Posted in: Amazon, Exclusive, Interview, Movies, Streaming | Tagged: alison brie, amazon prime video, amy sedaris, community, danny pudi, dave franco, exclusive, haley joel osment, interview, Jay Ellis, Julie Hargerty, kiersey clemons, Somebody I Used To Know

Somebody I Used to Know: Dave Franco on Rom-Com, Alison Brie & More

Director Dave Franco talks to Bleeding Cool about his latest rom-com in "Somebody I Used to Know," co-writer & star Alison Brie & more.

Dave Franco is always looking for new challenges as an artist, whether it's acting, writing, or directing. His latest project is Amazon Prime Video's Somebody I Used to Know, his second directorial feature to follow up 2020's The Rental, which became an unexpected passion project with his wife, actor Alison Brie, who's also done her share of writing and directing. Brie plays Ally, a media personality and workaholic who's on a trip to her hometown and reconnected with her ex, Sean (Jay Ellis), and starts to question everything about the person she's become. Things only get more confusing when she meets Cassidy (Kiersey Clemons), who reminds her of the person she used to be. Franco spoke to Bleeding Cool about his and Brie's creative process and how acting helps his directing, casting, and organically growing the comedy.

Bringing the Elements' Somebody I Used to Know' Together

Bleeding Cool: What's the inspiration behind 'Somebody I Used to Know?'
Franco: The inspiration is my wife and I loving romantic comedies and wanting to put our own version of that out in the world. We started writing it at the beginning of the COVID lockdown. We wanted to kind of put some positivity out into the world during that dark time.

What makes Alison such a great collaborator in your projects?
We've worked together in a bunch of different ways now. This is the first time we've actually written together. We have similar sensibilities. We rarely have like wildly different points of view about anything. For the most part, it's pretty seamless. Our actual writing process is basically me at the computer typing away and her pacing back and forth and me saying, "All right, what would you say in this scenario?" She's literally acting it out as I take down her words. It's a fun back-and-forth in that way.

How does being an actor help you in your directing?
A lot, first knowing how to talk to actors, knowing kind of what their mindset is, being on set, and knowing how vulnerable it is to be an actor. I love creating a safe space for actors to let them feel comfortable taking big swings and all of that. On top of that, I remember the first movie I directed. I had nerves going in because I had never done it before, but that first day on set, I felt like, "Oh, I know a lot more than I thought I did because I've been on so many sets as an actor." It made me think about many first-time directors where when they step on set that first day, this is their first time on any set ever. They're trying to figure out how things generally work. I got a nice step up, having been on so many sets.

What was the most invaluable lesson when you decided to step behind the camera that helped carry you through your projects?
The best lesson was to surround myself with talented people and nice, hardworking people. It's so important because it sets the whole tone for everything. Everyone feeds off that negative energy, even if you have one bad seed. I didn't want any part of that. I extensively vetted the cast and crew to make sure that they were all genuinely nice people. It makes it, so the whole experience is like, "We want to do good work, but we also want to have a good time."

How did the casting come together? Was it a mix of friends in the industry and some you had auditioned? How did Kiersey and Jay go into the picture?
Part of the process was friends coming on board. Danny Pudi has worked with Alison on 'Community'; they're best friends. We wrote the role [of Benny] specifically for him. We were so excited that he wanted to do it. It was important because their natural chemistry is so apparent you can't fake it. They're playing best friends in the movie. You just want that to shine through.

In general, out of the main cast, we didn't audition anyone. I haven't auditioned anyone for either of my movies regarding the main cast. I make lists of people who I love and believe in. I've seen their past work and feel they can do this role exceptionally well. I don't need them to go through the song and dance of doing multiple auditions. It was more about us reaching out and sending letters to these actors who were fans and telling them how much we would love to work with them. We got lucky that we got our first choices across the board.

What's the most difficult part about balancing the comedy and keeping the nature of the story grounded?
The style of humor in this movie is character and situational-based as opposed to throwing out a bunch of one-liners or stuff like that. When it is character based, it makes it a little easier to navigate back and forth between the more serious and the more comedic moments, whatever situation you're in throughout the film. You're playing the honesty of that moment, whether it ends up being funny or serious again, like the alternative is a type of movie where it's like, "All right, let's just throw out a million jokes, and some of them might be like a little heightened above reality," but that's what this movie is. It's supposed to be a silly, wild, good time. With ours, the most important thing was keeping everything as grounded as possible and letting some humor come from these bizarre situations and characters.

Somebody I Used to Know, which also stars Haley Joel Osment, Julie Hagerty, and Amy Sedaris, is available on Prime Video on February 10th.

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