"This woman who's failing so badly": Rose Byrne shares her take on portraying a battling parent in A24's If I Had Legs I'd Kick You

A still from the film | Image via A24
A still from the film | Image via A24

If I Had Legs I'd Kick You is a psychological dramedy film written and directed by Mary Bronstein.

It's produced by Sara Murphy, Ryan Zacarias, Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie, Eli Bush, Conor Hannon, and Richie Doyle. The production banners include Central Pictures, Fat City, and Bronxburgh. It was released on October 10, 2025, by A24 after its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. Rose Byrne plays the role of an exhausted mother in the film. In a recent interview, she spoke about playing the character.

"This woman who's failing so badly," Byrne joked while sharing her experience.

Let's explore in detail what the actor said about the character.


Rose Byrne talks about her role in If I Had Legs I'd Kick You

In an interview with Cinemablend, Rose Byrne spoke about her character in If I Had Legs I'd Kick You. She said,

"It's about being a parent and I'm a parent and so there's a tightrope of like this woman who's failing so badly, and her choices are obviously, you know become increasingly destructive as she sort of deteriorates. So it was a constant conversation of a touchstone between Mary Bronstein and I, our writer-director, about Linda's perspective as she's sinking into this hole."

She added,

"But also, as an actor, such fun, such rich material, such a challenge. Like someone throws you this ball, you're like 'I've got to hit this with the bat' and like not wanting to mess that up. And some days were harder than others, of course, but we had a great preparation period of about five or six weeks just talking at Mary's kitchen table and that really tethered us and grounded the performance."

If I Had Legs I'd Kick You is shot by Christopher Messina, while Lucian Johnston is the editor. Its cast members include,

  • Rose Byrne as Linda
  • Conan O'Brien as Linda's therapist
  • Danielle Macdonald as Caroline
  • Ivy Wolk as Diana
  • Manu Narayan as Landlord
  • Delaney Quinn as Linda's daughter
  • Christian Slater as Charles
  • ASAP Rocky as James
  • Mary Bronstein as Dr. Spring
  • Josh Pais as Brad
  • Lark White as Vanessa
  • Daniel Zolghadri as Stephen
  • Ella Beatty as Kate
  • Mark Stolzenberg as a clinic parking attendant
  • Ronald Bronstein as Caroline's husband
  • Helen Hong as Eva
  • Amy Judd Lieberman as Melanie

Byrne won the Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance and a Golden Globe Award. She also received an Oscar nomination in the Best Actress category.


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Edited by Nimisha