Talk about a stroke of luck. It was more than a decade ago that writer/director Ned Benson met Jessica Chastain after one of his short films premiered at a barely-attended film festival. After the movie showed, a girl ran up to him and declared that she really wanted to work with him. That girl was Chastain, who at the time was just another struggling, unknown actress. The rest is pretty much history, with Benson and Chastain collaborating over the years on The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby, an ambitious, emotionally tough story of a crumbling marriage.
Originally designed as a two-part romantic piece told from his and her perspectives, Benson pieced together a third arc titled "Them" that expands into more theaters this week. Along with Keeping it Reel's Tim Gordon, I had a chance to talk with Benson about The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby, working with Chastain and James McAvoy on the film, and the decision to construct a third version of the story.
