EDGE Interview: 'I Wish You All the Best' Director Tommy Dorfman Presents a Non-Binary Coming Out Story Full of Heart at SXSW

Known for her acting skills as Ryan Shaver on Netflix's hit series "13 Reasons Why," queer performer Tommy Dorfman hit the SXSW Film & TV Festival to debut her newest film, "I Wish You All the Best." Based on the novel of the same name by Mason Deaver, the coming-out drama stars Corey Fogelmanis as Ben, a North Carolina teenager who is kicked out of their parents' home when they come out as non-binary. Viewed as a disgrace to their parents and the conservative Christian community at large, Ben retreats to live with their estranged sister (Alexandra Daddario) and her husband (Cole Sprouse).

As Ben acclimates to a new town, trying their best to understand where they fit in, they meet Nathan (Miles Gutierrez-Riley), who shows them the ins and outs of their new high school. A progressive area filled with understanding and woke teenagers, Ben discovers a lot about themself with the help of the supportive people around them. This includes Ms. Lyons, a sympathetic and hilarious art teacher played by Lena Dunham.

EDGE sat down with Dorfman and Fogelmanis the day before their newest film premiered at SXSW.

EDGE: Tommy, you adapted the novel, produced the film, and this is your directorial debut. Is that correct?

Tommy Dorfman: Correct.

EDGE: It seems like you really threw yourself into this film. Why this movie? Why this story?

Tommy Dorfman: I had never read a book like Mason's. Frankly, I'd never read a book with a queer coming-of-age story that felt so authentic, visceral and set in a more rural area. I grew up in this house. So it just felt like a perfect opportunity and I felt uniquely qualified to do so. It's just really inspiring. I mean, as I was reading the book, the visuals were so clear to me; what Ben looked like, the feelings were so visceral and so lived in. I just immediately started outlining what it could look like as a movie.

When you're making something for the first time, especially if you're known as an actor, it can be really challenging to get people to believe in you and trust that you can do something different. So I knew that it was going to require an incredible amount of like passion and bringing myself to the project to get it over the line. For many years, it was just like me and my manager and a couple people who are now executive producers on this project reading, frankly, shitty drafts that I had written to get to the final draft. I really like them cheering me on in the same way that Hannah, Thomas, Nathan, Malika, and Ms. Lyons do for Ben [in the film].

EDGE: Speaking of Ms. Lyons, Lena Dunham plays her in the movie as the art teacher and life coach for Ben. How did that come about? She's hysterical and so warm as the character.

Tommy Dorfman: Lena is one of my best friends. I shadowed her as a director and really idolized her in a lot of ways. She has mentored me as an artist and as a multi-hyphenate, if you will. I lived in Brooklyn when she was still shooting "Girls" and I used to fantasize that maybe I'll run into Lena Dunham and I could like give her my head shot, you know? I was in college at the time studying theater. When we finally met it [was] sort of serendipitously through a friend. I couldn't have told you in 2017 that in 2023 I would be working with her in this capacity.

But yeah, I think working with friends is so important for me. Cole [Sprouse] and I are really close, Amy Landecker and I also knew each other. I think surrounding yourself, building yourself with people that you love and admire and trust is what makes me the most successful. I can't do these things alone. I had the great experience of being on Lena's set and watching how she works. I feel really fortunate that she was available, frankly. We shot all of her scenes in a day. When you see the movie, that's a lot of footage to shoot in a very short time. But, she is the most talented, professional, inspiring person to work with. Having her on set, I was pinching myself laughing.

Corey Fogelmanis: It came at the perfect time in the shoot because we had just done like, a lot of just really heavy stuff and I just needed to laugh. Everybody needed to laugh and she can't not make you laugh.

Tommy Dorfman: Yeah, and I really have to credit her. I always treat the script as a skeleton-like dialogue. Especially if it doesn't feel good, change it like you can work on it. I really like to give people freedom to improvise and play around if they want to. If that's their thing, and if it's not their thing. I've never forced anyone to do that. And Lena really just went to that Lena Dunham level. I couldn't be more grateful for that.

EDGE: Talking about perfect casting. Cory, what was the pressure like to play a non-binary teenager coming out and showing that coming out journey? Oftentimes, we tend to see these kind of characters as a friend of, not necessarily a central character. What was that experience like?

Corey Fogelmanis: It was a really unique experience because I feel like what you said, it is all about Ben. So cool that as we get to see Ben waking up in the morning and brushing their teeth and how they talk to their sister and their best friends and the person that they like. You see them on their best days and on their worst days. It was really special to create, and just kind of live as this full spectrum of a person. You just see them in so many different lights. It was really special because it was all there in the writing.

