It makes perfect sense when Adam Scott admits that he grew
up watching Steve Martin and Albert Brooks. The star of “The Overnight,” now in
theaters, and “Parks and Recreation” has a similar, deadpan, intellectual
comedy style. In his latest, he plays half of a couple (with Taylor Schilling)
who has a life-changing night with a new pair of friends (Jason Schwartzman and
Judith Godreche) that includes a surprising amount of bad behavior and male
nudity. Patrick Brice’s comedy has earned raves since it premiered at Sundance
and is expanding around the country over the next few weeks. Scott was recently
in Chicago, and, as it so often does after the publicist introduces me and says
RogerEbert.com, the conversation
opened with a discussion of the legend himself and what he meant to Scott:
ADAM SCOTT: I’ve always been a sort of movie nerd of sorts
because it’s all I ever thought about or cared about as a kid growing up. So I
would read Roger Ebert’s books. Every year they would put out the compilation.
I remember his review of “Dead Poets Society” really changed the way I thought
about movies.
He didn’t like it.
He didn’t like it! Well, it was a very mixed review. And
that movie really affected me in a HUGE way. Then I read his review. I remember
exactly where I was standing in the book store reading his review. He used the
word “puncture.” He said that Robin Williams punctured the character by doing
his John Wayne routine. And I remember thinking, “You know what? He’s fucking
right!” I would then repeat that to people. “I feel that Robin Williams
punctured the character…” So funny. It changed the way I thought about it.
A lot of people’s
favorite Roger reviews are ones that they disagree with but his writing is so
strong. Do you think the idea of not puncturing character with over-performance
influenced your acting perhaps? You’re an understated actor and comedian.
Probably. Remaining true to the thing. And who knows? Maybe
Robin Williams didn’t want to do
that. I could see a studio insisting that it be a part of the thing. Now,
looking back on the movie, I kinda think “Yeah, it punctures the character, but
who gives a shit?” It’s a fun scene. And what a brilliant movie. But, as a film
critic, you have to take stuff like that seriously. And the thing I always
liked about Roger Ebert and his writing was that he would judge a film on its
merits and what it was setting out to accomplish and how well it did so. There’s
a lot of critics nowadays, one in particular I can think of, who really bother
me in that if they were a food critic and their favorite meal was a hamburger,
they would criticize other meals for not being a hamburger. They wouldn’t critique
a plate of spaghetti as a plate of spaghetti but they would critique it as to
why it isn’t a hamburger. For me, that’s not film criticism. That’s not Roger
Ebert. That’s not Pauline Kael. Forcing your very specific tastes on a movie is
not film criticism.
Roger wasn’t afraid
to give an action movie 4 stars if it accomplished what it set out to do.
I know it! That’s why I admired him. What are its goals? And
how well does it accomplish them?
Let’s talk about “The
Overnight.” When you get a script that features this much full frontal nudity
for your character, do you immediately question how that’s going to be done? Is
that a concern?
YEAH. Very much so. It was one of my first questions. He was
like, “Yes, prosthetics.” You would have to get a giant-dicked actor and a
teeny-dicked actor. That was a concern. David Wain actually put us in touch
with a good prosthetics guy because Joe Lo Truglio had his prosthetic penis in “Wanderlust.”
He did a great job and for a great rate. Got the dicks.
What attracted you to
the script originally?
I thought it was really funny but also touched on something
interesting in that when you get married and have kids that through the need to
be a rock for these little people, you forget to change. You can still evolve
and reinvent as a person, shed a skin every once in a while. These people are
really due for it and they don’t really know it and then this night sort of
happens to them. My character in particular grows up a lot in a period of a few
hours. It’s really interesting.
It also taps something
truthful in how difficult it can be to make adult friends.
Yes. It’s true.
Why do you think that
is?
I think you get busy and the ceiling gets lower and lower
for time to make to friends. The only
places we make friends now are through work or children because that’s all we
do. I really did relate to that as well.
How much input does Patrick
give you in terms of script work in advance or improv on the set?
We did improvise a lot. Patrick didn’t use all of it nor
should he have. I like improvising a lot. I think it’s a really healthy, fun
thing for the actors. It keeps everybody alert and alive. They feel like they’re
contributing and it’s very collaborative. And you get great bits that you might
want to use in the movie. You never know what’s going to come out of
improvisation. Sometimes you’re doing a scene for a while and it can get kinda
stale. There are a lot of improvised bits peppered throughout. The one thing
that comes to mind is the end of the movie when I’m saying something about “The
Beach,” the Leonardo DiCaprio movie, and I was throwing it out there as a dumb
thing I thought of and then Jason came back and tied it back into the movie and
his character. That’s how good Jason is. He’s so fun to improvise with. And it’s
in because it’s so funny and random. I enjoy that. It’s a healthy thing.
