Sundance 2021 Exclusive: Francesca Noel Talks Breakout Role In ‘R#J’ - New Version Of Romeo & Juliet
Premiering at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival is the star-crossed lovers film 'R#J, a re-imagining of Romeo and Juliet directed by Carey Williams and starring newcomers Camaron Engels and Francesca Noel. Written by Williams, Rickie Castaneda and Alex Sobolev, also featured in the film are David Zayas, Diego Tinoco, Siddiq Saunderson, and Russell Hornsby.
In fair Verona, a war as old as time is brewing between rival houses—but it’s being captured in a new way. Montague and Capulet Gen Zers are using their cell phones to document the eruptions of violence plaguing their communities. In the middle of it all, Romeo discovers Juliet’s artwork at a party, and the two inevitably fall in love. As tensions between their families escalate, the two plead for peace and desperately search for a way to escape their star-crossed destiny.
BlackFilmandTV.com caught up with Francesca Noel, who plays Juliet and her return to Sundance, having appeared in the 2018 Sundance film Selah and the Spades.
How did the role of Juliet come about for you?
Francesca Noel: I got an audition through an email. It's funny because that day that I auditioned for it, it was such a bad day. It was raining, and I dropped a whole cup of coffee on myself right before the audition. I walked in there. and I've been yelled at by someone else previously in the street, and I walked in there, ready to fall apart. I think that really helped with how he got this role. It moved very quickly after that, it was really great.
How much of the Romeo and Juliet story did you know prior to this movie? Had you seen adaptations of the story through different films?
Francesca Noel: I actually carried around a collection of Shakespeare's works when I was 15. This is true, I'm not making this up. When I was severely depressed in high school, I had this book of all of his plays. With Romeo and Juliet, I read that probably 13 times. So I was quite familiar with it. I was familiar with the Claire Danes version and the Olivia Hussey version. So to be here, now, in this moment, as a Juliet who is not white, but as Juliet is Brown and mixed, it means more than I can even articulate.
Having read Romeo and Juliet as many times as you mentioned, was it challenging saying those words on camera? How many takes did it take for you to get it right?
Francesca Noel: I didn't find it that challenging. I was just really focused on finding the emotion in my body, and playing her as an authentic teenager. When you see a teenager, they're so full of life, but they're also so tumultuous with their emotions, and they feel things so intensely. Everything is so much more intense. I really wanted to place that in my body and find a really authentic version of Juliet, regardless of the Shakespeare in whatever language she was speaking.
With this film, it’s about class not race. Was it ever defined what race Juliet is from?
Francesca Noel: I think in a script, it said that her family is mixed, but they celebrate Mexican costumes and they celebrate Day of the Dead. In terms of the class and the racial divide there, I don't think it's a question that I have an answer to because I'm still trying to figure out what I am in my own body, and myself and how I relate to the world. I don't think it would be a good thing for someone to give you an answer that they don’t have.
Part of the story is that it involves the use of social media apps. Is this something that you normally do?
Francesca Noel: It's funny, I'm not that big on social media. Social media scares me for the most part. But I think it's really important that we are trying to speak to different people and to bring this into a very modern way; especially now with the pandemic in the time that we're in that people are so much lacking connection. This movie is just the epitome of human connection, the epitome of emotional connection, but also a social connection and how we're all really working right now. So it's very pertinent that way.
What did you pick up from your director (Carey Williams) that you can carry on to your next project?
Francesca Noel: Carey was so great to listen to. He was a great listener, but he also just imparted really easy wisdom. Working with him, it felt like there was this emotional understanding and he really just allowed space for the actors to bring what they were going to bring in and to ruminate in whatever they were bringing. It was a very safe environment. So I love working with him and I would absolutely do it again in a heartbeat.
How was working opposite Camaron?
Francesca Noel: He’s just a ball of energy. We had a great time working together. A lot of the scene were very intense, and you need some levity. He definitely brought that and we really found that together. So that was great.
How do you feel knowing that the film is premiering at Sundance where critics and other folks get to see and talk about this movie before it gets that wide audience after it gets its distribution?
Francesca Noel: I'm thrilled. I couldn't be more thrilled, because it's a story of inclusivity and an inclusive cast. If we're cutting people off from that, it gives us an elitist aura. I don't think that's what the story is about. The story is kind of like the Adam and Eve of romance and of romantic stories. So for more people to be able to see this film and to bring it worldwide. I can't see that as anything, but a good thing.
What was the attraction to getting into the acting world?
Francesca Noel: When I was 17, I was super depressed. I got put into this acting class by accident. I just found this great opening to explore all of my emotions, but also to step into other people. And to not have to feel me for a little while and to bring these different narratives to life and living in this predominantly white town in this very small town in Woodstock, New York, acting really just gave me a way to be somewhere else, and to be someone else. It helped me know me. I just really leaned into it. Throughout the years, I've been writing as well. I really want to start my own production company. That's super important to me, because I just really want to find these ways of bringing more inclusivity and stories that we haven't heard to center stage. So I'm really proud of this film, and I'm really happy to be an actor in it.