Drive-Away Dolls Geraldine Viswanathan & Beanie Feldstein Talk Queer Love

Director Ethan Coen and his wife, screenwriter Tricia Cooke, deliver a hilarious road trip comedy about queer besties and the bumbling crooks hot on their trail. Drive-Away Dolls has the free-spirited and promiscuous Jamie (Margaret Qualley) breaking up with her jealous girlfriend, Sukie (Beanie Feldstein), and getting kicked out of their apartment. Jamie decides to tag along with the uptight and sexually repressed Marian (Geraldine Viswanathan) as she’s hired to drop off a car in Tallahassee, Florida. The women don’t realize the trunk has a mysterious suitcase desperately wanted by a powerful senator (Matt Damon).

Geraldine Viswanathan and Beanie Feldstein were “thrilled” to film a “celebration of queer love” and “sex positivity.” They jumped at the chance to work for such acclaimed filmmakers and were stunned by their audacious script. “It was specific, funny, and weird, and very refreshing. You didn’t know where it was going to take you,” says Viswanathan. She agrees with Feldstein, who would have played “a tree” if asked. She had expectations of the couple being “intense” and “all-powerful, like Dumbledore”, but found the set to be “calm, collected” and filled with “brilliant people” who had “no sense of ego or pretense.”

Drive-Away Dollsrevels in raunchy humor with sex and smooching aplenty. Feldstein wasn’t jealous of her character missing out on the snogging, “I was happy to just sit back with my dog. It was really fun and joyful to watch.” Viswanathan “loved making out with Margaret.” She had “a ball” on set, especially with the truly unexpected contents of the suitcase. You’ll have to “watch and find out.” Please see above and read below our interview with Geraldine Viswanathan and Beanie Feldstein.

A Wild Vision

MovieWeb: I saw the film cold and literally laughed non-stop from beginning to end. What was your reaction when you read the script?

Geraldine Viswanathan: I think a similar reaction to you. Just like…damn…this is wild (laughs). It was specific, funny, and weird, and very refreshing. You don’t read a lot of scripts like that. You didn’t know where it was going to take you. Then, knowing it was going to be Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke’s vision, it was something that we were all like, can we be a part of this? Please? This sounds really fun.

Beanie Feldstein: I was just like [flips pages wide-eyed], my eyes just got bigger with each page turn. But I agree with Geraldine. You get a call. You could audition for Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke’s next movie. I was like, I don’t care if I’m a tree. Then, when I read it, I was auditioning to play this badass, unapologetic, really angry cop who’s after these two. It’s so much fun.

MW: Let’s talk about the filmmakers. Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke are legends in Hollywood. Two of the best filmmakers of all time. What were they like on set? What’s Ethan Coen like as a director?

Feldstein: I think with someone like that, unbelievable, and will go down in cinema history, someone that special and accomplished, you go in with expectations of them being intense and scary. Or just something all-powerful, like the wizard, or something like Dumbledore [laughs]. Ethan and Tricia are the most down-to-earth, calm, funny, cerebral, and brilliant people. Their set, honestly, was the most calm, collected, and brilliant people. All working really hard towards the same goal but with no sense of ego or pretense. I think, coming from someone of that stature, it’s just an unbelievable thing to emanate and to accomplish on his end, on their end.

Making Out with Margaret Qualley

MW: There’s a lot of fun making out in this film. Geraldine, you get in on the action. Beanie, not so much. Was there any jealousy about not getting any making out action?

Viswanathan: We definitely haven’t gotten this question before [laughs].

Feldstein: I ship Geraldine and Margaret [laughs]. Do you have a name?

Viswanathan: Mamie…

Feldstein: Mamie [laughs], no, this time I was happy to just sit back with my dog.

Viswanathan: Yeah, she’s got a wife at home.

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Feldstein: No, I was thrilled as a queer woman watching this celebration of queer love and sexuality, the sexiness, and the sex positivity of the film. It was really fun and joyful to watch. Was it fun to do?

Viswanathan: Loved making out with Margaret. We had a ball [laughs].

MW: Last question, without revealing what’s in the suitcase, which may be one of the best reveals of all time in cinema history, did you have a lot of fun with that on set? Or you couldn’t go crazy with what’s in the suitcase?

Viswanathan: I remember Ethan wouldn’t show us. Our reactions on the screen are genuine. We knew what was in there…but we didn’t really know…the representations, the variety, the specifics, that we kind of got to uncover in real-time. That’s kind of on film, documented, and going down in history. It’s always a great day on set…[pauses] when you’re looking at those things.

Feldstein: Those…whatever they are… [laughs].

Viswanathan: Watch and find out.

Drive-Away Dolls will be released theatrically on February 23rd from Focus Features.