“When I came into the process of shooting this film I was much more terrified of guns than I am now,” says actress Trieste Kelly Dunn. Dunn stars as ‘Allie’ in the new film “Loves Her Gun” from Austin-based director Geoff Marslett. The movie follows a broken Brooklynite as she leaves her New York home after getting mugged, to tag along with a group of ragtag musicians. Eventually she settles in Austin, but “her paranoia follows her,” Dunn says. In Texas, Allie is introduced to guns by a friend hoping to help her cope with continued fears of being victimized.
“[Allie] wants to get something back that she lost,” Dunn says of her character. “She loses the sense of who she was before [getting mugged]...and she’s is fed up with feeling not safe.” The guns, Dunn adds, give her a sense of empowerment, and she acts out in inappropriate ways.
“The thing about guns is they are seductive,” Dunn says, when asked about her own experience with firearms. “They appeal to our imaginations,” she says, pointing to the proliferation of guns on film. With renewed calls upon Hollywood to reduce guns on screen in the wake of Sandy Hook, Dunn says her own opinion on the issue fluctuates, and that the greater question is, “Why are we so obsessed with violence?” on screen.
Hear the full conversation about “Loves Her Gun” with Trieste Kelly Dunn in the audio link above, and hear her talk about the intensity of filming Paul Greengrass’s “United 93” in bonus audio below.
"Loves Her Gun" screens on March 11, March 12, and March 15 at the SXSW Film Festival.
