With “G.B.F.,†playing in the Spotlight section of the Tribeca Film Festival, the director Darren Stein heads back to school.
His 1999 film “Jawbreaker†used the high school setting as the backdrop for darkly comic and vicious shenanigans, with a candy-colored production design and nods to other teen movies of the ’80s and ’90s. “G.B.F.â€Â also offers a heightened, glossier and more colorful version of high school, but with a lighter touch.
Kate Romero Darren Stein, the director of “G.B.F.â€Michael J. Willett stars as Tanner, an unassuming teen whose life takes a twist when he is outed and becomes his school’s first openly gay student. He draws the attention of three popular girls, who fight to claim him as a valuable accessory, the Gay Best Friend.
Written by George Northy, the movie blends contemporary pop-culture references with the teen comedy sensibilities of John Hughes and Amy Heckerling. But unlike “Sixteen Candles†or “Clueless,†“G.B.F.†places a gay student at the center.
Along with a cast of young actors (including Paul Iacono from MTV’s “Hard Times of RJ Berger†and Sasha Pieterse from ABC Family’s “Pretty Little Liarsâ€), the film includes cameos from ’90s high school movie stars like Natasha Lyonne and Rebecca Gayheart.
In an interview, Mr. Stein spoke about those casting choices and several of his ideas behind “G.B.F.†Below are edited excerpts from that conversation.
Kate Romero From left, Xosha Roquemore, Michael J. Willett and Sasha Pieterse in “G.B.F.â€What appeals to you about high school stories?
High school is like a mini-society. You’re sort of trapped there for four years and you develop as a person: your style, your sexuality, your interests. But you’re still a teenager. It’s an environment where the stakes seem high, but in reality they’re not that high because you’re still living with your parents. It’s a good place to tell a story in a heightened way.
What was your experience like in school?
I had a pretty unhappy high school experience. I went to a private all-boys school in Los Angeles. It was very sports-oriented and academically oriented, and I wasn’t particularly into either of those things. Meanwhile, I’m going to movies like “Pretty in Pink†and “The Breakfast Club†and “Valley Girl†and “Heathers,†and seeing a world that is very exciting. I loved the music and the fashion and the romance of those worlds, and it was something that I had none of.
The film satirizes the idea of gay people being used as accessories in school. Do you see some truth to this?
Yes, it is becoming something that is sought after by some girls in high school.
Why do you think that is?
Bravo. (Laughs). Maybe it started with “Sex and the City†and continued with “The Rachel Zoe Project.†Adolescent girls have access to these people in a way that they hadn’t before in the past. Celebrity females have always had their gay best friends, they just hadn’t done reality TV with them.
What did you find most interesting about Tanner?
He was such an appealing character because his sexuality was never an issue for him. It was an issue for everyone around him. He was fine reading comic books and having a small circle of friends and not making an issue out of his identity. He was like the kids that slide between the cracks in school and aren’t put in a demographic or group. It’s comedic to see how everyone thinks of him in a different way once he is made over into the G.B.F.
Tell me about the choice to cast ’90s stars as some of the adults.
It’s fun to cast someone like Natasha Lyonne who’s known for movies like “American Pie†and “But I’m a Cheerleader†in “G.B.F.,†where now she’s on the faculty. It’s an interesting continuum. I knew that I had to give a cameo to one of the girls from “Jawbreaker†(Rebecca Gayheart). When you’re making a film of a certain genre, it’s good to understand the films that have preceded it, to see what the genre was and is and what it might be. I guess I see the teen movie through the lens of other teen movies, in a way.
The film includes progressive, pro-gay parents, like the character Megan Mullally plays.
Yes, that character is very sweet and warm, even if she’s off her rocker. Some gay kids would kill to have a mom who would take them to pick out eye shadow from Sephora or would want to watch John Cameron Mitchell’s “Shortbus†with them. In a way, this movie is almost post-gay, where the parents don’t have an issue with their kids’ sexuality. But the kids still have some angst about it.
How do you feel the movie speaks to teenagers and their coming-out experience in high schools today?
What I love about the script is that it uses the gay closet as a metaphor for all the closets high school kids are in, any insecurity or perceived weakness that they think they have. I like the universal aspects of the movie that encourage us to see each other as individuals and not try to assign everyone to a social status.
I hear you’ve been working on a musical version of “Jawbreaker†for the stage.
Yes, I got a call about six or seven years ago from a producer in New York about making “Jawbreaker†into a musical. I was introduced to a lyricist and a composer. The three of us collaborated and I wrote the book. It was so much fun to go back into that story and bring it into a new time period. I think everything that has heightened villains and tone fits naturally as a musical. We just got the rights secured from the studio and we’re excited about it.
