“I Wanted To Find A Way To Make A Story That Was Palatable And Not Just Doom And Gloom.” Interview With Matt Lanter And Cindy Jansen, Star And Director Of CHASING THE RAIN

Cindy Jansen‘s directorial debut, Chasing The Rain, feels like the perfect film for 2020, one which attempts to see, step by step, which straw will break the camel’s back.

The camel, in this case, is Eric, played coarsely by Matt Lanter (Star Wars: The Clone Wars). A young man whose passion for photography is only matched by his resolve for humanitarian work, Eric’s life is uprooted after a debilitating disease swipes his sight and renders him, in his mind, useless. Despite a rich support system – pillared mostly by his dedicated roommate (Eric Tiede) and girlfriend (Hallee Hirsh) – Eric struggles to maintain his composure and his sense of self in the wake of his misfortunes.

Film Inquiry recently spoke with Jansen and Lanter about their experiences working together on the project, including their collaboration on Eric’s progressing ailments, and their challenges getting the film made.

This interview has been edited for clarity.

Luke Parker for Film Inquiry: Cindy, this film is often described as a lament, and it really is a relentless and unforgiving series of events. Can you describe the tone of the film yourself and also touch on what inspired you to write such a hefty film for your debut?

Cindy Jansen: [laughs] Well, I don’t know if I intentionally was like, “I want to do this as my debut.” it just sort of happened. But it was a topic that I was really interested in. Matt said something just a couple of minutes ago that I thought was really great, that sometimes the lament phase of grief gets glossed over a lot in stories and films.

Something I find very interesting is what happens when things don’t pick up and get better; when you don’t have that third act reversal where everything just kind of goes away and everything works out. I wanted to find a way to make a story that was palatable and not just doom and gloom. That was to do with a story like this.

The idea of something dragging on and on sounds like a pretty appropriate movie for this year.

Cindy Jansen: [laughs] It seems like this was the year that Chasing the Rain was meant to come out, honestly.

Matt, when you first encountered the character and the role, what was going through your head? What kind of blueprint were you making for your performance?

Matt Lanter: When I first read it, my initial thought was that I have never read anything with this amount of depth and nuance, both in overall story and in character. So, it really was attractive as an actor and as a human to want to tell that story. It was also – and I know this is sort of cliché to say – kind of scary. But I think going to those scary places as an actor is something that helps you grow, so that was part of the attraction.

I met with Cindy at a coffee shop and I just loved her vibe and her positivity, but also her truthfulness in writing that script.

I’ll make you confront your fears. What part was scary?

Matt Lanter: I think, really, the thing that jumps off the top of my head is the idea of playing someone who is disabled because that can go really, really bad. I just hope that I did that part of the character justice. It’s something that can come off really fake, and it can ruin the whole film. But the more zeroed-in portion of that is the trouble with Eric’s vision. He was nearly blind, and so I think playing that is particularly tough because your sight isn’t something you can necessarily hide. Like, it’s right there on your face and if the performance isn’t believable, then the film doesn’t work.

How did you two work together to prepare for that part of the performance?

Cindy Jansen: Logistically, I remember a couple of times where we had physical therapists on the set who’d dealt with this illness before. They worked with Matt to help make the performance authentic, to make it appear authentic. And also the progression – I mean, Matt not only had to do what he just said, but he also had to make it look progressive. You don’t film in order, so for Matt to keep track of where the character was physically and mentally, I think he did a really great job.

We also had lots of conversations about how far we should go with some things, and where we should be with others. The illness wasn’t the point of the story but it is an important part of the story. So we had to figure out how to incorporate it without having it take over the story and the film.

Eric regularly challenges the privileges of those around him. Of course, as the film progresses and his own situation worsens, those challenges become more bitter and more insistent. Sitting in the audience, it’s nearly impossible to listen and watch those scenes and not reflect and look at yourself. What do you want your viewers to focus on and challenge in themselves?

Cindy Jansen: I was trying to sort of challenge our idea of the #Blessed culture, what that looks like and how freely we use that when we are privileged. If you’re not #Blessed, what are you instead? Or when things are just going poorly and you can’t catch a break?

I wanted to look at how that idea could worm its way into the thinking of someone who is going through a terrible experience, and what that might feel like. So, really, I just want audiences to have empathy.

I know Cindy just mentioned that the film was not shot chronologically, but Matt, your character goes through a lot in this movie. Was it difficult to step into different situations and to try and maintain the emotional chronology of the character?

Matt Lanter: Yeah, absolutely. I’m not going to lie, it took a lot of work as an actor to try to compartmentalize those phases of the character. Physically, like Cindy had mentioned, I do remember having specific conversations about where and what Eric could see. What do we think he is seeing at this point? Are we seeing light, or are we just seeing a big blur?

But emotionally, you’ll see a pretty huge difference in his character from those beginning couple of scenes where he’s very shy and has a sort of kindness about him. A softness. And as his illness progresses on, he becomes very hard and jaded. I don’t know if that was always in him or if this has changed him. So yeah, it was a progression physically, emotionally, everything. For all these reasons, it was challenging.

Cindy, when talking about the production of this film and specifically the hardships that came with it, you’ve said that all the stories we hear about being a woman in Hollywood are true. Can you expand on that? What were some barriers that you came across during this project?

Cindy Jansen: I think the biggest issue was not having any connections in Hollywood at all at the beginning of the project, and trying to get in the door. I know everybody has problems doing that, and also knowing who to trust along the way – getting really good advice, getting really bad advice, I was very thankful to everyone who was involved.

But just thinking about people breaking into the industry, the tenacity that it takes. The fact that it takes a while is another challenging part of the process as well.

Film Inquiry would like to thank Matt Lanter and Cindy Jansen for taking the time to speak with us!

Chasing The Rain is available to rent now on Amazon Prime.

Watch Chasing The Rain