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Tag: the-little-hours

  • ‘Together’ Interview: Alison Brie and Dave Franco

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    Opening in theaters on July 30th is the new “body horror” movie ‘Together’, which was written and directed by Michael Shanks (‘Parked‘), and stars real-life married couple Alison Brie (‘Promising Young Woman’) and Dave Franco (‘Now You See Me’).

    Related Article: Director Dave Franco Talks Prime Video’s ‘Somebody I Used to Know’

    (L to R) Alison Brie and Dave Franco star in 'Together'.
    (L to R) Alison Brie and Dave Franco star in ‘Together’.

    Moviefone recently had the pleasure of sitting down in person with Alison Brie and Dave Franco to talk about their work on ‘Together’, their first reactions to the screenplay, Brie’s performance, adjusting Franco’s character, the married couple’s working relationship, and the pressure of shooting the film in only 21 days.

    You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interview.

    Dave Franco in 'Together'. Photo: Neon.
    Dave Franco in ‘Together’. Photo: Neon.

    Moviefone: To begin with, Dave, can you talk about your first meeting with director Michael Shanks, his pitch for this movie, and why you thought it would be a good project for you and Alison to do together?

    Dave Franco: So, I met Michael Shanks, because we were discussing another film that he wrote, during that meeting, that film kind of got pushed to the side, and we just started bonding over horror movies. He was like, “I’ve had this script sitting around for a long time. I think you might really like it,” and so he sent me the script for ‘Together’. I read it, and I was just like, “This is one of the most innovative scripts I’ve ever read. These set pieces are unbelievable.” I turned to Alison, and I was like, “I think we should do this together, because our real relationship could help inform these characters in the movie, who have been together for over a decade, and hopefully we could add some real kind of history and weight to that relationship.”

    (L to R) Alison Brie and Dave Franco in 'Together'. Photo: Neon.
    (L to R) Alison Brie and Dave Franco in ‘Together’. Photo: Neon.

    MF: Alison, can you talk about the raw places you have to go to emotionally with this performance, and the benefit of acting opposite your real-life husband? Do you think you could have given the same level of performance with another actor, or could you only have done this project with Dave?

    Alison Brie: I do feel like there were so many advantages to doing this together, and to your point, emotionally, yes, but physically, there was stuff we were doing every day that we truly finished every day of filming, going, “We couldn’t do this with anyone else.” It was all new levels of intimacy, even for us, but the best part of working with Dave is just that trust. We trust each other so much. We have worked together before. We respect each other. We work in the same way. I think that I am at my best as a performer when I’m acting opposite Dave or in front of Dave when he’s directing me, just because I can’t be false. He knows me better than anyone. I do think it brings out some of my truest work. Our non-verbal communication is high.

    (L to R) Alison Brie and Dave Franco in 'Together'. Photo: Neon.
    (L to R) Alison Brie and Dave Franco in ‘Together’. Photo: Neon.

    MF: Dave, what do you enjoy about working with Alison on set?

    DF: In the two times that I’ve directed her, in the rare moments when I would come up to give her a note, I’d be walking towards her, and often, she’d be like, “I know. I got it. Go back to the monitors.” Then I’d go back to the monitors, and she’d do exactly what I was going to tell her.

    (L to R) Director Michael Shanks, Dave Franco and Alison Brie on the set of 'Together'. Photo: Neon.
    (L to R) Director Michael Shanks, Dave Franco and Alison Brie on the set of ‘Together’. Photo: Neon.

    MF: Dave, I understand that you and Michael made some adjustments to your character before filming to make Tim more likable. Can you talk about what aspects of the character you wanted to change before shooting?

    DF: So, Michael Shanks very loosely based the relationship in the movie on his own, sixteen-year relationship, and he kind of made my character, which is a version of him, the worst version of him. He was like, “This is how I fear people are looking at me. This is just all my darkest places in my head.” I was like, “I get that, but on the page, this guy is an a**hole, and no one will be rooting for this guy.” So, it was truly minor character adjustments, just making sure that his a**hole-ness was kind of coming from a relatable place of just being a tortured guy.

