You have a one-night stand with your ex and you both get pregnant. Not your typical lesbian problem, but Two 4 One is not your typical romantic comedy.
Two 4 One tells the story of transgender lead Adam and his ex-girlfriend Miriam, who is obsessed with getting pregnant and enlists Adam’s help. A DIY pregnancy kit disaster means both of them winding up pregnant and having to deal with the consequences of this.
We spoke with writer/director Maureen Bradley ahead of her appearance at the Inside Out Film Festival in Toronto. Polyamory, trans masculinity and her characters’ futures (including a possible series) were just some of the topics we covered.
Warning: spoilers ahead
AfterEllen.com: The subject matter in this movie is definitely different than what a lot of people are probably used to seeing. Why did you want to make this film?
Maureen Bradley: I’m part of the queer baby boom, and I’ve seen some really wonderful movies about even artificial insemination. But I haven’t seen anything that just jumps way ahead into “Let’s look at a really complex situation and let’s not start with the basics.”
My life though, is pretty boring. My story isn’t that interesting. But when my partner was trying to get pregnant we were reading a book called The New Essential Guide to Lesbian Conception, Pregnancy, and Birth by Stephanie Brill. And there was one short paragraph with a warning: be careful if you’re doing home insemination. Wash your hands. Don’t share sex toys. Put underwear on afterwards if you’re going to be snuggling. And there was a line where she said, “If you’re inseminating with a trans man who isn’t on hormones or with another woman, be careful.” And I thought, “Whoa, wouldn’t that be a great storyline?”
I’ve seen a lot of really great films with trans characters. I’ve seen a lot of horrible ones. Hollywood has a horrific tradition. Things are finally changing in the last few years and we’re seeing amazing movies and amazing TV shows. But trans masculinity is really underrepresented. Generally when we see great content it’s trans women, which is fantastic, but I wanted to tell a story with a trans guy and a lesbian and a family.
AE: Your choice of comedy—why that genre to tell this story?
MB: I’ve made a lot of dramatic films and they flop. They don’t do well. When I make comedic films, they screen at 40, 50 festivals.
However, I was concerned, because there are big tropes with trans representation. It’s either the psychopath in Hollywood or the butt of the joke. So it’s not territory that I went into lightly. You can just be slightly off and offend people. You could nail it, or not. I had my concerns going into it because I don’t want to be offensive, but I also don’t want to be safe. Why make a safe story?
I was very concerned with getting the line just right so that it was funny, but we’re laughing with and not at. Because I have a trans lead. I didn’t want to make a remake of Junior with a trans guy. I did not want to go there. At all.
I had complete creative control over the project. We didn’t get a broadcaster until very late in the game, and we didn’t have a distributor. Nobody was telling me what to do. But the few times I did talk to potential stakeholders like the broadcasters and distributors—they give you money, they have input in the process and casting and scripts—I did get some feedback from industry folks that I thought was not quite right, where I felt there was a desire to push it more into goofy, screwball humor that can be potentially offensive.
Comedy is subversive. I think when people can laugh, they’re more receptive and they’re more open, and they’re more willing to hear an opinion or see someone’s life that’s slightly different from theirs.
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AE: I noticed you were careful to show scars on Adam’s chest to reflect top surgery. You obviously cared about paying attention to detail. What kind of research did you do in preparation for this movie?
MB: I’m closer to 50 than 20, so let’s just say I’ve been in the community for a long time. I’ve always seen movies and read. I’ve read so many books about trans reality and trans identity, and I’ve had so many conversations with people. I think just because it’s always been on my radar I’m always curious and asking friends, “What’s going on?” So I didn’t do research per say about those details, about the scars and all that. I just knew the reality that bottom surgery is pricey and not always satisfactory.
But it was more the specific contemporary medical realities in BC [British Columbia, where the movie is set] that was something that I researched. What was the current situation? What would someone in Victoria be dealing with?
AE: A trans man accidentally getting pregnant—that’s a big deal. If Miriam hadn’t had the miscarriage, would Adam have had an abortion?
MB: I think he definitely thought that’s what he was going to do. For sure. And I think that’s the kind of point I’m trying to make with his journey to masculinity—sometimes we think we know the path that’s set for us, but fate has a different journey to get to the same point. So he wants to be a man and he’s doing a pretty good job of it, and then this happened. All these circumstances come about and then he discovers that his path to masculinity is just different from everybody else. His way of manning up is to have the baby.
AE: Gavin Crawford, who plays Adam, is a delight in this film. But there’s recently been a push to have trans actors play trans characters. What are your thoughts on this?
MB: When I first started working on the script I thought, “Nobody’s going to fund this movie.” Yet at the same time it was very important to me to have some integrity about casting. I always wanted to find the perfect trans male actor for the part. And so many interesting things happened along that journey. When I finally had a script and was getting everything lined up for my funding, I came up with this transmedia concept—no pun intended—of doing a reality web series before the movie, to kind of build audience, to try to find Adam. It was going to be called Man Hunt.
So the idea was I’d go to find the needle in the haystack. First of all, I’ve got to find a trans male actor, who’s got to fit the role and he’s got to be the right age. That, in Canada, proved to be impossible. Our casting director worked really hard to try to find a trans male actor. We auditioned a number of trans guys. There are a number of trans people in the film, but they’re not cast in trans roles, which is really important to me, to be aware of that in the casting.
With my idea about the Man Hunt transmedia project web series, I was really excited about that. Then I sat down with a producer and he said, “Well just that alone is going to cost you $250,000.” And I thought, “That’s more than my budget for the feature.”
So really what I saw in the casting arena was that there are budding trans actors in Canada, but none in the age bracket that I needed. And just budget-wise, I couldn’t go into the US. So then Gavin was actually the first person on the list.
AE: In the movie we see that Miriam drops her polyamorous lifestyle to be with Adam. It comes off as a relatively easy decision for her. Some people will take issue with that. Can you explain where she was coming from with her decision?
MB: She got to a point in her life where all these problems were staring her in the face. That she maybe wasn’t as honest as she should have been and she maybe wasn’t super clear with her motives. That she is an emotional basket case. So she finally decided that she wanted to be in a relationship. And that was the cost for her.
I’d really love to develop this into a series. I’m working on that right now. Because there’s so many open-ended questions, and that’s one of them. I don’t think that she can do that. I don’t think their relationship’s going to last.
AE: Two 4 One brings to mind the question of whether a woman can still claim the title of lesbian if she’s dating a trans man. A lot of people are grappling with that question these days. Can you speak to that?
MB: It was really important to me to show that reality that’s been going on in the queer community, in the lesbian community, for like 20 years. Seeing these kickass lesbians become men and then what does that mean about their relationships? What I saw early on in the community was lots of transphobia for sure. I felt that myself. I had to sort that out myself to understand what this means.
I really wanted to have that specific situation there. You’ve got someone who’s a lesbian and they’re going to stay with their formerly lesbian partner, now a man, and what does that mean and who are they?
AE: Finally Maureen, what do you most hope people will take away from watching this movie?
MB: I really hope that the film would crossover. I hope that queer audiences just get a chance to laugh and feel good, and see part of their reality reflected back to them in a way that is affirming. And I hope that the broader audience realizes that there’s a thousand different ways to make a family.
Visit Two 4 One‘s website to find out when the movie’s screening near you.
