The Big Picture

Collider’s Perri Nemiroff talks
Drive-Away Dolls
with stars Margaret Qualley, Geraldine Viswanathan, and Beanie Feldstein.
The comedy caper follows two women on an impromptu road trip to Tallahassee. Things go awry when the duo become entangled with a group of inept criminals trying to track down illicit cargo — cargo that happens to be in the trunk of their drive-away car.

Drive-Away Dolls
hits theaters nationwide on Friday, February 23rd.

Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke’s new movie, Drive-Away Dolls, rocks an A+ ensemble of some of the brightest stars in the business. Margaret Qualley, Geraldine Viswanathan, and Beanie Feldstein have already proven they’re top-tier talent, some of the best of their generation, and they do so yet again in this wonderfully wild road trip caper comedy.

Qualley and Viswanathan lead as Jamie and Marian. Having just ended a relationship with Feldstein’s character, a no-nonsense, unapologetic cop name Sukie, Jamie’s indulging in the free-spirit lifestyle. Marian, on the other hand, is far more strait-laced — the grammar police, enjoys some reading before bed, and isn’t into casual hooks-up. When the two take a road trip together in a drive-away car, Marian’s planned straight trip to Tallahassee, Florida for some birding turns into a wild ride with a number of unexpected stops, some shocking illicit cargo, and also some unforeseen romance.

Drive-Away Dolls Jamie regrets her breakup with her girlfriend, while Marian needs to relax. In search of a fresh start, they embark on an unexpected road trip to Tallahassee, but things quickly go awry when they cross paths with a group of inept criminals.Release Date February 23, 2024 Runtime 84 minutes

Jamie, Marian, and Sukie are bold personalities in the midst of a madcap adventure. While I’m sure all three popped nicely on the page, especially given it’s a Coen and Cooke-penned screenplay, characters like that can’t soar on screen without singular and fearless performers behind them. While chatting with the trio ahead of Drive-Away Dolls’ February 23rd release, I asked for something uniquely their own that they wanted to bring to their characters that everyone can see in the finished product.

Feldstein began by highlighting that the name of her character was changed after she was cast:

“I felt like they sort of locked in who they wanted her to be with the name change. So when I auditioned, the character’s name was Jennifer. Great name, love to all the Jennifers out there, but then they renamed her Sukie Shankleman, and the way Ethan always said it was like, ‘
Sukie Shankleman
,’ and he would sort of take it in. That sort of locked me in for me who they wanted her to be.”

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Qualley continued by zeroing in on the importance of Jamie’s walk. “My feeling kind of is, how do I become a person that would say all of this, right?” She went on, “I think the little things that felt like my job to figure out were, how does she walk?” Given Jamie’s air of confidence, the character’s posture is of the utmost importance.

Viswanathan jumped in next. “The script was so detailed, and then Ethan and Trish kind of really let us have it.” She added, “They just kind of trusted us to bring ourselves and our instincts to it, and, you know, those little things like little jewelry that you’d wear and these little kind of totems that you find for your character.”

That thought sparked an important memory from Qualley, a memory that encapsulates the experience of making Drive-Away Dolls overall:

“A lot of times you go into a costume fitting, and it’s kind of horrible, you know what I mean? Because you’re putting on clothes that don’t fit you, so it’s not really what you imagined, and you’re trying to pick out the best things, trying to figure it out. And with this, it was just like, well, this is better than what I imagined. This all fits perfectly.”

‘Drive-Away Dolls’ Cast Shares Personal Road Trip Strengths & Weaknesses

The stars aligned on the set of Drive-Away Dolls, but what if Qualley, Viswanathan, and Feldstein took a road trip together? Everyone has a road trip strength and weakness, so I opted to ask the cast for theirs. Viswanathan jumped right in with a must-have road trip skill, “I would be on the AUX. I’m the DJ.”

Feldstein also has a very important skillset to add to the team. “I feel like I’m the mom. The mom energy. Snacks and emergency kits and first aid.” Her worst quality? Feldstein laughed and said, “That I’m annoying.” She further clarified, “I’m allergic to everything and I can’t just rock up places.” Qualley assured her, “That’s okay! We got you.”

Qualley is well aware of her own road trip weakness, but she’s already got a game plan for how to work around it.

“My worst is that I drink a lot of water and I’m gonna want to stop all the time. I’m gonna take a million breaks. But I’m fine if you just want to pull over on the side of the highway, you know? I think that’s actually my preference, to be honest. Open the back door
and
the front door. We go to New Jersey a lot. Anyway, oh god. I grew up in the south.”

In addition to being a supportive road trip buddy who respects others’ needs (and allergies), Qualley also added, “My best quality is that I think that I can be pretty glass-half-full, you know?” She laughed and added, “Or half empty because I drink it and we need to pull over.”

Drive-Away Dolls begins playing in theaters in the U.S. on February 23rd. Click below for showtimes.

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