Some people believe in destiny, the possibility that they’re set to do something greater than they could ever imagine. That’s the viewpoint that wide-eyed stoner Jeff (played by Jason Segel) has in Jay and Mark Duplass’ latest drama-comedy “Jeff, Who Lives At Home.” What turns into a simple errand develops into something greater that involves the most important people of all… his family. The movie also stars Ed Helms, Judy Greer and Susan Sarandon.
On his way to the store to buy wood glue, Jeff (Segel) looks for signs from the universe to determine his path. However, a series of comedic and unexpected events leads him to cross paths with his family in the strangest of locations and circumstances. Jeff just may find the meaning of his life…and if he’s lucky, pick up the wood glue as well.
During the interview we got the chance to talk with the cast and directors of the comedy-drama about creating the subject, Jeff’s viewpoint and how much fun it is to jump into alligator-infested waters.
For Jay and Mark, do you ever have those sort of brotherly fights like Jeff and Pat, or do you ever have those sort of moments with your wives or significant others?
Mark Duplass: Yeah, we have perfect relationships with each other and with our wives. It’s just that easy.
Jay Duplass: Yeah, everything is fine.
Mark Duplass: I think what ends up happening with me and Jay is that when we’re on set, we’re so aware that it’s so hard to make a movie and almost impossible to make a movie that’s semi-entertaining and watchable. That whatever problems end up coming up between us immediately get dwarfed by the greater force of the movie that we have to deal with. You know, it’s kind of like that moment where there are two villains who hate each other and then they have to join forces to defeat the bigger villain. That’s basically how we work together.
Jay Duplass: It’s like Frankenstein. You make a movie and it’s like this big monster that threatens to like ruin your life, and eat up all of your food …
Mark Duplass: And your fun.
Jay Duplass: … and your fun, and so you’re there with your sibling. And you’re just trying to get Frankenstein back into the grave. And basically, if he’s making that weird clicking noise that pisses you off, you’re kind of like happy that the clicking noise is there because you’re like oh if I die, I’m not going to die alone.
Mark Duplass: Is Frankenstein in this story? Is that’s what up?
Jay Duplass: Yeah.
Mark Duplass: Who is the tallest person in here?
Jay Duplass: [Looks at Jason Segel] Oh, shit. Oh, sorry.
Mark Duplass: Jay and I tend to lose our emotionally self aware and good behavior for whatever reason when we start playing small sports against each other like pool and ping pong and things like that. Everything kind of goes away and become a bit more primal.
Because you did ramp it up so much this time, what kind of logistical challenges did you face? You’ve got car chases, you’ve got people jumping off of bridges, you’ve got the Coast Guard involved, you’ve got water, and you’ve got a traffic jam. What kind of challenges did that present for your style of filmmaking, and in that same vein, did Ed and Jason really do their own stunt work?
Mark Duplass: Well, I think you have laid out the challenges pretty well there. Traditionally, we’ve been shooting films that take place most in close-ups of people’s faces and deal with interpersonal human relations, and sort of the tragic comedy of relationships. And this film maintains that, but it also expands it because it’s sort of an adventure in the day of the life of these people. And I would definitely say that the big challenge for us is to maintain that sense of I guess personal relationship, comedic drama that we like while at the same time incorporating these bigger things like car chases and whatnot. And in this sort of shaggy improvisatory style that we shoot in, it’s kind of hard to shoot a car chase scene while improvising. You have to find a special blend of I guess our old and our new way of filmingmaking to do that.
Jay Duplass: You kind of have to plan everything in a way that we normally don’t because we do employ improvisation. We shoot documentary style. We sort of let our actors lead, and we kind of come to them. So you kind of have to plan it, and then you have to like make it. You have to shaggy it up again. Mark makes a good metaphor that it’s like thrift store shopping where you have to work really, really hard to make it look like that shirt like you picked it up off your floor. And yes, for any stunts that did happen in the film the boys were doing everything.
To (Ed) Helms and (Jason) Segel, was there any anxiety, nervousness or fear doing that jump near the end? And also to Helms, what was the fastest you’ve ever driven without getting pulled over or crashing? That Porsche thing that was painful to watch.
Ed Helms: Jason did it first and survived and so I was confident, but I still landed in the water with my pants full of pee. So it was extremely–it actually doesn’t even look as high as it felt.
