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What were your
challenges in making this film? Ensemble
films are a different challenge since
it’s more people to work with than the
average. Was that difficult for either
of you?
Lisa Kudrow: Yeah.
Steve Coogan:
I think the difficult thing for me was…
it’s a difficult thing but also
positive. When people are good at what
they do and your working with people who
are good actors, it raises the bar
because you are seeing what people are
doing. I saw the dialers before I
started doing my part and I thought, you
can’t be complacent and you can’t coast.
You don’t want to be the weak link. But
that’s actually good because it raises
the bar all around them, so you get a
good ensemble piece.
Lisa Kudrow:
Well I agree with what Steve
said. But then on another, kind of
level, because your in an ensemble and
there are so many other stories going
on, it’s easier. All you have to do is
pay attention to your little moments.
And let Don Roos worry about the rest,
you know?
Steve. How many
coffees did you have to have in the
morning to play Charley?
Steve: That’s great. I just
watched Don Roos and did him a little
british accent.
Was it difficult Lisa, to get rid of
the TV personality and span out into
these different kinds of roles? Were you
looking for smaller films to sought of
give yourself a chance to stretch?
Lisa: Well, the scripts that
come to me, the interesting ones that I
feel I can connect with, that I feel
like I could do something with, those
turn out to be the independent films.
You played the
character very “straight”. Can you talk
about that?
Steve: Well, I ahh…I played
it not as straight as uhh…David did.
Umm, my boyfriend. I didn’t want to do a
kind of showy, kind of birdcagey type
of…uh uh…I didn’t want to …I didn’t
relate to this kind of cheating…I just
wanted to make him interesting and
insecure.
Did Don give you any advice or coast
you along?
Steve: No. He just gave me
the script. And occasionally he would
umm…he would nudge in this direction or
that.
When you read
the script, did it intrigue you on how
it was structured?
Lisa Kudrow: Yes and no. I
had already done opposite of sex and he
had the narration which was a little
different. I always wondered how were
shooting that and how this would come
off. And I wondered how the whole film
would come off. It came off beautifully
and perfectly executed. And so I thought
whatever this was he would know how to
do it.
Do you feel you will be criticized
for trying to take your career to a
dramatic turn?
Lisa Kudrow: I wasn’t
intentionally trying to do drama. I
don’t think Don wrote this as here’s
some high tension for Lisa to play. You
know actually, I’d show up to work and
say ‘hey, today would be kind of light,
we could have some fun with this one’.
And as we looked through it, we couldn’t
because this is the time or that moment
where we would see that this was
happening for the first time. And I
would say oops, look at that.
The film is
full of betrayal in relationships. What
about that has touched you in people
that you know?
Lisa: Well, I don’t know. I
think in general that when you get to
know people, they show you there
vulnerabilities. That’s a consequence of
intimacy. You get to know someone, you
get to understand the things that they
do. Why they do them. And you can
forgive them for it. Because you have a
bond and you become connected. And I
think this movie, kind of, accomplishes
that. I mean, Don even said I don’t want
you to a… I want you to slowly get to
know these people like in real life the
way you get to know people. They seem
really harsh and they do bad mean
things. You get to know them, you see
why they’re doing the things they are.
They’re real hurt or real damaged.
They’d do it even if they were aware of
it.
Charley goes through some devastating
relations. Did it affect you? And if so,
how did you reflect upon it?
Steve Coogan: I was saying
before that I am always attracted to
pain. And the challenge to always make
that character sympathetic; I said in
the script how I like that this
character was doing negative things and
destructive things. Everything is
mitigated by circumstance. Like umm…the
background that people have. My
character…he was someone who I enjoyed
making. Sought of humanizing. It was
already there in the script anyway.
One of the
human aspects is when he was really
adiment in finding out if the child was
Gil’ child.
Steve: When you were talking
to Lisa before about comedy and drama is
that, the kind of honesty in Don’s
writing is when it’s funny it’s like
life. That’s why when trying to
categorize something like comedy or
drama it’s very broad. All those area’s
are undefinable.
Your character wasn’t directly upset
at the masuese being married. What was
her reason for directing her energy
elsewhere?
Lisa Kudrow:
I think Maime was shocked and
disappointed. Mostly because she thought
she was the one with the secret. Not
him. And she wasn’t going to betray any
kind of hurt in front of Nicky. Holding
on to a secret became actually more
important than holding on to a feeling.
You both have a
origin with TV. Do you feel some kind of
comfort level when you return to
televison as oppose to working in film?
Lisa Kudrow:
I’m drawn to whatever is well written.
That the director can pull off and I can
do something with the part. It’s that
small.
Steve Coogan:
If you have some experience
in comedy, you know how to take those
boxes and press those buttons and find
the humor. Comedy is so surgical with
your timing. I find that if it’s
something more interesting then it’s
more about letting go. Trusting other
people. Being guided by them. It’s the
meat and potatoes of the comedy. One
thing I find is quite good, for me, is
not to stand still.
What does Don
Roos give you that you haven’t found
elsewhere?
Lisa Kudrow: Well for me and
for all his characters I would say he
writes women more complicated than most
everything else. Woman are there to be
cute, light charming and I guess that’s
what people want to see I guess but…with
Don you have the opportunity to play
real human beings that are women.
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