    Alison Brie in 'Together'. Photo: Neon.
    Alison Brie in ‘Together’. Photo: Neon.

    MF: Finally, Alison, you and Dave are also producers on the film. From a producer’s point of view, did you feel the pressure of a 21-day shoot?

    AB: A little bit. I mean, we had great support. We had a lot of great producers on this, but there certainly were days where you’re wearing both hats. We’re doing the craziest contorting on set, and then turning to figure out if we’re losing a location or what’s happening. That can always be stressful. Again, it’s wonderful to have my husband there, and truly, we were such a great team with Shanks. It really felt like the three of us are in this together collaborating, making this movie, problem solving together, so we just had a good thing going.

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    What is the plot of ‘Together’?

    Years into their relationship, a couple (Alison Brie and Dave Franco) find themselves at a crossroads as they move to the country, abandoning all that is familiar in their lives except each other. With tensions already flaring, a nightmarish encounter with a mysterious, unnatural force threatens to corrupt their lives, their love, and their flesh.

    Who is in the cast of ‘Together’?

    (L to R) Alison Brie and Dave Franco in 'Together'. Photo: Neon.
    (L to R) Alison Brie and Dave Franco in ‘Together’. Photo: Neon.

    List of Movies featuring Alison Brie and Dave Franco: 

    Buy Tickets: ‘Together’ Movie Showtimes

    Buy Alison Brie Movies on Amazon

    Buy Dave Franco Movies on Amazon

  • Indie Filmmaker Jeff Baena Dies Aged 47

    'Spin Me Round' director Jeff Baena.
    ‘Spin Me Round’ director Jeff Baena.

    Preview:

    • Filmmaker Jeff Baena has tragically died aged 47.
    • Baena was the writer and director of movies including ‘Life After Beth.’
    • He was married to actor and frequent collaborator Aubrey Plaza.

    Jeff Baena, a respected writer and director whose work includes movies such as ‘Joshy,’ ‘Life After Beth’ and ‘Spin Me Round,’ was found dead at home in Los Angeles on Friday. He was 47.

    Baena, who had been in a long relationship with ‘Parks & Recreation’ and ‘My Old Ass’ actor Aubrey Plaza –– the pair married in secret in 2021 –– was discovered by an assistant and declared dead at the scene.

    Related Article: Alison Brie Discusses Writing and Starring in Rom-Com ‘Spin Me Round’

    Jeff Baena: Early Life and Career

    'Spin Me Round' director Jeff Baena.
    ‘Spin Me Round’ director Jeff Baena.

    Baena was born in 1977 and raised in Miami.

    After graduating from the New York University Tisch School of the Arts with a degree in film, Baena headed to Los Angeles, getting his start in somewhat traditional fashion by working as a production assistant on films, particularly for Robert Zemeckis, for whom he served on the crews of ‘What Lies Beneath’ and ‘Cast Away.’

    His next job was as an assistant editor for filmmaker David O. Russell, and an unusual coincidence –– actually an accident –– helped to spur the next stage of Baena’s career. While driving to Russell’s house as part of his duties one day, his car was struck by another. The result was an eye injury that forced him to stop working for several weeks.

    Offering to help care for him, Russell, began discussing ideas for scripts, and the two would start to collaborate on work.

    This is what Baena told Fast Company about that time:

    “He was super-generous, creatively. He allowed me to advocate for any ideas that were in conflict with his ideas. We were on the same wavelength, had the same style and interests. He was really a soul mate, as a co–writer.”

    Jeff Baena: Writing work

    (L to R) Jude Law, Naomi Watts, Dustin Hoffman and Lily Tomlin in 'I Heart Huckabees'. Photo: Fox Searchlight Pictures.
    (L to R) Jude Law, Naomi Watts, Dustin Hoffman and Lily Tomlin in ‘I Heart Huckabees’. Photo: Fox Searchlight Pictures.

