Director, writer and actor John Early doesn’t hide who he is as a gay man, but his character struggles with private information in the new Magnolia Pictures movie Maddie’s Secret. On July 2, he brought his latest endeavor to the Music Box Theatre for a sold-out screening accompanied by a post-show question-and-answer portion of the program.
Maddie proved so popular that an early screening was added during the day and John is in the middle of a world tour traveling to promote this personal project. Early not only stars as the lead damsel in distress, but this also marks his debut in directing a feature film.
The quirky but likable Maddie Ralph works as a dishwasher in a restaurant until she goes viral as a foodie influencer. Her personal life comes crashing down around her as the drama unfolds and secrets are suddenly revealed.
In addition to writing the provocative script, Early later collaborated with Marissa Zappas to create a limited-edition eau de parfum fragrance in homage to Maddie’s Secret.
Growing up gay in the bible belt of Nashville, with parents who were ministers, aided Early in forming a comedy act and he hosted a monthly variety event after moving to New York City. He graduated from the Atlantic Acting School at New York University and took his theatrical standup stylings on the road. He has released comedy shows on Netflix, Peacock and HBO, and in 2024 he sang cover songs on a record titled Now More Than Ever.
John’s stellar television work displays a wide range of roles, including five seasons of Search Party and season three of The Comeback this year. He has voiced animated episodes on Bob’s Burgers, Central Park, The Simpsons, Archer and Rick and Morty.
Onstage, he starred in the Off-Broadway show What We Did Before Our Moth Days at the Greenwich House Theater, which opened this past March and closed on May 24.
Maddie’s Secret stems from a long line of movie experiences, such as Other People, Stress Positions, Eternity and, most recently, She Keeps Me Young, which premiered at the Tribeca Festival last month.
Windy City Times: Where is your moustache?
John Early: I had to shave it to make the Maddie’s Secret perfume ad. We are selling the perfume and here’s a sample if you would like to spray it on.
WCT: How did your foray into fragrances begin?
JE: Ruby McCollister, who plays Brittany in the film, is a genius. She has worked with Marissa Zappas, who is a very cool perfumer. We have known each other for years.
We looked at the film and it already has a perfume name. It is such a timelessly feminine scent. I had to get back in the saddle of being Maddie and I shaved my moustache to play her again.
WCT: How was your experience in What We Did Before Our Moth Days in New York when you wore the moustache?
JE: It was heaven on earth. I worked with Wallace Shawn and André Gregory, two wise and brilliant legends, for about two years basically.
WCT: Now you have time to promote your Secret. Is Maddie based on an amalgam of women?
JE: Yes, but at the end of the day she’s just me, although I didn’t know that going in.
Everything I do starts with performance instinct. In this case, I would make myself laugh by speaking in this 1950s ingenue way while saying things from current times like “Condé Nast” and “Hulu.”
It made me want to do that in a film and I only had a vague idea about it. I built it out from there. She’s a girl with a pure heart who lives a very miserable contemporary life. That’s how it all started.
WCT: Was it ambitious to be the main star and try your first time at directing?
JE: It was bizarre and psychologically fascinating. It should have been studied and I wish we had filmed it, so I could see it again.
When I was editing it, I would watch myself pop in and pop out. Especially in the more emotional scenes, I found it disturbing. [laughs]
It was sad to watch myself in the scene where I was waving goodbye and I was waiting for someone to come up and comfort me, then I realized it was my job to do that. I had to comfort myself as the director. It was hell and I had created a prison for myself.
WCT: Doesn’t that add a whole new layer to the experience?
JE: It is something that I am quite used to. I have made a lot of movies over the years and this is an extension of all of my work.
I am accustomed to getting what I need and working very quickly. I would watch myself in the editing room and groan sometimes. I am good at judging myself objectively, then fussing around with it until it works. I am not squeamish about seeing myself.
WCT: The red carpet for Maddie’s Secret at the Toronto International Film Festival had so many of your castmates there, like Kate Berlant. Is your goal to use friends as muses like directors John Waters and Tim Burton often do?
JE: Oh yeah. When you make something, you are stuck with it for many years and it can take a long time to promote it. It really helps to have a cast and crew made up of friends.
I made sure we worked at a tight budget level, so we didn’t have money to hire a bankable name, maybe someone like Florence Pugh. Don’t get me wrong, I would love to work with her, but I was able to hire my friends and me, who are all amateurs.
It was all untested and we had so much fun. When we promote this film, we can see each other and it’s an excuse for us all to hang out.
WCT: Turns out Maddie is quite the chef onscreen. Do you cook in real life?
JE: Yes. I am not being self-deprecating when I say I don’t feel I am great at it. I am a little tortured about it and I tend to overdo it. I will strangle it to death sometimes by over-salting something or putting on too much dressing.
There is a point in cooking where one can back away, but when I feel that, I always stay. I will add in one extra thing, then it will be too wet or too spicy. I don’t stop in time and I am trying to get better at it.
Maddie is an aspirational character for me and someone who has a gift for cooking.
WCT: What did you learn from previous directors you have worked with to assist in directing Maddie’s Secret?
JE: There are many things I learned not to do from previous directors. I was making this movie at the same time I was rehearsing the play with André Gregory. He is a theater director, but his whole approach is about not interrupting. There is no intervening, so time, patience and kindness allow people to discover things slowly over time and the course of years.
We didn’t have years to make this movie, but I was very inspired by his humility. He is never trying to convince you he is the authority on anything or that he’s the most important person in the room.
It was really helpful to go in and work with a collaborative medium where there were many experts in their individual fields. After working with Andre, I felt I could step back and not have to prove to anyone that I knew what I was doing, so that carried over to this project.
WCT: What is one story you would still like to create?
JE: I would really like to make more Maddie movies. I would like her to be an American Girl doll traveling around and having adventures. It would have a food component to it and she could try local cuisine in her travels.
WCT: Would you like to make a film where you only direct and not perform?
JE: Yes, but it has to be something I am obsessed with. Right now, the way I understand making images is by framing my own performances. It starts very internally for me. That is how I find the writing and style for a character. It is centered around me and it’s how I have always worked, so I am curious how it would work with a film I am not in.
WCT: Talk about your other new film with best friend Kate Berlant, She Keeps Me Young.
JE: That is my friend Doron Max Hagay’s movie and I was at the screening in Provincetown. It’s special and although it is different than Maddie, I feel it is connected in some ways. I play a gay guy who works in a mall.
WCT: What advice would you give to the gay guy who works in a mall or a young queer person who dreams of working in the industry?
JE: I would tell them to get off their phone and study art. I loved theater, television and movies. I poured myself into it and that took me out of small-town life.
WCT: You started a fan group for actress Toni Collette when you were 11 years old. What would you call your loyal fans? Possibly JHive (playing off of your Instagram handle bejohnce) or The Early Birds?
JE: Someone on social media came up with the idea of Early Risers and that really makes me laugh.
Maddie’s Secret is out at Chicago theaters now and continues to screen at the Music Box Theatre, 3733 N. Southport Ave. Other Chicago venues showing the 98-minute feature on the big screen include AMC River East 21, Alamo Drafthouse Cinema Wrigleyville and Gene Siskel Film Center.
Order merchandise from the movie, such as the perfume or baby T-shirt, at maddiessecrets.com.