The Lonely Island podcast hosts a candid, down-to-earth discussion centered on their new movie *Pop Star*, set for a theatrical release on April 24th. They emphasize that the film is a bold, more emotionally grounded reimagining of the original, with heightened comedy, deeper character relationships, and a more realistic tone than the source material. The team highlights the importance of watching it in theaters, where the audience reactions—especially in screenings across the U.S.—are vibrant and authentic, producing large, genuine laughs that stem from emotional investment rather than just jokes. They note the film’s unique blend of dark humor and action, calling it a "thriller comedy" with gory, unsettling moments that are still palatable due to the characters’ relatability and the film’s grounded reality. The shoot in Finland, while logistically challenging with extreme cold and limited soundstages, fostered strong collaboration and bonding among the cast and crew. Notably, actors like Jason Ziegel and Sam demonstrate exceptional dedication, rehearsing lines extensively and bringing a high level of authenticity to their performances. The team also shares behind-the-scenes moments, including deleted material and visual gags, with VFX artist David providing detailed breakdowns of the film’s most violent scenes—all shot with care to maintain comedic timing and narrative flow. Despite the film’s intense action and horror elements, it resonates with audiences because of its emotional core and genuine character arcs, resulting in powerful, communal laughter that transcends genre. The group remains committed to the theatrical experience, urging fans to see *Pop Star* in cinemas, where the full impact of its humor and storytelling is best appreciated.
It's the lonely island and some liars broadcast! Keith, I'm so glad to finally get the riffraff off of this pod. You know what I mean? Like the pretty boy famous vases are finally fucking gone. Now we can get really real. Yeah, and welcome to the shoot. Lonely Island Seth Meyers podcast with Just Your Men Me, where we get real. Yeah, digging it to the street. Yeah, not those weird elites. Andy and Seth are such Hollywood elites, not you and me, man. This is for flyover country, but we don't go there. No, me and you are a flyover country, me and you are. We're the hard land, the hard land of the pod, finally. Finally, not those coastal elite shitheads. Those fucking bastards, they signed their souls to the devil, so they can get famous. Not you and me, man. We're pure. We're director, raised on corn husks and alfalfa, that's you of us. That's right. Now you're, yes, Keith, before we get into it, we're here to talk about your movie. Yeah. And anybody who clicked in knows that because it's the title, but you did it for me with Nick again. So this is, you know, the week it's coming out. Tip for tat. It's coming out this Friday and theaters. It is. Yeah. April 24th. Go get tickets, guys. It's going to be extremely, very important because opening weekend really matters. Also this movie is so fun to see in theaters. Okay. Okay. We're going to get to that. All right. But listen. Listen. Does it come out internationally? I don't have any idea. I don't think so. You should know that. Yeah. We should find out. You think this is just domestic this weekend? I think it is. I think it is just domestic. But it's going to go as wide as possible. So it will be like around. It's going to be in like at least 1500 possibly 2000 theaters. So the puddle get back to, we were in the middle of kind of the John Ham episode. We had done shy Ronnie to Ronnie Clyde. And then we wanted to hear from John Ham. We wanted to talk about some of the other shorts or sketches, rather. Yeah. So we'll get back to that. And this week I did the pop star screening and I was the only one because Andy is still shooting his movie and you had dates on either side of it, you know, in, on the East Coast and New Orleans and stuff. Yeah. So you couldn't. Superb. I'm not to go. So thank you. There was a lot. I mean, when someone yelled to Quaid Army, almost the entire place did it. So clearly it was a bunch of people that will hear this. So thank you in the country now. And it's been every screening. And it's like, I wouldn't say it was everyone though. It was like maybe 40% and so for the, or maybe half, but like that makes it so you have to then be like, hey, for those of you who don't know, we have a podcast. Well, so this was moderated by one of the two Daniels. Daniel Shiner. He's just the best for doing it for people that don't know that Daniels did like everything everywhere all at once. And the turn down for what video? They're pretty. I like that those are your two touchdowns. Those are my two. And the turn down for what? Yeah. I mean, those are, they've did a lot of amazing things, but those are two of the standouts in my mind. You know, they did their farting corpse movie as everyone calls it, of course, Swiss Army Man. Swiss Army Man is fantastic. Anyways, but he moderated, which was very sweet. And I would say it was 60% of the audience would have felt like they were 50 and then he was starting to try to explain quite army and I was like, just don't bother the, the, the, the one's the enough of this people now, but it was so fun. And it was at this theater in LA called the Egyptian theater that Netflix bought a few years ago and renovated for like 70 million dollars. And it's a single screen like old Hollywood theater, unholyable of art that I had never been in before. They're definitely going to make their money back on that one for sure, for sure. They've made 70 million dollars. Yeah. But then there's a company or whatever you'd want to call it called American Cinema Tech that does the programming for the arrow theater in Santa Monica and the Los Felos III, which are both very small theaters kind of on either ends of parts of LA. And then this is kind of right in the middle. And they do amazing like, I'm just so glad that things like it still exist because it's kind of like new Beverly and the Vista to the Tarantino ones where every day you can check in all of a sudden. It's like, oh, they're playing the fugitive today or some old Humphrey Bogart movie or whatever. Oh, dude. I mean, you came to the RLA premiere at Videots for-- Oh, yeah, that's another one. Videots. Yeah, yeah. That does amazing. They had just played beaches. What is the slope like? What is the rake like at the Egyptian because it matters so much. Now, having gone to so many different theaters around the country for over your dead body coming on this Friday, April 24th, like the rake matters so much. It's almost like when Brian was telling us about low ceilings and how it really affects performance for when we were doing a live show. But like, it's the same thing with theaters where like a low rake is so nice for theaters. It just laughs. Like, it feels so punchy. Yeah. You're talking about old school theaters. Oh, my God. They're the best. The slope. You were just barely seeing over the head in front of you, if at all. And if a tall person sat in front of you, you were screwed. Yeah. What you would do is by having normal seats, not recliners and stuff like that and having them right next to each other and with not a big, you know, slope in front of you rake. What's another word for it? I don't know. The grade. Yeah. Exactly. Like, it creates a sense of community between the audience way more. Like, is that what the future is like, too? Yeah. You hear your neighbors. So the Egyptian was somewhere right in between. It was actually really good because it wasn't like the theaters we grew up with where it's almost flat where you really could get screwed with somebody tall in front of you, especially when we were kids. Yeah. So it was a little steeper than that. But I think that's what you want. You want like a little bit. So you're right over the person's head, but it still has that sense of community because you really feel it. Like movies like comedy. Yeah. With movies