Jason Segel: It felt crazy. I did something smart. I told everybody that I was going to do the jump so that when it came time, I couldn’t not do it because I told everyone I was going to do it. So I had to.
Susan Sarandon: I came to the set just to watch.
Ed Helms: I know you did.
Susan Sarandon: So he actually had to do it.
Jason Segel: I had family visiting and I couldn’t let them down.
Ed Helms: Yeah, that’s how I cornered myself into it. And then what’s the fastest I’ve ever driven?
Yes, and are you a safe driver?
Ed Helms: I am a pretty conservative driver. That said, if I’m late to say a junket, I will go quickly. And I have been known to scoff the law on occasion, but no I am a pretty conservative driver. They didn’t tell us until after. They were like it’s totally safe. We’ve scoured the waters, and then after we jumped, the dude was we caught an alligator this morning. That’s a Louisiana stuntman trick. They just use that.
Jason Segel: And the craw fish, the little pincher things.
Ed Helms: Yeah. They’re coming for you. Yeah. They can pinch you.
My question is for Judy (Greer). I was just curious. You obviously had quite a few scenes with Ed, but you have a few scenes with Jason as well. And I’m just curious what …
Judy Greer: Which one I like better?
No, no I would put you on the spot like that.
Jason Segel: He’s a better actor. He’s much better.
If you want to go there, please do. I was just curious of how you found each as a partner to play off of.
Jason Segel: Basically, who do you like better? That’s a veiled version of the same question.
Judy Greer: It felt really seamless to make this movie. Because we always were, I felt like every time we were on set we were always acting like there wasn’t a lot of down time or the cameras were always rolling I mean obviously I can tell them apart, but it wasn’t like one experience was different. I mean I had some really emotional moments with Ed, and that was really fun. And then I’ve always liked Jason, and he’s funny. I’m learning other than just speaking. But it was really working with both of them felt really comfortable. They both have a similar energy, and sense of humor and I came there a few days after they had already met, and like the bonding between them was so obvious already. I don’t know if you guys knew each other well beforehand, but they seemed like immediately to me like brothers.
Mark Duplass: I can speak to that a little bit in terms of the big scene in the motel room that is about the essence of the marriage between Judy and Ed’s character is very much what we have done in our comfort zone before. You know, two couples in a room trying to figure out and if you watched the first take of that versus what started happening in the third, fourth and fifth take, you know, I mean you see how quickly they establish their chemistry and their dynamics. And that was one of those scenes I think where the improvisation really paid off in this film because that scene went further off book than some of the other scenes in the film. And a lot of those really darker moments would come from either me or Jay or Ed or Judy. We’re all just in this room with the cameras shooting it, and we were throwing out lines of dialogue. And that was like a true collaboration and just creating the thing right there.
Jay and Mark, it seems like this is kind of a universal theme. A lot of us have had a relative who’s a slacker, and they’re still living at home at an older age. Is there an inspiration behind Jeff or maybe for the rest of the cast is there anyone in your life who kind of is like a Jeff?
Mark Duplass: Well, Jay and I lived in Austin for a long time, and there’s this zip code in Austin particularly South Austin called 78704.
Jay Duplass: Yeah.
Mark Duplass: We don’t really see Jeff as a slacker in a lot of ways. Like he is 30 years old. He is living in his mom’s basement.But in a way, it’s because, you know, there’s an argument to be made that Jeff has more integrity than any of us that he believes his life is meant for grand things, for big things. And he won’t settle for just a decent job and maybe the right girlfriend. Jeff is waiting for glory, and that’s what we love about him. At first glance, you’re like, “Okay, maybe he’s just stoner.” But you dig a little bit deeper, and he has kind of sacrificed a lot of to look for that big thing that we all want. So I guess he’s a more extreme example.
Jason Segel: He won’t compromise. He is very, very pure. He won’t compromise.
Mark Duplass: He’s an iconoclast.
Jay Duplass: Yes, he is. Mark and I look up to Jeff and to those types of people because they are living, they are choosing actively to live outside of like, you know, the typical procedure of go to college, get a job, get married, have kids. You know, do all this stuff, and because they choose to do this, they’re also like exposing themselves to pain and vulnerability that a lot of us probably don’t expose ourselves to. So in a weird way, I mean don’t get me wrong, we think they’re hilarious and that they’re basketball shorts are hilarious, but we ultimately look up to them.
“Jeff, Who Lives At Home” is out in theaters this Friday.