HEAVY HITTER
relationship Screenwriters/film producers/actors DARYL WEIN & ZOE LISTER-JONES show Hollywood their take on slashing conventions while they juggle numerous film duties—all for the sake of credible filmmaking. By Don Jaucian
The
Daryl Wein & Zoe Lister-Jones in Breaking Upwards (2009)
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of communication and passion sits atop nicely in Daryl Wein’s film Breaking Upwards. Instead of just leaving a sordid time of his relationship with actress Zoe Lister-Jones to the gutter, he used it as material for the film, which he not only wrote but also produced, directed, edited, and acted in as a character named Daryl. “It was definitely challenging but also cathartic,” the couple attests. Zoe also co-wrote it aside from acting as the character named, well, Zoe. Zoe and Daryl, who would pick Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem to play them instead, must be crazy to relieve this intense part of their relationship by translating it on screen, and they admittedly had a hard time working on it. The film’s script evolved alongside their relationship even when it was hanging by a thread. One night, they had a fight, and the next morning, Zoe found Daryl writing about the fight they just had. Daryl initially wrote the script with their collaborator Peter Duchan, but Zoe came in after she was shocked by how supposedly skewered Daryl’s perspective of the events was.