Hi. How are you doing today?
Hello, Sarah. I'm doing well. How are you?
Yeah, I'm very good.
Thank you.
I'm just going to say that I'm still on a high from watching the film.
I absolutely love this.
Such a charming little film.
Oh, great.
Just wanted to that.
Yeah, it was really, really lovely.
What drew you to the project?
Well, a couple of things.
You know, when I first read the script and saw that, it was based on
a real story that was really exciting to me
because I think if you had made this up, no one would believe you.
I mean, like, wait a minute.
You can't play the lottery in an automatically win
and then share the money.
That's that's crazy. So
that was very exciting to me.
And, you know, I think what you mentioned that it's just so
darn warm hearted, you know, it's just it's uplifting.
These are real human beings.
It's small town America.
You don't get to see much a small town America anymore.
You know, everything is like, you know,
action, adventure and romance in the big city and just normal Americans
trying to get by doing the best they can with what they have.
You Brits are better at doing
doing those kind of films than we are But
so I, I liked the warm heartedness
of the story as well, so I was just thrilled to be a part of it.
It's amazing.
So how did you not known about Jerry and Marge's story beforehand?
I didn't know about the story and then read the script and then Googled
them and read some articles and was really taken with their story.
I can't I can't believe that that that actually happened.
And it was it was so cool because they didn't cheat anybody.
They didn't break any laws or any rules.
They just
figured something out.
You know, it was just kind of good old fashioned American ingenuity.
And I love that aspect.
Absolutely.
I've never wished to have paid more attention
to Mars before watching this film.
I know.
Right, exactly.
And I hope the minute you come on screen, I absolutely loved
there was kind of chaotic energy that you bring to the story.
How did you get into the character like Bill?
You know, sometimes
sometimes you have a character and you kind of like struggle.
How am I going to play him?
And you have to do some work and research and some transformation and,
you know, and then really kind of try and figure things out, rehearse.
And then sometimes, like with Jerry and Marge,
I just read this character was like, oh,
I know this guy is I can play this guy,
you know, asleep with a blindfold on.
And so there wasn't
any preparation or research or anything like that.
I was like, This guy is just going to be super fun.
He could kind of do and say anything.
And I was really excited to do that.
And you know, this was really
one of the very first strictly comedic roles
that I've played since the Office
and I was really excited to jump in
to just doing some comedy, you know?
And that was really fun. Too,
and I just felt like he was in my wheelhouse.
Lately, I kind of relate to him most because he says Yeah, you guys.
Yeah, every now and then, and I do that all the time.
I'm like, Yes, this is my character.
Yeah.
And he's he's positive, you know, he's a kind of like
he's like a yes and person, you know, say yes to life.
And he gets this opportunity to go in on some lottery thing.
He doesn't even know what it is
he's in and he, he wants in and and it works out well for him.
So, you know, I think we're always rooting for someone like that,
you know, rooting for the people, for the naysayers.
Yeah.
That's how I kind of love how Bill gets involved
because he's he's just like, yeah, let's do it.
No questions asked.
Yeah, indeed, indeed.
But what I do love is that I feel like Jerry and Marge kind of inspire
Bill beyond the money, and it becomes a bit more of an self around them.
Yeah.
I mean, he does definitely go through an arc where
his is a little stuck and his life's a bit broken at the top.
And, you know, by saying yes to this adventure
and going along with Jerry and Marge, he kind of comes into his own
and gains a confidence.
And he's kind of a different guy.
At the at the end of the movie in a really in a really fun way.
Absolutely.
And how is it working with Bryan Cranston in that bending at that little lovely
relationship you guys, and friendship you have at the core of this movie?
Well, Bryan, I knew I had met him a couple of times
socially, but he actually directed an episode of The Office
and that's how I really got to know Bryan. And
I mean, he's just such a terrific guy.
And that.
So it was fun getting to play with him.
And, you know, he has a comedy background, too.
He was on Malcolm in the middle for eight years or something like that.
So I knew he he could improvise and,
you know, give back as good as he got.
And Annette Bening, she's like an icon.
I grew up watching Annette Bening films.
I was in college when I saw Belmont and The Grifters and
I just loved her work.
And she's just so warm and and funny and charming.
And it was an absolute delight.
I wish I could. I know that's not very interesting.
I wish I could.
I wish there was some dirt I could dig up on working with them. But
that that's it.
Personally, I find that more interesting when they're nice and lovely
and good human beings all around.
Yeah. Yeah, indeed.
And that really shows off the movie because it is just about, well,
initially about a bunch of nice people doing nice things for their community.
Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely.
And I think Brad Copeland, the screenwriter,
did such a good job of fleshing out all of the characters
and the ancillary characters and even Bill like, giving him the divorce subplot
and just the little journey that he had, you know, and a lesser
screenwriter would have just made him a simple comic relief and not much depth
or complexity or story to the guy.