    One of the screenplays to result from their collaboration would be Russell’s 2004 movie ‘I Heart Huckabees,’ which stars the likes of Mark Wahlberg, Jude Law, Lily Tomlin and Jason Schwartzman. It was nominated for the 2004 Gotham Award for Best Feature.

    Following that, be began to score uncredited work revising other scripts, including a contribution to 2004 comedy sequel ‘Meet the Fockers.’

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    But it was in writing and directing that Baena’s heart truly lay.

    He made a brief stop in the world of acting before he became a director, playing a character named after himself in Mark Webber’s 2012 drama ‘The End of Love.’

    He would also have a small role in Joe Swanberg’s 2015 film ‘Digging for Fire,’ cementing his roots within the growing indie movement that also included the Duplass brothers.

    Jeff Baena: Director

    Anna Kendrick in 'Life After Beth'. Photo: A24.
    Anna Kendrick in ‘Life After Beth’. Photo: A24.

    The filmmaker made his directorial debut with 2014 horror comedy ‘Life After Beth,’ in which Dane DeHaan’s character discovers that his deceased girlfriend –– played by Aubrey Plaza –– has come back to life as a zombie.

    He followed that up with 2016’s ‘Joshy,’ starring Thomas Middleditch as a man who loses his fiancée and whose friends try to cheer him up by taking him to a cabin. It premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize.

    Next came one of the films for which Baena is best remembered; 2017’s ‘The Little Hours,’ in which Dave Franco plays a young servant fleeing from his master takes refuge at a convent full of emotionally unstable nuns –– which includes Plaza among their number. That film was nominated for the Audience Award at the 2017 Edinburgh International Film Festival.

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    Baena co-wrote, directed, and produced ‘Horse Girl’ which premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and was released on Netflix shortly after. And his most recent film was ‘Spin Me Round,’ featuring Alison Brie as a woman wins an all-expenses-paid trip to a company’s institute outside of Florence, and also the chance to meet the restaurant chain’s wealthy and charismatic owner.

    On television, Baena created, wrote, directed and executive produced the Showtime series, ‘Cinema Toast,’ which sees indie filmmakers re-editing and re-scoring footage from public domain films, overdubbing them with performances of contemporary actors to tell new, wholly original stories.

    The series included Plaza’s chance to make her directorial debut.

    Jeff Baena: Aubrey Plaza Talks Their Relationship

    (L to R) Aubrey Plaza as Kat and Alison Brie as Amber in 'Spin Me Round.'
    (L to R) Aubrey Plaza as Kat and Alison Brie as Amber in ‘Spin Me Round.’

    Plaza and Baena had been together since 2011 but preferred to keep their connection private until they married in May 2021, the news only breaking because she referred to him as “my darling husband” on Instagram.

    Plaza had this to say about their relationship and marriage on ‘The Drew Barrymore Show‘:

    “It’s so great, it’s so complicated. It’s, like, extreme highs and extreme, you know, complications. It’s a really hard thing to navigate, but we’ve been together for 11 years. We just muscle our way through it.”

    And this was what she told People about how the pandemic strengthened their bond:

    “We were quarantined for months and months like everybody else. We did enjoy it. I think it was, obviously other than all of the catastrophic things happening in the world, just on a personal level, relationship level, was kind of nice to just be forced to be in one place for that long.”

    In addition to Plaza, Baena is survived by his mother, Barbara Stern and stepfather Roger Stern, father Scott Baena and stepmother Michele Baena, brother Brad Baena and stepsister and stepbrother Bianca Gabay and Jed Fluxman.

    (L to R) Zach Woods as Dana, Debby Ryan as Susie, Alison Brie as Amber, and Ayden Mayeri as Jen in 'Spin Me Round.'
    (L to R) Zach Woods as Dana, Debby Ryan as Susie, Alison Brie as Amber, and Ayden Mayeri as Jen in ‘Spin Me Round.’

    Other Jeff Baena Movies and TV Shows:

    Buy Jeff Baena Movies on Amazon

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