Ivy Wolk on Anora, Ambitions, and Future Projects
an exemplary member of our generation and the roaring 2020s
I believe Ivy is a generational talent, her scenes in Anora, www.RachelOrmont.com and The Code are among my favorites in the film. She exemplifies what’s good about “gen-z”- an eschewing of disaffected irony into something genuine. We are sick of the epoch of ,“he’s right behind me ...isn’t he…” type humor, and instead embracing reality whether it’s awkward or brash or hard to categorize. Immediately after seeing Anora last year we came up with some questions for Ivy, for your reading pleasure.
MC: What is your dream acting role?
IW: A leading lady who is funny and brash and a degenerate with dark problems… Sally Bowles in Cabaret… Nancy Spungen… Courtney Love in a Lifetime biopic...
MC: Does stand up or acting play a bigger role in your life and would you like to have a niche in comedy roles or continue with more dramatic ones? (or both/no preference?)
IW: Stand up is probably a bigger part of my day to day because there are less gatekeepers. You don’t have to wait around for someone to give you permission to do stand up, but acting is a job you constantly apply for and wait around on. I’d love to do drama. I have it in me. I am a true character actress and can portray people far outside of myself and my own center and set of references… just tapping my toes waiting on the opportunity, really.
MC: Did you feel real chemistry with the actors on the set of Anora outside of filming?
IW: It was the greatest time of my life. We all loved— and still love— each other so much. Constant ecstasy. Constant laughter. When everyone around you knows on some level that you are creating something deeply special and paradigm-shifting, it’s hard to be in any way upset or distant. I can’t even fully articulate how fun and exciting it all was.
MC: Did you learn any Russian while working on Anora?
IW: I had a few lines in Russian that didn’t make the final cut because my pronunciation was so poor.
MC: Do you have any personal memories from the Brighton beach/Coney Island area?
IW: Last summer my male comic friends and I (a now defunct friend group slash group chat that ended due to a two man internal beef) went to Coney Island and spent a day walking around and drinking lemonade and vaping and laughing. It was a great light in what was otherwise a dark summer for me. Coney Island is magical because of its kitsch. So colorful and busy and you feel history touching you everywhere.
MC: In Anora, were you + costars smoking real or fake weed? Is it like when you have to do spit takes when eating in a movie by fake inhaling?
IW: The pot was fake. It would be pretty rude and illegal to smoke real pot in someone’s home or store. It’s like an herbal mix, same stuff in the nasty herbal cigarettes we smoked in interior scenes. I insisted my Juul be real, though.
MC: Was there anything that you filmed that didn't make it into the final cut?
IW: Soooo much. I shot for nearly two months! Every day on set was just fucking around and improvising and devising scenes with Sean and the group in various locations. But the movie would have been probably three and a half hours long had most of it stayed in.
MC: Does your Anora character have a signature fragrance + what would it be?
IW: Crystal is a beauty girl, what with her elaborate hair and makeup, and I’m sure she has something she uses to cover up the weed smell emanating from her clothes, but I myself know nothing of perfume so I cannot take an educated stance here.
MC: Do you have a signature fragrance and if yes what is it?
IW: Secret tropical coconut deodorant, Miami Mint Geek Bar air, vaginal discharge, and Pantene shampoo.
MC: Did you come up with a backstory for your Anora character or were you given one?
IW: She’s a rich-ish layabout who was the first of her family to be born in the US. She has only had sex with one person and at first is reticent of Ani’s power and sexuality but comes to love it and see it as a fascinating way in to womanhood. When a new older hotter girl enters the chat and you want to hate her, but you can’t, you may as well learn from her. I think after the events of the film she attends SUNY Binghamton or Purchase and drops out to get her esthetician’s license. She now does lashes in a home studio.
MC: What was the process of casting and how did you meet Sean Baker?
IW: I DM’ed Sean on Instagram after I saw Red Rocket. We struck up a friendship. He had me audition for Crystal and after one tape I was cast.
MC: Would you ever want to direct or screen write?
IW: Working on both right now! The world is my oyster!