A Chat with Joey King

The World Film Festival is a Montreal festival that ran from August 27th till September 7th this year. On Saturday September 5th, Borealis, a dark comedy, premiered from director Sean Garrity and screenwriter Jonas Chernick. I had the privilege to interview Joey King, who plays Aurora in the film, and we discussed everything from her role in the film, to working with the independent minds of Zach Braff and James Franco. Joey also took the time to talk about some of her favorite iconic sounds from cinema.

Borealis is about Jonah (Jonas Chernick) who is a down on his luck poker player, who is in debt to Tubby (Kevin Pollak) who oversees the seedy backroom poker game. His daughter, Aurora (Joey King), is Jonah’s estranged, pot­-smoking teen­aged daughter who is suffering from an illness that will render her blind. With both of these characters facing their issues, Jonah decides to take Aurora on a road trip to see the northern light before she becomes blind.

Joey King states that what attracted her to the role of Aurora was the deep, strong female character that Jonas Chernick, also the writer, had written. Aside from being in love with Montreal, King enjoyed filming in Winnipeg, which felt like a communal family. Borealis can be described as a dark comedy, that plays to the strengths of relating to the human emotions. King feels that people will relate to the human grief and sadness. Even though King has not seen the real northern lights, she hopes to someday see them.

When it comes to the topic of future endeavors in independent or blockbuster cinema that offer her more of a creative freedom, Joey King is attracted to the roles that have a strong script that involves a deep strong female character. King has starred in blockbusters like The Conjuring, and the independent film Wish I Was Here. Writing and directing could be an interest of hers, drawing from her time working with Zach Braff, or attending an actor's summer camp workshop that was set up by James Franco. Some of her favorite soundtracks include Wish I Was Here and most recently Dope.