The Big Picture

Collider’s Perri Nemiroff sits down with the team behind Out of My Mind at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. Director Amber Sealey and stars Phoebe-Rae Taylor, Rosemarie DeWitt, Luke Kirby, Judith Light, Michael Chernus and Courtney Taylor discuss their upcoming Disney+ release. Out of My Mind focuses on Melody Brooks, a nonverbal wheelchair user who has cerebral palsy who’s navigating sixth grade.

The cast of Out of My Mind is stacked with wildly talented veteran actors, but it’s led by a complete newcomer, someone getting her very first acting credit with the film. It’s Phoebe-Rae Taylor, and she’s an absolute natural.

Based on the best-selling novel of the same name, Out of My Mind focuses on 6th grader, Melody Brooks (Taylor). She’s an incredibly bright 12 year-old who loves fashion and watching Friends, but can’t reach her full potential due to the assumptions made about her by others. Melody has cerebral palsy, is non-verbal and uses a wheelchair. Due to her lack of verbal communication ability and presumed limited intellect, Melody attends school in a classroom for students with disabilities. However, when Katherine (Courtney Taylor), a postdoctoral candidate in education, meets Melody and immediately recognizes her lust for learning and limitless potential in general, she encourages Melody’s family and the school administration to have her join the mainstream 6th grade classroom.

Out of My Mind is a hugely heartwarming and inspiring coming-of-age tale about never letting someone else define your potential. As producer Peter Saraf explained in our production notes, “We were committed from the get-go to casting an actress with cerebral palsy to play the role of Melody. And we just did a massive outreach and using some of our partners from the disability community we spread as wide a net as we could.” That vast search resulted in the filmmaking team finding gold. Check out my conversation with Phoebe-Rae Taylor, Courtney Taylor, Rosemarie DeWitt, Luke Kirby, Judith Light, Michael Chernus, and director Amber Sealey at the Collider interview studio at Sundance 2024 brought to you by Film.io to hear all about what an exceptional collaborator partner Phoebe-Rae Taylor is, and why they think she has an especially bright future in this business. You can also read the full interview in transcript form below.

Out of My Mind Melody Brooks is navigating sixth grade as a nonverbal wheelchair user who has cerebral palsy. With the help of some assistive technology and her devoted allies, Melody shows that what she has to say is more important than how she says it Release Date January 19, 2024 Director Amber Sealey Runtime 102 minutes Main Genre Drama Writers Sharon M. Draper , Daniel Stiepleman

PERRI NEMIROFF: Amber, a lot of our audience is going to first learn about your movie through Sundance, so can you give everyone a brief synopsis of Out of My Mind?

AMBER SEALEY: Out of My Mind is based on the bestselling YA novel by Sharon M. Draper, which is about a young girl named Melody Brooks, played by Phoebe, who is navigating sixth grade, and she also has cerebral palsy and is nonverbal, and she’s going through all the things that we all go through when you go through sixth grade. So it’s a kind of coming-of-age, finding your voice, but at the same time, everyone else around her is learning how to listen.

Amber Sealey Traded FBI Transcripts for a Bestselling YA Novel
Image via Photagonist at the Collider Media Studio

I’ve got a two-part question for you about signing on. What is it about the story that drew you to it, but then also, what is it about this opportunity that you thought you would have something to gain from as a director evolving your craft?

SEALEY: I wish I could say that I was smart enough to have seen how much I would gain from doing this movie at the beginning, but I’ve got to be really honest, I walked away with so much personal knowledge and gratitude and joy from doing this, and I didn’t foresee that in the beginning. I mean, I loved the story, I loved the book, I loved the script, I loved all of the players, the producers, all of that part and I knew it was an important story to tell, but I couldn’t have foreseen how life-changing it was going to be getting to do it.

I love hearing that. Phoebe, you’re getting my next question. This is incredible! You’re so good in this movie.

PHOEBE-RAE TAYLOR: Aw, thank you!

Phoebe-Rae Taylor Delivers a Star Turn Performance in ‘Out of My Mind’
Image via Sundance 

What were you most afraid of in terms of making your first movie, and how did you overcome that fear?

TAYLOR: I’m not a very confident person, so I was really nervous, but everything was — obviously, this is my first experience acting, but as soon as I met all of these lovely people it all got easier and less nerve-wracking because these people are so genuine and nice.

You are a natural, seriously. You should be very proud of yourself.

I’m gonna continue down that path. It’s time to make Phoebe blush right now. Again, this is her first feature, I have high hopes that if she wants to keep going in this industry, there will be many more on the horizon. Can you each name something about her as a scene partner or as a collaborator that you appreciated and are looking forward to more filmmakers getting to experience in the future?

