![about time movie actress about time movie actress](https://c8.alamy.com/comp/2D58R81/ernest-thompson-director-of-the-showtime-cable-television-movie-out-of-time-greets-friend-actress-shirley-maclaine-at-the-films-premiere-june-12-in-beverly-hills-the-film-a-modern-day-retelling-of-the-rip-van-winkle-story-will-be-telecast-in-the-united-states-june-18-fspclh-2D58R81.jpg)
“Whether she was talking to me and being recorded or talking to somebody in a restaurant or some random people she just met because she always strikes up a conversation, she was always the same person.” “One of the things that made Linda such a pleasure to document as a journalist was that she has a certain unselfconsciousness about her,” Bruder says. The book is centered on Linda May, a 64-year-old grandmother living in her secondhand Jeep who is working temporary low-wage jobs in order to save money to fulfill her dream of finding land to build a sustainable “Earthship” home. She built off that reporting and three years later published Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century. In 2014, Bruder wrote a cover story for Harper’s Magazine, “The End of Retirement,” which detailed the plight of older Americans who couldn’t afford to retire and worked temporary jobs for companies like Amazon. Here’s what to know about the real-life stories behind Nomadland, as well as the lifestyle at its center. TIME spoke to Bruder about the book and what it was like seeing the nomads she spent so much time with featured in a major movie. The movie has gained significant awards buzz since it became the first film ever to take home the top prizes from both the Venice and Toronto Film Festivals, recently collecting four Golden Globe nominations, including Best Director and Best Motion Picture (Drama). “Everything happens simultaneously, because once we meet someone like Swankie, we realize she has to be in the film, and that informs the journey that Fern is going to take,” Zhao said. In adapting the book for the screen, Zhao told Deadline that the real-life elements helped shape the character of Fern.
![about time movie actress about time movie actress](https://static.spotboye.com/uploads/Sara-Khan_2021-7-2-14-50-30_thumbnail.jpg)
Like in Zhao’s previous films Songs My Brothers Taught Me and The Rider, the director cast non-professional actors, in this case real-life nomads, to play versions of themselves. © 2020 20th Century Studios All Rights Reserved We follow her narrative, but she’s also this backbone, and all these other things spoke off of her story.” “She guides us down this road, and we meet all these people.
![about time movie actress about time movie actress](https://images.indianexpress.com/2019/08/vidya-sinha-759x422.jpg)
“The filmmakers refer to Frances as a docent, which I really love,” Bruder tells TIME. Nomadland’s loosely unfolding narrative follows Fern as she navigates life on the road, working several jobs, meeting and befriending fellow nomads and adjusting to her new normal. The author spent months living in a secondhand van, which she named “Halen,” in an effort to better understand her subjects, like Linda May and Swankie, who play themselves in the movie. While researching the book, Bruder spent years following nomads across the country, and in doing so, showcased an invisible but significant portion of the American workforce. The 2017 nonfiction book is a sweeping account of post-recession contemporary nomads like the fictional Fern. 19, is based on a book of the same name by Jessica Bruder. Nomadland, written and directed by Chloé Zhao and hitting theaters and Hulu on Feb.