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Because I Said So Picture 7
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Because I Said So Full Production Notes
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 Chapter 3 - Keaton and Her New Daughters: Casting the FilmFortuitously, daughters would come to play an important part in the casting process. The film’s co-writer/producer, Jessie Nelson, grew to know Diane Keaton at the Los Angeles pre- school that their daughters attended. “We became friendly, because our connection was motherhood,” recalls Nelson. “It was our daughters who brought us together—an art-imitating-life thing. At the heart of my friendship with Diane is this common ground of the intense love we have for our children. So, it’s particularly fulfilling that we can explore this territory together in a film.”
Nelson discussed with Keaton the screenplay she had created with her writing partner, and the actor requested a copy. After she read the script, Keaton signed on to star in the project as the type-A mother-of-all-mothers, Daphne Wilder. Nelson and Hopkins knew they had found the embodiment of Daphne in Keaton.
And, fortunately, they also found a solid collaborator. Hopkins recalls of Keaton’s script notes: “Diane’s input on the script was riveting to me because she’s so inside the story.”
“What she brings to the table is that she’s an extraordinarily fascinating human being with diverse interests. She’s a member of the Los Angeles Conservancy, a photographer and a brilliant director. Of course, she’s also a mother. Her notes were beautifully thought out, and she knows both what she does and what she can do.”
For her part, Keaton instantly related to Daphne. After reading Hopkins and Nelson’s script, the actor was intrigued by her character’s descent into comic madness as she tries to run her kids’ lives. Known for choosing roles that showcase both her comedy timing and dramatic flair, Keaton would fall effortlessly into the role.
Director Lehmann appreciated that his star instantly got Daphne. “It was clear from the way the script was conceived and the way the character was written that everything worked for Diane’s cadence and humor,” he relates. “Diane was perfect. When she came in and we heard her read lines for the first time, we all knew that this is exactly the kind of delivery you think about when you read the script, but Diane brought even more to it.”
After Keaton was in, it was understandably easy to find a plethora of talent eager to work with the Oscar-winning actor. The filmmakers next went about finding a trio of young women to play Daphne’s daughters—Milly, Maggie and Mae. With a character that was written as strong as Daphne, it would not be simple to find three magnetic, relatable personalities who could both have the right chemistry as sisters and be believable as her children.
“We cast Mandy first,” Nelson states. “We didn’t want to cast the other sisters until we knew who Milly was. Mandy came in and did an amazing reading and reinvented Milly. She’s got this beautiful purity and vulnerability, and we thought it would be interesting to shade her character that way.”
Moore admits that her desire to play the part was based on Keaton. “To be able to work with her in any capacity is just incredible,” she notes. “It’s not that working with Diane makes you want to raise your game; it just happens automatically. I would be the on-set caterer or do hair and makeup to be in a film with her.”
The actor also appreciated the script’s honest examination of the mother/daughter bond. “Daphne and Milly’s relationship reminds me so much of my relationship with my mom,” reflects Moore. “She sometimes drives me crazy, but at the end of the day…we’re best friends, and we love each other.”
After Moore as Milly was set, the filmmakers searched for the perfect actor to play the eldest Wilder daughter, Maggie. Notes Nelson, “When Lauren Graham came on board, we knew she’d be a great foil for Mandy’s character, who wears her heart on her sleeve. Maggie is a wisecracker—a seen-it-all, done-it-all kind of woman who can cut through a lot. Lauren exhibited that perfectly.”
Graham, who has spent the greater part of the past decade as Lorelai Gilmore on television’s critical darling Gilmore Girls, well knew the territory of a complex family dynamic. She, as with Moore, was eager to work with Keaton. The actor offers, “You want to be a pretend daughter worthy of that incredible wit and talent. Diane’s very alive and present, and just really thoughtful.”
Next cast, in the role of the middle daughter, wild-child Mae, was versatile actor Piper Perabo. “Piper brought a very different quality to this group of women, and we knew she was a fit,” Nelson says. “Once she was on board, we had created a wonderful, interesting family that we knew would translate on screen.”
Most surprising to Perabo was the camaraderie she found on set with her co-stars Moore and Graham. “We laughed and chatted right up until action,” she notes. “When Michael would yell ‘action,’ we were still laughing about our own off-camera jokes and carrying on the way you would with your siblings.”
What also piqued the interest of the newly cast Wilder women was the dialogue Hopkins and Nelson created among the women of the story. Because I Said So is replete with a number of frank girl talks about sex, husbands, boyfriends, shopping and female empowerment. The fact that the actresses formed a connection off set made the scenes feel even more organic.
In particular, some of the script’s risqué dialogue was rather eye-opening for Moore. She laughs, “I don’t normally speak as candidly with my mom and girlfriends about anatomy and whatnot…not like these women do. But I think it’s fun in a film to find out what else women do tend to talk about, and how they talk about it.”
Women set, the filmmakers would next look to cast the lead male roles of Johnny and Jason, Milly’s diametrically opposed suitors, who invite a litany of Daphne’s comments and critiques for Milly. The team wanted actors who could complement (and riff off) their very strong female counterparts while still maintaining a strong presence with their characters.
Director Lehmann explains: “When I became involved with the film, I thought the biggest casting challenge would be the guys. These are very well-defined parts. The guys are in the movie quite a bit, and they’re crucial for telling the story. However, they have to take second position to the girls in a number of scenes. I wanted to make sure we chose actors who were capable of having strength in those roles.”
Gabriel Macht was cast first as the bohemian lothario Johnny, a man whom Daphne decries “has heartbreak written all over him.” Of his onscreen sparring with Diane Keaton, the filmmakers noticed that one of the hardest things for Keaton to do was to act cruelly to Gabriel as Johnny, as Daphne initially believes he’s no good as a mate for her daughter. “He was the first person we read for the role,” says Lehmann, “and Gabriel quite simply nailed the part in his reading.”
Macht looked forward to working with Lehmann. “Michael directed one of my favorite films, Heathers, and a number of episodes of The Larry Sanders Show, which is just genius,” the actor offers. “He knows comedy, how to get the laugh. I just respond well to his direction.”
For the role of straight-laced, conservative Jason, the filmmakers went into the casting process wide-open, ready to look at a number of actors’ interpretations. “Tom Everett Scott was not the first person to read for the role,” remembers Lehmann. “But he was the one who came in and defined it for us.
“I felt it was important that Jason not just be a bad person,” Lehmann continues. That would oversimplify things and not be true to life. If we did that, Milly would have no real choice to make. We wanted to have Tom play Jason as someone who is ultimately sympathetic, but just the wrong choice for Milly. Tom has a great way of doing that; he never went with the ‘villain within’ approach.”
Scott agrees with Lehmann’s evaluation of the character. “I believe they cast me because they wanted the audience to feel like Milly could end up with this guy. Then it’s something of a surprise when he’s not so Mr. Perfect.”
Finally, the filmmakers looked to Stephen Collins to play the ruggedly handsome Joe, Jason’s father and Daphne’s new romantic interest. Collins, well-known for his long run as Reverend Eric Camden on the series 7th Heaven, may also be seen in this season’s Leonardo DiCaprio thriller, Blood Diamond. But audience members who well know their Diane Keaton film history will remember him for his turn as the snarky, cheating husband of Keaton’s character, Annie Paridis, in The First Wives Club. Of his decision to take the role, Collins offers, “Come on…another chance to kiss Diane and get paid for it? Sign me up.
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