Naked As We Came, the third full feature film, by director/screenwriter Richard LeMay opened in theaters Sept. 17 to critical acclaim and was recognized as Best Drama at the Out In The Desert Film Festival in Tucson, Ariz. and has won four audience awards nationwide.
One of the most award-winning gay films of the year, Naked tells the story of Lily (S. Lue Williams) who is battling cancer and her two children Laura (Karmine Alers) and Elliot (Ryan Vigilant) who have been summoned home by Lily’s caretaker Ted (Benjamin Weaver). Laura and Elliot are not aware of their mothers declining health and they each have issues in their own lives that they are dealing with. Not to mention the fact that their family is incredibly estranged for various reasons.
Their reunion, of sorts, brings up a lot of old pains and issues as well as some new ones. It also forces each of them to deal with Lily’s illness and how that illness affects their individual lives.
LeMay, came up with the title while scripting it, claiming that there was something about it that just sounded right.
“I actually came up with it in the middle of writing it,” LeMay said. “It was one of four titles but Naked As We Came sort of rang true.”
It is actually pretty close, if not exact, to a piece of dialogue that Lily has in the film as she contemplates telling her children her current health status. She refers to the fact that we all leave the earth the way we came in to it … naked.
LeMay has actually had some success with his other films (Whirlwind, 200 American). Both were made within a three-year period. But with Naked, there was a seven-year gap between it and his last film, which he explains, was mainly due to some producing projects.
“In that time I produced Children of God which was shot in the Bahamas,” LeMay explained. “Working with Kareem Mortimer and Trevite Willis really inspired me to make better films. So I waited for the perfect idea and just hit the ground running.”
Sounds like LeMay made the right decision, because he couldn’t have been happier with the cast he ended up with. Most of whom he’d worked with before.
“I knew them all and had worked with Karmine and the boys,” LeMay said. “I had Lue [Williams] do a reading of another script that I wrote and everyone in the room said ‘Who’s she? She’s great.’ Truly a dream cast.”
Vigilant, who plays Elliot, is best known for his modeling work and also a brief stint on the popular television show Gossip Girl. One thing he says that stood out for him about his character was his search for who he really is.
“I saw Elliott as someone who was searching for what he truly wanted and who he really is,” Vilgilant said. “I admire characters and people that actively seek out what they really want in life. It is courageous and brave to look inside yourself, realize you are not living as the person you truly are, and then making the change to follow your inner self!”
His sentiments about LeMay’s script almost go hand in hand with his assessment of his character, claiming that what he liked most about the script was its honesty.
“It was real. It was honest,” Vigilant explained. “A family can be a very difficult relationship. But underneath all that chaos and miscommunication a family is tied together with love and wanting to express that love to each other. Sometimes family members have trouble delivering their affections to each other. I feel this script did an excellent job expressing this.”
Since the premier of Naked Vigilant has finished three other projects. It’s something the actor would rather not take credit for preferring to credit the universe instead. “I have to give a zen answer on this one,” he said. “You are always in the right place, at the right time, doing the right thing, with the right people!”
LeMay’s decision to cast Vigilant came about because of a project the two were working on that coincidentally fell through.
“I actually saw [Ryan] at another audition and cast him in a different movie,” LeMay confessed. “We worked on the character for months. Then the funding fell through. So then Naked popped up, and I asked him to be Elliot.”
LeMay also felt pretty strongly about Vigilant’s castmate Benjamin Weaver as well.
“Ben was a completely lucky find,” LeMay said. “I was working on a web series and Ben walked in for the auditions and the whole room lit up. So when Naked came along, I called him immediately.”
One thing Naked deals with, other than familial issues, is cheating and open relationships and LeMay is pretty clear where he stands on that issue.
“[That] was added to the script as another example of how lost [Ben’s] character is,” LeMay explained. “He’d rather be in that house than be home with his partner. He doesn’t really know what he wants. As far as the open relationship goes, I am not in one but I would never judge someone for how they live their life.”
LeMay’s cinematography and the realism that he captures from his actors is something that definitely stands out in his work and is something the director strives for.
“It is definitely a style that I prefer in acting,” LeMay confessed. “Less is definitely more. I think the best part of making movies is working with the actors. We rehearsed for a month prior to shooting so they new it like a play. I think all four of them were dedicated to doing their best. We all just wanted it to be honest. I have to say they were the hardest working actors. I hope I can work with all of them again.”
Naked As We Came became available as a VOD, Dec. 17 on iTunes and amazon.com
It will be available on DVD format Jan. 7, 2014. For more information on the film visit nakedaswecamethemovie.com
