'X/Y' Director/Star Ryan Piers Williams Talks Working With Wife America Ferrera

by UInterviewApril 21, 2014, 12:00 am >

The Tribeca Film Festival hosted the premiere of X/Y, a film starring husband and wife duo Ryan Piers Williams and America Ferrera.

X/Y is the second feature collaboration for the couple – Ferrera starred in Williams’ directorial debut The Dry Land (2010) – but Williams said that he was surprised by Ferrera’s desire to play Sylvia, the film’s lead character.

“I didn’t write the role with her in mind, and I didn’t know whether I wanted to cast her, honestly. When America expressed interest in playing the role, I was really surprised and excited by that,” Williams told EW.

Ferrera added that, at first lead, she didn't like Sylvia, nor did she have any desire to play her.

"I judged her and I didn't like her. But I realized that if someone wrote the facts of the worst things I've done in my life, I might not come off as likeable. I wouldn't want to be judged by that. So I saw this as an opportunity to work with Ryan and create a character who brings humanity through the hurt, and really examines her inner life," Ferrera said.

In the film, which Williams wrote and directed, Ferrera plays Sylvia opposite her husband, who portrays Sylvia’s ex-boyfriend Mark. Both Williams and Ferrera admitted their onscreen relationship was, at times, a bit difficult to shoot.

“Some of the intense fighting scenes our characters had to go through were difficult,” Ferrera admitted.

For Williams, perhaps more strange was the love scene shared by the two characters: “It’s not about us personally so I didn’t worry about it too much, honestly, but it is a vulnerable moment.”

The film co-stars Amber Tamblyn, Melonie Diaz, Jon Paul Philips and Common and explores the difficulties for young, twenty-somethings or thirty-somethings trying to maintain relationships.

“When I was inspired to write the movie, I wanted to make some kind of commentary on our generation and how they interact in this society. And what I found is that, we’re so hyper connected through social media, through our online dating, through all of these interactions, and yet, at times that can be such an isolating experience and a very lonely experience,” Williams told HuffPost Live.

Williams added that setting the film in New York was crucial to the story, as New York City can be both exceptionally crowded and exceptionally isolating, saying, “If somebody doesn’t give you what you want in your life, you can just go onto the next thing so easily, and a lot of times that promotes an environment when you don’t really have to make a deep personal connection. Setting it in New York was key because New York kind of represents the epitome of that.”

– Olivia Truffaut-Wong