Muddy Stilettos


<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="791" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Gaby-Dellal-Portrait-credit-Kristina-Loggia.jpg" alt="Filmaker Gaby Dellal" class="wp-image-125931" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Gaby-Dellal-Portrait-credit-Kristina-Loggia.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Gaby-Dellal-Portrait-credit-Kristina-Loggia-600x475.jpg 600w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



<p>“Everyone has a mother,” says filmmaker Gaby Dellal, and it’s that simple truth which makes her new film&nbsp;<em>Park Avenue</em>&nbsp;resonate. Starring the iconic Fiona Shaw and Katherine Waterston, it follows a fraught mother-daughter reunion. After years trapped in a stifling life in rural Canada, Charlotte (Waterston) escapes her controlling husband and returns to her childhood Park Avenue home, where she and her estranged mother, Kit (Shaw), navigate old wounds, shared history, memory, and unspoken truths over six eventful weeks. </p>



<p>It&#8217;s a tender, taut, beautifully observed, deeply human drama about the ties that bind, and the truths we spend a lifetime avoiding. I caught up with Gaby to talk about the decade-long journey to bring <em>Park Avenue</em> to life, what it’s really like being a woman in film, the joy of working with iconic women and, of course, a little Park Avenue apartment shopping along the way.</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-park-avenue-focuses-on-a-mother-daughter-relationship-how-personal-is-it-for-you"><em>Park Avenue</em> focuses on a mother-daughter relationship, how personal is it for you?</h4>



<p>My stories aren’t literally personal, but they’re inspired by my life and the women I’ve known. While writing, I became fascinated by older women &#8211; meeting lots of incredible people in New York, all very different from my own mother. So the film’s characters are really an amalgamation of women I have become obsessed with over the years. Even Fiona Shaw, who plays Kit, would joke, “I’m channeling my own mother too much!”.</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-was-kit-inspired-by-a-real-woman">Was Kit inspired by a real woman?</h4>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="811" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Fiona-Central-Park-Rock-Movie-Grab.jpg" alt="Fiona Shaw as Kit in the film Park Avenue by Gaby Dellal" class="wp-image-125207" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Fiona-Central-Park-Rock-Movie-Grab.jpg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Fiona-Central-Park-Rock-Movie-Grab-600x324.jpg 600w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Fiona-Central-Park-Rock-Movie-Grab-1000x541.jpg 1000w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /></figure>



<p>Yes, I met a woman in Central Park named Kit &#8211; leaning against a tree, shouting, “Don’t ever have chemotherapy &#8211; I feel like shit!” We became friends, and she became the template for Kit. She was this waspish, moneyed American who lived on Park Avenue who was dying of cancer and kept it a secret. She told me all of this during our walks in the park.</p>



<p>I used to fantasise that she’d leave me her apartment &#8211; as you do! She didn’t, of course, but she did leave some of her lines verbatim &#8211; my favourite being, “The mannequins at Bonwit Teller were modelled on me.” The last time I saw her, she was on her way to the printers to get her own death card announcement printed. She was a cool lady.</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-you-co-wrote-the-film-with-tina-alexis-allen-how-did-that-come-about">You co-wrote the film with Tina Alexis Allen. How did that come about?</h4>



<p>I wrote the story and then brought Tina on to help &#8220;Americanise” it. We rewrote together, and having that fresh perspective really lifted the script. She has amazing stories of her own, and collaborating with her was genuinely fun  &#8211; it makes the work richer.</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-it-s-a-female-led-film-how-do-you-feel-about-that-label">It’s a female-led film, how do you feel about that label?</h4>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="966" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Boardroom-Katherine-and-Fiona-Passing-file-Crediit-Spencer-Pazer.jpeg" alt="Fiona Shaw as Kit and Katherine Waterston as Charlotte in the film Park Avenue by Gaby Dellal" class="wp-image-125248" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Boardroom-Katherine-and-Fiona-Passing-file-Crediit-Spencer-Pazer.jpeg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Boardroom-Katherine-and-Fiona-Passing-file-Crediit-Spencer-Pazer-600x386.jpeg 600w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Boardroom-Katherine-and-Fiona-Passing-file-Crediit-Spencer-Pazer-1000x644.jpeg 1000w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /></figure>



