Editor's note: This interview was originally published on September 6, 2025, at the Toronto International Film Festival. Magnolia Pictures will release the film at New York's IFC Center on Friday, June 19; in Los Angeles on Friday, June 26; and in other cities to come.
The opening night of the Toronto International Film Festival is always packed with action, but what are the highlights? yours evening? It all depends on which major world premiere you attend first. While the official opening gala of the festival was Colin Hanks' touching and insightful documentary "John Candy: I Like Myself," many of the festival's sections have their own own The festival's opening events, such as the progressive Discovery section, were also featured. This year, for those interested in disco, the festival's opening was dedicated to John Early's feature-length directorial debut, "Maddie's Secret.".
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And what an audience it was! The grand premiere of this, fittingly, semi-secret film at the Royal Alexandra Theatre was attended by Earley, his cast and crew (including Kate Berlant, Conner O'Malley, and Vanessa Bayer), as well as friends like Cole Escola and Wallace Shawn, and just about every name in alternative comedy imaginable. A boisterous group of comedy lovers and theater geeks? Perfect for what Earley portrays in his film, in which he stars as Maddie, an aspiring food blogger whose relationship with the camera and delicious treats is, to say the least, rather complicated.
The inspirations for Early's film are varied, and the star and director has been open about his desire to blend everything from Sirky-esque melodramas to old TV movies to immerse us in his very specific, very funny, and often strangely moving worldview. It's a stunning debut for Early, so insightful you almost ( almost ) You forget that Early plays a woman, fulfilling a long-held dream of playing a classic naive heroine. Basically, it's hard to explain: a) how interesting and unique "Maddie's Secret" is, b) how deeply it reflects Early's personality and performance, and c) how incredibly fun it is to talk to Early about all of this.
And we made him do just that, forcing the disarmingly kind and (it must be said!) rather energetic director, comedian, and star out of bed the morning after his big premiere to chat with IndieWire about Maddie's Secret in the lobby bar of his Toronto hotel. From Showgirls to The Red Shoe Diaries to whatever's happening with food these days, and at least a few interruptions from the recurring shrill cries of a nearby child, Earley has always been a highly talented man to watch. With Maddie's Secret, his long-awaited evolution into director and movie star is complete.
The interview below has been edited and condensed for clarity and brevity.
IndieWire: As the title suggests, the film was shot relatively secretly. You joked last night about, say, making it for five dollars under the cover of night. How did it all come together?
John Early: Well, first of all, I think publishing an article in Deadline before you've actually released anything is incredibly unflattering. We obviously live in an age where you have to brag, where you have to be your own PR person. Everything that happens has to go through your own platform to get any kind of response. That's a very serious reality.
I made it very clear to everyone involved that I didn't want to publish any photos from the shoot because I didn't want to ruin Maddie's illusion. I don't want you to see me with bobby pins and a wig eating an eggnog from Starbucks, because it's a fragile fairy tale that I want to exist only under the vintage lens, under the lens of old Hollywood. I want it to always shine.
I just think it's crazy to put something out there before the album comes out. 'What if it's bad? What if no one buys it? What if no one likes it?' Harris Myerson, one of the lead producers on this album, did "Rap World" with Conner, Eric [Rahill], and Jack Bensinger, and "Our Home Out West" with my dear friend Cole Eskola, so I was really excited by the idea of creating something in such an incredibly unconventional way. I wanted to create my own version of it. I spent a lot of time in the trenches trying to bring my ideas to life. For years, I believed the industry would bring me to the mass market, and then I realized that, unfortunately, that's not possible.
You must do it yourself.
I wrote so much stuff myself, with friends, but it never saw the light of day. I thought, "I just want to do something right now." Now »"I want to be able to hire my friends, not just actors, but also designers who come from the more underground world of art fashion. I wanted to be able to hire them without being intimidated by financiers. You have to work within a certain budget so it doesn't seem so risky to financiers.
They're not going to come onto the set one day and say, "What are you doing with my 10 million dollars?"«
Exactly. [Laughs, leans toward the recorder, joking] Although this and it was worth it $10 million buyer must We are 10 million.
I went to a screening of Death of a Cheerleader in L.A. with Tori Spelling and Kellie Martin, and I thought, «Oh my God. This is it. This is exactly what I want to do, and this is exactly what we can do,» because you see people working with really low budgets… But after watching that movie and then getting into the world of TV movies, I realized, «We can retain a lot of the dignity of old Hollywood filmmaking on our budget, in my house, in Kate’s car.».
