From the oilfields of Alberta, Canada to the director’s chair, Gillian McKercher is a filmmaker determined to stay true to her roots. Her second film, Lucky Star, follows gambler-turned-family man Lucky, who is forced to return to his old ways after falling for a tax scam.
As the film plays at VIFF 2024, Gillian spoke to FILMHOUNDS about father-daughter bonds, representing Alberta on the big screen, and going all-in at the poker table.
At the heart of Lucky Star is a complex family unit built on deception and sacrifice in the name of unconditional love. How did such a tightly wound family dynamic become the focus of the story?
I come from a huge family and have a large range of people in my life, just from those family connections. To give you an idea, my mum is younger than my oldest cousin, and with a family like that I’ve heard all sorts of stories that were a real source of inspiration for me. You have to write what you know and I know that I can write about families. There’s the unconditional love, as you mentioned, but also the challenges, the angst and the complicated feelings that you only have in an intimate relationship. Some people’s creative strength is romantic relationships, but mine is understanding family dynamics and writing about those relationships.
Lucky and Grace share a unique father-daughter bond. Where did that come from?
When I was writing the script, I was hearing a lot of different stories about father-daughter relationships. Some were as extreme as estrangements, daughters just cutting out their dads for certain behaviour. Others were complaining that their dads were gambling online too much. What I found interesting was the idea of parental bonds and that it’s really hard for kids to just cut their parents out. They will always love their parents, regardless of what they do. Even if you think your dad’s a loser, you still see them as the adult and eventually a peer. There may be profound disappointment in them, but there’s also a real sense of love and care. I’m interested by that because, from an outsiders perspective, you might say just cut the toxic person out of your life, but it’s way more complicated when it’s the intimate bond between father and child. Lucky and Grace are inspired by a lot of different stories I’ve heard, not just from my own family, but also friends and, honestly, even gossip rags. I’ll take inspiration from anywhere!
Terry Chen and Conni Miu have real chemistry onscreen as father and daughter. How did Terry and the others come to join the cast?
Before we got financing, we were fortunate to get support through the Canadian Film Centre and Netflix Development Accelerator. As part of that program, I was hooked up with the casting agent who eventually worked for us, Larissa Mair, who put together a table read with some of Canada’s top Asian performers. I really wanted Terry Chen and didn’t think it would be easy to get him, but I had been imagining and manifesting him in the role. I told Larissa he was my muse for it and she got him to read the script, which was great. That was his introduction to the project. When we eventually got production financing, we reached out again, and he said yes, he’d love to join the project.
Once we got Terry, it made filling in the rest of the cast easier. I had been wanting to work with Olivia [Cheng] for a long time, since Marco Polo and Warrior. And I love that she’s originally from Alberta, that piece was close to my heart. Knowing we had Terry, I was able to reach out and basically write her a fan e-mail telling her how much it would mean for her to be a part of it and she said yes. And Connie, we auditioned her and she was just the best, so that was a real discovery for us. She’s also from Calgary, and so is Andrew Fung, so we had this little group of Alberta actors that was kind of accidental. I didn’t type into Google, “Asian actors born in Calgary”, it was just a beautiful coincidence.
The film has a strong Asian-Canadian and Albertan identity. You grew up in the province and much of your work is based there. What is it about Alberta as a backdrop that inspires you?
That’s a big question. When I think about representation, it’s not just gender, sexual orientation or ethnic diversity. It’s also about regional diversity, and as a filmmaker born and raised in Calgary, I felt I had a specific lens that I could share with the world that went a little bit deeper than the usual stuff, like cowboys or small crime dramas. I’m proud of where I’m from and felt that the more localised the story, the more powerful it would be and the more people would connect with it. I’ve spent a little bit of time living in Toronto and my husband is from Montreal, so I do have other influences, but when I look at Alberta it is still so unique and its landscape can affect you so much. It’s really harsh here in the winter and so beautiful in the summer. There’s a lot of working class people in the oil and gas industry and that has its own politics, with people judging anybody who works in fossil fuels, yet we all consume it and we’re all complicit. From a storytelling perspective, it’s inspirational. A lot of the stories I’m interested in come from here, so why not stay?