that are asking for an audience to interact with it, you know, laughing or being scared or whatever. Yeah. It makes a huge difference. The weekend they could get and came out and I went around to those theaters. It was not a bummer, but it was interesting going to the ones that were the most luxurious for the audience where everyone gets their own big recliner because you're in an auditorium that should fit 200 people and it's that it's like 75 chairs. And you really, even when it killed in everyone laughed, it didn't feel like the other theater doubt just even in the same. It's because the sound is going in a straight line. So if it's going right over people's heads, you're actually not hearing the person behind you laughing. And it really matters. It's so like it's so fun to see like a comedy early, especially like with a movie like R's like traveling around the country or pop star or anything that we've made. Like it's so fun to see the reactions like like South by was amazing. Like, you know, we won the audience war with that. But like the one in Chicago was so fantastic. I just went to one in Orlando that was incredible. That was recliners, but it was more of that kind of rake. So things so it was like, it was almost like being in someone's living room honestly. And that was, oh god, I'm really bummed I missed the pop star one. You know, it was, you know, it was interesting just talking, nerding out about theaters for one more second. So the night, the Saturday night or Friday night, I can remember when I did the little going around L.A. looking at different theaters, I went to the Universal City Walk. And there was a screening that was like, let's say an eight o'clock in an 830, right? And so I kind of peeked my head into it. I intro'd one and then I peeked my head into the other. And they were such a different experience. Like the people that were in one theater was like a 300 seat or 250. They were both sold out, but it felt sold out, you know what I mean? Like it felt like a giant energy because it was a lower rake and not the huge seats. They're still big padded seats, but not the ones that are like creating all this space around you. And the screen was huge and it was properly masked, you know, like meaning the movie, you know, is 240 and it was black all around it. So it felt really clean. Not like when you go to certain theaters and it's almost like when you're watching on TV and you can see the black, like gray letter boxing around it because they, you can still see this projecting the, like the map. You can, yeah, like, or you can just see the part of the screen that's not being used essentially. This was not it. It was perfect and it was huge and it was loud and it was like my dream way someone sees the movie. And then we had a bunch of friends, their whole family had gone and seen it in the neighboring theater, like still the universe, they're in this AMC, the same complex. So they would think they're having the exact same experience, but theirs was the other way that I was talking about with the like, the recliners and the bad screen and the sound in, look as good. And it's interesting because it's a different experience, but all those people would leave saying we saw it at the same theater at the same night, but they didn't really even have the same experience. Yeah. And he said that the movie comes up Friday and you should see it regardless of what the theater experience is like, because here's the thing. It's not the same as streaming for any, yeah, you're not wrong. All right. But wait, one last thing and then we'll really get into it. This is a good segue actually. So I'm watching pop star. It looked great, by the way, and sounded great because this theater has been redone. So it was playing off DCP. It's the first time I saw with an audience since the premiere. It was a real treat. I wish you guys had been there. And it gets towards the end and it's the scene where Andy has put on prosthetics and has gone just visit you at a nightclub. And people have been making fun of him. Sarah Servin said he kind of looks like a Matthew Modine if he had, like, stung by bees or something, et cetera, Nazi promaganda. And then it gets to your part and it turns into Jason Siegel. This is where you want to start with? Well, this is the transition. This is a segue. It's called a segue. So you say you look kind of like Jason Siegel right now and he goes, oh my God, yeah, like Sarah Marshall. I'm forgetting Sarah Marshall. You're like, oh my God, I love that. Maybe I love that movie too. And then he's kind of like, hey, and he starts doing an impression like Sarah Marshall. I'm going to forget her kind of. And he kind of does these dopey little looks that actually do feel pretty Siegel. That's good hindsight. Now, having just seen Siegel a lot in your movies.
and we worried about it after we did. We like, God, it's really funny. We're saying we like him and we like his movie. We do like Seagull in real life. We didn't own that well, but we had all interacted with him at various times. And Judd Apato, who produced, pop star, of course, produced for getting ceremonial and made freaks and geeks. - So he's a work with him since he was a child. - He had, yes, he had discovered Jason, and worked with him since he was a child, exactly since he was a teenager. - Yeah. - So we really just relied, Judd, can we, what's going on here? Should we take this out? And he's like, no, I think Jason will be fine with this. And we're like, do we, should we like show it to him? Like, what do we do? We don't want to make him mad for no reason. - It's not even our style of joke, really. - No, we don't like making fun of, we don't like making fun of people at anyone. - Yeah. - And he just kind of said, not just roll with it, it's fine. And we just kind of went, okay, but it made us uncomfortable exactly for that reason 'cause we're not usually-- - It still makes me uncomfortable. - I mean, obviously more so now having worked with you. - Right, it's a little bit like you're, you're a Pam joke from, I think-- - Yeah, from my hit song. - Yeah, exactly, yeah. Just like, you're later-- - Yeah, so when I played that, I heard she was like, that's why I wanted to make Nick again, 'cause I love that joke so much. - Well, to answer your question, me and Jason have never talked about it. Not hell, yeah, let's get a fleece note right now. This is the time. - He's ended up always no, but it's not about that. - But let's, if I'm being honest, what I thought I was gonna have him once, 'cause I was so geek that he was gonna do the movie. It was so such a perfect role for him. He's sympathetic, but obviously he can go dark. He's a great actor. He can also do comedy, obviously incredibly well-ditted. I like, for all those reasons, I was like, fuck, this guy's perfect. And I was like, he's gonna say yes, and then right before the movie is about to shoot, he's gonna be like, fuck you! Like, I know what you're doing. - This is what I said, he looked like-- - He didn't look like me. I'm bailin' on your shit. - Got you back. - Being bombed. - Got him in a great prank. But you know what, it's not too late for the second half of that prank, we don't know. - Yeah, but he's probably doing some talk shows this week. Maybe he'll be like, you know what? Maybe he'll show up in prosthetics, they'll look like you. - Yeah, well, here's the thing. He's in a lot of prosthetic makeup in this movie, and I will say he looks, he gets so fucked up, but he wears his arc of his character on his face and body in this movie. And so there's a ton of crazy special effects, makeup, and by the end, he's pretty fucked up. - Yeah, he's a little swollen, and I will say he's no more. - This is a spoiler-free interview to that. - Yeah, yeah. But you can see it from the trailer, he gets pretty torn. - His face is a bit swollen. - We'll try to do no spoilers, but it does this. - There's some other things. - Well, then what's good about this movie though, is that there's so many twists and turns, it's very hard to