A24 had a variety of new movies in store for those in attendance at 2025’s Sundance Film Festival, and If I Had Legs I’d Kick You has proven to be one of the most talked-about. The psychological drama is led by Rose Byrne as Linda, a woman who finds her life becoming increasingly difficult to manage as she navigates everything from her child’s mysterious illness, her absent husband and a missing person. This also begins to spiral further when her relationship with her therapist becomes increasingly hostile, leaving her without support or a solution to her problems.

Alongside Byrne, the ensemble If I Had Legs I’d Kick You cast includes Conan O’Brien as Linda’s therapist, The Tourist‘s Danielle Macdonald, Lark White, Ivy Wolk, Daniel Zolghadri, Delaney Quinn, ASAP Rocky and Josh Pais. Helmed by writer/director Mary Bronstein in her first feature in 17 years, the movie is already garnering widespread acclaim following its Sundance premiere, currently holding an 86% approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. Much of what critics are praising, namely its central themes of motherhood and modern femininity, were what drew Byrne and her co-stars to the film.

In honor of the movie’s Sundance Film Festival premiere, ScreenRant interviewed Rose Byrne, Danielle Macdonald and production designer Carmen Navis to discuss If I Had Legs I’d Kick You. The two stars recall their being fascinated by Bronstein’s vision for the film, which Navis also describes as being integral to the creation of some of the film’s sets, particularly Linda’s bedroom and the hole in the ceiling in it. Additionally, Byrne addressed the chances of her return for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem 2.

Byrne Found Herself Partly Inspired By Her Own Life For If I Had Legs I’d Kick You

She Also Has An Uncertain Update For Her Mutant Mayhem 2 Return

While no stranger to the dramedy genre, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You is already proving to be one of Byrne’s more demanding roles to date, with Linda’s downward spiral requiring a lot of physical and emotional investment from the two-time Emmy nominee. In reflecting on getting into the character’s mindset, Byrne humorously recalls how she pulled from her own life as a parent, in which her kids “couldn’t care less if I’ve had a hard day“, to inform her performance, while also praising Bronstein for creating a “very comforting” set environment:

Rose Byrne: I’ve got two small kids at home, and they couldn’t care less if I’ve had a hard day or if I’m like caught up in a thing, so that’s immediately the great equalizer. But the movie was sH๏τ at such a pace that we didn’t have time to get [too wrapped up], there was just such a pace to the actual shooting once we got going. And we were also pushed a few times, because of the strike and various things, so we were all just dying to get in, and just really sink our teeth into the material.

And Mary had such a singular vision, and it was just very comforting to be in her orbit. She just knew what she wanted, she had this movie in her head for a really long time, and I felt that. And I felt safe to be so unsafe with everything we had to do emotionally. But the script was always incredible. And the film really is, I think, breathtaking, so I’m excited for people to see it.

In looking beyond the film, Byrne was asked about the possibility of a continuation of her working relationship with Seth Rogen for the in-development Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem 2. After noting she did reprise her role of Leatherhead for the TV sequel, Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, she humorously stated she would “call Seth right now” to make sure she’s back for the movie follow-up:

Rose Byrne: I’m gonna call Seth right now. “Where’s my part? I was doing a TV show version.” So, I’m gonna call Seth. Where’s our favorite character? Where’s America’s favorite character? [Laughs]

Macdonald Was Excited To Get To Work “With Another Aussie” In Byrne

She Also Talks About Why Writers/Directors Are “Intrinsically Linked” To Their Projects

Throughout her career, Macdonald has worked with a wide range of filmmakers, with the majority also serving as the writers of their films, while some have only been the directors, including Netflix’s Bird Box and Dumplin’, among others. When asked about the difference between writer/directors and directors, she acknowledged that the former “just know the script in a whole other way“, stating that while those who didn’t write their own material may still know what they’re doing, a multihyphenate is “intrinsically linked in a different way“:

Danielle Macdonald: It is different. It’s really different. Actually, I work a lot with writer-directors, so I feel like that’s actually the majority of my indie filmmaking experience, but they just know the script in a whole other way. And it’s not to say that directors that don’t write their scripts don’t know what they do, there’s just something in the inner thought process of the character that comes out entirely differently. You kind of get the backstory from them, as well, versus figuring it out yourself. It’s just different. They’re just intrinsically linked in a different way.

While the movie comes with a stacked cast, most of If I Had Legs I’d Kick You‘s ensemble don’t interact with each other, instead only sharing screentime with Byrne. When asked about primarily working with Byrne, Macdonald was enthusiastic in her reflection on their collaboration, while also praising the star’s calming energy and her excitement of getting to “work with another Aussie“:

Danielle Macdonald: She’s amazing. She’s actually amazing. I read the script and I got anxiety for her, because I was like, “Oh my God, you have a mountain to climb with this one.” And she was just so cool and chill about it. I remember my first day on set, she’d just been in the Atlantic Ocean in October at night, and she was like, “Yeah, it’s fine.” I was like, “Well, yeah, no, okay.” [Chuckles] She was just so casual about everything, so chill with it, and just so ready and prepared all the time.

