Madison Young faces her younger selves in 'By the Roots'
From We Need to Talk About Oscar by Áron Czapek
April 21, 2026 · 20 min
About this episode
Madison Young discusses her feature directorial debut 'By the Roots' and the adaptation of her memoir 'Daddy'.
Writer-director Madison Young adapts her memoir 'Daddy' into 'By the Roots,' her feature directorial debut. Madison traces the adaptation process and the stages the script went through in transforming such deeply personal material into cinema. We explore the casting process, from how much Madison overthought who would play her to the challenge of putting different stages of her life on screen together. Madison opens up about casting both her kid and teenage selves, navigating the complexity of seeing multiple versions of yourself embodied by other actors, and how those different ages and perspectives fit together as one continuous story. Coming from over two decades in feminist porn as a director, performer, and advocate for ethical representation of sexuality on screen, Madison examines what intimacy coordinator Maya Herbsman brought to the table on a film where the physical is so central to the story. She considers how her background shaped her approach to depicting sexuality and intimacy, and what shifts when bringing those principles into narrative filmmaking about her own life. (Photo: Courtesy of Empress in Lavender Media)
People in this episode
Host: Áron Czapek
Guest: Madison Young
Topics covered
- film adaptation
- personal storytelling
- casting process
- sexuality in film
- feminist porn
- intimacy coordination
Keywords
- Madison Young
- By the Roots
- Daddy
- film adaptation
- casting
- sexuality
- intimacy coordinator
- feminist porn
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Empress in Lavender Media
Books & works: By the Roots, Daddy
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