NAME: Eliza Bennett
GENDER & PRONOUNS: Cis woman / She/Her
AGE & DATE OF BIRTH:Â 28 years old / February 11
HOMETOWN:Â Westerly, RI
TIME IN WESTERLY:Â Returned recently
RESIDENCE: Misquamicut
OCCUPATION:Â Director and screenwriter; unemployed
FELL FROM THE PEDESTAL, RIGHT DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE Â Â Â ââ Â Â Â long story short.
Trigger Warnings: Teenage pregnancy, allusion to homophobia, divorce, alcoholism mention
According to her older brother, Eliza Rose Bennett came out of the womb loudly. She never quite grasped the concept of existing quietly, in the way that her brother did. If he was the golden boy, the quiet and powerful presence, she was the wild child, demanding attention but not quite yielding respect. On paper, you would assume that they didnât get alongâ that their differences and normal sibling dynamics turned the two into enemies, destined to compete to be the favorite. But that never happened; instead, the two were inseparable (mostly thanks to Elizaâs refusal to respect Mattâs personal space). Â
Truthfully, Elizaâs childhood was idyllic. Her parents were in love, her older brother let her hang out with him, she was afforded every opportunity she could dream ofâ Eliza cycled through dance, piano, tennis, wilderness camp, and childrenâs theater in the same way she switched between going by âElizaâ or âRoseâ or âLizâ or the brief stint of âE.B.â She was constantly undergoing transformation, constantly pushing the boundaries of what was normal, and for the most part the Bennetts let her. Lillianne was always her biggest advocate; Eliza knew her dad didnât get her, but mom urged him to let her explore. They looked at Matty differently, thoughâ with him, they knew what to expect. He was reliable, and reliably good.Â
For a long time, Eliza was jealous of him. She may have been too young to name that feeling, but she remembers the distinct urge to be looked at like that. For dad to beam with pride at her recitals or games or impromptu monologues in the living room. But as she got older and she and Matt started to really talk, she realized it was crushing him. The weight of all those expectations, momâs and dadâs and the townâs and his own, was paralyzing her larger-than-life big brother. So she told him to do what sheâd always doneâ whatever the hell she wanted, whenever the hell she wanted. And he did! Or, he was going to, until shit with their dad hit the fan. Â
Eliza likes to say she wasnât surprised by their dad cheating; it was partially true, sheâd always known how different her parents were, despite the âperfect familyâ show they put on for the town. But truthfully, she never expected dad to be so cruel, so shallow. Eliza took dadâs infidelity as a personal affront. She took it not as a rejection of her mother, of his marriage, but a rejection of their familyâ of her. When Matty left with no warning, though? Eliza hardened. She sympathized with him, of course, she couldnât imagine what it was like to be the one to catch dad, to have to tell mom. But Matt running off to join the armyâ moving worlds away instead of college a few hours awayâ was incredibly hard on Eliza, especially as a freshman at the same high school her dadâs mistress worked at. She threw herself into anything she could find to channel the anger she feltâ particularly underage drinking and theater.Â
Eliza found her rhythm in high school, found a place where she fit. Ever the leading lady, ever-present in any dingy basement or waterfront mansion, so long as there was beer. She felt in control on the stage, and throwing herself into a character, into another world, was much easier than dealing with her own. She applied the same strategy to sneaking out and drinking every weekend; after all, mom was grieving and dad was gone. It was almost too easyâ the hiding and the sneaking around. In a way, she was glad that Matt was gone, because Eliza was sure that he would see right through her unaffected shtick, and would want better for her.
But he wasnât. Westerly without Matt was incredibly dullâ painfully dull, even. Eliza started plotting her escape the second she realized Matt was gone. Sheâd never really been into school, it wasnât her thing, but the idea of college appealed to her. So, Eliza buckled down and made good enough grades to get into a few schools, enough scholarship money to actually be able to go to those schools. Despite her momâs insistence on looking local, Eliza only applied to New York schools. When she got into NYU, she chalked it up to fate and committed. New York was where she could be herself, where her life would turn into something great.
Life always seemed to have a way of derailing Elizaâs plans at every turn. The morning of graduation, she snuck out of the house to buy a pregnancy test at CVS. Eliza had been sort of dating this guy Leo who had graduated a few years before but was still in town. It was mostly for looks, so she had someone to bring to parties and family dinners. He was nice enough, but she didnât love him. She never could, reallyâ Eliza had known since she was thirteen that she didnât like boys. She and Leo had only slept together a handful of times, anyway, and yet⊠the test confirmed her fear. Eliza could see exactly what her life would look like. Her big dreams of moving to New York, of making movies, would be dashed by the baby; she would be forced to stay in town and get a dead-end job and always think about what could have been.
