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Finding just what they wanted to do

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Times Staff Writer

THE independent drama “Come Early Morning,” which opens Friday, explores the life of a thirtysomething single woman at the crossroads of her life. The film’s writer-director, Joey Lauren Adams, and its star, Ashley Judd -- both 38 -- were also at their own turning points when the project entered their lives.

Adams, who hails from Little Rock, Ark., where “Come Early Morning” is set, started writing the script several years ago. An actress who came to fame nine years ago in Kevin Smith’s “Chasing Amy” and was most recently seen in “The Break-Up,” she didn’t know what to do during the time she wasn’t auditioning or performing. So she turned to writing.

“I found myself becoming unhappy and frustrated over the roles that were out there for actresses and going to movies and saying, ‘I don’t relate to that,’ ” she said. “It was something to do to get out of bed when there were no auditions or scripts to read.”

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After writing 75 pages, she hesitantly sent the script to her agent, who encouraged Adams to continue.

While writing “Come Early Morning,” Adams planned to star in it. But once she’d finished and began talking about who would direct the film, she realized she didn’t want to let her story go into someone else’s hands.

“I had worked really hard writing the script, just to make it true to my experience in the South and to make these characters real. That had been really hard to do,” Adams explained. “Then the music became important to me and the locations, because a lot of them actually exist in Arkansas. I wanted the film to shoot in Arkansas, and I wanted to be there when it was edited, and I wanted to be there during the casting. Finally, my agent said, ‘Joey, you are going to have to direct it.’ ”

For a while, Adams harbored the idea that she would both direct and star as her heroine, Lucy -- a woman who works as a contractor by day and spends her evenings in bars, going home with the first man who asks her.

“Then I came to my senses,” she said. “I realized there is so much I don’t know about directing and I would prefer to learn that than act in it. And it was great for me. I so enjoyed not having to worry about hair and makeup and wardrobe, or did I spill my lunch on myself -- that sort of thing.”

IT took Adams five years to line up producers and financing for the film, which began production last year. Judd was everyone’s No. 1 choice to play Lucy. Although Judd was born in California, she grew up mostly in the South and has a home in Tennessee.

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The “Come Early Morning” script came at just the right time for Judd. “I am not a big strategy person,” she said. “I’m not terribly ambitious. I don’t have some overreaching plan for myself.”

For the last few years, acting has taken a back seat to her work as a YouthAIDS global ambassador for Population Services International.

“I had done ‘De-Lovely’ and was very engaged with my HIV-AIDS prevention initiative, and I was taking a hard look at human trafficking and the sexual exploitation of girls and women,” Judd said. “All of that information created in me a real need and desire to do a simple, creative, honest film that was character driven. I have been blown away by the individual stories of poor women I have met all over; in an interesting way, it created a craving in me to tell a single woman’s heartfelt story about her journey. I just lost my appetite and my stamina for some big, glossy, high-production-value picture. It felt very inauthentic to me.”

Adams recalled that the two bonded when they met over brunch. “We didn’t talk much about the project,” she said. “It was sort of like we just knew it was going to happen. We didn’t have rehearsals. I think I went to her house for a couple of hours before we started shooting. There was an immediate trust.”

Adams admitted it was difficult giving up the role of Lucy. “I was kind of worried if I would go through the entire process seeing myself in the role. But the first day of shooting, the first scene, it was, like, ‘OK. We’re fine. It’s hers.’ ”

If Adams was nervous about her first time behind the camera, Judd says she never saw any jitters.

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“She was so clear and approachable,” said Judd. “She was enthusiastic to the point that it was infectious. The entire crew showed up every day so dedicated to her. We had a great time. The snacks were good and the roses were in bloom.”

And Adams enjoyed herself so much she wants to continue directing.

“I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed going into the set and being involved,” she said. “I really like working with actors.”

But if you see her in L.A., it’ll only be because she’s here working. Adams has moved to Oxford, Miss.

“I just missed the South,” she said. “I’m older now. I think L.A. is great for some people.... The town where I moved, I am sure a lot of people would hate it. But it has the kind of food I like. The music I like. I ride my bike around. It’s just a different lifestyle.”

susan.king@latimes.com

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