Bullseye with Jesse Thorn is a production of MaximumFun.org and is distributed by NPR.

It's Bullseye. I'm Jesse Thorn. Alvana Hime grew up in the San Fernando Valley.

Either just North of LA or in LA, depending on how you count it.

Her parents were musicians. Her older sisters Danielle and Estee were also musicians.

Alana got a tambourine when she was four and pretty soon she was a musician too.

She and her sisters and her parents started a band. Eventually they got rid of their

parents. They started writing their own songs. Not long after that they had a hit.

The band is of course called Hime. They're adored by fans and critics alike. A few years ago,

Alana got a call from director Paul Thomas Anderson. He had a part in a new movie he was

working on. It was called Likrish Pizza. He thought Alana might be up for it.

And actually when he told her all this stuff he kind of undersold it. The character's

name was Alana. And also it was the lead in the movie. And despite never really acting

before, Alana Hime took the part. It's earned her a golden globe nomination along with

a bunch of other awards. The film is up for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay and

Best Director at this year's Academy Awards.

Likrish Pizza is a sort of meandering coming of age movie. It's just as much about its

setting, the valley, as it is about its main characters. There's Alana Cain, played by

my guest Alana Hime and Gary Valentine, a 15 year old child actor, played by Cooper Hoffman.

Early on in the movie, Gary asks Alana out. And Alana, who's in her early 20s, says no.

But she does agree to hang out with him as friends. And so they meet up at the neighborhood

stained glass red check tablecloth Italian restaurant.

What are your plans? I don't know. But you future look like. I don't know. How do you

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