I feel like there are certain people I’ve interviewed to the point of familiarity, and in each case, I’m glad it’s these people that are the ones I see over and over.
It becomes easier and easier to just pick up the conversation where we left off and talk about the new thing and talk about their craft, and it’s better, I think, for you as the reader. You’re going to see a more relaxed version of this person, and that’s going to mean you’ll get something more genuine out of them.
Case in point, there’s this set of interviews from “Jeff Who Lives At Home,” the new film from the Duplass Brothers. It’s weird how omnipresent they seem at this moment. For example, today, I went to a SXSW screening of their film “The Do-Deca Pentathalon,” and then I got out and started writing up these interviews for their other film “Jeff Who Lives At Home,” which I’ve been writing about since Toronto last year. Mark was also in “Your Sister’s Sister” and “Safety Not Guaranteed” at Sundance, and we talked to him about all of those.
It stars Jason Segel, who I’ll also be writing about extensively next week in a series of reports from the set of “The Five Year Engagement,” and who I interviewed repeatedly for “The Muppets” last year, as well as Ed Helms, who I’ve interviewed in recent months for “The Hangover Part II,” “Cedar Rapids,” and “The Lorax.” Between the two of them, I’ll bet I’ve done seven or eight interviews in just the last few years.
The point is, these are guys who I enjoy talking to, and who always seem up for the conversation. The piece above is a little bit of both of them, talking about this particular experience, and what makes “Jeff Who Lives At Home” so special.
After you’ve watched that, you can check out this Ed Helms interview I did for “The Lorax,” which seems to be enjoying a few weeks to itself at the top of the box-office.
“Jeff Who Lives At Home” opens in theaters this Friday.