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Alana Haim on her 'Licorice Pizza' acting debut and her joint birthday party with Taylor Swift

Photo credit: Josh Olins
Photo credit: Josh Olins

"Let's do this!" Alana Haim chants, clapping her hands with each word, as we sit down to chat. Her energy and enthusiasm belies her jet-lag; we are speaking over Zoom, where she just landed in London, and the time difference is catching up with her.

The UK city holds special significance for Alana when it comes to this particular project; it was during a similarly jet-lagged night in London in 2019 that she first opened an email from director and family friend Paul Thomas Anderson containing a script for his new film, with the lead character reserved for - and named after - Alana.

Anderson, the acclaimed writer and director behind cult award-winning films like Boogie Nights, There Will Be Blood and Phantom Thread, had written his latest project Licorice Pizza with Alana in mind, having directed several Haim music videos and become close friends with the siblings - despite Alana having no prior acting experience. Evidently, it played off; she was recognised with a Best Actress nomination at this year's BAFTAs, which take place on 13 March.

"Paul is pretty much our family at this point," Alana tells me, smiling fondly. "When I met Paul for the first time, he invited us over to his house with Maya [Rudolph, the comedian and actor, and Anderson's long-time partner] and their kids and it immediately felt like how I grew up. It was in a ranch-style house in the valley, with one storey - a flat home. Very much a Valley home."

Her on-screen counterpart, Alana Kane, also lives in a flat Valley home. While the movie is not a biopic of Alana Haim, with a key difference being that it is set in the 1970s (think floral shirts and halter-neck tops galore, set to a soundtrack of David Bowie and Sonny and Cher), Alana shares her name, sisters, parents, religion and hometown with her fictional alter ego. The film has family at its core, with Rudolph making a cameo in the movie, along with Alana's two older sisters, Este and Danielle. Her parents Moti and Donna also make their on-screen debuts.

"Every time my dad was on screen, he was doing improv. He didn't have a script or any written lines," Alana says, wide-eyed. "The fact that he was so comfortable with a camera is still so mind-blowing. He did so well. I'm just so proud of my dad."

The real-life inspiration from the Haim family is woven throughout the film. When reading the script for the first time, Alana realised that one scene in particular – where she brings home a Jewish-born boyfriend to Shabbat dinner only for him to profess he's an atheist – was an edited version of a real-life story she had previously shared with Anderson. In the real story, it was Danielle who brought a date to Passover celebrations with extended family, who decided to pronounce his atheism when he was asked by Moti to read the Haggadah (the story of Passover).

"The main difference is that the silence in the real-life version felt like it lasted 17 years," Alana laughs.

Photo credit: Paul Thomas Anderson - Universal
Photo credit: Paul Thomas Anderson - Universal

There are clear differences to Alana Kane vs Haim too, she explains. "Alana Kane is a little more unhinged and a little more snappy. I can safely say that I never screamed at my dad in my life until Licorice Pizza."

But there are similarities, too. "She jumps into things headfirst and doesn't look back. She also loves really hard and is very protective over the people that she loves; she'll fight for them and and that's very much like me."

Anderson worked collaboratively with his star throughout filming, supporting her shift into acting - but, of course, it helped that she could relate so strongly to the source material.

"It goes back to how much I trust Paul, and how much he trusts me," she reflects. "He was so incredibly amazing with me, because I had never acted before and [yet] he would let me run free... For him to ask me, 'What would you do?'... I was like, 'What are you talking about, what would I do? You're PTA!' There were millions of things I tried that didn't land but it is the same way my siblings and I work when we when we write music. There are no bad ideas."

Photo credit: Paul Thomas Anderson - Universal
Photo credit: Paul Thomas Anderson - Universal

Anderson also cast another novice actor, Cooper Hoffman (the son of late actor Philip Seymour Hoffman and costume designer Mimi O'Donnell) to play opposite Haim as Gary Valentine, the ambitious high-school student who falls for Alana Kane.

While Haim and Hoffman were beginners to the world of film, they hold their weight on screen opposite established actors like Sean Penn and Bradley Cooper, who make brief but scene-stealing cameos in the film. Given the buzz surrounding Alana's performance, more acting projects are surely to follow - but, she says, music will remain her focus. She and her sisters are embarking on their global Women In Music Part II tour this April, stopping in London in July.

"Nothing has changed in the sister dynamic," says Alana, who appears to still be adjusting to the promotional obligations of interviews, TV show appearances and premieres for the first time without the support of her siblings. "Honestly, I missed them so much."

Photo credit: Larry Busacca - Getty Images
Photo credit: Larry Busacca - Getty Images

With award nominations, rave reviews and an upcoming international tour, it's an understatement to say that Alana is entering her third decade on a high, having turned 30 in December. She celebrated with a joint party with close friend Taylor Swift. "We just wanted to dance.. and have lasers," she laughs. "We're both Sagittarius, and Sagittarians are the life of the party, notoriously."

"I still feel 13... But, I mean, I'm having a great 30th year right now."

Licorice Pizza is in cinemas now.

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