In an interview with Netflix editorial section Tudum, Jessica Knoll, writer of the upcoming Netflix film ‘Luckiest Girl Alive, said that she had to be the one to tell the story because of how much it is inspired by her own experiences.
“There was so much of my own story and experience embedded in this character. It was really important to me that I be the one to tell it,” she said.
Director Mike Barker agreed and considered her role as helping her tell the story on another platform. “It’s about a woman having to face the trauma she’s hidden for such a long time in order to move forward,” she said.
The Luckiest Girl Alive is based on the novel of the same name written by Knoll. The narrative revolves around Ani FaNelli (played by Mila Kunis), a woman seemingly living the perfect life. However, this turns out to be a facade to mask a past trauma and her real name is TifAni.
On the similarity with Ani, Knoll revealed that she, too, was never someone who presented herself in a way that even hinted at a past trauma.
“I lived in New York, working at Cosmopolitan magazine, sitting in meetings coming up with cover lines for ‘50 Hands-Free Ways To Give Him Sexual Pleasure.’ I was planning my wedding and I was going to all my fittings and I was making appointments to get eyelash extensions, and I wore white jeans and I was bubbly happy.
“To me, there was something very absurd and comical, darkly comical, about the fact that this was the surface of my life and that you would never know by looking at me what was happening beneath the surface, what I had been through, and how fucking angry I was all the time. That’s where the humor comes from,” she elaborated.
Luckiest Girl Alive releases worldwide on October 7.
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