Elisabeth Moss Gets Candid About Divides Behind The Scenes Of Girl, Interrupted

Elisabeth Moss has reflected on the behind-the-scenes of filming the acclaimed 1999 film Girl, Interrupted. 

The Handmaid’s Tale actor starred alongside Winona Ryder, Angelina Jolie and Brittany Murphy in the Oscar-winning drama about a women’s psychiatric facility.

The future Emmy winner was just 15 years old when she played Polly Clark, a teenager with schizophrenia who also has visible scarring from facial burns.

Speaking on a recent episode of Kelly Ripa’s Let’s Talk Off Camera podcast, Elisabeth revealed that the on-screen tension between Winona and Angelina’s characters meant that the cast naturally became divided when the cameras weren’t rolling.

“There were two kinds of camps. There was the Winona Ryder camp and the Angelina Jolie camp,” she said, noting the divides were “based on what was on camera”.

Elisabeth continued: “I was in the Winona Ryder camp. The Angelina Jolie camp was really cool. I was intimidated by the Angelina Jolie camp. I had no thoughts of ever being able to be in that camp.”

The Mad Men actor went on to say that while she has since spoken properly to the “lovely” Angelina – who won an Oscar for her role in the film – at the time it was “incredibly intimidating” to be on set with her.

“I never brought it up. I’m sure she would have no idea what I was talking about anyway,” Elisabeth added. “I was just definitely not cool enough to be in her camp.”

This isn’t the first time one of the cast members has mentioned a divide between the Girl, Interrupted cast.

In a 2010 interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, Winona recalled thinking the co-stars would go on to become “great friends”, but said Angelina was too committed to her role to let that happen.

“I think she needed to be able to look at me just as the character Susanna, not as Winona, so in a very respectful way she just kind of kept her distance,” the Stranger Things actor explained.