I said it on stage last night [at the premiere], or rather, I didn't say it. wanted say it on stage.
Have you thought about it?.
Thank God you're here! I also wanted to play a naive girl. I was looking for heroines from modern life. And for me, those were female food bloggers. They're my fairytale princesses. I wanted to create a dark, comedic fairy tale.
And at the same time, I felt a very distinct shift, not in a general sense, not in the sense of "a change in atmosphere"—and I said that in quotes, rolling my eyes!—but rather, my algorithm was activated, and suddenly the format of culinary content changed dramatically. Before, it was the naturalistic Bon Appétit style: "There's a camera in the test kitchen, and their personalities softly emerge, they're experts, and they feel confident." Suddenly, there was a very rigid, monotonous, homogenous style of filming culinary content, where everything looked like: "They're slapping meat!" They're literally slapping the meat with their hands. The camera is positioned very low, at an angle reminiscent of a blowjob. And the sounds! The ASMR effects are so strange. Cream slapping in a frying pan.
Suddenly, food-related content became very sinister and very sexual to me. People were cutting sandwiches, holding them right up to the camera, squeezing juice. It was just sexy! I had this feeling: "We're very sexually repressed, and it's manifesting in food-related content." It probably manifests itself in other ways, but in my algorithm, it was through food.
Because it's not something that's often reflected in films. And these trends, especially with Generation Z, and how they don't want to see sexual content in entertainment. I want to be there for them, but I also understand that they didn't grow up watching The Red Shoe Diaries.
Well, it's clear that The Red Shoe Diaries had a huge influence on this film. Unintentionally! Unconsciously!
As these elements wove together—the ethics, the frame of reference, and the dark algorithmic structure pulsing beneath it all—I came to a more metaphorical understanding of bulimia. I'm not going to specifically talk about bulimia, which might be foolish of me, because now I have to answer for this film being released into the world. But seeing all of this in my algorithm, I became acutely aware of the obvious binge-like quality of consuming content, scrolling through my feed. It became clear to me that the act of purging is a kind of expression of this repression.
What inspired me most was the opportunity to show some of the things I see in the world today through the lens of a TV movie, a melodrama. It was about capturing this hysterical expression of repressed memories, energy, and sexuality; artistically, for me, that's much more effective than if I'd made something that was exactly, "This is what's happening in modern life.".
[A child's shrill cry]
What's going on with this child?
I don't know.
Someone kills a child?
Should we say anything?
Well! You have a wonderful director's statement about how making this film takes you back to a place you loved as a young girl, what you call "Girls' World." What was your first encounter with "Girls' World"?
I started at a new school in fifth grade. I was faced with a literal, glaring choice: I could either play football with these boys who treated me so badly, or I could go with the girls who were fun and talkative, and whose interactions didn't involve physical violence. It's amazing that I had the courage to do it, and that kids have the courage to do it.
I remember making that decision consciously, physically walking toward the girls and thinking, "I know I'm risking my safety," but on some level, I knew, "This is worth it." It's worth enduring the bullying just to have friends you want to hang out with, talk to, and watch funny things with. So I chose the girls, and I paid the price, but it was the best choice of my life.
There's a strange thing going on. Girls go through difficult experiences very early on. Of course, boys do too, but they have no one to talk to about them. And one of those problems is eating disorders, and no matter how emotionally mature I thought my friends were, we were still too young to deal with an eating disorder. This is obviously a very, very disturbing thing.
I'm just trying to remember what they taught us in school when they...
When the TV turns on and you watch The Secret Life of Mary Margaret: Portrait of a Bulimic Woman.
Even in these stories there is a sense of shame. It's just shame.
Absolutely right. And it's so obscene. It's so pornographic and obscene. And they show up for you to look at, and you think, "Actually, this looks kind of funny.".
Cinema Day!
And you're sending the wrong message. It was terrible. When someone had an eating disorder, it was like they completely shut down and withdrew. We didn't have the emotional resources to talk about it. Physically, it's really scary. I had a friend whose nails turned blue and she was losing her hair. We were both 13.
I didn't want to stoop to absurdity. A girl's world! Thank God I grew up in that era. There were physical media. I had a friend whose aunt lived in New York and kept a VHS copy of "Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story.".
No way!