Tommy Dorfman: It's very rare that you see queer or trans characters just like living their life. Which we all do. Cry in bed, eating a bag of chips. You think they should think this shit is very relatable like, we watched too many episodes of the same show, like... we do these things? We go on first dates. We lose our virginity. I think there are these very human things that I wanted the world to see that has nothing to do with being non-binary. In so many ways, it has everything to do with just being a human being.

EDGE: On working with Cole [Sprouse] and Alexandra [Daddario]: What was that experience like? Did you learn anything from these veteran pros that have been in the industry and have played teenage characters and now they're somehow playing guardians to a teenager?

Corey Fogelmanis: We shot all of our stuff together in the first week. So it felt like we built a nice foundation. I loved working with them. I wish we had more time together because it's just the way that they were able to bring Tommy's words to life. Everything that was going on behind Alexandra's eyes was just so amazing and so I feel like it's not a tangible thing that I learned. It just really drove home for me how much you can invest in your character, and what they're talking about, and it was really cool to see that in action.

EDGE: Ben is kicked out of the house by their conservative parents. When they go to live with their sister and brother-in-law, Ben goes to a new school. They meet new friends and has a new love interest, Nathan. What do you feel like was the significance of showing Ben and how they grew up... then all of a sudden this one 180-degree change of a progressive school introduction – a very welcoming and supportive environment that seems to be exactly what Ben needs.

Tommy Dorfman: I think it's really important to know that the world is big. Even in one state, you could be counties apart and have very different experiences. I love rural areas. I grew up in the South, I think it's really important to showcase what a difference 40 miles can make in someone's safety and ability to thrive. Also how that much can be overwhelming to see and how frustrating it can be. You see that with Ben and their parents in the scene later in the film, where they're like, "I'm not leaving this place. I'm in fucking Utopia right now compared to where we were before. Why would I leave this and go back to that and be miserable?" It doesn't mean it's perfect and doesn't mean it's always easy. Sometimes you do have to retreat back into yourself, because if the feelings are too overwhelming, maybe the good feels like too much good.

Maybe you don't feel like you deserve it. That's also part of the experience, but it felt really important for people to recognize that the world is bigger than what our parents tell us.

EDGE: I noticed that Ben's wardrobe changes little by little as the film progresses. Was it a deliberate choice to display them discovering themselves and how they fit in the world?

Tommy Dorfman: Very deliberate. We had a timeline of Ben's hair length. We talked about how much makeup they should wear. Just lip gloss here, maybe a little bit of eye makeup here. Tone it down here like this shoe versus this shoe. We knew we were in a part of the story and it's just a helpful tool when you're shooting out of order as well.

EDGE: The soundtrack in this movie includes some real bangers. There's the iconic "Closer to Fine" by The Indigo Girls. Are these personal favorites? How did you get the rights to it?

Tommy Dorfman: It's so funny. We had the rights to that song before "Barbie" brought it back in a different way. Then I feel like we got to reclaim it for the community again in another way.

They were my first concert and one of my parents' favorite bands. When we were working on the movement with Julia Crockett, our choreographer, it wasn't particularly choreographed, but we spent some time just figuring out what Ben's expressions might be in this heightened state of that last scene in particular. We played different songs during that process. That was the song that seemed to wake Corey up the most. Not knowing if we could afford it or not, I played the music in Corey's air pods while we were shooting. I played a lot of music on set. We had a playlist that I kept adding to. It's sort of like using music as a tool to direct, which I think can be really helpful because you respond to music. So, he was able to really infuse that musically into what Ben's going through.

EDGE: The premiere is tomorrow. What are both of you really hoping the audience takes away from the film once the credits start rolling?

Corey Fogelmanis: I hope first and foremost that people feel affirmed by it, that they're not alone. That there's good out there.

Tommy Dorfman: Yeah, I'll piggyback off of that. I want people to feel hopeful and maybe more compassionate towards themselves and other people. Inspired to make a change in their life. I think Ben makes a lot of changes in their life. Something that everyone can learn from the trans experience is being not autonomous and that confidence in who you are as a person means that your opportunities could be limitless in so many ways.

You don't have to do what your dad did or your dad's dad did. I think that's a very human lesson that I hope people take from this film. They're inspired to make art that inspires them or take the job or kiss the girl or do whatever it is that they need to do.