Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice, James Marsden and Eiza González Interview

 James Marsden: When I first read the script, my initial reaction was I’ve not read something this original in a long time. I’ve not read something that so unapologetically takes big swings, that challenges the norms of what a movie is supposed to be, the structure of a movie. I mean, it really is something different. And that always excites me. And BenDavid managed to weave all these different genres into one. It asks the audience to subscribe to a certain logic that may be absurd and ludicrous, but we promise a good time at the beginning. Hey, go along with us on this and we'll take you for a ride. And then to weave in this surprising emotional warmth in the movie as well. It’s really a feat to balance all of those things in one movie. And it was all evident in the script when I first time I read it. So I was excited to be a part of it.

Eiza González: For me, what was exciting the first time I read the script was something I'd not done before. It felt like a unique IP. It’s very fun to do stories that have not been told before, especially in this day and age, it’s really hard to find these stories. And I think it’s important to support new filmmakers, new artists with new voices and points of view. And it was a no-brainer. You were mix and matching genre with some of the best talent in the industry. And I just was really excited. I was eager to dive into this sort of world and learn and absorb as a sponge. So I ran to it and, you know, convinced somehow BenDavid to cast me, which was exciting. And here we are, very, very happy with the result.

James Marsden: BenDavid, our director and writer, was a joy to work with because he’s almost like, well it is like you've got this super fan who's been given the reins to create whatever he wants and to go in and direct whatever kind of film he wants. I’ve never met someone who's more passionate and enthusiastic about the art of cinema, about the future of it, about everything, about getting great actors on set that he believes in to be collaborators in creating his vision. And you know, some directors you work with, you get on set and they kind of check the boxes and do everything they’re supposed to do. And BenDavid is someone that you imagine shows up two hours before we start shooting and stays for two hours after we stop. He just is a fan. He’s a fan. And it’s like this kid who’s been given all of his favorite toys and is given free rein to have fun with it. So being around that kind of energy obviously sets the tone on set and it makes us that much more spirited and alive and excited to be delivering him his vision.

Eiza González: I mean, when you have someone like BenDavid who’s a writer-director, it does make a difference when you get a script because there is an understanding of the material but also, and it can go both ways, people can be very precious about their artistry and then similarly you can become sort of liberated by it. And that was sort of the case in our experience. BenDavid allowed for, you know, I think he’s always in the search of humor and he cast accordingly to be able to deliver this type of stylistic tone. And I think that he trusted his actors. And so he was very satisfied if we were able to obviously say the lines verbatim, but simultaneously would always encourage us to play. I mean, you’re working with some of the most talented comedians in the business and you would want, and I'm not including myself in there, I'm meaning the whole cast, but you know, you get so much joy out of those moments. And I also think it allows for actors to sort of liberate themselves a little bit, especially when it comes to comedy, to bring your own personality, your own stylistic tone, and the type of comedian you are, and I think, or explore another type of comedic timing. So it was very exciting that we had a collaborative director like BenDavid coming in to play and allowing his team to sort of run with it.

James Marsden: No, I’m okay actually. I think you were sort of just expounding on what I mentioned. Was it a new question? I got lost in her answer, I forgot the question to be honest.

James Marsden: Well yeah, I mean, as Eiza well we can both talk about it, but yeah, it was a new thing for both of us and for Vince as well to go into a movie that you know, he’s going to be playing two characters obviously. So there was all of this new technology and hey, we have this camera that does this and this. And so we were learning about the process, the technical process, which was had to be very specific, had to be exact. It was a very exact process, otherwise it wouldn't work. So we were learning about that from the beginning and then within that we were discovering what our sort of creative latitude we had to be able to play within all of that. Everything was done twice, obviously once as Vince one and he would change and do it as Vince two, and then there was a wide shot and then they would have to come into coverage and then certain things couldn't change, but you quickly learned what you could actually it wasn't too restrictive creatively. It was once you understood the boundaries of the technical limits of the process then you could actually have a lot of fun with it. So and BenDavid was great at kind of, you know, explaining to us how that all worked and and then it kind of made it fun, it made it fun to watch Vince switch characters and how what sort of differences he was going to bring to the role and you know, he’s prime Vince when you see him in this movie and then you’re getting you’re kind of getting double the fun watching him do it twice in two different ways.

Eiza González: Yeah, I think Vince is one of the most gifted actors when it comes to comedy. He understands it on such a cellular level. And when you’re working with someone who has a really deep understanding of sort of how to thread the needle between grounding the dialogue that you’re saying but also keeping sort of humor within the scene, you know, you become a sponge and you’re taking it in. So I think for both James and our experience was sort of watching someone that has extreme experience around this subject and still sort of learning because I think that every actor, every job you’re learning something new. And I think Vince himself has said it, you know, this has been something different for him, especially, you know, stylistically given the parameters that we needed. So that was very exciting. And I think to add is that Vince is a very giving actor as we’ve mentioned earlier. You know, comedy is really a tennis match. You have to sort of throw the ball correctly so that you can hit it back correctly and and it becomes a really fun entertaining match to watch. And the best ones at comedy understand that they have to set you up and make your next line better so that everyone can win. And Vince has a deep understanding of that. He’s completely selfless when it comes to performing. And that makes an incredible dynamic on set because you are allowing everyone to shine and everyone’s having a good time and everyone feels like they’re experiencing and experimenting. And so that was very fun I think for the entire cast.