like ruin everything, 'cause this movie goes in way-- - No, I'm not really saying the nice things. - Oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, sorry. Yeah, you go. - Ah, there's so many twists and turns in this. And it's really nice that-- - What if you don't like twists and turns though? You don't mean like then, I'm just just-- - What if you're more like someone that wants to be on the Autobahn and just kinda-- - You like going fast, but straight. - You like mundane, the mundane. - No, no, fast, it's fucking dangerous, but it's just a straight away. I want my story points to be exactly where I think they should go, there's a McDonald's. I've been to McDonald's before. - Yeah, I'm trying to think of a good movie that just goes from A to B, that's it. B's the end, A's the beginning. It's a straight line. - That's a good road trip, Louis, you know? - Yeah, exactly. Well, now they still always put twists and turns. These fuckers, these Hollywood elites, not us. I don't like the twists and turns. - No way. - That's why I work corn fed. - All right, so let's go back to the beginning here, Yorm, we'll decide, you know, how do you tell me wanna get? But basically, how were you approached about this movie in the very, like the very, very, very first time it came, did you have a general meeting? What did you do? - No, you will appreciate this because this came about because Tommy, I'm gonna say his last name is weird color because I wanna, like, really put some Norwegian stank on it. I hope that's how you actually say it. But Tommy, who did Violent Night, he did a whole bunch of other movies. He was on set with my producer for this movie, Guy Dinella. And apparently, every day, he was quoting Gerber and Popstar and Hot Rod, like over and over. And Guy, like, who is a real go getter of a producer. Like, I've never met anybody like this, dude, was like, let's call him. Let's call that guy, like, let's hit him up. And so, he called me. We had like an hour alone conversation. But he, like, out of blue, like, hit me up. We, like, vived out for like an hour. The Venn diagram of what Tommy does and what I do is similar. And that, like, Tommy's like an action comedy guy and I'm comedy action. So, like, there's a bit of crossover there. So, I was like, yeah, I love Tommy's stuff and did it. And so, then a week later, Guy called me up. And I was like, hey, I don't know if you'd ever, would you ever wanna do a remake? And I was like, no, like, absolutely not. Like, I have no interest in that. And he was like, well, just watch this movie that Tommy did. He's a couple years old. It was like, I think, right before the pandemic, which is even crazier to, like, do a recent remake. But he was like, it's on Netflix. It's called The Trip. I watched it and then I, he was like, and just read the script. And I couldn't get it on my head. The script is by Nick and Brian of Botanic, the sketch comedy troupe. They're really fucking funny dudes. And I couldn't get the movie out of my head just because of kind of what I was talking about with the, it doesn't move how you think the movie's gonna move, which I really appreciated. So the structure of it was really exciting. How different, these are genuine questions that I'm never asked. How different is the script that you read from the original finished movie? It is very much the same movie, which was another part of it that I was like, man, even the comedy's the same? The comedy, okay, this is the major difference between the two films. It's actually I think really fun to watch the difference. Obviously, I want everyone to go see ours first because it's coming up this weekend. But if you turn on Netflix, there's this cartoon actually that you could watch. It's called Digmin. Oh yeah, Digmin, yeah, check that out. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, anything else that I know. And I assume that they can get it on. What's it on? Oh, Brian, Brian, Brian, Brian, Brian, Brian. Yeah, also if you're on Brian, check out last one laughing, fucking great show. Anyway, but like, but this isn't actually in the theaters, guys, so you can't see it. It's streaming, so, but the major difference, though, between the two movies is like the original, the comedy is sort of coming out of a very dark place. Like, it's a very emotionally dark movie, which is exactly what time we wanted it to be. I love the original, but it's also like, that's not me. And it's not really Nick and Brian and like, and so with, I wanted the characters to be more sympathetic than they are in the original. Like, the original, like, they're gonna murder each other. And they, it goes hard in this, in this version for sure. But I really wanted to earn, I don't want to ruin anything, but like, but their relationship, and the arc of their relationship in this version. So that was like very instrumental in like, hiring Jason and Sam, like the chemistry between the two of them. There's a big shift in this movie in that the Juliet Louis character is a major difference of like the addition of her. And it really creates this sort of symmetry with the relationship stories in this movie, which I think is very different than the original. So it's, it's both very much the original structure. Again, nobody has seen it, but Tim Olafamp and Julia Lillard are a different couple in the movie. Yeah, yeah. So that's a major difference. And then I think that like the other thing is just I'm pushing the comedy. Weirdly, like in Megan Remake, I didn't want to make the like the American, like this is a softer version. So it's, it's a more violent movie and I think actually weirdly gory. (laughs) But it's all, I'm all pushing everything into a more comedic kind of realm. Well, this, this movie was like a trick of like keeping all of these different tones alive and then stitching it all together with the comedy and like creating a cohesive tone, which I was like, it was like the challenge in the movie, that's why I wanted to do it. I'm very proud that I think that we actually achieved that. And honestly, like one of the big things was like, can I make something that I think is as good as the original? And I think, I think we achieved that. So that was really the reason why I wanted to do it. I never watched the original 'cause I'm on team Yorma, you know what I mean? I mean, yeah, thanks. I mean, you should. You should, it would be fun to watch the original, but what if I like him more of them? I would throw me, that would really fucking me up. (laughs) Sure. (laughs) And then the funny part to me is that, so it's a finished movie. Yes. Tommy is from Finland. Well, no, no, no, Tommy is no Norwegian. Oh, no, Norwegian. He's Norwegian. We shot it in Finland, yes. Well, your movie, no, no, no, but what about his? Is his movie Norwegian then? Is it, yeah, it's a shot in Norway, Norwegian actors, in Norwegian, yes. Got it, it is a full, a full sentimental value. Full Euro, yes, European production. Full sentimental value, just say that, that's clear. Okay. So then, and it's also about family drama. So they're very, they're kind of like sister movies. Anyways, the Finland part of it, then where does Finland come into the picture at all? So one of the production companies XYZ had done a movie with Karen Gillan, who's a producer on this film, exactly a producer on this film, and the way it came about, Nick, one of the writers is Mary DeKaren, they were shooting a movie for XYZ in Finland called Dual, and then it came about that the script was up, they had rights to the script, and they asked Nick and his partner, Brian, to write the script, so they had a connection to Finland already, they loved shooting in Finland, and then when it came time to shoot this movie, my options, because it's a cabin on a lake, there are, I think, 17,000 lakes in Finland, and when it came time to share my two options for budgetary reasons were Winnipeg and Finland. Well, wait, wait, wait, wait. We should say, the movie takes place in upstate New York. Yes. The setting is like, it starts late.