<p>It’s a bit irritating, especially when we’re all supposedly talking about being genderless or avoiding labels, yet we still have to point it out. With <em>Park Avenue</em>, I didn’t set out to make a “female-led” film, it was just the story that came to me.</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-hard-is-it-to-be-a-female-filmmaker-in-the-male-dominated-world-of-film">How hard is it to be a female filmmaker in the male-dominated world of film?</h4>



<p>It’s still challenging, but there are far more female filmmakers now. I&#8217;ve never understood why it used to be such a male world &#8211; why women’s voices weren’t really heard or why people assumed we couldn’t run a set. Honestly, women often bring a calmer, cooler, more organised energy. I call myself an actor’s director, but I’m also very much a women&#8217;s director. I care; I shoot and edit from a female point of view and I avoid shots or takes that would make a woman feel annoyed or self-conscious. </p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-was-it-like-working-with-fiona-shaw">What was it like working with Fiona Shaw?</h4>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Fiona-laughing-Closeup-kitchen-Credit-Spencer-Pazer-.jpeg" alt="Fiona Shaw as Kit  in the film Park Avenue by Gaby Dellal" class="wp-image-125208" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Fiona-laughing-Closeup-kitchen-Credit-Spencer-Pazer-.jpeg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Fiona-laughing-Closeup-kitchen-Credit-Spencer-Pazer--600x400.jpeg 600w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Fiona-laughing-Closeup-kitchen-Credit-Spencer-Pazer--1000x667.jpeg 1000w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /></figure>



<p>She’s brilliant, smart, kind, and confident enough to let you take the reins. She doesn’t suffer fools, asks intelligent questions, and she tests you &#8211; female actors often do in a way that’s different from men, who often respond to flirtation dynamics that don’t exist with a woman director. But once you pass that test, the collaboration is beautiful. I’ve been lucky to work with incredible women before &#8211; Helen McCrory, for example, was tough but rewarding once she saw I knew my stuff. Fiona was similar &#8211; she’s like a child in a toy box with film, thrilled by the medium, experimenting and open to feedback, exploring boundaries she wouldn’t touch in theatre. She’s smart, raw, and enthusiastic.</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-was-it-fun-hunting-for-the-right-park-avenue-apartment">Was it fun hunting for the right Park Avenue apartment?</h4>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Fiona-at-Table-Apartment-Credit-Spencer-Pazer-ParkAvenue-Day-7-0597.jpg" alt="Fiona Shaw as Kit in the film Park Avenue by Gaby Dellal" class="wp-image-125206" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Fiona-at-Table-Apartment-Credit-Spencer-Pazer-ParkAvenue-Day-7-0597.jpg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Fiona-at-Table-Apartment-Credit-Spencer-Pazer-ParkAvenue-Day-7-0597-600x400.jpg 600w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Fiona-at-Table-Apartment-Credit-Spencer-Pazer-ParkAvenue-Day-7-0597-1000x667.jpg 1000w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /></figure>



<p>Oh, I have to shatter that illusion &#8211; it was a really terrible apartment. Disgusting, thick white paint, no one wanted it which is why we were able to use it. We had two weeks to dress it, paint it, and get the right furniture &#8211; it was stressful, but it became our canvas. The lobby and elevator were in two completely different buildings as well, but we cobbled it together to create that Park Avenue feel.</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-your-last-film-nbsp-three-generations-was-10-years-ago-why-the-gap">Your last film,&nbsp;<em>Three Generations</em>, was 10 years ago. Why the gap?</h4>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="820" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Screenshot-2025-11-11-at-11.12.33.png" alt="Elle Fanning, Naomi Watts and Susan Sarandon in Three Generations a film by Gaby Dellal" class="wp-image-125358" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Screenshot-2025-11-11-at-11.12.33.png 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Screenshot-2025-11-11-at-11.12.33-600x328.png 600w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Screenshot-2025-11-11-at-11.12.33-1000x547.png 1000w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /></figure>



