Olivia Thirlby: Yes.  Well, this film you might have heard of called “Snow Angels” is premiering…no I’m kidding. A film called “The Wackness” which was at Sundance this year is going to come out on July 3^rd.  I’m very excited about that.  I’m attached to a film called “The Dream of the Romans” which is with Jeff Daniels and Lauren Graham.  I think I’m going to start filming that at the end of next month.  And another film I’m attached to is called “Parts Per Billion” and that’s a film in it’s very early stages but it’s a very special project.

I wanted to know what the story is with “Jack and Diane” and if that’s still moving forward?

Olivia Thirlby: Ah, you know “Jack and Diane” it exists but it’s a kind of a tricky thing.  It hopefully will get made one day.  At the moment it’s not really moving forward but it’s a passion project.

Collider: And if I could do a follow up on “The Wackness”, what does it feel…you guys won the audience award at Sundance for it and I saw it and I thought the film was great.  What was that experience like for you making the film and being at Sundance?

Olivia Thirlby: Oh my gosh, it was so much fun. Filming that movie was a blast because I’m from New York City and I live there and I’ve always dreamed of being able to film in my city and we filmed all over the place in tons of very familiar locations.  The story was a lot of fun and I certainly identified it, you know, I grew up in New York and went to private school and certainly was not a massive pot-head but it was fun to pretend.  And of course, working with Sir Ben was kind of a euphoric dream come true. And being at Sundance was a lot of fun this past year. My first Sundance was with “Snow Angels” the year before and so I kind of maybe unjustly so I felt like an old hand at the whole thing but I mean being at Sundance was really a lot of fun. My favorite part of the festival is the 2^nd half of it, which I stayed for.  Everybody leaves and you can just go around and see movies and you know, the only people remaining are the ones that are there for the films so it’s a lot of fun.

Collider: Olivia, you were in a film called “Margaret” and it’s been MIA for a little while. Do you know any story with that film, what’s going on with it?

Olivia Thirlby: I have no idea.  We filmed that movie in 2005—at the end of 2005—and I mean, I think what I’ve heard is just that they’re trying to cut it down because the script as we shot it was about 300 pages and yeah, it was epic and it’s a film that is merely—I shouldn’t say merely—but it’s simply about a girl who is in the wake of a tragic accident that she was not a part of but she just witnessed and it’s about her kind of acting out in bizarre ways and its’ about her mother and her classmates and her teachers and you know, it’s a kind of a slow quiet film.  I think they’re just trying to get it down to an acceptable length and you know, Kenny Lonergan is brilliant but I think that sometimes he’s still more of a playwright than a filmmaker.

Collider: I heard the script was phenomenal.

Olivia Thirlby: It was but it was epic. It was just so long.

Collider: So have you seen a rough cut that’s like 5 hours?

Olivia Thirlby: I have not seen anything or really heard much of anything.  Every now and again I come across somebody who knows something about it but it’s always still, “oh yeah, they’re still just in the cutting room”—still 3 years later, 2 years later.

Question: Olivia, you mentioned one of your films that was in the stages, “Parts Per Billion” was a really special project.  What is that one about?

Olivia Thirlby: It’s a beautiful, exquisite story about 3 couples and it explores their relationships quietly and what’s happening is there’s a bio-terror attack happening as the film is unfolding and it’s hard to explain what it’s about. But at its core it’s based on the idea that love is the most beautiful and the most prevailing life force and that ultimately it will carry us through to the other side. And it’s a kind of quiet apocalypse that’s happening and it’s not front and center of the film, but I don’t what else to say about it because I don’t want to spoil the ending, but it’s one of the most beautiful scripts that I’ve ever read.  It was written and is going to be directed by a fellow by Brian Horiuchi so keep an eye out. It’s going to be really great.