like they're, where's their house supposed to be when they're at home? We're never in New York, where are they supposed to live? Oh, I mean, like I always always think it was, it was like a story in Queens, but like, right. So they live somewhere in, in the city and then they're driving up to a cabin in upstate New York somewhere. And so it had to look like that. Yeah, she's an actress. He's a sort of hacky director. She's doing off Broadway stuff. And he's like, there, it's about a couple who is on the outs in their relationship and has lost their way. And they both decide to kill each other unbeknownst to each other. A lot of hacky feels a little harsh because, okay, yeah, it's doing commercials and you do a lot of commercials. He's, well, okay, not hacky. His life is not gone. He feels a lot to go directorial. But directing commercials is, you know, for some people that could be the whole dream. And that would still be hard to achieve. That first scene, that first scene, I wrote that first scene. And it is verbatim. I could dance and felt like you on like a Pepsi ad being told to put the Pepsi on screen. Pepsi ad was fine. We'll call it a mouth. Hey, we'll bleep them. All right. So Finland looks a lot like upstate New York. Oh, and by the way, when I was driving from Helsinki to where we shot, second biggest city in Finland called Tampa Day, which is like 200,000 people, perfect, like perfect location. Like we found this amazing cabin. It was so awesome. Cabins in Finland bizarrely don't have running a water. A lot of them, or bathrooms, which I did not understand at all. So where do people say like outhouses? I don't know. There was no outhouse built into this cabin either. So I have no idea where. So they're like camping indoor camping. So yeah, and then how do you get water? Is there like a pump thing outside? I don't. I don't know. They had a sink. I never really even tried it, but there was no bathroom in this cabin. We did up like a build on stage. So like the interiors are all on stage there. But yeah, it was fantastic. Are there proper soundstages in that little city in Finland? No, and we were the options that we had for soundstages. We ended up in like a big warehouse that they would use to store boats in the winter. That makes sense. And so they so there were some boats in our warehouse at one point. And then one of the options was we were going to be in a pickle ball stadium. Like that was one of the places that we were. Yeah, it was like a huge, but like a really nice pickle ball. Like it's like when you see, have you ever looked at any of the photos of when they shot home alone, where they built the stage? No, no, where is that? It was in Chicago or out, you know, suburbs of Chicago. And it was a, I love that you know there. I think it was a high school. And it was in like the gymnasium and in the swimming pool and stuff. Wow. It just like was random. That's like how much he was. I don't want to, I'm sure someone will correct me in the notes. But do you remember it? John Hughes just wanted to like be right down the street from his house. Well, yeah, because the whole movie is in Chicago, right? And then so in the house, the real house from the ex-teriors was. So they just had to find somewhere. But of course, there was no soundstages. I wonder if they did it like right close to all their other locations. Yeah, I don't know. Everything was pretty close. It was like, it was very easy to get around. And honestly, like everything in this movie just sort of fell into place, you know, really. And then honestly shooting in Finland was like, it became like destination wedding, like where it's like because we're all just stuck together. Like it was just super boned to the cast. I had way more time to like be able to like actually rehearse things, which is great. And then, and like we all spent Thanksgiving together. And no one has, it is the, I always am pushing to shoot in LA so that we can sleep in your own bed and see your family and stuff. But then that is the benefit of it's the same as when we did Hot Rod and Vancouver when you force everybody to go somewhere where nobody knows anybody, then it's summer camp and everybody just gets to know each other in a really different way because nobody has anything to do. So on Saturday afternoon, it's like, well, I'll have a barbecue at my house. So let's all go see a movie. Oh, dude, on on a Sunday, I literally peeled like to Tim off. And I was like, Hey, let's make this little music video. So I made like a 30 second music video with him. That was a guy. Okay, it's a perfect use of time. Guys, you're here special video message. I know we don't usually do that. The movie is coming out Friday. I'm so excited about it. I really, really hope you guys see it in the theaters. It would make me so happy. It's such a fun movie to see in the theaters. I've been traveling around the country showing it to audiences. It's, it's been raucous. We won the audience award in South by. I'm just gonna keep saying that. It is really such a good time. The cast is awesome. So please see it. And I have see has sponsored our podcast this week. Thank you. I have see. So we're going to show either the trailer or a scene or both. I'm not sure what we're showing. But take it away. Please go see it this Friday, April 24th over your dead body. All right. Love you guys. Lisa, we're going up to the cabin this weekend. Do I tell you that? No. How are things with you, Lisa? Did you crush the garlic? It needs to be sliced. Yes, chef. This could be a mess. Lisa's planning a big hike by herself up into the mountains. Okay. It's also supposed to snow up there. Which feels even more dangerous. You I think you were going to cut me up and sink me to the bottom of the lake. You wouldn't have felt anything. Oh, okay. Because I am considerate. Yeah, you're real considerate. Should we renew our vows? Fucking do it on the table. Who are you? I hate to overstep it. It seems like you guys have some marital issues. I will give you one million dollars. Show them in the fucking face. Oh, fuck you. When I body I fuck like you. In a relationship. You do it in here. The key is finding ways to keep things. Fresh. That is honestly so fucked up. Let's talk about Cassie if you've got some good voice notes. So Seigo, we you know, fans of but we kind of met him over the years. And then like I met him like playing piano at Chateau, Marmal. That was like where I first saw him and said hello to him. He would never remember that. But yeah, and I was like, like I was really good at piano. I went to if you recall, I went to the set of Nocta before shooting Harrod to just have seen a movie set since I had never seen a real studio movie set. Do you just because you were like, oh, what's this going to be like? Yeah, we might have talked about it on the Harrod episode. So forgive me. The quids and quids, if that's paying respect for, you know, across the pond quids. Yeah, I got you. For the quids and quids. Oh wait, let me just take a total detour. I texted you guys. I saw a comment on the YouTube video from last time and I thought it was really worthwhile. So this is an episode isn't going to be complete if it doesn't mention Alf. And I know the other guys aren't here, but I just would be remiss not to talk about. Sure. We were going off last week, you know, I'm about what if it turned out he wasn't an alien. And that was just the dad's lie. Because he had fucked an art vark and brought it home. I mean, everybody that's listening to this knows everything I'm saying. I mean, it's obvious. I mean, I don't know. And he told him like this is an alien to his family, but really it was just his bastard child who he wanted to raise now and have in the house. And he made up all the stuff. And then this was the comment. It was if in the finale of Alf, the mom has a Kaiser Soze style scene where she sees Melmack plate in the cupboard and puts it all together realizes it was all a lie that her husband had made up. She reads the back of the plate. Melmack, wait, maybe this thing wasn't an alien. I like, I like thinking that the show Alf wasn't weird enough. Maybe my husband actually smoked maybe he smoked dream of maybe maybe he smoked and fucked an art vark. Maybe that's more realistic and brought home. Anyway, the 80s was a better decade. Maybe it was possible. Make sure you beep what I said, of course, as we do. All right, that was a good little break. It felt important. Yeah. All right. So tomorrow weaving. Yes, I've never met her. I saw her at Videots at the LA premiere from afar. She was nine months pregnant. Ready to. She's the fucking jam. The jam. I've been a fan of hers. I mean, I'm sure I'd seen her in something else, but our friend Matt made Ready or Not and Ready or Not too. Yeah. And when he made Ready or Not, I was like, whoa, where did this woman come from? She's so funny and likeable and gorgeous. Yeah. And I mean, obviously just the rarest find of a movie star. Yeah. And I know you talked to Matt before casting her and got the, you know, the full-throated. Oh, yeah, she's amazing. I was genuinely nervous for how good-looking she is of like, if this was going to make sense in data. And then like, couldn't have been more of a, you have to hire her from Matt. Like, she's unbelievably, She's just like such a fun.