And that’s kind of an amazing thing to me, just to have that energy, because it calms you down, it gets you in the headspace, and you’re able to just release it. And, yeah, I don’t know, just not having the anxiety on set, she keeps a really calm set. It’s an amazing thing to come to. And also, she’s Australian, and I’m Australian, and that was exciting to work with another Aussie, and we’re both playing Americans in it, which was fun, wild and weird, but it’s always exciting.

Conan & His Oscars Writers Room Are Taking The LA Wildfires Very Seriously

“…try to respect the moment…”

As he neared the end of the press line, Conan O’Brien was asked a quick question about how the ongoing LA wildfires will impact his and his writers room’s approach to the upcoming Oscars. In addition to reflecting on how the fires have impacted him, in which he’s “getting used to H๏τel living“, O’Brien also ᴀssured that he and his writers are working to “bring some happiness” to all audiences, with any final jokes coming as the host reads the room and tries to “respect the moment“:

Conan O’Brien: It’s hard to make sure, as I say, that it’s the right show for that night, for March 2, because this is an ever-evolving situation that we’re in. I left LA yesterday, there’s still fires. So the tone, what I’m saying to my writers is, “Let’s not decide now what’s going to be on the show. Let’s think of lots of different ideas, lots of different approaches. And as we get closer to the night, I can read a room, and I can” — when I say read a room, it can’t be just that room. It needs to be the larger room.

People watching in the United States, first of all, Los Angeles, then the United States, and it’s global. So, what is the room? Read that room, that larger room, and try to respect the moment, and try to do my job, which is to meet the moment, be appropriate, and then, I hope, elevate in some way, and maybe bring some happiness. So, that’s the ᴀssignment. It’s not the easiest one I’ve ever had. I may leave the country soon afterwards, but we’re all taking this ᴀssignment very, very seriously. And I, as you know, live in Los Angeles, so many of my friends are comedy writers, half of The Simpsons writers lost their homes. I know so many friends who have lost their homes. I have neighbors that lost their homes that live very close to me. I’m not living in my house right now, and I’m lucky.

I’m fantastically lucky, because the fire got very close, but did not take our house, and it’ll be a while before they can [let us in], but it’s still there. So I’m fantastically lucky, and I have nothing to complain about, but I’m getting used to H๏τel living, which is a little weird. But I came here to Sundance, and these are the clothes my wife grabbed for me, because I was in Larchmont when the fires broke out. So, she grabbed some clothes, and fortunately, some of it was Sundance worthy. [Laughs] She did a good job.

If I Had Legs I’d Kick You‘s Production Design Is “An Extension” Of The Movie’s Story

One Location, In Particular, Resonates With “Linda’s Inner World”

Much like Macdonald, Navis has been the production designer for a wide range of genres throughout the years, having worked on everything from the Kaitlyn Dever-led mystery-thriller Them That Follow to the Netflix comedy Mo. For If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, Navis worked closely with Bronstein to create “unique” environments for the film’s story, all of which was meant to provoke the “tertiary, kind of emotionally provoking world” of the project:

Carmen Navis: This creative process was incredibly exploratory and unique and sacred. Working with Mary Bronstein was such a unique experience, because she is so daring, and she leans into subversions. This perspective of motherhood many have not seen in the cinema before, and the way that we approached the work was very analogous and tactile, and going back to techniques not used in film too much anymore.

So, the worlds that we were building were quite physical, and they also come to life. So, the sets were actually an extension of the characters, and that spoke to my expressive color palette, which was a tertiary, kind of emotionally provoking world that we built. So, it was very different, I would say, but very great.

In looking back on the various sets created for the film, Navis points to Linda’s bedroom as being one of her favorites in If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, recalling the extensive work she and her team put into making sure it felt like “an extension of Linda’s inner world“, while also having worked with Vincent Van Dyke and a creature special effects team to nail a certain element of the set:

Carmen Navis: Excellent question. I would say the bedroom that we built on the stage, which is an extension of one of our locations. So, we had to kind of use the architecture of the locations and work backwards, and that bedroom becomes an extension of Linda’s inner world. So, everything that’s going on, and this collapse in the ceiling, becomes alive. We worked with creature special effects teams. Vincent Van Dyke did this fleshy membrane that he did puppetry work on. So, we built scaled versions of the hole, and it was just a really fun challenge.

Check back soon for more Sundance 2025 interview coverage, including:

• John Lithgow & the Jimpa Cast & Director
• Paradise Man Director Jordan Michael Blake
• Dylan O’Brien & the Twinless Cast & Director
• Brides Director & Stars
• Bubble & Squeak Director & Stars

Source: ScreenRant Plus