00:00Jim Rash wrote in his director's statement that there's a lot of him in Jamie.
00:04So I'm wondering, like, what conversations maybe you had with Jim about that, just about the character in general?
00:11Yeah, we talked a lot about, I think, sort of what I mean, not specifically sort of, you know, what
00:18what parts of Jamie were Jim, because he made it very clear that this was not an autobiographical film.
00:24But like any great writer, he does pull things from his past and other people's pasts around him to sort
00:32of make these characters as human as possible.
00:34So there was so much about it when I first read it that I just related to personally, there was
00:40a real ease into this process.
00:43And I sort of like to just run things a lot and rehearse things and see what happens.
00:49And Allison also likes to work that way. So we were able to, once we had memorized this entire script
00:56before we started, then we were able to just kind of forget about that part and then just kind of
01:01try some different things.
01:04Allison, same for you. What conversations did you and Jim have about Diane?
01:07You know, was she at all based on his own mother? And how did you just find that connection with
01:11with her character?
01:11Um, I didn't get the sense that Jim had based her on exactly on anyone. I think she was an
01:16amalgamation of a lot of different, some real, some made up characters in his mind.
01:21And I just loved Diane and getting behind. I've never had to play a kind of a role like this
01:29with someone who was such a controlling and trolling woman with so much anger and resentment and loss.
01:36So much going on under the surface that it was exciting to play her. I don't know anyone like Diane.
01:43I just love her sense of humor. Her dark sense of humor made me just laugh. I just love her
01:49so much.
01:50Um, she's so not like me. She's completely different than me, which made her really fun to play and get
01:58to just attack the hell out of Andrew in these scenes. These, it's just a, such a brilliant setup with
02:05two strangers with such incredible history and backstory of their own coming together, colliding in this, this incredible movie and
02:14watching them, watching them grow together, watching them learn from each other in the end.
02:19And, and, and, um, it's just, I don't think they could have done that on their own without having that.
02:24Like, I don't think Diane could have changed without Jamie. Jamie could have changed without Diane with her brutal honesty
02:29and just, just digging in.
02:31My favorite moment is when you're in the diner and Diane says to Jamie, like, can you be done? And
02:36like, and Jamie's like, yeah, yeah, of course.
02:39Can you be done? We've got a lot to do. Yeah, I, yeah, I can be done.
02:45Hello?
02:47So tell me a little bit about finding that dynamic together. You talked a little bit about it. I mean,
02:51obviously you have the script there. These are long dialogue heavy scenes, but tell me about finding that back and
02:56forth with each other.
02:57So there's there. Yeah. We just, we just fell into it naturally. We're both, we both come have big, strong
03:05theater backgrounds. We know it's just like playing a game of tennis and we're just going back and forth that.
03:11It's just, and the rhythm all seemed to be written in the script or certain things that we found that
03:15actually, I love Jim saying this, that there were certain times when we'd be doing a scene and he's like,
03:20you're already doing that. Don't say the word. Don't get cut that line. Just you're, you're doing it. And finding
03:25those things together was really, was really, was really fun. And so completely collaborative, all, all three of us at
03:31all times being able to say whatever we wanted and Hey, let's do this. Let's start.
03:34Yeah. Well, and he gave us such a solid framework that there wasn't, it never really felt like there was
03:40that much need to like improvise too much or paraphrase too much. Like it was all, it was really solid.
03:47So there was occasionally sometimes of like, what about, you know, just like kind of around. But, but for the
03:53most part, that wasn't really, this wasn't that type of job where we had to like punch things up as
03:58we went along. We didn't have to do that.
04:00If you remember any moments that were sort of like improvised between the two of you.
04:04In the greenhouse, when we go to the greenhouse, there was like a little more room. Bonnie Hunt, there was,
04:09I mean, Bonnie is so funny. And obviously if you've got Bonnie Hunt there, like you kind of want to
04:16let her do.
04:16And she also is a brilliant writer. Like she herself is, she understands, you know, story and character and it
04:24is so incredible as an actor, but then also understands the writing side of it. So she's not just improvising
04:31to be funny. She's not just like doing bits.
04:33She would always do something that was like, was very character motivated. And she really did create that poor woman
04:41who was just the nosy neighbor that we couldn't quite get rid of. But she, I just think she's a
04:47dream.
04:47I think it's really interesting that Tyler, the character, looms over this movie. We never meet him, but both your
04:51characters have such a strong relationship with him. So I'm wondering how you both felt about this character and how
04:56did you picture him? Like, I don't know, did either of you have an actor in mind?
05:00Well, I, yeah, we both had, I had somebody very specific in mind, not someone very close to me in
05:07my life that, that was Tyler for me. And, and Andrew probably had his own version of Tyler.
05:13I mean, that, you know, as an actor, those are the things you have to, to do to find your
05:18connection to the, to the role, to the, the characters that are in the character, the other characters that are
05:23in your character's life.
05:25So that's part of our, our homework that we do. And, and it's kind of brilliant that he never, he
05:31never shows up because it's not the, he's not the point really.
05:34It's about these people letting go of their, their different needs of him. And, and that's what's.
05:42It's better that he's not there. It is. It's better that he doesn't show up.
05:45For both of you, which scene did you kind of find the most daunting or challenging or rewarding that you
05:49were kind of anticipating throughout the shoot?
05:51I know it was a short shoot. Um, you know, the fight in the kitchen stands out to me.
05:54The one thing we agreed upon was that our priority was to be Tyler. He should know nothing from us,
06:00but love. And that included to each other.
06:04I hate that I'm telling you this.
06:06You don't have to tell me.
06:07Yes, I do.
06:08I was very nervous about our final scene together of saying goodbye to you.
06:13Your parents knew. We always know. And they knew who you were. You were their son who loved them to
06:24the end.
06:28You know that it's on the schedule. You know that it's coming. Um, I was, I was nervous about that
06:34day. And a lot of it was because I also, you know, the, the project, the process was so fulfilling
06:39and so fun.
06:40And I knew when we got to that scene, it meant that we were going to be finished soon. Um,
06:46so there was also that tied up in it. Um, but, uh, no, it was, it was, it was, it
06:52was, I would say it was every day had its own challenges, but also a lot of fun.
06:58And on some of those, some of those days where we were really letting each other have it, there was
07:02a lot of laughter on set when we were doing those scenes. It's hard to sustain that level of anger.
07:09So then sometimes we would have to break into song.
07:13Please. What songs were you singing on set?
07:15I can't tell you.
07:16Um, no, it's the first thing that came to my mind. Oh my God. Yeah.
07:23A lot of scenes had a different challenging moment. And, uh, and obviously the ones that with heavy emotion were,
07:30those are always hard.
07:32There weren't any days, like some days as an actor, there's, you know, on your only job one day is
07:37to like walk through a door.
07:39Yeah.
07:39Is you're going to do an insert on this. Like we didn't have any of those days. There was always
07:44things to do.
07:45This movie does feel like a play. Does it make both of you want to go back to Broadway soon?
07:49Andrew, I know it hasn't been that long for you.
07:51Well, someone's going back to Broadway real soon.
07:53I'm going back to Broadway this fall in a, um, other desert cities.
07:57I can't wait.
07:58Yeah. I'm going in. He's going back to Broadway in June.
08:01And the Book of Mormon just for a little bit, but I tried to talk myself into your production as
08:07like a understudy or it didn't, it didn't happen. I didn't get the gig, but I'll be there on opening
08:12night.
08:12Bye.
08:12Bye.
08:13Bye.
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