person to be around but like does the work. She's a great actress and she really really is and like it was honestly like that was one of the other things that I really enjoyed about doing this movie is that there are quite a few real like sit in a moment acting scenes like I hate to say real quote unquote acting scenes but like there and to like leave the camera on actors not interrupt like let scenes play out let people have facial movements and process things and boba because there's a lot going on in this movie that's like backstory that if you watched the second time you'd be like oh this is a different I don't want to ruin anything but like but yes she's she's she's phenomenal she's also like so fun and nerdy like Sam was obsessed with and probably still is obsessed with Prince of Persia the video game and Jimmy Warden who she is married to wrote cocaine bear really fucking funny dude we were we've actually for a party over here we're trying to work with him on a show and his rating partner but they both love Prince of Persia so much that they had to get two different video game systems because they couldn't share because they wanted to play at the same time but I'm like oh my god these fucking wonderful nerds is there a new Prince of Persia I used to play it on a computer at home really like my parents computer like I'm talking about it like I stay yeah yeah is there a new like dude I think I think any of those brands that you're like you can just keep making them better and better and better I mean like as you know me and my son got obsessed with breath of the wild like fantastic link has certainly changed over the years yeah oh yeah look at this there's a Prince of Persia the lost crown from January 2024 I wonder if that's the one I mean will you ask her which one she likes oh yeah well Sam and I were in the same building and she was down the hall from me and you know occasionally like there's a bunch of like songs in this movie and like you know occasionally we would like either rehearse at my apartment or her apartment but it was always very fun to go over there and just hear the sounds of Prince of Persia in the background and of course the Jake Gyllenhaal film version is one of her favorites yeah yeah for sure let's just put that out there also Sam like like just like about her work ethic she I don't want to put her on blast but she like a psychopath like Prince out the entire script and then paste sit on her wall so the other thing about her apartment was it just all of like it's like homeland like she's like Claire Danes and homeland like no this leads to this she has the red string connecting all the moments yeah well I'm then talking about Jason Ziegle and his work ethic like so Jason lived outside of town and he had this place that was like in the middle of nowhere because he's like he's a romantic like he loves being by himself like experiencing by himself and Jason would record like a lot of actors do that like to learn their lines he'd record the whole script so we had a version where he recorded him doing all of the whole script doing all everyone's parts listen to that and then he had a different version which was everyone's lines except his and he would do the entire script walking around and like honestly when he first got to Finland he told me that he was like he got up at like three o'clock in the morning I don't know he was like on a time zone thing or whatever but he walked from like three to six in the morning just listening to the script like talk about dialed in like it was amazing that's such a kind of psychopath the most you know me yeah but that's such a treat to have actors that are taking it that seriously and know all their stuff yeah so you can just turn the camera on and they do it yeah I mean like I think the only potential disadvantage is that they're so used to doing a certain type of way that occasionally you have to like you know jar things a little bit because they they're so diluted with the lines but they may have like now but warn the grooves a little bit that's interesting like you can feel that a choice that they made of how to say it has now become calcif like you do three takes their identical because they've already done it 40 times a hundred times at home so you're it is I'm sure you've had this experience before but like there was one scene a dining room scene that we did and it even happens with with me watching a scene where it's like you do like you know five takes and you're like those are all great and they have to stop and think like well we'll actually be happening in this situation like there's one where he wakes up and he's been tays which is in the trailers I'm not writing anything but like but he wakes up and like I hadn't really given him the note of like play the groginess of waking up more and then that is the take that we use for like the first half of the scene like I only got like one or two takes of that version but it's like always having to like it's surprising when there's something that obvious that because everyone's been sitting with the script for a while and everyone's in a rush and you're like all right let's bring it up and then you and then what I noticed even just shooting this pilot the other day with Jake Johnson and Keith David and everybody yeah like they would do two quick takes and then look to me for like a direction and I'd be like yo I need to process this in my brain for a second yeah like it I don't necessarily have immediate like especially if you can tell something's not quite right you don't necessarily know the answer immediately like sometimes I have to sit there because it can be as simple as like oh you're just doing it too fast like it's a grog you're seeing and sometimes you know it right away yeah but sometimes it's it's a testament to your actors right because we were working with pretty highly calibrated actors who have done this for years and years so you are like taken in with like oh you're doing this very well yeah you get you can get tricked because they're too good but but honestly like a big a big thing for me and I weirdly I really noticed this on what I was doing the Pepsi commercial the Super Bowl Pepsi commercial with Ben Stiller and Steve Martin because we had so little time to work with them together they like half an hour and was one of the moments that I was like I was very proud of myself to be like stop the cameras let's talk let's figure this out like together and slow it down like who gets a fuck about time if it's wrong yeah it was like really like those moments where you're like stop nobody's dress out we're gonna get there but sit there figure out what like what feels wrong what feels wrong because it's the other advantage that both of us have is that you're working with unbelievably professional people and they still are always going to be happy to stop everything to figure it out 100% but like but all these people like him it's seagull julie loose like like Tim like Tim had great suggestions for things and you find some a lot of things in rehearsal but like but they're great storytellers so like those are for just killer professionals like oh I'm unreal you're never gonna get bad takes out of them you're just gonna get different takes but but it's even beyond that to me because like there's a moment and we haven't talked about this but like we were talking through the the for there's a flashback that happens and it was Tim's suggestion to be like it would be neat if at the start of a flashback there's something that's being said that sort of a mystery of what I'm talking about that is resolved by the end of the flashback and I was like that's such a fucking good note and honestly like as a director I feel like I'm constantly having to be like like listen to the good ideas none of this should be about your ego it's like literally like work with the people that have been doing this for fucking years and years and years and years and like you know those ideas that come up I mean you know it's it feels like such a blessing and you have you're so grateful when you're like fuck that's so much better like thank you for that suggestion yeah it is the it is the best when we did the naked on one do we talk about the um the scene where the chargers for the electric car all getting ripped out of the ground I think we did big it but but but till again it's just so in the script all the chargers gave ripped out and the the cables are getting ripped out of the ground and then they go up the wall just like they do in the movie and then they rip a big hole in the wall right yeah but in the script it said police squad swimming pool on the wall like recreation center and swimming pool and when the wall ripped open you know like 10,000 gallons of water would spill out right with a bunch of little bit pricey joke and and with a bunch of cops like big Chicago looking cops in like little bathing suits that would like spill out onto the ground like fishes like in flower out of like fish yeah and we really went down the road like they had figured out how we could do a tank and how we could do it there but then they're like the stunt people can't all be in the water because they could drown while we're getting ready so they'd have to kind of you know like jump dive into the water as it's spilling out from the sides and we'd have to shoot kind of everyone to side and we're just going through all this and it was going to be impossible to reset yeah and then we were like God what else could it be and we hadn't like spent a lot of time thinking about it but