During a recent appearance on the podcast Let’s Talk Off Camera with Kelly Ripa, Elisabeth Moss opened up about her experience filming Girl, Interrupted, revealing that she felt intimidated by the “Angelina Jolie camp” on set. Moss, who was around 15 years old at the time of filming, played the role of Polly “Torch” Clark, a burn victim with schizophrenia, in the 1999 psychological drama set in a psychiatric hospital.
Moss described a natural division among the cast and crew, divided between the two lead stars of the film, Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie. She explained, “There were two kinds of camps. There was the Winona Ryder camp and the Angelina Jolie camp. 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.”
Despite feeling intimidated, Moss mentioned that she later spoke with Jolie and found her to be lovely, although she doubted Jolie was aware of the perceived divide on set. Moss added that being several years younger than her castmates contributed to her feeling “awestruck” on set, surrounded by accomplished actors like Ryder, Jolie, Clea DuVall, and Brittany Murphy.
Ryder had previously hinted at a level of separation between herself and Jolie during filming, noting that she had assumed they would become close friends but found that Jolie maintained a respectful distance, likely to stay in character. Jolie, reflecting on her role as Lisa in Girl, Interrupted, shared that she approached the character with the belief that Lisa was the only sane person in the film, despite others perceiving her as insane.