Is it an important
part of your comedy process on every film?
Well, I’ve found it to be, since I started doing more comedy,
sort of a vital thing to do. Even with the more dramatic scenes in the movie I
found it really helpful.
So you dramatic
improvise as well, like the more intense fight scenes with Taylor?
Yeah. The scene in the bathroom. Little bits here and there.
Nothing…
When most people
think of improv, they think “Line-o-Rama” and pure comedy, but you’re saying it’s
a healthy dramatic tool as well.
Right. I think it’s healthy to just say it. You don’t have
to use it. It’s healthy to get it out. That’s what’s so great about editing.
You can use whatever you want.
How much background
do you do? For a movie like this where we’re only with these characters for 24
hours, do you and Taylor work out back stories to help ground your characters?
We had no rehearsal on this movie. We barely knew each
other. Taylor and I had lunch once. She’s terrific. She’s great. I think we
both knew who these people were and the kind of people they were. We talked a
bit about the relationship. But I think everything is pretty clearly mapped out
and the script is pretty clear. We shot the movie in 12 days.
So it’s a lot of luck
that you have so much chemistry and that it works. You never know.
You never know. And I think sometimes weeks together
rehearsing is going to overcook it and all of your great stuff is going to be
on the floor of the rehearsal room.
Do you think
sometimes quick shoots like this force you to become more organic and
instinctual than to overthink it?
Sometimes. It just depends. You never know. I’ve been in
things where we overcooked it. I’ve been in stuff where I wish we had sat
around a table and talked about it for a week. You get there and think, “I don’t
get this.” You never know.
That could have
happened easily here with no wiggle room in a 12-day shoot. You just have to
trust Patrick?
I think we trusted Patrick, but you never really know until
you’re there. Naomi and I really felt like the script was strong and the cast
was great and we all know what we’re doing, so let’s just shoot it and see what
happens. If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work. We don’t have the luxury…with a
movie like this and this schedule, I tend to think that if you have the actors
and the script is good and the director knows what they’re doing, just start
shooting. Once you find it, move on. It’s not like it was a 130-page script. We
even finished early some days. It ended up being plenty of time.
You said “have the
actors.” When you’re considering a project, are your collaborators an essential
concern?
Yeah.
What’s more important—the
script or who you’re going to be working with?
I don’t know. That’s a good question. The script is probably
the most important thing.
But if someone says
Amy Poehler and Jason Schwartzman have already signed on…
Oh, for sure, then yeah. Absolutely.
I guess what I’m
saying is do you think you get as much from your cast mates as you do from the
page?
Yeah. (Thinks.) But if it’s a giant TURD. If there’s a bunch
of great people signed on and it’s a giant turd, you have to wonder what is
happening here and how much are they paying us? But that doesn’t really happen.
I tend to trust in good people.
Who do you think is
funny? Who makes you laugh?
There are so many funny people right now. A lot of people
make me laugh. My favorites growing up were Steve Martin and Albert Brooks and
David Letterman. They still are. Right now, Hannibal Burress. I think Seth
Meyers is doing an incredible job. Poehler, of course. I just saw “Inside Out”
and it destroyed me, and was very, very funny.
Do you miss “Parks
and Recreation”?
Yeah. I think we all do. But I think we all think we’re
lucky to have been on a show that ended when it was still really good. We all
miss it. We miss each other. We’re happy that it ended when it did when it was
still firing on all cylinders.
A few minutes ago you
mentioned when you started getting more into comedy. Was that an active choice
to transition into that genre?
No. As a fluke, I got the “Step Brothers” role, and that
sort of ended up pushing me in that direction. I was setting out just to get a
great job. And I got it. Someone else had that role and they had a different
commitment, so they had to drop out and quickly re-cast and I got it. I didn’t
know what I was doing when we made that movie. It was like learning to throw a
javelin at the Olympics. Those guys are the greatest. And so nice and so funny.
From there, I started seeking out comedy more often and it was fun.
Do you see yourself
ever shifting back to drama?
I don’t know. I kind of take it on a project by project
basis.
You don’t plan?
Not really. I try to find things that I find interesting at
any particular point.
