In Angus MacLachlan’s A Little Prayer, Tammy (Jane Levy) shares a close personal relationship with her father-in-law Bill (David Strathairn) that remains strong even after Bill discovers that his son David (Will Pullen), with whom he also runs a business, isn’t being faithful to Tammy.
Awards Buzz spoke with Levy about her Independent Spirit Award nomination for this film, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival back in January 2023 before an acquisition deal fell through and Music Box Films finally released the film this past August. She shared how she feels she’s become a different person during that time:
“I’ve had a child since making this film, so I’ve changed as a person, and then I believe that that changes me as an actor. Becoming a mother is so transformative, and it’s not just when you birth your child. I think it’s not just when you get pregnant. I think it’s an ongoing transition. I’m so in it right now that I’m not sure I could articulate – sorry, you keep asking me these good questions and I’m like, ‘I can’t explain it.’ But, no, I can, it’s just, I’ve had a profound change in my life, and so I know that that affects my art. It’s interesting though, because one of the storylines in this is motherhood and Tammy makes this very difficult decision. We see that she wants to be a mother. We’re told that she wants to be a mother. I, as an actor, believe that, playing this part, really believe that she wants to have a child, but that she knows that she can’t in this broken relationship with this broken man. And I thought it was very brave, the choice that she makes, and not just brave in choosing not to have the child, but brave in choosing to leave this family and this husband, who I know that she loves, but she believes that it’s just not a healthy relationship and she knows that it wouldn’t be the loving thing to do to bring a child into this relationship. Angus talks about this in interviews – the movie is not in any way a political film, and we are not interested in talking about policies, but a woman’s decision to choose when and how she becomes a mother or whether she doesn’t at all is such an intimate, private, emotional thing, and I think we do that service in this movie.”
Watch the video above to hear about her work in the recent film Atropia and fond recollections of Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist and other less-seen but very well-remembered projects of hers.
A Little Prayer is available on VOD.