very quickly Bill Bretsky the production designer was like what if it's the prison and I was like oh my god that's so much better on so many less so much better that's nice and it's one of the rare there aren't that many ideas that came from outside me or the writers sure Dan Doug but that's a huge joke but they happen they happen you know like somebody yes and and it was like oh my god thank and you just are so grateful for it too you're like there's all those moments that like that happen where it's like somebody like brings you a prop that you're like oh fuck that gives me an idea for this like maybe it's not like the idea that you're used but like it becomes another idea which is great did like I got a question on that so did you always know that for the credits you were gonna have the sort of swim pool because that sort of like would cannibalize that a little bit like you know because at the end of that your movie that you go to like the retreat where it's like the you know I wouldn't even call it like I'll see the cuz there yeah yeah yeah that would cannibalize it a little bit you would have already seen like cops and bathing suits that are all you know what in the script of that they were at a sandal style resort but they were by the beach and you know what I hadn't really visualized how the other cops would look there so it would have yeah you're right seeing it would have been like a similar thing so eat better on that level too even better on that but also just infinitely more repeatable you know obviously we had to rebuild the wall and break the wall again we did it twice yeah and it's so much funnier just like of course and it makes more sense may some more sense but it also it like is with his character of like you want like Liam's character to always be causing more chaos and problems criminals is so much like making cops fall out of the things just annoying letting [BLANK_AUDIO]
- He's a terrible, complete officer. Yeah, it just was better on-- - That's great. - Like it made our other one just suck. I was like, "Oh, our sucks, that's it." And it was like, I felt dumb for not having thought of it. - Yeah, it's the best when you're like, you're like, "How did we not come up with that?" - That's what it was. It was such a no brainer we felt like idiots. - Yeah. - Yeah, that's awesome. - Yeah, so obviously you've got these great actors before we get to like the release stuff. Obviously, on a personal level, you've done all the comedy stuff that everybody, you know what I'm saying, you've done these commercials and then pilots and stuff. And this was like, this is a little bit different for you. I wouldn't say this is, people sometimes use the word horror and as somebody who doesn't like horror movies, I don't quite put, I wonder, like Matt would really know all the like talking about horror versus thriller. To me, like-- - I would say this is dark comedy with like, you know, it has were elements, I guess. - Yeah, it's like, or horrific elements. - It's a thriller comedy is what I would say that the part it takes from horror is like, it's a little goryer than you think it's gonna be. It shows things a little more. But it could easily, like if you just didn't show those things, then it just becomes an action comedy. Because to me, like, and I might just be wrong and so I'm sure the comments will do it. Like horror gets something a little supernatural. Like even science of lambs is called a horror movie, but when I watch it, I'm like-- - It's trimming. - I mean, it's definitely scary. - Yeah, yeah, totally. - It's very scary. - What's a pretty heightened world, too. Like, yeah. - But it's still because it's in the real world, it feels more like a thriller. - Well, the other thing about the word horror, 'cause I'm right, I'm right there with you. Like, I'm squeamish about a lot of stuff. And like, one of the things I was sort of proud of because there are some gory moments in this movie is like, my mom and my mother-in-law like have laughed at some of the most horrendous parts of this movie. Like, and I've had quite a few people be like, I'm not usually able to see gory. And like, because this movie is so funny, it was totally palatable for people that were not like super. - It was shocking how big the laughs were on. Like, I won't describe it here necessarily, but on something that-- - Yes. - But if I just described it is just horrible, just somebody being, let's say, stabbed in the head. And the audience was like, ha ha ha! Just fucking as if it was the face of their resume. (laughing) But it has to do with how much you know those characters don't want to be doing that. - Yeah. - And how they can't believe this is what it's come to. And, well that is, I will say, one of the tricks and one of the things that not surprisingly, because especially for people like you and I, we're always trying to sort of push the comedy, was like, one of the things I had to watch was just like always sort of maintaining the reality. In regards to how crazy the reality gets, which is like, this movie goes to crazy places, but it really was important for me to be like, if I was pushing the comedy too much and breaking the reality that I was like, I had to pull back. There's even, as you saw, a lonely island joke that I had to take out. - Oh, right. - Wait, well that's out. So does it ruin anything to say what it was? - No, it's not, there was a moment where Timothy Allefant is on a boat, and then he's just singing to himself. I'm on a boat. I'm on a boat, motherfucker. - Wait, whatever happened to those guys, they still do skits? - Yeah. - Yeah, that would not have felt self-indulgent, but also. - Are you putting together deleted things and stuff like for iTunes bonus features? - Yeah, and I'll say the thing I'm most excited about the bonus features is, but again, see it in theaters. I don't know when this shit's coming out in streaming. - Yeah, maybe you will never put it on streaming. - Yeah, it could easily never come out. - You guys, go see it this weekend. Over your dead body. - But our mutual homie and guy, you scooped many years ago doing the wash, they would need noggle. David is our go-to VFX man. He did 300 shots for this movie. And he did an awesome series of, there's a lot of pretty violent gags in the movie, and he does a plate version of how to do each of these things. So like, I'm gonna say what was actually happening, but there's a series of this is the A plate, this is the B side, these are the blank plate you need to like make this gag work. And then hilariously, so we're gonna put all of that on the extras when this eventually comes out, but maybe it never will, is that he's doing it with his like daughters. So it's like his 13 year old, like getting their head, like, well, I'm not like, yeah, yeah. - But he's always done it. - Awesome. - We have videos of his daughter doing in pop star when Andy's doing the quick change thing, where it's the cloth tube that goes over his body when it comes down, he's wearing a cowboy outfit or whatever, and then he's naked. - Obviously not. - He didn't do naked, he didn't do the naked. - No, no, he didn't do it with any, well, he didn't have any of the wardrobe either, it was just with like, she's in a blue outfit, now she's in a red outfit, it was a proof of concept. But even back then, it was videos of his daughter. We've seen the daughters. - These ones are so much more fun. - Yeah, 'cause they're violent. (laughing) - It's super funny. - That's hilarious. - Dude, and doing all the action shit was this, 'cause like for me, I was actually weirdly nervous of like the real action stuff, 'cause this is like 87 North, who did like John Wick and bullet shenan. - Yeah, the producing team that came in, at least you knew you were with people that have done, you knew the comedy part, but they've done all the action stuff before. - And you did this with naked gun up, going through the process, and then I'm sure it was very similar in that you're adding comedy within that, so you're getting all the benefits of these amazing fucking choreographers, and they're mocking up stuff, and then you're adding, I want this to, is you're sort of trying to like, it's almost like the comedy's enhancing the action because it creates these breaks in it, where you're getting like a real laugh, especially for your movie, obviously, but you're getting like a real laugh, and then you're going straight back into the action, and like one's enhancing the other, so it was really fun for me to like work with these super professional, and the same way it was, I'm sure for you for, for naked gun, it was such a rad experience. So like, you know, one hand washing the other kind of thing. - Yeah, but you guys also had so little time, how many days was this shoot? - This is 32. - Yeah. - And there's a lot of gags, and-- - It's just hard when it comes to action stuff, because depending on the stunt, things can really slow down for safety reasons, and for effects reasons. I mean, if you're spraying blood, then you take two, is it a whole new change of clothes to get the blood off, and it can slow stuff down a lot? - Did you have any like moments you had like, call actual like, audibles on set? We had a couple of moments where we were like, I should like, really-- - Of course, because we're not trying to scare anybody, it was, you know, and like, and it's just supposed to be so friendly, like, in general, we would just veer towards it's a cartoon. So, like, it'd be like, so should a shirt rip, and I'd be like, nope, he'll just be perfect again in the next