For Gemma Chan, making “Josephine” was deeply personal.
The British actress, best known for her work in “Crazy Rich Asians” and “Eternals,” stars in Beth de Araújo’s buzzy drama as Claire, a mother attempting to help her 8-year-old daughter Josephine (played by newcomer Mason Reeves) after she witnesses a brutal rape in a San Francisco park. A court case hinges on the young girl’s testimony, and Claire and her husband Damien (a strikingly vulnerable Channing Tatum) struggle with whether they should allow their daughter to take the stand.
The story behind “Josephine” — which premiered at Sundance last month and became one of its biggest breakouts, winning the grand jury prize and audience award — is based on a similar experience de Araújo had as a child. This resonated strongly with Chan, who in 2012 witnessed a fatal stabbing in London and bravely decided to testify in court.
“It was a big part of me wanting to be a part of the story and connecting to it emotionally,” Chan tells Variety over the phone two days before “Josephine’s” international premiere in competition at the Berlin Film Festival. “The world is a very dangerous place. Unfortunately, I know that and many people know that. It just really hit a raw nerve with me.”
Chan was the first person on board the project after de Araújo sent her the script in 2019. “I really believed in her vision for the film and it just felt like there was so much truth in every page of the script,” she says. “It was attempting to tell a story that I didn’t feel had any been told in that way before. This is very challenging, difficult subject matter, but I never felt that she was coming at it from an angle that was exploitative or trying to sensationalize anything.”
But then the COVID-19 pandemic hit and the production was delayed, with de Araújo gaining more steam for another film that would become her feature debut, the 2022 psychological thriller “Soft & Quiet.” However, “Josephine” stuck in both of their minds. “It was a bit of a winding road,” Chan admits, but in spring 2024 filming was finally able to commence thanks to support from producer David Kaplan as well as Chan and Tatum signing on to produce.
“It’s a small miracle that the film was made and I’m so proud of it,” Chan says. “I wanted to do whatever I could to help the project get off the ground.”
Gemma Chan, Mason Reeves and Channing Tatum in “Josephine.”
Greta Zozula
Chan delivers a quietly powerful performance in “Josephine,” with many heart-wrenching scenes in which she says one thing and communicates an entirely different emotion with her eyes. Chan credits the environment on set with allowing her to be fully vulnerable.
“Nothing had to be forced,” she says. “It was really a place where we could find the truth of the scene and I was able to be just emotionally truthful.”
And, Chan and Tatum had a secret weapon: Reeves, who de Araújo scouted at a farmer’s market and had never acted before. “She really brought out the best in Channing and I,” Chan says. “There was no artifice at all. I’m just in awe of her — she’s amazing and wise beyond her years.”
Before “Josephine” premiered at Sundance, Chan says she had no idea how it would be received. But watching it with an audience for the first time, relief washed over her.
“It was special and I was really moved by the way that people connected with it,” she says. “For it to have won the awards is just the icing on top.”
More people will get to watch “Josephine” soon, now that it’s been acquired for U.S. release by the relatively new distributor Sumerian Pictures. Though it may not be a name most have heard before, Chan is confident that the company will be able to give the movie the rollout it deserves as it sparks early awards buzz.
“I feel that they really believe in the film and understand what it is and they are really excited for audiences to see it,” she says. “We were very much led by what Beth felt was right and it just felt like it was a good match for a whole bunch of different reasons.”
As the film still has yet to score distribution in Europe, Chan has her “fingers crossed” ahead of its Berlin premiere that buyers will take notice. But she also hopes it can spark important conversations between festivalgoers.
“The film asks the question, ‘How does a young person deal with the violence of the world?’ And really, that can extend to all of us,” she says. “How do we persevere, how do we respond, how can we overcome fear and hatred and trauma and still hold onto our humanity? And that’s a question that I think is really important for where we are at the moment in the world.”
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