But, you know, Michael McQueen's character, Larry Wilmore,
his character all had interesting kind of back stories and
just a lot of fun.
Absolutely.
And I just love how Bill's shop becomes the epicenter of all this action.
It's like it's like this
this weird heist that's going on in the middle of this convenience store.
How is it working with that set and that kind of energy?
Yeah, it was this really dilapidated Atlanta gas station
that we dressed up, supposed to be western Massachusetts.
It was hot when we were shooting well over 100 degrees.
90% humidity.
And that was quite difficult.
But I thought the production design and the costume
design did an amazing job of,
you know,
creating a world that everyone
you felt like you've been there before and you know what that place is like.
And then it became an additional character in the film.
Absolutely.
I mean, I've not spent much time in America,
but it just does feel like this homage to small American life and small town
American living, really.
And that kind of shot really, really brings that to life.
Yeah, indeed. Yeah. Agreed.
Absolutely.
And I feel like there might be a comment on how we treat old age as well
in this movie.
And we kind of like shove our retired people
to be like, just go away now kind of thing.
Yeah.
I think that's a that's an interesting theme in the film.
I was like, what if there's old people that don't know what to do?
And they don't want to play golf or go boating, you know, and just drink mai
tais, you know, because it's a really important chapter.
I mean, you have so much, you know, wisdom and knowledge and
so much to give back.
I think
I think the whole concept of retirement and the least the American way is
is bogus.
And ridiculous and
and needs to change this idea
that I'm just going to coast until I die.
Kind of like
I'm just want to be comfortable and have a little fun before I keel over.
Like, you know, you've got 20 or 30 good years left, like dig in, you know,
like travel, learn a hobby, learn a language,
give back, volunteer,
give your savings to interesting
projects, help rescue animals
you're part of something.
What's at a jazz festival?
Start a jazz festival.
Exactly.
Play the lottery play the lottery.
Yeah, indeed.
Absolutely.
And I feel like I love the contrast with the students.
The kind of high flying Harvard Yale students and I put this line in.
My question was
they would have gotten away with it if it weren't for those meddling kids.
That's true.
That's true. It's a very good movie.
Only the best movies have a little bit of Scooby Doo
in them.
So indeed.
Absolutely.
What was it like working with director David Frankel on this movie?
David was great.
You know,
he was really open to what all the actors brought.
And I think that's a really important aspect of directing that, you know,
you're open to improvization and, you know, the direction
that actors want to take things and you cast it right
and and kind of take your hands off the wheel
and let them let them do what they do best.
And and he did that really well.
And he kept it just a really light tone, airy, breezy
tone to it, which is hard to do, you know, and
and he kept everyone in the same movie, which is also hard to do.
And I think he did a terrific job.
It was a pleasure working with him.
Amazing.
And it really shows
and we touched on this before, but this is a real underdog story,
and it feels like we like you said at the beginning
of the interview, there's so many action blockbusters coming out right now.
Why do you think we still keep coming back to the underdog stories like this,
the warm hearted ones Well,
the underdog story of real Americans
warm hearted
stories, you know, the Frank Capra kind of movies,
you know, this is that the film industry was built on those.
It wasn't built on superheroes running into skyscrapers.
And it's a human story.
It's relatable.
And that's why this was one of those movies.
This is you know, there's this horrible jargon in Hollywood
where they talk about a four quadrant film like children
use adults and seniors.
You know, this is a four quadrant film that everyone can really enjoy.
And those are those are pretty rare.
This feels in a weird way, like a little bit of a throwback in that sense.
Absolutely.
And like I said, I so utterly charmed by it.
I really hope people go and see it and be heart warmed in
in this kind of times of uncertainty.
Yeah.
So I've written down
like two of my favorite scenes of those, and I think that I need a new frog.
And then that chase moment of particular highlights.
What were your favorite scenes with him?
Which one was your highlight?
The whole I need a new frog and then the nacho sauce,
which happens for like one second but it stuck in my brain for the entire movie.
Yeah. Yeah, that was, that was great.
Anything comedic bits
having to do with nacho cheese is
is is a pleasure. So
I think it was fun
getting a divorce.
All the stuff with Bill and his wife was really a lot of fun, I think.
And I love that subplot, even though it's just like
two or three little scenes.
That was a real that was a real joy to
and that's why I love that he's
you know, Brad, the screenwriter, gave Bill
some real kind of a backstory and some complexity,
some heft.
And I think a lesser screenwriter would not have done that.
So that was great.
Absolutely.
And you play it so well.
It's a really wonderful performance.
Thank you so much.
It was really a lot of fun.
I love this film. I can't wait for people to see it.
Me neither.
Thank you so much for spending some time
with me today talking about this lovely film.
I hope you enjoy the rest of your day.
Thank you so much. It was really nice talking to you.
I'm glad you like talking to me. Take care.
OK, so long.