HOUSTON – The new Netflix film “Moxie” is a coming-of-age story that highlights the importance of female empowerment.
The film is based on a book by the same name, written by local author and Bellaire High School teacher, Jennifer Mathieu.
She shared with Houston Life her excitement after her novel got the Hollywood treatment by renowned comedian Amy Poehler.
“I was in the teacher’s lounge when my agent called to let me know that Amy Poehler’s production company was interested in optioning the book for a film. This was in 2016 before the book even came out and there was some buzz building about it,” remembered Mathieu about Moxie, her fourth book.
“Moxie” tells the story of 16-year-old Vivian Carter, who inspired by her mom’s rebellious past and a confident new friend, starts a feminist zine calling out sexism at her Texas high school.
The movie stars Hadley Robinson, Amy Poehler, Marcia Gay Harden, and Patrick Schwarzenegger.
“A lot of books get optioned and they never actually get to the screen, so for this to actually happen, is bonkers,” said Mathieu, who has a cameo in the film as a chemistry teacher.
“You literally will blink and miss it, but that’s fine with me. I am much more comfortable behind a computer screen,” said Mathieu about her film credit.
“Visiting the set was so fun. I was impressed with the number of people that it takes to make a film happen. Everybody had their own unique job, and everybody was working carefully together. It was a very fun set. I got to meet Amy Poehler, I got to meet several members of the cast, they were all so lovely,” said the former journalist, who is known as Ms. Blessington by her students.
“I’ve had some really nice students reach out, let me know they saw the movie and they’ve read the book, and it’s really sweet. But I do feel like as a teacher my primary role is to teach young people. I always say I have the two best jobs in the world and that is teaching for young people and writing for them, and they both matter so much to me,” said Mathieu, who revealed she was happy with the movie version of Moxie.
“It’s different from the novel in some ways but it captures the spirit of what I wrote,” she said.
“Moxie” is streaming now on Netflix.
To connect with Mathieu, you click here.
To see Mathieu’s complete interview, watch the video above.
And to see the trailer for “Moxie,” watch the video below.