Interview by Paul Salfen
Wild Eyed and Wicked follows Lily Pierce (Kunz) in her attempt to strike back at the medieval creature that’s haunted her family for generations. She must reconnect with her estranged father, Gregory (Sommers), a disgraced history professor, and learn how to draw upon a time of steel and blade when armor-clad knights rode out and dueled monsters to the death.
Lily’s therapist (Camp) and girlfriend (Saunders) attempt to help Lily navigate the childhood loss of her mother, Silvia (Estes). They encourage Lily, on the anniversary of her mother’s death, to accept her father’s invitation to visit him on the farm where Lily grew up.
From Gordon Shoemaker Foxwood, Director•Writer:
“Wild Eyed and Wicked” is about tackling our demons; about throwing on armor, grabbing a sword, and dueling them to the death. Our modern-day knight is Lily Pierce, played by Molly Kunz, co-lead of NBC primetime show “The Irrational” now filming Season 2. Molly’s performance as Lily is sensational, and I am entirely serious when I say she never had a bad take.“Wild Eyed and Wicked” is an ultra-low budget film, shot in only 16 days, and so Molly’s performance perfection was not just thrilling to behold, it was the keystone holding up the production.
The story of Lily Pierce is inspired by my wife’s experiences helping herself and others build paths to recovery regarding trauma and mental health battles, all part of her world as a medical doctor in NYC and Pennsylvania. Andfun fact, when the faceplate of Lily’s helmet is down in this film, that’s my wife Elizabeth doing the sword fighting and riding (in plate armor!). Elizabeth did three months of sword training while at the same time taking riding lessons from my sister, Rachel Shoemaker, on my family’s farm in Pennsylvania where the film was shot. Elizabeth is the living embodiment of the film, a modern woman learning to become a knight, making “Wild Eyed and Wicked” our very own true story.
The film is a miracle of resourcefulness in too many ways to list without writing an essay. But in brief, not only did my family on the farm band together to bring this ambitious story to life, housing crew and painting sets, they also worked hand-in-hand with a cadre of dedicated friends. Friends from my college years at USC, to the years after, when I lived and worked in NYC—a diverse host of beautiful humans came together to make this movie look, sound, and feel like ten times our budget.
About Molly Kunz:
Molly Kunz is a Series Regular in NBC’s crime drama “The Irrational”, now going into its second season. The series comes from Universal TV and is based on bestselling author Dan Ariely’s book “Predictably Irrational”. Kunz stars opposite Jesse L. Martin. In film, Kunz can next be seen as the lead of “Wild Eyed and Wicked”, a thriller from director Gordon Shoemaker Foxwood. Prior to that, she was the lead of Studio Canal’s “The Wolf and The Lion”, based on the French film “Mia and the White Lion” (both were written by Prune de Maistre and directed by Gilles de Maistre). The film was released theatrically worldwide and tells the story of Alma (Kunz), a young piano prodigy who finds herself living in the wild with a lion cub and a wolf. Kunz also had a supporting role in Steve McQueen’s feature “Windows” opposite Colin Farrell; as well as the lead role in the indie darling “The Wise Kids”.
In Television, Kunz recurred in USA’s “Colony”, MTV’s “Finding Carter” and Hulu’s first original series “Battleground”, a political dramedy starring & created by JD Walsh. She also starred in a movie for Lifetime TV called “The March Sisters at Christmas”, alongside Justin Bruning, Kaitlin Doubleday and John Shea.
Molly is originally from Madison, Wisconsin and began her career in regional theatres. Productions include: “The Nerd” (Memorial Theatre Company), “The Sound of Music” (Music Theater of Madison), “Carousel” (Madison Repertory Theater), “Narnia” (MadCAP Theater), “The Boxcar Children” (CTM Family Theater Company), “The Secret Garden” (University of WI Theater), “Annie” (Stagestruck Productions), “Tom Sawyer” (Madison Creative Arts Program), “Alice in Wonderland” (Shorewood Drama), “The Nutcracker Ballet” (Madison Ballet), and “Sleeping Beauty Balle” (Performing Arts for Children).
