At just 18 years old, Canadian actor Maisy Stella landed her first film role in My Old Ass, a hilarious and moving queer coming-of-age comedy. She stars opposite none other than Aubrey Plaza, and in an exclusive interview with GCN, opened up about the “life-changing” experience.

Written and directed by Megan Park, the film follows Elliott, played by Stella, as she celebrates her 18th birthday by tripping on mushrooms with her two best friends. While high, she is visited by her 39-year-old self, portrayed by Plaza.

The two spend the night enjoying hilarious back-and-forths, but when Elliott’s “old ass” starts handing out warnings about what her younger self should and shouldn’t do, the teenager has to rethink everything about family, love and what’s becoming a transformative summer.

Both Maisy Stella and Megan Park spoke to GCN about My Old Ass, with the former saying she “felt so much cooler as Elliott” than she does as herself.

“I enjoyed every part of it, it was the most enjoyable experience ever, ever, ever,” she said. “We were in the most beautiful place and I was literally filming with two of my best friends and Aubrey Plaza and Megan-” 

“I thought I was one of the best friends,” Megan interrupted. “No?”

“Best friends plus Megan,” Maisy joked.

“There was a lot challenging about it in the sense that I was 18, it was my first movie and I really just wanted to do good and do well,” Maisy continued. “I was never satisfied with anything. I would go home and just be like, ‘Oh no, I just fucked everything up’.”

She added: “But it was also one of my favourite parts because I felt like I was just such a sponge and my ears were so on and I was just listening to everyone.”

One of those people to which she was listening was Aubrey Plaza, an Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated actor with a wealth of experience.

“She’s such a mega genius, it’s pretty undeniable,” Stella said of her co-star. “I only filmed with her in real life for like five days and then the rest was on ADR because we were just doing phone calls and stuff. But yeah, getting to do any type of acting with her and much less any improv or fun runs, it was pretty life-changing.”

At the centre of the film is a bisexual storyline, but in a way viewers may not have seen before. Elliott has always thought of herself as a lesbian, but when she meets Chad, played by Percy Hynes White, everything changes.

Speaking about the queer theme, Megan Park explained: “It wasn’t a conscious choice. It just kind of became that way as I was writing Elliott, truthfully.” 

She continued: “I felt like coming-of-age stories nowadays with Gen Z, although I hate that phrase, having a conversation about identity just feels inherent…And I just hadn’t seen a character, which I thought was interesting, at 18 who felt very confident in the identity they’d chosen, and that was somebody who’s only ever been attracted to women and was very accepted by their family and their friends, their community, and then sort of the freak out for a moment was like, ‘Oh, maybe I’m bi’.

“I just hadn’t seen that and when I started talking to people who’d been through that experience specifically, they were like ‘I haven’t seen that either in a film and I’d love to see that’. So it was really fun to explore.”

My Old Ass is the second film from Park, with her previous, The Fallout, also centring on teenage characters. The 38-year-old director said that while she takes writing Gen Z stories “really seriously,” she’s “not trying to write a character that’s young” but rather “a human at the core”.

“That’s why it lands and why it works,” Maisy interjected.

“As soon as you start trying to write somebody that’s Gen Z, I think people can sniff that out and it loses some of the authenticity and the heart of it,” Park continued.

“I feel like with this movie, there’s so many little parts of me in each character, that I relate to all of them to a degree. But not one of them is a direct representation of me personally.”

Finally, we couldn’t help but notice that Ireland gets a special mention in the film, as does Saoirse Ronan. When asked why, Megan Park simply put it: “I love Irish people. I love Saoirse Ronan. That was just an homage to my love of Saoirse Ronan! Legend.”

In short, My Old Ass, is a heartfelt and charming coming-of-age film, with Maisy Stella flourishing in her big-screen debut. Make sure to see it for yourself! Amazon MGM Studios’ My Old Ass will be in cinemas in the UK and Ireland from Friday, September 27.