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The Strange Allure of Geek Magnetism

Actress Loren Horsley and director Taika Waititi thought a lot about social skills, and the lack of them, while making "Eagle vs Shark." (By Helayne Seidman For The Washington Post)

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Horsley and Waititi finish their vegetable rolls and head out into the sunshine to check out a huge video screen on 44th and Broadway that's briefly advertising a trailer for their film. They're joined by Waititi's friend and by Horsley's mom, Erin Taylor. Waititi borrows his friend's movie camera and films his girlfriend watching herself play someone else on a big screen.

"Surreal, huh?" Horsley says.

"Surreal, completely," her mom says.

Waititi puts down his camera for a moment. He says that during filming in New Zealand, he rarely saw his girlfriend when she wasn't in character.

"I never saw Loren for two months, in a way," he says.

In the place of his strong, confident girlfriend was an awkward creature in an ugly wig, someone he came to regard, with affection, as a "weird little sister." He addressed her as Lily often between shoots.

When shooting ended, the character of Lily even thanked him for giving her the job.

"Thank you for the opportunity," Waititi says in a meek voice, channeling his girlfriend channeling her character.

Then the character of Lily left to go to wardrobe, to take off her wig for the last time and to be an outcast no more.

And he actually missed her.

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