Gambling casts a looming shadow over Lucky and his family. How did that element of his character develop?
When I first started, I had Lucky involved in more of a Ponzi scheme or multi-level marketing. As the project developed, gambling took over. It’s just so specific and there’s something intriguing about the choice of the individual. There’s more agency in it, whereas the other ideas were more about being taken advantage of. A lot of people gamble, but no-one wants to talk about it and it’s not as openly accepted as, say, smoking or drinking in public. Gambling is seen as a dirty thing in the North American context.
Another thing I really liked was the idea of having him play poker. Not online poker, where you could be playing multiple games, there’s an anonymity to it, and it’s a different personality type, but in-person poker. When you’re playing in-person, I feel the stakes are so personal. You can see the people you’re playing against, you can only play one game at a time, and you can’t use programs to help you like the ones online that tell you the probability of your hand. It feels as though there’s literal skin in the same versus online. It just made sense for Lucky’s character.
The poker context is refreshingly grounded and accurate. What inspired those scenes and do you ever play poker yourself?
I did a lot of research and was put in touch with a professional poker player as I was writing to ask him about the script and the story and even the hands that I put into the film. I joined him to watch him play it just made sense. I even started playing a little bit and I’m not great, but I like what I took away from it. When I was playing it made me feel like the smartest person in the room because I’m outwitting everybody else. And I thought that was a perfect place to start with Lucky.
Did you watch any poker movies to prepare for the shoot?
I watched Rounders, of course. How could you not? And maybe this is a bad one, but I watched Casino Royale. Everyone always says not to as the hand Bond wins with is so unlikely. I watched Croupier, which is turning the tables a bit, but I love Clive Owen so much and watching that was really helpful. I also started watching online poker. I had a friend who plays quite a bit and he sent me the inspiration for the turning point in the film when Lucky folds his hand and walks away, even though he has a really good hand on the flop. My friend sent me this amazing live poker clip of a teacher playing with professionals and he had a great hand, but folded because he had already won so much money and knew that it was in his long-term interest to fold now and walk away, rather than to potentially lose everything. That was so powerful.
This is your second feature film. Did you feel yourself developing as a director on Lucky Star and how was it different to your debut, Circle of Steel?
Everything about Lucky Star felt bigger. The budget was bigger, my ambition was bigger, and I felt that my technical and narrative skills took a huge leap beyond what was possible with Circle of Steel. Back then, I was a naïve indie filmmaker who had seen Kevin Smith make a film with his credit card and thought I could do that too! It’s incredible that film got made with all the knowledge I have now. I brought all of that experience onto Lucky Star and became more of an artist in the process. Not to say I wasn’t an artist before, but before I was still trying to figure everything out and I was still learning, whereas now I feel that I’ve arrived at the table and have the skills to tell more stories with greater competency.
Did you have a favourite moment on set?
The one thing that really sticks out to me was during our second week of shooting when we were in the family house with the family cast. We did the one of the film’s opening shots, when Lucky’s outside in his car and he walks into the house in a single uncut take. It’s quite long and was hard to coordinate. All four of the family members had to work together and we only had four takes to get it done, so very little time. But when we did land it, it was a real coming together moment, not just for the crew, but specifically for the family. I think that was the first scene that we shot with all of them together in that house. It really solidified our chemistry and our trust and our feeling that we were making something special.
Are there any films you’re excited for or filmmakers you’d like to shoutout at VIFF ’24?
I can’t wait to see Heather Young’s new film, There, There. She’s just exploded and wrecked the scene, and rightly so. When she came out with Murmur, I felt that was the announcement of a major Canadian talent, so it’s really cool to see her here. I’m also excited to see Liz Cairns’ film [Inedia] and Cat’s Cry [from Sanja Živković]. Those are three Canadian films I’m looking forward to and I love that they’re all made by women who’ve already made a film and are now coming back, like me. I see them as peers and I’m excited to see their progression in their second films.
Lucky Star is currently playing at VIFF 2024 and will receive a theatrical release in early 2025
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