How David Schwimmer Built Trust

DAVID SCHWIMMER WITH CLIVE OWEN ON THE SET OF TRUST.

The plot of the unnerving and engrossing film Trust follows 14-year-old Annie, played by newcomer Liana Liberato, whose idyllic suburban life is shattered by an online sexual predator. With Clive Owen and Catherine Keener as the well-meaning but beleaguered parents, the film is a poignant look at the aftershocks a family suffers after a rape. The tough subject is tempered by outstanding performances, most notably by Liberato, who was actually the same age as her character during filming. Perhaps the biggest surprise for most audience members is finding out that the director is David Schwimmer. Best known for playing the hapless Ross on ten seasons of Friends, Schwimmer has left behind his comic beginnings and directed a moving portrait of a family and a girl in crisis.

Schwimmer came to the story after spending 14 years working with the Rape Foundation. HE was especially struck by the reactions of the fathers of victims. “Men want to fix things. If something happens men was to think they can solve it and want to take action,” said Schwimmer. “When they can’t fix it. The very idea of themselves as fathers and men is challenged.”

The film’s biggest accomplishment is successfully portraying 14-year-old Annie without any of the usual Hollywood teenage clichés. Before becoming the victim of a crime, Annie is a fairly well-adjusted girl with a few lingering teenage doubts. For Schwimmer, it was important to create the character of Annie through a collaborative process with his writer, Rape Foundation counselors, and with Liberato herself. “If we came across a particular sentence or a beat or a moment that didn’t feel right to her, I’d ask why.” said Schwimmer. “I wanted it to be as authentic as possible.”

TRUST IS NOW AVAILABLE TO OWN ON DVD AND BLU-RAY.