shot, because, you know, he's wearing that suit. I mean, you barely noticed, but Liam's wearing the same suit the whole movie, basically. - That's hilarious. - That's hilarious. - He's just in that gray suit all the time, like a cartoon character. Like, that's what he looks like. - Like Harad or McGurray. - Exactly, like, that's just what he wears. - Dude, that's just as big swing comedy, dude. That's awesome. - He's in a blue suit at one point, a little bit, but barely ever, and it was even him. He was like, why don't I just wear this the whole time? And you're like, I think we changed his shirt underneath, but barely, and I mean, when they go on the date, when he gets home, you know, then he's in like the sweater and stuff, but basically, but days are passing in the movie, you know, the movie's over in the montage, like when it's a meant to convey days and-- - Yes, and he's on a cabin, so he's in snow clothes and cozy. But like, days are passing, then when the montage is over, he's back in that suit, even though it's the next day, so did he get a dry clean? - I mean, for this, for this, like, because there's so much special effects make up, and they're so good at being like, this injury, 'cause it was always like the scene after that you would actually see what had caused the injury in the previous-- - Yeah, and you're shooting out of order sometimes, so you're having to create the-- - Yes, so you prove that all in the beginning of like, this is this, like, this is cause, this is damage, this is like, what happens? - Yeah. - But it was like, it was happening chronologically in terms of like, you see the fight, and then in the next scene, you start to see the swelling from what happened, so they have to be so on point with like, how that-- And then the only thing we actually shot out of order, really, 'cause obviously like, I wanted to shoot as much as you can in order, was it was so cold in Finland that we had to shoot some of the boat, there's like a bunch of boat stuff, and Jason gets in the water for, it was freezing, like freezing, and he was so game, but that was the only thing that we actually had to like do, and it was to the point where like, he wanted to go again, we have a crane, like, zooming at him, we almost hit him with the crane, and like, and he was like, let's go again, I was like, dude, no! Like, I'm looking at him as we got this, like, you're good. - He's wearing like a wetsuit under his clothes? - Yeah, he's wearing it, yeah, he's a, I think they call it dry, dry suits, or something, or whatever one's called, but yeah, dry suit, that's cool. - Maybe that's for the camera ops, I'm not sure. Anyway, but you know, he's still freezing away, he gets out, I mean, it's, it's really, but we had to like, do that early days, 'cause it was genuinely different, dangerous for the actors. - All right, well now it's time for me to do the pitch of selling this that you keep trying to do, and it just comes off crass. (laughing) - I'm not a classy, but a sinky, but I'm not a classy guy. - But here's the reality of it is, you made the whole movie, it's gonna come out, and the truth is, people already like it, you're, and it's so, we were texting the other day, and it's already, you already did your job really well. - Thanks man. - Anything else, from my opinion, in my pep talk to you, is gravy, because people love it. Those screenings were fantastic. This is a side note, but I always remember Sandler talking about the movie, Spanglish, how in the theater, even though that movie's more drama than comedy, it's a James Albrook's movie, he was talking about how it would just get these enormous laughs, and he was like, oh my God, like those are laughs that are bigger,
than the ones I get in my movies where I'm trying to be funny all the time. And it's that thing of like when you're in a movie where the story is working so well, it can get laughs that are actually, you know, like pop star and naked gonna have to work so hard for every laugh because that's what it is promising you. Whereas this movie is getting just as big laughs the way that horror or drama can because you're being pulled into the story and then are so with the characters that the littlest thing. That's the way she says something to him about the like, you know, way she's cutting garlic is a huge laugh even though it's like just the littlest thing. It's not a reason. It's awesome when it when it's like a visual joke too. Like there's a moment in the kitchen where she's like tiptoeing at one point and like it kills. Yes. And it is like just a visual thing. But they're not jokes so to speak, they're just character moments, things blooming from character. Yeah. Anyways, that was a tangent, but it really was fun to see this in a big theater. I guess that's my pitch. And it's just would be great for your arm to not be like super bummed after it comes out even though like my that's the real pitch. My eyes. My pep talk to him is still true, which is I'm saying he already has one. He set out to make something and it came out good and it doesn't matter truthfully when people see it. I mean, that's not what he wants me to say. But in 10 years, he'll be doing a screening of this the way that I was just that one for pop star and he should have been at that one too. But yeah, point being is it's already done. Like if he can jump forward in his head, it's already done. But that's still well, the reason the reason I think it is really important to like to see it though is because whenever people talk about like communism, like, you gotta go see him. So we can make more of it. I mean, like it helps everybody and you just don't want to get sad. Oh, yeah. Like, okay. So that's the real pitch to the quads is that don't make me sad. Yeah. Yeah. Not sad because that's the thing, like ultimately, you know what I mean? It's like famous people go on talk shows every week and say, please go see my movie. It doesn't really mean anything because you're going to get to make another movie because it's already good. Like in general, the people can kind of say like, I just hope it does well enough that they let me make another. But I can tell you, you can already make another because it's already good. And you're not going to make more money from it doing good because it's not how the deal is structured. So what's in it for you is to make it sad. Yeah. It's just your mental health. Well, and by the way, like how sad did we get on all of the things that we've done? Well, that's what I'm saying. The heartbreak of it is so right. You don't want to feel that again. Oh, God. Hi, Rod. Fucking Macroober. Fucking Pobstire. Exactly. All things we were incredibly proud of, this one. Exactly. So just, my plea is just for you to feel he's been through a lot. He's been through a lot. I mean, he's been through a lot. He's already on every pill you can take, so he's not going to be able to mask it with drugs. He can't just take a bunch of like sedatives. He's at max drugged out already. There's nowhere to go here. Yeah. This is all true. Thanks, Keith, for that. Yeah. Rousing endorsement. So that's, well, everything else sounds, you know, Pat. It sounds like whatever, but what is somebody going to do going and not tell you to see whatever it is? Yeah. That's the whole job. But this is real. Well, go out there and see it before it sells out, guys, because, you know, this is hot of the hot cakes press this Friday over your day, buddy. I have a 24th. If you want to get sad, I'm going to be so sad for him, guys. Can I play you, Jason Siegel's voice note? Yeah. Yeah. What did you ask them for? Well, okay. So I got a voice note from Siegel. I just said, hey, are there any remembrances that you had from the, and I will say that I disagree with this voice note. All right. Have a listen to it. Okay. Yeah. And so I'll give you my response after we listen to it. All right. Let's roll it. Yeah. I guess the moment that stands out most to me from shooting is the trust that I had established with Yorma, my director, who I knew would never but train me in any way. And we did a scene where Sam and I are laying unconscious on the ground having just fallen through the ceiling, and we're about to roll. And someone said, there would probably still be some wood falling. And Yorma called out, do we have any wood? And someone said, yeah, here's a two by four. And then Yorma came up and said, I'm going to drop this on your head. And I whispered, I don't want that. And then Yorma said, okay. And then he called action. And then quickly whispered, I'm going to do it anyway. And then dropped a solid piece of wood on my head with a clunk. And then when they yelled, cut, I had never seen Sam with so appalled and shocked in my whole life. And then the guy did it again. Next take. But wouldn't change it for the world. Love you, Yorma. Bye. Okay. Yeah. My repuddle. Yeah. Okay. I'm just going to read you my repuddle of what I said to Siegel after he sent that, which was. I wrote back to him. I said, this is very funny. It was a prop wood and very light. So you aren't entirely inaccurate and a liar, but this is a very funny retelling. He said, I haven't been able to write since, since from the brain damage. I said, it's good that you were paid so little that you can't afford a lawyer. Good for me at least. That made me laugh. I assume you laughed and then coughed up blood a little from your never healing internal injuries. Love you, pal. Love you. That was our exchange. So it was a prop. It was not. A prop wood. A real little whiny. Yeah. And he probably told Sam it was real