I had already started writing the script [for this film] when I thought, «Oh, this already exists.» I said, «Great, John. You fucking idiot. You thought you were so original,» because I was also thinking, «I’m going to do a Shaft-style soundtrack. I’m going to do a «70s-style soundtrack.» And then when I remembered Superstar, I thought, »John, this is like a Burt Bacharach and Karen Carpenter soundtrack. It’s the same thing, you fucking idiot!«
What did this project teach you about the directing process itself?
In a way, it took me a long time to do this. I've always wanted to be a director. In a way, I've directed projects before, collaborating with other people. When people take on the responsibility of bringing my vision to life, that's a form of directing. But I'm so glad I'm this old, because there was less of an ego then. If I were younger, I think I would be more in control and trying to prove to people at every moment that I deserve to be there and hold that leadership position.
«"I'm in charge.".
«"I'm the boss here, and this is why I'm the boss here, and would you all like to gather in a circle so I can explain why I'm the boss here?" Another thing... I had a telepathic connection with my lead actress.
[Laughs]
I thought, "Oh, I know what to do." I thought, "I'm directing myself," but completely unconsciously. It was very unusual. I don't know. I also think that in terms of acting, in terms of style, I didn't have to lead anyone by the hand, not the people I hired, not the actors. I just played Maddie, and they adapted to what I did.
The most important thing I realized was that for me, the only way out is—I'm not Terrence Malick. I can't just say, "Let's just wander around and take some pretty shots." I really realized, "The only way out is preparation and having a plan." Especially with the budget we were working with, if you didn't have a plan, everything fell apart.
I'm very proud of its visual directness, and I say that with love, that silliness. There were moments when we tried to use higher cinematography. And then I'd say, "Sorry. This is just going to be her point of view. And I'll make the actors look straight into the camera. Sorry.".
You also have a lot of wonderful panoramic shots that stretch on and on. There's a scene where you and Kate are arguing after dance class, you do a huge turn, and then Kate gets into her car.
[Laughs] Well, it's pure Showgirls. There's obviously a spiritual reference to Showgirls in this movie; that was the North Star in the first half. That was kind of the joke, [that] we treat Bon Appétit like it's the backstage of Showgirls, just as ruthless and caustic, just as sexually provocative and wild. That was always the joke to me.
How did you come up with Maddie's look?
No one has ever asked me this before! I told every designer, makeup artist, costume designer, even the cinematographer and production designer: «My main request of you is: she’s an angel. Whatever that means to you, she’s an angel. She has to shine. There shouldn’t be any harsh, sour colors; she has to be bright and sincere.».
No-makeup makeup look.
And the wig was messy, but cute. Right before filming, there was an argument about whether we should get eyelash extensions, and I did them, and I had a nervous breakdown because I looked like a Muppet. I literally came home and felt like a 12-year-old. I couldn't believe how I looked. I looked like a Kardashian. And I was like, "That's not Maddie.".
The reason we decided to do it this way—to the credit of the makeup and hair team, they were absolutely amazing, they did a fantastic job. But they were like, "Oh, this will quickly make you look more feminine and save us time." And I was like, "Guys, I need close-ups. I need a lot of close-ups." And Maddie is so shy. She would never...
She would never get eyelash extensions.
Never. But I looked terrible. And I immediately went back, went back to the lash salon, and had them taken off. Women were asking, "What?" They were asking, "Are you unhappy?" I was like, "It's hard to explain." Then I went to a woman in Los Angeles who did my brows and a brow lift, and I was, of course, very embarrassed about what I was doing. I said, "It's for a movie." She said, "I don't care." Afterward, she said, "You look so cute.".
But no, it was just realism. To achieve realism, I had to exaggerate. I always imagined Maddie with small breasts, and then the costume designers said, "John, if we're going to create the proportions of a woman, you need larger breasts to make the waist look smaller." That completely affected Maddie's backstory, where I was like, "Oh, no, no. Of course she needs larger breasts, not just for proportions, but also to make her feel self-conscious and insecure." And then I got the hip pads!
Maddie's clothes were very modest and inexpensive.
Yeah, it's really sweet. You think, "I know that girl.".
My dream with her is for her to truly have that same look as the American Girl dolls from Little House on the Prairie, so you know, "Maddie. This is Maddie." And my dream is to make three Maddie movies.
You should make a movie about the American Girl doll.
Thank you. Thank you. This is what it's all leading to, and it's just ruining my life. I'm writing a movie about an American Girl doll, I'm supposedly a millionaire, but I'm in hell.
Maddie's Secret premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival.