-This is -- This is a fantastic idea for a film.
You are a speechwriter.
Charlize Theron is running for president.
-Yes. -At its heart, though,
it's a rom-com. -It is a rom-com.
-Which is a genre that you have been very open about loving.
-I love rom-coms. -I do, as well.
-Yeah -- I-I-I-I-- I think love is a good thing...
-Yeah. -...to put out into the world.
And I think, you know, it's -- it's nice
to put out movies that are -- I grew up loving them.
Any -- Any movie where a woman loves me
is personally affirming to me. -Sure.
[ Light laughter ] -So I like that.
But, yeah, I grew up --
you know, "When Harry Met Sally..."
is one of my favorite movies of all time.
And -- And we wanted to make a movie that was truly romantic
but as funny, hopefully, as any movies that are out there.
And, yeah, we worked hard on it.
And Charlize is hilarious, and I think it turned out well.
-And it -- it is really fun casting
to see you and Charlize in a film together.
Was that someone you had in mind from the very beginning?
And was it hard to get her to sign on
to the idea of doing a comedy?
-No. She was actually really into it.
But, yeah, from the very get-go,
it was a script that my company had,
and I thought she would be amazing in it.
Traditionally, in films, she murders people.
-Yeah. -That's kind of her thing.
[ Laughter ]
And I thought she would be funny, though.
And I'd seen her on talk shows and stuff.
And -- And -- And I like to work with actors
who are a thousand times better than me.
That's also a thing that I try to achieve.
[ Laughter ]
It's not that hard to find them, honestly.
[ Laughter ] Yeah.
-Do you feel when you're with them
that you are elevated by their presence?
-I am elevated.
But, yeah, I will say, it -- it throws me.
It fully -- Like, I start watching it
as a -- as a performance,
and I start thinking, like, "Wow."
[ Laughter ]
Which -- Which is not a good thing to be thinking.
[ Laughter ] But -- But I do.
It's like tennis, yeah. That's what my wife
would always say, is, like, when --
'cause I suck at tennis.
And she always pretended -- she claims she's good at tennis.
And whenever I play with her, she gets mad at me
'cause she's like, "I'm as good --
I'm as good as whoever -- as whoever I play with,"
and 'cause I suck, I make her suck.
[ Laughter ] And --
And I'm just like, "Okay, whatever.
Sounds -- Sounds right to me."
But I subscribe to that theory with acting,
so I try to act with people better than me.
-You -- You were a producer on this film.
-I was. -And, obviously, you're in it.
So when you're a producer,
you get to sign off on things like wardrobe.
You wear this windbreaker --
I think it's safe to say -- for like half the film.
-A lot of the movie. -A lot of the movie.
[ Laughter ]
And was this just -- were you very happy --
when you saw the windbreaker,
did you know right away it was the windbreaker?
-It was, yes. -Yeah.
-I mean, even I was surprised at how much of the movie
I wound up in that thing. [ Laughter ]
I don't often have strong character desires.
I'm a pretty easygoing actor.
I had one thing, and I was like,
"I see this guy in neon windbreakers."
And -- And in my head, I was like, "He'll look stupid.
It'll be, like, a ridiculous fashion choice."
We shot the movie like a year and a half ago.
And in that time, they've become very fashionable.
[ Laughter ] -Yeah.
-And the guy -- he doesn't look nearly as stupid
as I wanted him to. [ Laughter ]
If anything, he looks like
he's on the cutting edge of modern streetwear.
-Yeah.
-Which I did not want, but I'll take it.
-Yeah. -Yeah, it makes it -- Yeah.
-Now, it is gonna change the framing of the film.
People are gonna be like, "Well, that's a super cool dude."
-No, he was just supposed to be a disaster.
And... [ Laughter ]
-You had Boyz II Men in the film.
-We did have Boyz II Men in the film, yeah.
-And this -- I'm assuming
you're also a fan of theirs in the way --
-Huge fan of Boyz II Men... -Yeah.
-...since I was a boy to -- to...
[ Light laughter ] -Yeah.
-Yeah. And they -- And they were --
I went to Bar Mitzvahs a lot --
a hundred Bar Mitzvahs probably as a young Jewish boy.
And -- And -- And --
And that's when you first really dance with girls,
and -- and you don't want to dance to a fast song with a girl
'cause that would make you have to move...
-Yeah. -...which I didn't want.
And instead, I just wanted
to kind of like hold onto a woman and sway.
And there was no better opportunity for that
than Boyz II Men. -Yeah.
-And you were, like, just praying
a Boyz II Men song could come on
so you could find the girl you liked
and just grab onto them and sway back and forth.
[ Laughter ] -Yeah.
-And so, because of that,
Boyz II Men reminds me of my sexual awakening.
-Wow. [ Laughter ]
I bet you're not alone. -Exactly.
-Yeah, I mean, they could've called that -- their albums,
like, "Music To Sway To" and every--
-"Music For Jews To Get Little Boners To"
would be the perfect...
[ Laughter ]
-"You guys ready --
You guys ready to get some little boners?
We're gonna put on some Boyz II Men."
-"Little circumcised boners out there!"
[ Laughter ]
♪ At the end of the road ♪
Yeah, it's -- yeah, music for -- for little boners to pop to.
-Yeah. [ Laughter ]
You're a -- There's a -- That's --
-They did better that they didn't call their album that.
-Yeah, that's not -- Yeah. -Probably, ultimately, yeah.