I Love the Moon

Karen Black

“Rafelson thought I might be too complex for Rayette, but I told him I’m essentially simple, that really everybody is essentially simple, that we are all just beings who, uh, be,” Ms. Black said in 1970, referring to Bob Rafelson, the director of “Five Easy Pieces,” and her character.

“Certainly Rayette can just be,” she said. “I dig her, she’s not dumb, she’s just not into thinking. I didn’t have to know anybody like her to play her. I mean, I’m like her, in ways. Rayette enjoys things as she sees them, she doesn’t have to add significances. She can just love the dog, love the cat. See? There are many things she does not know, but that’s cool; she doesn’t intrude on anybody else’s trip. And she’s going to survive. Do you understand me?”