A Spoiler-filled conversation with The Drama’s Jordyn Curet

Go see it for yourself, make sure you don’t know anything about it. There’s been a string of films this year that capture this sentiment we once thought lost to a sea of reboots and fan service, and it all started with A24’s “The Drama.” The dark comedy starring Zendaya and Robert Pattinson as soon to be married couple Emma and Charlie, respectively, was rolled out with a pretty secretive marketing campaign. For good reason as it is the rare film that turns on its head in the first third rather than the last.

Our conversation with Jordyn Curet was originally scheduled for around the film’s release. However, we are very glad to have sat down with her once most of the world has gotten a chance to see the film. She plays a younger version of Zendaya’s character Emma, whose engagement plans get thrown into disarray once she confesses to once thinking of committing a school shooting in front of her fiancee and two of their close friends. As the rest of the cast starts to unravel, while the wedding draws closer by the minute, we keep cutting back to a younger Emma to learn about her and just how different people can be at different points in their lives. 

Curet is a Bay-Area native who has been pursuing acting since a young age. This opportunity has proven to be a boon to her not just because of the film’s stature but due to the fact that she is its skeleton key. “The Drama” is now available to rent or stream, we highly recommend you see the film before diving into our conversation with the young actress. 

Jordyn Curet.

How did this opportunity reach you? What was the casting process like given the secretive nature of your role?

I originally saw the audition on Instagram. I was scrolling and I was like, ‘I love Zendaya.’ So I submitted and then I got an audition. It wasn't anything that had to do with what was in the film. The director wrote it for whoever was auditioning. Two days later, I got a call back. That's when they told me what the role was going to be about and sent me the script for The Drama along with it. [At first] I was a little bit taken aback, but then I was also intrigued. I read the script and thought ‘this is really crazy… and honestly a pretty beautiful message.’

A lot of your side of Emma is seen through snap shots more-so than drawn out scenes. How did you get into the mindset of any given moment?

It was honestly way easier than I thought it would be. It was just something that I could just  turn on for a scene and then completely shut off after. I had a lot of rehearsals and a lot of discussions about how young Emma would talk, act, and think [which] really helped me. It was pretty hard to capture how she talks. How she says certain lines that were on the script. I definitely needed some guidance, but once I figured out how to find that mentality and just stay in that for the scene and then step out of it, it was [much easier].

Your scenes almost exist in a parallel to the main timeline of the script. Were you tapped into everything else going in the story while shooting? 

I was definitely more present in my scenes for sure. Kristoffer wrote two really big scenes for me right before I went out to New Orleans to film all of my scenes, I had no idea where that was gonna be in the script. And I don't think he did either. It’s a moment in the movie where [Older Emma] is talking to Charlie and it keeps cutting to me saying those same lines.

You do get that one scene in the park where it flashes between Old and Young Emma going on a date in the park with Charlie. How was it connecting with the main cast that day?

It was so fun. It was the first scene that I shot with other characters and it was also my first time meeting Robert. The director just introduced us and then he was like, ‘Okay, now you're gonna like, hold hands around the park.’ [Robert] was so nice and he made me feel so comfortable about it. He was like, ‘I'm just gonna pretend you're my daughter, 'cause if not, this is gonna be pretty weird.’

Jordyn Curet.

What was your relationship with Zendaya during the making of the film? 

Zendaya was one of the 1st people I met when I started really working on the process. I had one call back on Zoom and then they flew me out to Boston for another callback and that's where I met Zendaya. I did not think I was going to meet her, but I did. She was so nice. She was just asking me about what I like to do, what are my hobbies, things like that. After that, there was no prep that we did together. It was more prep than I just did with Kristopher because our Emma’s are so different. My Emma is unrecognizable compared to the  older one. 

It seems like Emma is trying to indulge into the power fantasy that thinking about this allows. However this is not necessarily done by people that look like her. How do you feel about how she refracts the reality in America?

It definitely wasn't something that was emphasized in the film, the race part. I haven't seen  a black woman's school shooter yet. But there is a sense of loneliness and seclusion when you are a young black girl who's not very conventionally attractive or popular at school. That is honestly how I took it, as being so lonely that you just start feeding into this insane idea of committing a mass murder… She really just wanted to feel a part of something. 

Yeah, and community. You want to feel like you fit in somewhere.

Exactly. I think it was really just trying to be a part of something. For sure. 

I do understand how it feels to be a young black girl, feeling so distanced from the rest of your peers.

The film takes a break from its dry humor in its final moments, when Emma and Charlie meet again at the dinner. How did you feel watching that scene for the first time?

I literally shed a tear. Older Emma was struggling so hard to have someone on her side. I felt like Charlie and Emma would be together forever, even after the series of events.

Jordyn Curet.