It’s almost weird to go back and look at all the great (or, at the very least, interesting) movies Rose Byrne was in before her career exploded a few years ago. There’s Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette. In 2007 she also stared in the sequel to Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later, 28 Weeks Later. That same year she starred in a Danny Boyle’s pretty close to a masterpiece Sunshine. (And, yes, if you go back far enough, she’s in Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, but we’ll get to that.)
Byrne’s career is so diverse (yes, most audiences probably now know her for comedy, but a lot of her earlier work was not) it’s hard to pinpoint a turning point – the movie that changed everything for her. From the outside looking in it might be easy to think it was Bridesmaids, but according to Byrne, instead it was Nicholas Stoller’s sort of sequel to Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Get Him to the Greek.
Byrne is starring alongside Mark Wahlberg in the upcoming Instant Family. A warning, this movie just might get you. Based on director Sean Anders’ actual experiences adopting three kids, it’s certainly a funny movie, but its themes about family and not having anyone to care for, or, in turn, not having anyone to care for you do have the ability to activate the waterworks.
I met Rose Byrne at an Upper West Side hotel on a rainy New York Saturday. In person, Byrne always seems more comfortable talking about others than she does talking about herself, which as a human being is a positive attribute, but I can’t turn in an interview titled, “Here’s what Rose Byrne thinks about Mark Wahlberg.” But the truth is, Byrne has had, and is having, a fascinating career. And once she starts talking about it, she has a lot of interesting things to say.
This movie just wrecked me.
Oh, really?
I thought it would be a good laugh.
Then you’re like, oh my gosh! It was like that reading it.
Really?
I read it and then I gave it to my husband, Bobby, to read. He was just a mess. He was like, this is going to be amazing.
It’s been an emotional year for me after losing my father. So here’s a movie about parents, and getting older without having kids yet, then adopting kids and then I’m like, “Oh, I’m getting older and I don’t have kids…”
I think it’s wonderful that you felt moved by it and you were confronted by it. It is a deceiving film because it is funny. It gets you in with the laughs and then sort of punches you in the gut with the heart and the emotions – before you know it you’re really shattered by the whole thing.
I don’t think I’ve ever cried during a movie starring Mark Wahlberg before.
[Laughs] People are funny today! Audiences love him. He’s very vulnerable in this movie.
But people love you, too. I have heard people refer to this as the “Mark Wahlberg and Rose Byrne” movie, or vice versa.
Oh, really?
You’re a famous actor now. But you know that.
I’m very, very aware of things that come my way, and things that don’t, and what I have access to in my career and everything. With Mark, he really opens doors to a certain kind of audience that I think will see this movie.
Are you saying that you think there’s gonna be a new audience to see you? Because I don’t think that’s true. I think people going to see this have seen you in a bunch of movies and already like you.
Well, with a film like this, which rides the line of being a message film, I don’t think that it doesn’t hit you over the head.
It hit me, to be fair…
Did it?
I mean that in a positive way. It sure made me feel emotions.
It gets you in its grip. I want it to just be seen as much as it can. It’s got the power to really change things and just try to start any conversations. Kids in foster care lose that stigma which they have. It’s so unfair.
You are one of my favorite actors working, so to see you share scenes Julie Hagerty and Joan Cusack in this was pretty great.
Sean felt the same way. Sean Anders loves Airplane! and loves all of Joan’s films. That was such a big deal for him to be able to get Joan. He’s a huge fan. He was very excited about that.
From the outside looking in you seem to have the acting career in the way it’s supposed to work. In that you do great work and over the years you’ve become more and more recognized for your work.
Slow and steady!
Well, I think back to when you were in something like Sunshine, which I love, it does look like this steady rise up.
That’s so cool you know Sunshine. That’s such a cool movie.
Oh my gosh. We all need to talk about Sunshine more as a society.
[Laughs] “As a society,” I like that. It’s a sci-fi cult kind of hit. It’s always good to look back to see how far you’ve come in life. It’s a great thing to do sometimes. What’s great is to see how far you’ve come when you’re having a frustrating time or things don’t come your way that you want. Or when things do come your way. It’s such a strange business like that. As much as you try to control and go after what you want, it’s so much out of your control.
Has there been a frustrating time?
Of course, no, I’ve had many things have not come my way. All those sorts of things. Yeah, definitely had that experience. I think whoever you are, I don’t know, maybe if you’re not… I’m trying to think of the most famous actor in the world…
Tom Cruise?
Yeah, exactly, someone like that. I’ve been so lucky, particularly with comedy. I feel like I’ve just been – you’re only as good as the people you work with. I’ve been so spoiled with working with Paul Feig and Nick Stoller and John Apatow, and now Miguel Arteta and Sean Anders. I’ve been in such good company. It’s been ridiculous.
Do you ever wanna tell people, “Hey, remember my very great dramatic work before I became super famous for comedies?” Again, Sunshine is a good example.
[Laughs] Yeah! And I did Damages for six seasons with Glenn Close, which was a great thriller, two-handed relationship between these two women. It was kind of ahead of its time. I have been incredibly grateful that I’ve had such a diverse career. Yeah.
The reason I asked is I am wondering if there’s a movie where you felt like it changed everything?
Bridesmaids was a really big, beloved hit. It was funny, it didn’t really change things for me, professionally, for a while.
That’s surprising.
Which was surprising. It’s now always, you know I mean, how it seems.
I’m sure you get a lot of that, people assuming that it all changed right after Bridesmaids.
Yeah, exactly. Then maybe someone sees you in a play and you get a little part in this, or whatever. I’ve had other little breaks. It’s all sort of microscopic stuff. Really, Get Him to the Greek got me Bridesmaids. That was a really pivotal thing.
Get Him to the Greek is funny.
It’s so funny! It’s such wacky, hilarious characters. So different from Damages. It’s sort of those moments that are kind of weirdly more turning points.
So Attack of the Clones plays on TBS right now on a constant loop.
Oh my God. Now you’re doing a deep dive…
But I’m watching Attack of the Clones and I see you in the background and it’s kind of like you are watching it, too, just from a different angle.
[Laughs] That’s a really good way to describe it. I am. I sort of stood there going, [nodding] “Uh huh..”
Dorme.
No, Dor-mé.
Dormé
I know. I think they just had to, it was shot in Sydney, so they had to get a bunch of Australians in the cast. I think that’s why I got the part. “We better hire that girl!” I’m like one of the point zero one percent who is not a Star Wars fan.
That’s why it’s so interesting you’re in it.
Everybody else was over the moon!
Speaking of Tom Cruise, Vanilla Sky was on the other day and I noticed Michael Shannon hanging out in the background of a scene.
Wait, he is? That is wild.
That’s also like seeing you in Attack of the Clones.
Totally. I know. Wait a second, it is! I totally know that feeling when you see an actor and you go, hold on a second, is that Russell Crowe?!?! Yeah, it’s funny.
Was Attack of the Clones a welcome to Hollywood moment? That had to be the weirdest experience. It was so early in your career.
George was so cool. I had done little Aussie movies. He was really cool. Natalie was great. It was a fun shoot. It was really cool. We kind of would hang out. Everyone was pretty young and Hayden was pretty nice.
Do you ever run into Natalie Portman and you’re like, hey, Dormé?
I haven’t seen her for years. She’s lovely. I’m such a fan. She’s such a ferocious, ferociously intelligent actress. She’s just marvelous, what she’s done with Times Up.
Oh yeah, she’s on the forefront. When you watch her speak, she is not messing around.
She is ferocious.
‘Instant Family’ opens November 16. You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.</em