She didnât tell anyone, not even Matt, because it was a decision she needed to make alone. Ultimately, though it was far from ideal, Elizaâs stubbornness pulled through. Logic dictated that she had two optionsâ keep the baby and stay home or get rid of the baby and go to college. So, naturally, Eliza kept the baby and went to college. She didnât want dad anywhere near the baby, so she didnât tell him. She told Matt about her plan beforehand, and didnât tell mom until sheâd already leftâ to avoid any lectures about how hard it would be or any pleas to stay home. And then Eliza gave birth to Chase Wesley Bennett on January 23, 2013 in New York Cityâ halfway through her freshman year at NYU. Eliza had no idea how she was going to take care of a baby and finish her degree, but she was determined to figure it out.Â
The first semester was the hardest, and thankfully her mom stayed in the city most of the year to help with the adjustment. But by the time fall semester rolled around, Eliza and Chase had adjusted well. Her professors knew to expect him in class, and his temperament was so calm and friendly that he had no issue. She figured he took after his namesake, her big brother, in that category. Naturally, Eliza didnât have much of a social life throughout collegeâ who wanted to hang out with the 19-year-old and her son? â but in retrospect, it was for the best. She poured herself into her screenplays and worked closely with professors to polish a few ideas she was really excited about.Â
Elizaâs graduation was a long-awaited celebration, and she still looks back at it as one of the happiest days of her life. For once, sheâd done the right thing; for once, sheâd succeeded when no one thought she could. It was euphoric. And what was better was that she had a job waiting for her, at a production company founded by one of her TAs. Eliza was thrilled to learn more about directing, and three-year-old Chase traded going to class with her to tagging along at work. It was getting harder now that he was older, but no one on set seemed to mind so long as he kept quiet and out of the way.Â
After a year and a half on the job, Eliza decided to attempt the impossible: to direct and produce her first short film based on one of her screenplays, while raising an almost five year old alone. Once again, everyone thought she was crazy. And once again, that only fueled her need to succeed. She worked nights and weekends for almost two whole years, but the end product was well worth it. Eliza Bennettâs rewrite of âThe Yellow Wallpaperâ, centering instead a troubled teen and blatantly a criticism of Elizaâs own father as the personification of patriarchy, won the 2018 SOFIE award for Original Screenplay, and was nominated for Best Film, Director, and Leading Actress. With this success came more opportunity; Eliza was quickly given a screenplay for a full-length film, and dedicated her next two years to bringing it to life.
If the short film defined Elizaâs career, this film certainly changed her life. A month into shooting, it became abundantly clear that Elizaâs connection with the leading lady, an actress named Ivy Gauthier, was more than professional. They started seeing each other, and their romance was a whirlwind. Ivy was everything Eliza felt like she was missingâ someone who understood her love for film, her creative mind, and her dedication to her son above all else. A few weeks before shooting wrapped and editing began, Eliza proposed to Ivy in another one of her signature impulsive decisions. Ivy accepted, and they eloped in a small ceremony upstate. Elizaâs mom, Matt (via FaceTime), Chase, and Ivyâs parents were the sole witnesses of the courthouse ceremony.Â
Their life together, the press tour for the film and the slow weekends at home and Chaseâs soccer practices, was beautiful. Everything about it felt rightâ Eliza finally felt like she had the family she always wanted, a home that was truly warm and loving. Of course, everything changed when Matt got into his accident. Suddenly, Eliza was torn between two places: her life in New York, her wife, her movie, and her brotherâs bedside, a dozen tabs about treating PTSD and emotional support animals and veteranâs benefits. The movie did wellâ really wellâ not that Eliza really cared anymore. Tensions rose between Eliza and Ivy, their still-new relationship buckling under the unforeseen stress.Â
After Matt got settled back in Westerly and a plan was in placeâ for him to take over the auto shop as soon as he was up to itâ Eliza returned to New York for good. Or so she thought. A new film was waiting for her, but for the first time in her life, Eliza didnât feel up to the challenge. She felt guilty for being in New York and just going back to work as if her whole life hadnât changed. Sheâd taken it for granted that Matt was the strong one and the stability of the familyâ and when he wasnât? When he was literally inches away from death? It was like Eliza didnât know who she was. He said he was fine, that he just needed to work through everything and recover at home, but Eliza was so scared to lose himâ sheâd read enough about survivorâs guilt and PTSD and complex trauma to know he wasnât in the clear yetâ that she was constantly calling and checking in and visiting home almost every weekend.
She wasnât invested in her work (or in her relationship), and it showed. The film sheâd been given, which had a strong script and a capable cast, was a dud. The reviews were harshâ calling her a two-hit wonder, a washed-up star at twenty-seven. She and Ivy were hanging on by a thread; Eliza never stopped loving her wife, but sheâd pulled away, refused to talk to Ivy about what was going on with her. Eliza began to question everythingâ was she good at her job, or had she just gotten lucky? Were she and Ivy in love, or was it just lust? Was it stupid to get married that fast? Was it cruel to raise a child in the city? Did Chase need a male presence in his life? Was Eliza a good enough parent to him? She was imploding, honestlyâ her misplaced confidence and spontaneity had finally caught up to her.
Elizaâs wake-up call came when her production company dropped her for drinking on the job. She hadnât realized it had gotten that bad, or that it was bad at all, really. The nail in the coffin was Ivy waiting for her when she got home, saying she needed to talk. She was halfway through explaining why their relationship wasnât working, how Ivy was going to L.A. to shoot a movie and thought that maybe it was time to go their separate ways, when Eliza decided she would move home. Not because she wanted to, really, but because she couldnât stay here. For all of her flaws, Eliza was never good at accepting failure, and staying in the city where sheâd ruined her dreams and lost her wife? It was too much to face. So, Eliza and Chase packed up their bags and made their way to Westerly, RI to stay with Matt for a while. Just until they get back on their feet, Eliza promised herself, though sheâs full of doubt.
Portrayed by SAOIRSE RONAN, written by NIKKI.