and that's why her looking at gas might have been true. Like I can't believe he's doing that to him. Yeah. Okay. So he's trying to turn, turn the rest of the crew against you is the point. I mean, I will say that did seem kind of a gas. Yeah. She might have thought it was real because I did, because I did whisper that I'm just going to do it. Yeah. All right. Here's Sam's note. Okay. You have a dog casting gang. You're going to ask me to tell a little tale from the incredible over your dead body shoot. And I think one of the best and the silliest memories I have is the trailers that we had had very thin walls. So you could sort of hear everything anyone said if you were like next to them. And Jason's room was next to mine. And so at lunch, they would bring us these incredible meals shout out to the catering. And I suddenly start hearing Jason in his trailer going, oh, yeah, oh, oh, my God. Oh, shit. That is good. It was sort of, it was day one of shootings. So I really didn't know I was in quite a predicament. I was laughing, but also didn't know whether to say like, hey, it was a private moment. I can, I can hear you when you eat. And this happened every day, every lunchtime, I'd be like trying to have a nap or something. And I'd just hear him having a whale of a time. A whale of a time. Yeah, it makes me giggle. And then eventually I had to be like, hey, dude, I can fully hear you. And then he just, instead of stopping, he ramped it up even more. Oh my God. Yeah. I'm sure Jason will tell you about the time that Jorma dropped wood on his head without consent a few times. What the fuck? He tells that story. That's also safe. Anyway, it was one of the best and most fun times I've had on a job. And yeah, love you, Jorma. Let's do it again. No. Oh my God. What a great evening. That was wonderful. Well, I had a follow-up question that I wish she was live. I wanted to ask, which is, well, I guess it's a question for Seagull, which is if she confronted him, I thought she was going to say he said, like, I've been doing that for you as a bit. But instead, he just got louder like as if he went, oh, that's funny. I'll now I'll do it even louder. But what was he doing it for before? No, he's doing it because he's in the moment. He's a man. He's a Zen man in the moment enjoying food. And like he told the story kind of on Kimmel, but he went to like a food court and was like eating a doughnut. And he was like doing the same, like, oh, yeah, like, by the way, this is in fucking Finland. So he's fucking still awake. By something and by the way. Oh, hell yeah. Oh, that's good. But just by himself. Just to give you like some context, my first AD auntie, like my impression of him was, I am auntie. I'm doing a joke. No, I'm serious. No, I'm doing a joke. A beautiful looking navy seal, like tacked up, like dude, like he was just like so stoic, like that movie sees who, like, which is about like perseverance against all odds, no matter what is like that's Finland, 100%. So to have a big dude just being like, oh, yeah, this boot is good, it's like, it's like that is not normal in Finland. So he got stopped after like eating in this place, but like this woman who was like this security guard who was trying to take his car key because she was like, you're clearly super high. And he had to be like, no, I'm American, no, I'm just, this is how we are, we're this dumb all the time. When we enjoy something, we're gonna let you know, I'm being alone, being like, oh shit. Oh, by the way, catering was super good. And this was the first time I've ever had catering where there was no options, they just made you one thing. They just made you a meal. Oh, that's really so good. That sounds very good, honestly. Oh, wow, this was a treat. And yeah, thanks for talking about my movie. Thank you for those voice notes. It made me want to go to a dinner with Samara and Jason and hear a ton of it. So invite me when you're now.
and wrangling them into a dinner, just be like, "I keep his tagging along." - I will, too. - So I can hear it 'cause they sound very funny. And her Australian accent is spot on. She's doing it, so believe me. - She is a couple Australian-isms that I really fucking like, and that actually feel like-- - Does she say fair do's a lot? - Dude, they feel like they're straight out of our podcast, too, 'cause she calls somebody a gronk. And like, it been that sounds like a very much like this podcast. - Not a gronk. - Yeah, you fucking gronk. Stop it, not a gronk. - Gronk, that is really good. - Yeah. And by the way, speaking of dinners, I loved this moment was when we were in Finland, we were out there with a very nice dinner all the cast together and Timothy and Julia were talking and they were talking about. They were like, "Oh, yeah, what did you do with Leo?" And I was like, "Oh, Leo, DiCaprio, "they both worked with Leo." And I was like, "Wait, Julia, what'd you do with Leonardo?" And she was like, "Oh, this movie, "what's eating Gilbert Grape?" And I was like, "Yep, nope, no, I know it. "It's a right, you are an amazing actor." - Who's been doing it for 40 years? - Yep. - All right, well, Yorm, it's been a pleasure. I hope we talked some quads into a theatrical experience that's coming weekend and thank you in advance to them and congratulations to you, Yorm. And it's nice to, you know, get real with you without the jokesters around. - Oh my god. - Thank you for bringing that up. - But people who is a pleasure. - Anything serious, a real director, a real artist, like getting down to brass tacks. - The sarcasm from those guys. You're like, "Are you being serious?" - I know, I can never tell it up. - I'm being serious. Can't you just be real for a second, oh my god. - Exactly, exactly. - What are they so afraid of? - Yeah, they're running you from something. Just like the quads are gonna be running into the theater so that Yorm doesn't have to run from his emotions. - All right, thank you, baby. Don't make me depressed, guys. - Love you, Yorm. - Love you, Kif. Later Arnold. - Later quads.
Podcast Summary
Key Points:
The Lonely Island podcast features a raw, unfiltered conversation focused on real-life experiences and humor, rejecting Hollywood elite culture in favor of a "flyover country" authenticity.
The group promotes their new movie *Pop Star*, set for theatrical release on April 24th, emphasizing its fun, comedic energy and the importance of seeing it in theaters over streaming.
The film features a major shift from the original in tone and character development, with more sympathetic relationships, added depth through the introduction of a new character (Juliet Louis), and a stronger balance of comedy and emotional realism.
Summary:
The Lonely Island podcast hosts a candid, down-to-earth discussion centered on their new movie *Pop Star*, set for a theatrical release on April 24th. They emphasize that the film is a bold, more emotionally grounded reimagining of the original, with heightened comedy, deeper character relationships, and a more realistic tone than the source material. —are vibrant and authentic, producing large, genuine laughs that stem from emotional investment rather than just jokes.
They note the film’s unique blend of dark humor and action, calling it a "thriller comedy" with gory, unsettling moments that are still palatable due to the characters’ relatability and the film’s grounded reality. The shoot in Finland, while logistically challenging with extreme cold and limited soundstages, fostered strong collaboration and bonding among the cast and crew. Notably, actors like Jason Ziegel and Sam demonstrate exceptional dedication, rehearsing lines extensively and bringing a high level of authenticity to their performances.
The team also shares behind-the-scenes moments, including deleted material and visual gags, with VFX artist David providing detailed breakdowns of the film’s most violent scenes—all shot with care to maintain comedic timing and narrative flow. Despite the film’s intense action and horror elements, it resonates with audiences because of its emotional core and genuine character arcs, resulting in powerful, communal laughter that transcends genre. The group remains committed to the theatrical experience, urging fans to see *Pop Star* in cinemas, where the full impact of its humor and storytelling is best appreciated.
FAQs
The movie 'Pop Star' is releasing in theaters on Friday, April 24th.
It is not confirmed whether 'Pop Star' will be available on streaming platforms; the film is primarily intended for theatrical release.
The remake maintains the original structure but shifts the tone to be more sympathetic, features a new character (Juliet Louis), and emphasizes comedy over dark emotional themes. The characters' relationship and chemistry are more central in the new version.
Finland's landscape resembles upstate New York, and the production team chose it for its authentic, isolated cabin setting. The cold climate and remote locations also helped create a unique, immersive environment for filming.
Theaters with a low rake and traditional seating create a stronger sense of community and audience interaction, enhancing the comedic and immersive experience—especially in films like 'Pop Star' that rely on audience reactions.
Yes, the crew bonded closely during filming, with activities like barbecues, music videos, and shared meals fostering camaraderie. Jason Ziegel recorded the entire script to prepare, and the production team included creative ideas from external contributors to enhance scenes.
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