“Obsession’s” origin story is the stuff of legend.
A little over a year after its world premiere, on Friday, Sept. 11, Barker and Navarrette returned to TIFF, the place where their lives changed, for a discussion titled “DIALOGUES The ‘Obsession’ Obsession with Curry Barker & Inde Navarrette” at the John Bassett Theatre as part of its inaugural industry-focused hub TIFF: The Market. And to say it was a hot ticket would be an understatement: An hour before showtime, the line for the talk snaked all the way down and around the halls of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre housing the theater.
Barker, who’d risen to prominence acting and directing in YouTube videos, opened up about how he wanted to become “a true storyteller” and thus opted not to act in “Obsession,” unlike most of his other work. Meanwhile, Navarrette dished on how she was drawn to the project because it was the polar opposite of the type of work she’d done before in shows like “13 Reasons Why” and “Superman & Lois.”
Navarrette sent in a self-tape for “Obsession” and was convinced it didn’t go well.
“I wanted the audience to understand why Bear would have the obsession because everything is seen from Bear’s perspective — her laughter, her enticement,” she shared. “I wanted to show what would convince Bear to make that wish.”
“You know, sometimes I feel like it’s not for me, you know what I mean? Because there are so many things growing up that I got to experience of other people,” she offered. “So, I just kind of roll with it. It’s not really for me to analyze one way or the other. It’s kind of for you guys and I love that.”
“It starts to feel like it’s not mine anymore,” Barker said of the life his film has taken online. “It’s not mine anymore.”
