau, adds to the comic relief being the roommate Carys finds annoying and at times helpful.

Sometimes dark comedy can be so abstract I can’t relate to it but this film was funny and well done. Even though Carys is an offbeat character with a strange interest in funerals, watching her journey is comical and poignant. This housewife gives WAKE the movie 4 out of 4 waffles.

“The idea for WAKE came to me when I was in school. I loved the notion that sometimes it’s only in extreme circumstances that we engage and really recognize what’s important to us. A woman who goes to funerals to experience life made a certain sense to me. I wrote a draft of the script then, but wasn’t happy with it and moved on to other projects. It wasn’t until a couple of years ago that I realized I still loved the idea at the heart of the movie and decided to give it another shot.” —writer and one of the producers of WAKE, Lennox Wisely.