<p>Writing new projects takes time, and getting funding as a woman is far from easy. The industry just doesn’t hand it to you &#8211; even brilliant directors like Catherine Bigelow or Andrea Arnold have long gaps between films. Emerald Fennell has done really well to make films in a shorter space of time. Theatre has been a godsend for me; it keeps me creatively alive. So, yes, it’s slow, but that’s just how it is.</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-was-it-working-on-the-last-season-of-you">How was it working on the last season of <em>You</em>?</h4>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1200" height="1104" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/madeline-brewer-penn-badgley-you-netflix-680798e703ebe.jpg-copy.jpg" alt="Madeline Brewer and Penn Badgeley in You for Netflix" class="wp-image-125359" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/madeline-brewer-penn-badgley-you-netflix-680798e703ebe.jpg-copy.jpg 1200w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/madeline-brewer-penn-badgley-you-netflix-680798e703ebe.jpg-copy-600x552.jpg 600w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/madeline-brewer-penn-badgley-you-netflix-680798e703ebe.jpg-copy-1000x920.jpg 1000w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /></figure>



<p>It was really fun, but you’re a cog in a bigger machine. By the time you get to an episode, everything’s already set up so you just get to enjoy working on set and with actors &#8211; Madeleine Brewer from <em>The Handmaid’s Tale</em> was a joy. You also get to play with a bigger budget, but you only get six days in the editing room. Big American TV is fun, but you have to pick your battles. When you’re making your own film, you can fight for everything, right down to what someone wears &#8211; even their bra! On a TV show, with 25 people making decisions, you have to let go because it’s not your baby.</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-s-next-for-you">What’s next for you?</h4>



<p>A few very different projects: a film about the Mitfords, a Nova Scotia fishing village story, and an Irish <em>Paper Moon</em> type father-daughter caper. It&#8217;s lovely being involved with so many things &#8211; you can dream big about who you want to work with. <em>Ahem</em>&#8230;Leonardo DiCaprio.</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-if-you-could-direct-any-actor-past-or-present-who-would-it-be">If you could direct any actor, past or present, who would it be?</h4>



<p>Fiona Shaw and Helen McCrory were definitely on that list. Probably Laurie Metcalf, Lesley Manville, Kristin Scott Thomas. It’s the women I really admire that I’d love to collaborate with. Sometimes in filmmaking, you’re simply directing &#8211; telling people where to go and what to do &#8211; but with the greats, you’re making the film <em>together</em>, and that&#8217;s the real fun.</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-s-on-your-watchlist-at-the-moment">What’s on your watchlist at the moment? </h4>



<p>Theatre mostly, but anything with Ben Whishaw in &#8211; he always picks such fascinating projects. I also loved <em>The Ballad of Wallace Island</em> and&nbsp;<em>Slow Horses</em>&nbsp;with Gary Oldman. I love actors who choose wisely and have their own voice.</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-can-you-describe-nbsp-park-avenue-nbsp-in-three-words">Can you describe&nbsp;<em>Park Avenue</em>&nbsp;in three words?</h4>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Fiona-Katherine-at-table-Apartment-living-room-Credit-Spencer-Pazer.jpeg" alt="Fiona Shaw as Kit and Katherine Waterston as Charlotte in the film Park Avenue by Gaby Dellal" class="wp-image-125205" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Fiona-Katherine-at-table-Apartment-living-room-Credit-Spencer-Pazer.jpeg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Fiona-Katherine-at-table-Apartment-living-room-Credit-Spencer-Pazer-600x400.jpeg 600w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Fiona-Katherine-at-table-Apartment-living-room-Credit-Spencer-Pazer-1000x667.jpeg 1000w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /></figure>



<p>Love. Loss. Mothers. And daughters.</p>



<ul>
<li><em>Park Avenue is out in cinemas from Fri 14 Nov</em></li>
</ul>



<p>Interview by Claire Hool</p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" />



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-in-the-mood-for-more">IN THE MOOD FOR MORE?</h2>



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<li><a href="https://muddystilettos.co.uk/things-to-do/film-tv/nora-garrett-julia-roberts-after-the-hunt-movie/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">After The Hunt’s Nora Garrett: On Julia Roberts and becoming Hollywood’s most wanted</a></li>
</ul>


Filmmaker Gaby Dellal on female friendship, Fiona Shaw and Park Avenue inspiration

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