INTERVIEW: Toni Collette on Being a Fish Out of Water in ‘Mafia Mamma’

When it comes to movies that are funny in that classic sort way, Mafia Mamma is a recent example of how you can make a typical format work for a modern audience. Starring Toni Collette as Kristin, a suburban housewife who suddenly finds herself as the head of an Italian mafia family, the film is just one of those comedies that really works for how simple it is.

A woman suddenly has a lot of power she doesn’t know what to do with and through a lot of trial and error, she navigates being the donna of a crime family. In preparation for the film’s release, I spoke with Collette about the movie and bringing that fish out of water mentality to life through Kristin!

“I think that’s where a lot of the comedy sits, right? That’s where it comes from,” Collette said. “And that’s the beauty of it, that she’s this sweet, innocent, you know, complete fish out of water and she’s put in these situations that are entirely overwhelming. And the beauty of the story is that she does come into a sense of self and she does come into a sense of strength and power and self-knowledge and holding her own and watching that happen is hilarious, but it’s also very empowering. And that’s what I love about this story. And it’s told in a context that’s just hilarious. It’s so funny. I think it’s the funniest script I’ve ever read. It made me laugh out loud so much and really made me wanna make the movie. I just knew it immediately as I was like, yes, this is me. I am doing this. We need to make this happen. And it’s just a miracle that we are sitting here and it’s made and we’ve got the premier tonight. I could not be more excited.”

You can see our full chat here:

Mafia Mamma is in theaters now!

(Featured image: Bleecker Street )

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