WAITRESS #2 by Nathan Patton

JOEY DAY HARGROVE interviews NATHAN PATTON about his feature screenplay WAITRESS #2.

WAITRESS #2 is about an unnamed side character who, after accidentally causing the death of the big, hyper-masculine action star, takes over the narrative and sets about finding out who she really is, and who is putting her through all of these poorly constructed action-movie plot twists.

Joey Day Hargrove: Nathan, what do you consider the themes of this script?

Nathan Patton: For me it’s about ambition. Wanting to be more than you are, more than the box society wants to put you in.  The protagonist of my story is a side character who doesn’t just want to be some no-name, one-line part.  She wants to be in control of her own narrative, which is something I definitely relate to in ways that might not be exactly the same as the characters in the script do.

JDH: Why is it important for you to tell this story? What inspired you to write this script?

NP: Two things inspired me initially.  One is just seeing the way a lot of female lead roles in films sometimes amount to not much more than a MacGuffin — a trophy for the male lead to try to win.  The other was seeing my wife struggling being taken seriously in her male-dominated workplace.  I might not seem like the most obvious person to tell this particular story, but I wanted to point the finger back at myself a bit by making myself a character in the form of a misogynistic screenwriter.  We all have blind spots, so it’s something I wanted to work through on the page.

JDH: I was going to ask you about the very pro-feminine theme to your script. It addresses a lot of the more ridiculous female tropes from action movies. How did that become something you (as a male writer) decided to address? 

NP: Well, I have noticed those tropes and I think men can and should speak up too. It shouldn’t always be on women to do so.

JDH: What is your favorite moment in the script and why?

NP: Probably the ‘montage of unfinished action movie ideas’ because there’s fun meta humor, which I love, while also being the moment the protagonist is feeling perhaps the most nihilistic.  That juxtaposition was fun for me.

JDH: You did such a great job creating a scene from your script for the showcase. After reading your full script, I realize you made some tweaks to the overall story that really worked for that medium. What was your goal in creating that scene – what specifically did you want to capture?

NP: I was really trying to capture the themes of the movie in fast forward. I was worried about having one scene stand on its own so I wanted to tell a condensed story that captured the overall tone and characters. Hopefully it worked on some level. 

JDH: What was the hardest thing for you in telling this story? What surprised you most about writing this script?

NP: The hardest thing was definitely using myself as a character, which is something that I felt the script needed but definitely I resisted because of how weird it is to write a fictionalized version of yourself and also how, I dunno, pretentious or overwrought it could seem.  I guess what surprised me most was how by making myself a character I also became the villain of the piece.

JDH: Which character is your favorite, and why?  (I expected him to choose himself.)

NP: The character, Girlfriend, who is the protagonist’s best friend. She’s an optimist. And she loves hamburgers.

JDH: They say that oftentimes a writer creates a character that is a version of him or herself? And you literally wrote yourself into it – but not a very flattering version. Was there aver a version where Nathan in the script was this suave, good-looking hero?

NP: No. Early on the description of my character was “sloth from Goonies.” I always planned to have an unflattering version. I remember watching the Larry Sanders show way back in the day and I always loved actors playing unflattering versions of themselves. It’s meta with an extra punch. 

JDH: So how much of Nathan on page is Nathan in real life.  

NP: Probably way more than I would like to admit in public. 

JDH: And who would be your dream casting to play you? 

NP: Aaron Paul after a Haagen-Dazs binge. 

JDH: What audience do you hope to activate with your script? 

NP: Fans of action films, fans of comedies, people tired of seeing women in films relegated to ‘Girlfriend’ or ‘Wife’ roles, only there to further the arc of the male lead. People who like food?

JDH: I must say as a fellow screenwriter, I am super impressed that you kept the page count to exactly 100, especially  when you have so much white space in your script. You play with font size and spacing and still keep it tight and with such great pacing. Explain your editing process to me. I feel you may have wisdom that I need. 

NP: I think it goes back to being a visual artist first. I care way too much about what the actual page looks like. It’s silly, but I absolutely care how things look aesthetically. Also, I was a reader for Austin Film Festival and read a lot of scripts so I know what bored me and what woke me up -- the scripts that were propulsive and kept the story moving.  But thank you for noticing, I never get kudos for that. 

JDH:  What are your biggest hang-ups when it comes to turning your script into a film/ TV show? 

NP: I wrote it before I heard about the other film, it’s conceptually similar to a very popular film that came out last year, though I think it’s pretty different when it comes to execution.

JDH: What was your experience being a part of the Casino Theatre? 

NP: There’s honestly nothing better for a screenwriter than seeing an actor portraying a character you created.  It’s inherently a collaborative medium, so watching others interpret your work is kind of what it’s all about. The team at Casino were so collaborative and helpful along the way, they made the process so fun and engaging.