Thanks to the success of the Jason Reitman's hit comedy Juno, 22-year-old Canadian actress Ellen Page is on many directors' most-wanted list. In her latest effort Whip It, the lucky director is Drew Barrymore.
The rom-com favourite has come a long way from the cute little girl in Spielberg's ET: The Extra-Terrestrial to become a respected producer of acclaimed movies such as Donnie Darko, 50 First Dates and the Charlie's Angels features. Barrymore is finally making use of her years in the business to direct her first film.
Inspired by the semi-autobiography Derby Girl by Shauna Cross, Whip It is an action-filled journey of self-discovery. Bliss Cavendar (Page) grows up in a family where winning beauty pageants means a bright future. But the rebellious teen wants to get out of her small town. On a shopping trip, Bliss stumbles into the exciting world of roller skating derbies, and finds it so compelling she secretly tries out for the underdog, rag-tag team Hurl Scouts. Soon she's trading her polished pageant life for the bruising world of skating, all the while struggling with romance and confrontations with friends and family.
The coming-of-age plot, humour and vibrant characters convinced the veteran Barrymore to put on her directorial hat for the first time and tell the story her way.
'I literally had that 'aha!' moment, where I thought, 'I have to direct this; this is the film I have to start with',' Barrymore says.
'It's really personal and important to me because it's about a girl finding out who she is, going after what she believes in and bringing out the best in herself,' adding 'it felt like something I was practising for my whole life.'
