Clea DuVall talks coming out and directing a lesbian rom-com

• We talk with Clea DuVall about coming out and her latest film, "Happiest Season."
• DuVall discusses what inspired her to co-write and direct a lesbian romantic comedy while giving advice for those navigating the coming out process.
• "Happiest Season" follows Abby (Kristen Stewart) as she navigates having a partner (Mackenzie Davis) in the closet during the holidays.

Following is a transcript of the video.

John: So what? Her parents are believing that their straight daughter brought home her lesbian friend for Christmas?

Abby: They also think that I'm, that I'm straight.

John: Have they ever met a lesbian?

Clea DuVall: My name is Clea DuVall and I am the director and co-writer of Happiest Season. I am a huge fan of holiday movies, and I also love rom-coms, but I had never seen my experience represented in those genres. But then once I started, you know, transitioning from acting into writing and directing, it kind of hit me that I could be the person who could tell that story. You know, it's a romantic comedy and you know, it needs to have those like big comedic moments.

Man: From where?

Abby: I'm really not interested in meeting anyone tonight.

Jane: I am.

Clea: Harper's family, you know, kind of was born from that. Just like, what is the family that you're gonna go home to in this situation and it's going to just be-

Abby: Everyone say Christmas.

Tipper: No, don't say that just smile.

Clea: The most uncomfortable.

Tipper: Blurry, boring. Nope, nope, nope. Okay. None of these will do, we will try again tomorrow.

Clea: Came out to my mom on Christmas day, we were in the middle of a fight and it just flew out of my mouth. Me saying something along the line of "You don't know me at all," and then my mom saying, "Yes, I do." And then me saying, "Well, yeah, but did you know so and so is my girlfriend?" And then both of us freezing and being like, oh, oh no, what just happened? And then after what felt like three and a half hours my mother just saying, "No, I didn't know that." And then walking out of the room and then we just never talked about it again. We were able to repair it. So that was like the good news. It was not great until later in life when I got into my twenties.

Tipper: What are you doing in the closet?

Clea: What was so important to me in this story was to not vilify anyone.

Abby: So Sloane and Eric, you guys make gift baskets, right?

Sloane: No. We create curated gift experiences inside of handmade reclaimed wood vessels.

Clea: 'Cause coming out is not an easy thing to do no matter who you are, no matter where you come from, we all have the opportunity to reach the other side and you know, and still deserve to be loved, and deserve to be accepted and even if the people around us don't always handle it exactly the right way immediately, it doesn't mean that they can't also grow and that they can't also change. Every queer person has gone through it and you know, knows what that feeling is of, you know, not being out. Wherever you are in that process, be nice to yourself. Like you're going through something that is not gonna last forever and you need to love yourself through it. You have an idea like, I wanna come out this holiday season, I'm gonna do it. And if you get there and it doesn't feel like the right thing, that's okay. There's no rush. It's also really important to find outlets in the community, you know, whether it's like friends, or however young people communicate, I don't know, TikTok.

Abby: What are you doing on your phone?

John: I left a gentleman alone in my apartment so I'm tracking him to make sure he leaves.

Abby: You're tracking him?

John: Yeah. I track everybody. If the NSA can do it, so can I.

Clea: Don't be afraid to reach out. Our community is so amazing and you will inevitably find support even in places you might not expect it.

John: Yes I am John, Abby's heterosexual ex-boyfriend, and I have come to get her back.