'The Sunlit Night': Meet Jenny Slate, Zach Galifianakis, Gillian Anderson and the rest of the rom-com's cast
'The Sunlit Night', which had its premiere at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival before the pandemic struck, will be released on July 17 in its 'video on demand' version. Perfect timing for all of us stuck at home. Since you can't travel anywhere, settling in to gasp at the gorgeous Norwegian vistas in this film could be just what you need.
Plotwise, we find Frances, a painter, realizing that summer is off to a terrible start. Her recent art is attracting harsh critiques, her boyfriend unceremoniously kicks her out of his Hamptons' lakehouse, and, to top it all off, her younger sister reveals she’s engaged just moments before her parents announce their separation. Out of a mixture of panic and frustration, Frances hastily takes an opening for an art apprenticeship in Norway and heads off to an isolated island where the sun never sets.
Buyer’s remorse kicks in when she meets the cantankerous Norwegian artist she’ll have to spend nearly all her time with, painting a barn yellow. But even as this strange man and the town’s relentlessly bright light keep her up at night, Frances finds herself falling for the surreal Viking landscape and also Yasha, a grief-stricken Russian-American baker who is arranging his father's Viking funeral. Meet the most famous cast members of this quirky rom-com in the land of the midnight sun.
Jenny Slate as Frances
Jenny Slate plays the main protagonist Frances, the burnt-out, heart-broken painter, wanting to find inspiration in the Arctic reaches, as far away from her home in New York as she can possibly get. Slate is an actress, comedian and author who got involved in improv and comedy while studying at Columbia University. Her first big break on TV was when she was hired to be a cast member on the 35th season of 'Saturday Night Live'. She gained further recognition for her recurring roles as Mona-Lisa Saperstein on 'Parks and Recreation' and as Sarah Guggenheim on 'House of Lies'. She has won the Critics' Choice Movie Award for the coming-of-age comedy-drama film 'Obvious Child' and has been nominated for an Independent Spirit Award and Gotham Independent Film Award. She has also worked as a voice artist on animated films like 'Zootopia', 'The Secret Life of Pets', 'The Lego Batman Movie'. She most recently starred in 'Gifted' opposite Chris Evans.
Alex Sharp as Yasha
Yasha, the romantic interest for Frances, is a fellow-New Yorker who has come to Norway to arrange an authentic Viking funeral. Yasha is played by Alex Sharp. He won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his debut Broadway performance, right after graduating from Julliard. His role was that of the autistic teenager, Christopher Boone, in the play 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time'. He has also starred in John Cameron Mitchell's, 'How to Talk to Girls at Parties' and 'To The Bone'. He is set to star in Aaron Sorkin's feature film, 'The Trial of the Chicago 7', in 2020, alongside Eddie Redmayne, Sacha Baron Cohen, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
Zach Galifianakis as Haldor, the Norse Chief
Zach Galifianakis appears as Haldor, the Norse Chief enactor, originally from Cincinnati. He works and resides in a 'living' history' museum in Arctic Norway and is in charge of conducting a Viking funeral for Yasha's father. Galifianakis is a well-known comedic actor who shot to fame after the release of 'The Hangover' films. He is the host of the Emmy Award-winning talk show 'Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis'. He starred in the FX series 'Baskets' for which he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series in 2017. His other significant roles include 'Due Date', 'A Wrinkle in Time', and 'Birdman'.
Gillian Anderson as Olyana, Yasha's Russian mother
Playing Olyana, the estranged mother of Yasha, is Gillian Anderson. After Yasha and his father move to Brooklyn, New York, they wait for Olyana but she never joins them. When she turns up in Norway for the funeral, Yasha is taken by surprise. Anderson is best known as FBI Special Agent Dana Scully in the long-running series 'The X-Files', for which she has won a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy. Her well-known film work includes 'The Last King of Scotland' and two 'The X-Files' films. Other notable television credits include her roles as Wallis Simpson in 'Any Human Heart', Miss Havisham in 'Great Expectations', Dr. Bedelia Du Maurier on 'Hannibal', and Media on 'American Gods'. Most recently, she appeared as the relentlessly frank sex therapist and mother, Jean Milburn, in the popular Netflix series 'Sex Education'. She has been appointed as an honorary 'Officer of the Most Excellent Order' of the British Empire (OBE) in 2016 for her services to drama.
David Paymer as Frances' father
Frances' father is played by David Paymer, a parent with a terrible sense of timing. The trailer shows him telling his daughters that he and their mother are separating right after Frances' sister announces she is engaged. This chaotic home life is one of the reasons why Frances moves to Norway for the summer. Paymer is a known character actor and comedian who has had a long and fruitful career since the 80s, appearing in over 90 films and several successful TV shows like 'Happy Days', 'Ghost Whisperer', 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit' and 'Entourage'. He received an Academy Award nomination for 'Mr. Saturday Night'. His other notable film credits include 'Payback', 'Get Shorty', 'Ocean's Thirteen', 'Quiz Show' and 'Searching for Bobby Fischer'. Paymer has also directed episodes of several popular television series like 'Gilmore Girls', 'Grey's Anatomy', 'One Tree Hill', 'Melrose Place', and 'Brothers & Sisters'.
Jessica Hecht as Frances' mother
Jessica Hecht plays Frances' mother who sympathizes with Frances about the breakup but instantly assumes that it was Frances who got dumped. Hecht is best known for playing Susan Bunch, the girlfriend of Carol Willick, Ross's ex-wife on 'Friends'. Other notable roles were in 'Dan in Real Life' with Steve Carell and Juliette Binoche, Woody Allen's 'Whatever Works', 'Sideways' and 'A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood'.
'The Sunlit Night' will be available on demand from July 17, distributed by Quiver Distribution.