Evans plays Frank Adler, uncle and guardian of Mary (Grace) in “Gifted”
who both lead normal lives until Evelyn (Duncan), Frank’s mom and
Mary’s grandmother, decides to take custody of her grandchild. Frank’s
sister entrusted him to raise Mary after she died for fear that her
daughter might also be subjected to the pressures she’s been through as a
prodigy. But as soon as Evelyn finds out about Mary’s intellectual
state, Frank finds himself in a custody battle to keep Mary under his
care.
On finding the right child-actor, director Webb insists there was a
good reason for the massive search: “I couldn’t have made “Gifted”
unless I found the right Mary Adler. It was the biggest hurdle to making
the movie. There’s an emotional depth and sophistication you don’t see
very often in an actor, but for a child, that’s a level of virtuosity that is incredibly rare.”
Mckenna remembers it was very stressful meeting Marc Webb for the first
time. “They had given me the wrong sides (scenes) to read, so he just
gave them to me in the hallway. I had five minutes to memorize them. But
once the audition was over, we just talked and had a fun time. I wanted
this movie more than any movie I’ve ever wanted.” She says that she
and Webb “had an amazing connection together. He was the perfect
director for this job because we needed someone with a big, caring,
loving, heart. He let me take my time when there was a crying scene. I
would walk in, and he’d sit by the camera and he would cry with me, so
then I didn’t really feel alone.”
Mckenna says she also learned a lot from working with Evans. “He was
very focused on the set, and sometimes he would sit down and help me
with my script.” Evans treated her “more like a friend, like he treats
Mary. I really like that he treated me that way, except he did try not
to say bad words around me.”
Mckenna proves that she has a different kind of perspective, genius or
not. When asked what the message in “Gifted” means to her, she gives a
most moving and simple answer: “At the end of the day, no one can tell
you if your family is perfect or not. You may just have a mom, or you
may just live with your daddy, or two moms and two dads, or you may live
with your grandparents, or you may have an uncle like Mary does. People
say that the perfect family has to have a mom and dad, a big amazing
house and a lot of money. But as long as you have a loving, caring
person that you live with, then I think that’s perfect for you.”
“Gifted” opens May 3 in cinemas nationwide from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.
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