Alana Haim on Starring in ‘Licorice Pizza’ and the Real-Life Story That Made Its Way Into the Movie

Most often, when you find Alana Haim on-screen, she’s in the same place: stage right, guitar in hand, standing next to her two older sisters, and playing as the Grammy-nominated band Haim. But come this winter, audiences will get to see Alana in an entirely new light, as the musician completes her star turn in Licorice Pizza, the latest film from Academy Award-winning director and longtime Haim collaborator Paul Thomas Anderson. The comedy-drama, set in the 1970s San Fernando Valley, is Alana’s very-first acting gig, and the singer says she was shocked when Anderson called her up to be part of his cast. “You hang up the phone, and you’re like, what just happened?” she tells ELLE.com. Luckily, she was joined by another first-timer and her real-life friend, Cooper Hoffman, the son of the late Philip Seymour Hoffman. Their questionable love story—in the film, Alana and Hoffman’s characters are 10 years apart—anchors the two-hour-long movie.

While the film is peppered with big-name cameos (in one nerve-racking scene, Alana must navigate a moving truck with Bradley Cooper in the passenger seat), the moment Alana walks into frame, dressed in a skort and a baby blue polo, it’s obvious that the film is all hers. “I was so happy I got this opportunity, because when I was thinking about it, the only thing really holding me back was fear,” she says. “Having someone like Paul, who tells you that you can do it, gives you the most confidence in the world.”

Plus, she hasn’t gone totally solo. Alana’s real-life sisters Este and Danielle, as well as her parents Mordechai and Donna, play her family throughout the film. Now, as Alana prepares to head out on Haim’s upcoming tour, she’s been raking in the praise, with one review calling her performance “one of the most exciting screen debuts in recent memory.” Below, she shares what it was like to act alongside her bandmates and the real-life family story that found its way into the script.

This is your first-ever acting role. What was going through your mind when you were asked to be part of the film?

I mean, many emotions: shocked, so insanely happy, freaking out. I remember reading the script for the first time and just loving it. I had never read a script before. No one ever asked me to read a script before, so the fact that it was a complete page-turner felt like a good sign. I was like, I just can’t wait to see this movie. Then when Paul asked me to be in it, I was floored. Then you hang up the phone, and you’re like, what just happened? Can I do this? What’s going on? And of course, the fear kind of comes in. But my initial reaction was, “Oh my god, yes please. Can I please be in this movie?”

You’ve been getting rave reviews for your performance. Do you read things like that?

I learned very early, just even being in Haim, you can never read anything. It’s terrifying. I just hear from my mom. I ask her to give me a thumbs up or thumbs down, and she’s been giving me a thumbs up.

I read that some of the situations in the film were based off your real life. Can you divulge if that’s true?

There’s one very specific moment that is from my life. The Shabbat scene with my family is based on something that actually happened where, at the time, my middle sister was dating this guy that she brought to Passover, which is a huge deal. You’re meeting not only my family but my extended family. We’re all at my house to celebrate, and there’s a tradition where you go around, and you read a paragraph of the Haggadah, and it got to him, and he respectfully refused, because he was an atheist. I think it was the most awkward Passover dinner I’d ever been to. I remember telling Paul that story, and then reading the script and being like, huh, well, it’s in the script.

How was acting with your family? Was it much different than playing music together?

I’m very lucky that Paul had done our music videos, so we had some experience of being in front of a camera with Paul shooting it. But acting with my sisters, I think the hardest thing was how to keep a straight face. Especially during that [Shabbat] scene, we could not stop laughing. I think there was a point where Paul was like, “You guys got to get it together. You have to stop laughing at your dad. This scene will never get done.” Then on top of everything, something completely out of my character, in my life as Alana Haim, was me screaming at my dad. I’ve never screamed at my dad ever. I think he was just shocked. But it was so funny. I’m so happy that my whole family is in this movie with me, because it makes me laugh. It has not gotten old, seeing that scene.

Is there any difference when you're in the band, and you’re the youngest sister, and when you're in the movie and you're like, I'm the main character?

It’s so funny you bring that up, because at that point, when we were shooting the Shabbat scene, we had been shooting for a little less than a month. So I kind of got my confidence up. I was feeling good. And because of COVID, my siblings could not come to set. I was very much on my own. And we set up for the Shabbat scene, and Paul said that the second my whole family showed up, I just reverted back to my baby-ism. I was getting everybody what they needed, like, “You need water? Is everybody good?” Paul was like, “What happened? You were this confident girl, and now it’s like, oh no, now you’re back to your place in the family.” But I mean, I’ll never change. I’m the baby. I’m the fixer of the family.

We also have to talk about the truck scenes. I read you did most of the driving yourself! What was the hardest part of shooting that?

All the truck stunts started on day two of shooting. So it was like, day one was [Bradley Cooper’s] Jon Peters yelling at [Cooper Hoffman’s] Gary. Day one was Barbra Streisand. That was our introduction to the world as actors. Then day two was driving a truck with Bradley Cooper, Cooper Hoffman, who is my best friend, and me. So I had three souls in this car, and I have two cameras strapped to both sides, lights on the front. I had just learned how to drive stick maybe three months before that. And it was like, all right, let’s drive through the tiny streets of Tarzana and improv. Just acting for the first time with one of the biggest movie stars in the world. I really do think the second that I put it in first, and I was rolling, I was like, “All right, let’s go. Let’s ride. We got this.” But there was so much that could have gone wrong. There were so many times where I made a turn, and I almost just ruined a camera that costs more than my life. But we got through it, and no accidents.

Thank goodness. OK, let’s do some rapid-fire. Favorite outfit from the film?

The brown dress with the boots that I wear on the first date.

What do you think your character Alana Kane's favorite Haim song is?

Probably “My Song 5.”

What’s your number-one recommendation in the San Fernando Valley?

There’s so many. You got to go to Art’s Deli. You got to go to Casa Vega. You also got to go visit Circus Liquor, because Clueless is the best movie of all time. And that’s where [starts imitating Cher Horowitz], “It’s an Alaïa! It’s an a-whatta? It’s a really important designer,” [takes place]. I mean, drive down Ventura Boulevard. That’s where it all is at, that’s where the valley is.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

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