SEALEY: I have so many things to say about Phoebe and how amazing she is, but I think my favorite thing about her is her sense of humor. She makes me laugh so much. And I personally cannot wait to work with her again, so hopefully she doesn’t get too famous to not remember who I am. But I want to work with her again. She’s just a genuinely wonderful, really special, smart, funny, kind, thoughtful person.

ROSEMARIE DEWITT: You took so many adjectives.

SEALEY: Sorry! [Laughs]

COURTNEY TAYLOR: I think it was her willingness to kind of make mistakes and then learn from them. I think we’re all like, “We want to be perfect, we want to be perfect” and I think Phoebe knew, “This is my first time, and I’m probably gonna make some mistakes, but I’m gonna get back on it.” It kind of made me be a better actress just to make sure that I was there for her whenever she was down, and she was there for me whenever I was down, so it was perfect.

Best quality to have in a collaborator.

MICHAEL CHERNUS: I have to say it’s just how present and available you were on set. Even now, just looking in your eyes, you’re very open, and that was really easy to act with. And it was always different every time. I felt like you were always bringing a new thing every time to the scene.

JUDITH LIGHT: I’d have to repeat what everybody has said so far in terms of the experience. It was the joy that was so present, also. Your joy in doing this, and your commitment and your dedication and your professionalism. I’ve worked with people who aren’t nearly as dedicated or professional as you are, and that was really an outstanding quality to me, that you were there for everybody, and you made the experience a joy for everybody, and for me most of all. In many ways, like Amber said, you transformed my life. Thank you.

LUKE KIRBY: Pick a million things. Phoebe’s fortitude and strength are very impressive, and matched with her humor, makes for the best day at work you can hope for.

DEWITT: That part and then, I think with actors, when you have a scene partner you’re always looking to find a connection and intimacy with one another, and god, it was so instantaneous because the courage that you brought every day to the set, the vulnerability. It takes us in acting classes years to tap into that, and you brought it all. And the trust. I was so grateful that you let me in, you know what I mean? Sometimes we can’t find each other when the camera’s rolling, and you were right there. I mean, I think I sometimes think am you mother! [Laughs] Sorry, Frankie! Because I just love you in a way that I never had trust built so quickly with an artist, and I think it’s because of the extraordinary human being that you are. I’m so excited for people to learn who you are!

TAYLOR: Oh my gosh, thank you!

SEALEY: I thought I was your mother. [Laughs]

Rosemarie, I’ll add to that a little for you now. I feel like this is true no matter what character you play, but in particular, a mother. I’m sure you had a great script to work with, but I feel like it’s often a situation where you find so much of your character via your scene partners, in this case Phoebe and Luke. Can you tell me about a quality of Diane’s you only found via working with them?

DEWITT: These are good questions! I’ll be honest, there’s a piece of this that all of these characters advocate for Melody, and I really didn’t find it until — I mean, I probably shot three quarters of the movie by then — that scene we did in the driveway. It was just the blocking and the staging got a little precarious to take Phoebe out of a wheelchair. I was ready to quit the movie if we didn’t [laughs], you know, move things around. But it just helped transform me into what it really means to show up for somebody, and advocate, and sometimes we’re scared in Hollywood to do that, but the depth of our connection, I was like, “Yeah, no, no, I’m not gonna sit her on the back of this car. I’m not gonna do it.” So, I didn’t even know I had that in me to just look at the producers and be like, “No, I’m drawing the line,” but that really came from our relationship.

That’s a really beautiful shot and performance beat there.

Image via Photagonist at the Collider Media Studio

Luke, I’m gonna come your way next because I wanna highlight Amber’s work as well and I know the two of you worked together in the past. When you first met her, what is something about her that signaled to you, “This isn’t just someone I wanna work with once, but this is someone I might wanna have a long-lasting collaboration with?”

KIRBY: That did not happen! [Laughs] That’s not how it happened! Amber and I met in a park on March …

SEALEY: 2020.

KIRBY: 15th or 16th, 2020. The next day my wife called and said, “You have to get on an airplane.” But we had the best conversation, just a very open, creative conversation, but a human conversation. I knew nothing about her talents, which are vast, but you know, we forged a bit of a bond and a friendship. I think we share a lot of frustrations about life and the world, and have high hopes for the experience. So that was just the beginning of it, and now I’m trapped.

[Laughs] I’m kind of glad you’re trapped!

SEALEY: He’s forever trapped, yeah. He’s promised to be in every single movie I make.

I’m already looking forward to this.

