Trace Lysette (‘Monica’) on the ‘labor of love’ film of putting ‘a little piece of different women that I’ve known in my life into Monica’ [Exclusive Video Interview]

David Buchanan
·5 min read
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“That was an amazing feeling, when we got that news,” remembers Trace Lysette about hearing that she had been nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for her leading performance in the film “Monica.” Although she has been acting for a long time, the Andrea Pallaoro film afforded her the “first shot at a lead in a feature,” as she plays the title role, and the actress sees the recognition as a sign that she “didn’t drop the ball.” Watch our exclusive video interview above.

Lysette, who also executive produced the movie, describes “Monica” as a “labor of love” that took a very long time to bring to fruition, but also one in which she had an active voice. She stresses that director Pallaoro and his cowriter Orlando Tirado were “collaborative” on the character, especially because “they understood that I probably knew Monica better than anyone on set.” “Monica” centers on a trans woman who is estranged from her mother Eugenia (Patricia Clarkson), but who returns to her former home in order to care for her mother in her final weeks as she is dying from a brain tumor.

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WATCH our exclusive video interview with Patricia Clarkson, ‘Monica’

The powerful film, which centers on a trans character and stars a trans actress, has resonated not just with the Indie Spirit Awards nominators and with the audience at the Venice Film Festival where it premiered in 2022, but also with audiences. Lysette reveals, “I get letters from trans girls all around the country that tell me how important this was for them, or that this allowed them to keep going, to see themselves for the first time in a movie as the lead, and how unheard of and rare that is.” The actress admits that the response has been “double-edged sword,” though, because she wishes that there were more films like “Monica” already out in the world. She believes art can “help shift the narrative around trans people or women and other marginalized folks” and that her “life’s work and purpose” is “finding humanity in the art” and “showing people humanity.”

The catalyst of the film is a phone call Monica receives from her sister-in-law, who she has never met, asking her to come back to her childhood home to help care for her ailing mother. Lysette thinks that Monica’s decision to do so was not an easy one. The performer says Monica’s choice was inspired by the opportunity to “see what’s left of this former life, of these former relationships. Is there any love there? Will she even recognize me? Will we make amends, or will I just get to breathe the same air as her for a few weeks?” She believes the act of going to her mother’s side is not only “very vulnerable for her to bring down that wall,” but also a sign of her “strength.”

SEE Indie Spirits nominations: ‘American Fiction,’ ‘May December,’ ‘Past Lives’ lead with 5 each

Late in the film, the audience learns that Eugenia disowned Monica at a young age and abandoned her at a bus terminal. Lysette filled in the details of Monica’s life from that moment to when the film begins as part of her preparation. “I think I borrowed parts of my own life and girlfriends of mine that I know, trans women that I’ve known over the years, some are not even with us anymore, but I remember things… I got to put a little piece of different women that I’ve known in my life into Monica and let them be heard through her.”

Monica’s relationship with her mother is pivotal to the film, a relationship that is brought to life on screen by the immediate rapport between Lysette and Clarkson. The actress shares that they had an “instant chemistry” and that Patricia had “this maternal thing that was there from the start… radiating off of her.” One of the film’s most unforgettable scenes involves Monica bathing Eugenia, a moment in which Eugenia finally recognizes Monica as her child. The performer thinks the moment is a complicated one for Monica, because “there’s empathy there and there’s still love there,” but Monica also feels “guarded” because now Eugenia really sees her, which is “complicated and conflicting for Monica.” The film ends on an optimistic note, though, as the actress says that Monica finds her “purpose beyond herself and her journey” by forming a connection with her “feminine” nephew and by being an aunt.

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