The film – largely autobiographical – was shot right here in Louisville in 2023, thanks in large part to the Commonwealth’s enticing Kentucky film incentives. Starring the charismatic Barbie Ferreira (Euphoria, Unpregnant) as Laymon’s fictionalized surrogate, Bob Trevino Likes It is an earnest and heartbreaking dramedy about ‘found family’ in the age of social media. Ferreira stars as Lily Trevino, an anxious young woman whose overwhelming loneliness is only further exacerbated by her father’s callous selfishness and inattention.
Played to deadbeat perfection by French Stewart, this preliminary Bob’s mediocre parenting stylings drive Lily to window-shop other Bob Trevinos on Facebook, eventually befriending – at first online, then IRL – John Leguizamo’s taciturn Kansas construction manager, the film’s second Bob. Fast becoming unlikely confidants, the duo’s relationship is sweet, sad, and shot through with an uncommon level of emotional depth.
We recently spoke to Laymon about her film and its highly personal origins, storytelling in the digital age, and (of course!) the pleasures of shooting in Louisville. Here’s the full conversation:
TRACIE LAYMON
Matt Warren (Louisville Film Society): I know the story here is semi-autobiographical. I’m always curious: when you’re taking a real experience and thinking about how to represent it on screen, what’s that process of adaptation like?
Laymon: Yeah! So, the story that inspired [the film] is that I was looking for my dad online. He was mad at me and wouldn’t get back to me, so I put his name into Facebook and accidentally friended another man with the same name. I woke up to a notification and thought it was my dad for a second. I felt really great, I thought everything was going to be alright – and then it wasn’t him. It was a stranger in Wichita, Kansas. The real story spans years and a lot of it was on the computer, so that’s not very cinematic. What I felt I could do honestly is take my emotional journey and then build cinematic sequences around those moments externally. So even though the movie is a work of fiction, I do feel that it’s very emotionally true to the healing experience I had. The thing is, when you’ve gone without these [emotional] things for so long, you’re really good at making a whole meal out of breadcrumbs, you know? So that’s what this character does.
A frequent source of frustration among cinéastes these days is that our major auteurs don’t seem to want to engage with the modern internet. Their stories are either set in the past or in a sci-fi future. I’m interested, to what degree do you consider Bob Trevino a story about the internet?
I think it’s both modern and nostalgic, in a way, for those of us who were on Facebook in the very beginning. I remember this kind of awe at the thought of, “Oh, I can connect with childhood friends, and I can meet groups of people with similar interests. I can be friends with people that I would never meet in real life.” There was just this beautiful feeling at the beginning. That sound of the dial-up was magical. Now it’s a place where people go to dump their anger. But it can be a tool for connection and healing, we just have to use it that way. Like, I literally would not be talking to you right now if some stranger on the internet hadn’t been kind to me, you know?
Let’s talk about the cast! I’ve loved Barbie Ferreira ever since Unpregnant, and Lolo Spencer I remember from Give Me Liberty, of course.
I knew I wanted Barbie and was trying to figure out how to get to her. I did a lot of research before we went to Barbie, and I knew she was going to get it. I knew she would really get inside the character, you know? I believe it’s going to be authentic for her and she’s going to knock it out of the park. So, she came on first and stayed on while we went through a couple of changes with the project. I didn’t know anyone who knew John Leguizamo, so I had to get a casting director and his [John’s] manager was very instrumental in that process. Kate Geller, our casting director, helped us find Rachel Bay Jones, and she did Lolo’s deal. I knew I wanted Lolo for a long time, I was a big fan. I was a wheelchair user in high school, so I always like to write roles for people with disabilities – especially physical disabilities, because that was my experience.
What about French Stewart? I never thought it was possible to dislike him until his character in this movie, but he’s such a bastard here.
Haha, yeah… French Stewart came through my writing group. His wife is in my writing group – she’s a good friend and an incredible writer. We all bring in pages every week and one week Vanessa Stewart said, “French is coming in this week.” I was like “that’s amazing!” even though I didn’t have a comedy for him to read. But that’s why it was so fresh and exciting. Because he’s such an incredible actor, you know? He blew us all away with a cold read of the rough draft of our first ten pages.
Tell me a little bit about the Kentucky connection and shooting here in Louisville?
I originally set the script in Texas, where I’m from. And you know, they just didn’t have the film incentives. So, I emailed a bunch of film commissions, and the most supportive one was Kentucky’s. I found the Louisville area to be full of heart. It was just right for this film, the Southern Hospitality. I felt like everything aligned. I always feel that you cast the actors, but you also cast the crew, and over half of our crew was from Kentucky. They’re people I would work with again no matter where we shoot. So that’s great. And yeah, I just completely fell in love with Louisville. I mean, the locations are truly a location in the film. Really truly.
Yeah! I think I recognized Oscar’s Hardware shop there, which is my own local hardware store.
Yes, Oscar’s!
One last question: is there anything in particular you’re hoping will be your next project?
There’s one I’m trying to put together, and it’s a big one. I’m not afraid of big commercial things, because all that means is more people and that’s wonderful. And then I also wrote another one inspired by a little bit of my life. We did a reading the other day and people were laughing at the sad scenes and crying at the happy scenes, and I was like, “It’s a Tracie Laymon film!” [laughs] So I’ll just keep going, you know?
For more information about Bob Trevino Likes It and where to watch the film, check out the film’s official website.