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I’ll open this last question up to the group. It’s also singing your praises, Amber. I’m gonna borrow something, Judith, I read from you in our press notes. You mentioned, “Amber is like Mrs. V. in a way. She will push you.” Can you each name a time on this set when she pushed you and by pushing you it helped you exceed your own expectations for your work in the film?

SEALEY: This is making me sweat.

COURTNEY TAYLOR: There was a scene that we were gonna do that we wanted to kind of have multiple takes, so we wanted to make sure we had moment where I was just being serious about it, but I wanted to be emotional as well. There was a time that Amber pulled me to the side and she just said, “Listen, I know that you can do this.” She kind of just gave me this really personable pep talk, reminded me of who I am in this character, and reminded me of the situation, and kind of just urged me to be my best self and just to roll with it. It allowed me to trust that she trusted me, and I don’t think a lot of people trust you to do the work, and I think she gave me the opportunity to do that even with just that little pep talk. People try to make you feel an emotion. She’s just like, “You got this. You know where you are, you know what you’re doing, you’re having this conversation, and I just want you to get a little more frustrated.” And it just was so helpful, and it allowed me to create the moment that you do end up seeing, which is a little more subtle, but you still feel a little pain there. So I thank you for that, for trusting me.

LIGHT: She pushed me to do the movie. She did. She was genuine, and available, and supportive. And things that I talked to her about that I thought needed to be there, she was just open and there and present. I thought, “Oh, this is a person I have to work with. I must work with her.” And, like you [to Kirby], now I’m hooked. Absolutely.

I always get excited when people build filmmaking families, so keep this one intact.

SEALEY: All these people are gonna be in my next film.

Image via Photagonist at the Collider Media Studio

DEWITT: I wouldn’t even say pushed. When you see what’s on the page, which is extraordinary, and then you see the way Amber elevated it, it’s like you push yourself the hardest. And the way that it turned out just exceeded my wildest expectations. And that doesn’t happen a lot. You know, it’s so hard to make a movie that sometimes you’re just a little disappointed about some parts of it, but this is one that every moment of the film was elevated by your vision. We’re just really lucky to be in your orbit.

CHERNUS: Right away, I was thrown into a very hot classroom in front of, like, 20 12, 13-year-olds, and Amber was like, “Yeah, just teach.” And I was like, “What?” She’s like, “Well, you know, I’m open to improv, so would you just teach a class?” And I was like, “Are you kidding me?” [Laughs] So I’m quickly Googling some facts about early explorers and I was like, “Okay, I think I have a lesson plan! Yeah, I can do this. I’ve got a lesson plan, I’m ready!” So she just pushed me, I think, to really have to embody the character in that practical way, like in a way that I hadn’t thought about. I was leaning on the script. You know, there’s a script, but I was like, “Oh, what would I do?” That horrible flop-sweat feeling of just being in front of kids, and not even kids, but like, preteens and early teens. And even though they were all actors, they’re still young people with their judgements, and I’m standing there like, “Oh, they hate me. I’m an idiot. I’m so not cool.” So, she pushed me out of my comfort zone.

SEALEY: Honestly, I think I was just like, “Wow, he knows so much about American history!”

COURTNEY TAYLOR: Me too! [Laughs]

CHERNUS: That was just my phone. Google knows a lot about American history.

TAYLOR: I’ve got one thing that comes to mind. There was a scene where I had to get emotional, and I just couldn’t for some reason. Amber had to be really stern with me, which I’m really grateful for because that got me to the point where I could play an emotional part. I’m just grateful that you were there for me all the times when I needed it.

Alright, Luke, last up. Take us home.

KIRBY: What was the question? [Laughs]

SEALEY: It’s, “How great is Amber?”

Basically that.

KIRBY: We’ve established this, haven’t we? Let’s not gild the lily. [Laughs] I do think there’s something about putting a kind of trust in a director where, in some moments, you kind of relinquish an idea about a throughline of character and story, and really, just for even a brief moment, become kind of like paint, or more become a little medium and let the director kind of guide you, and I have that with Amber where I just, in spite of my frustration or confusion about it, I’ll just sort of go, “Oh yeah, let’s try that.” And I’ve been sort of surprised and happy to see these things make it into the movie, and it does sort of reveal, as a viewer I kind of go, “Oh, I never would have thought to do that.” That’s a gift.

Beautiful answers all around. I appreciate your time and you sharing some of your experiences with us. Again, congratulations on Out of My Mind.

Special thanks to our 2024 partners at Sundance including presenting partner Film.io and supporting partners Pressed Juicery and DragonFly Coffee Roasters.