Movie Interviews

Adam Scott on Acting in ‘A.C.O.D.’

Posted on by The Ultimate Rabbit

WRITER’S NOTE: The following interview took place on September 26, 2013.

“A.C.O.D.” is an abbreviation for Adult Children of Divorce and the movie stars Adam Scott as Carter, a man who suffered through his parents’ bitter divorce as a child. Now as an adult, he owns a restaurant and appears to be a well-adjusted person despite what he has been through. But then his younger brother Trey (Clark Duke) informs him that he has just gotten engaged, he asks Carter to see if they can get their parents, Hugh (Richard Jenkins) and Melissa (Catherine O’Hara), to come to the wedding. This proves to be quite a challenge as neither Hugh nor Melissa can stand to be in the same room with one another, and this leads to a number of surprises that no one sees coming.

Scott started off as a dramatic actor, but in recent years he has proven to be quite adept at doing comedy. He starred in the movie “Friends with Kids” opposite Jon Hamm and Kristen Wiig, and he has given memorable performances in “The Aviator,” “Knocked Up” and “Torque.” Many still remember him best for his roles on the television series “Party Down” as failed actor Henry Pollard who rejoins a catering company and on “Parks and Recreation” where he plays the competent but socially awkward government official Ben Wyatt. The star of that show, Amy Poehler, also appears in “A.C.O.D.” as Carter’s stepmother Sondra.

I got to participate in a roundtable interview with Scott when he was at the SLS Hotel in Los Angeles, California for the “A.C.O.D.” press conference, and he talked about working with Clark Duke and Amy Poehler, and he also gave us an update on Ben Stiller’s upcoming adaptation of “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.”

Question: Adam you were terrific in this movie as the exasperated older brother. What was it like working with Amy Poehler who plays your bitchy stepmother?

Adam Scott: Thank you. It was really, really fun because usually we’re just making googly eyes at each other on “Parks and Recreation,” so it was just fun to hate each other’s guts. I remember when I asked her to do it. I just said, “Would you like to come play my stepmother? Don’t worry, we’re the same age” (we are the same age in real life). Luckily, she said yeah. It was really, really exciting that she would even consider doing it. It’s just always fun working with Amy in whatever capacity. Sometimes I do yard work for her (laughs).

Question: How much of this movie was improvised and how much of it was scripted?

Adam Scott: The movie is pretty much all scripted. There’s not much improvisation at all in the movie. It was just a really strong script. There was no need for improvisation and there wasn’t much time to mess around just because we had to shoot the whole thing so quickly.

Question: When you are playing a character like Carter, how do you keep him grounded in reality?

Adam Scott: I think the script is very grounded in reality. We could all relate to certain bits of it so I think it all starts with that. And the atmosphere and tone that Stu Zicherman (the co-writer and director) was setting with the movie was a very real and grounded one.

Question: There is a lot of family dysfunction to be found in this movie, but the relationship your character has with Trey is one of the more tame, genuine relationships of brotherly love. How did you go about establishing that chemistry and working together?

Adam Scott: We never even talked about it, but I think that Clark and I just sort of get along in regular life so that just kind of carries over.

Question: And does Clark also help out with Amy Poehler’s yard work?

Adam Scott: Yes, we all work full-time for Amy at her mansion. Clark and I are in charge of all of her wigs (laughs).

Question: How did this project come to you and what was it about it that spoke to you?

Adam Scott: I just read it and immediately wanted to do it back I guess it was now a couple of years ago. I just thought it was really funny. It reminded me of “Flirting with Disaster” which is one of my favorite movies. I thought it was really smart and really funny, and I was already a fan of Ben Karlin (the movie’s co-writer) and Stu. I didn’t even hesitate. I just tried to get the job immediately and at that point there was no cast signed on to it, so it was sort of a steady stream of these wonderful surprises of amazing people they were getting to fill out the rest of the roles.

Question: Ken Howard plays Melissa’s current husband, Gary, in the movie. What was it like having the President of the Screen Actors Guild on set?

Adam Scott: Super scary. He carries a pistol (laughs). He deputized Clark and I during filming and we each got a firearm.

Question: What are you working on next?

Adam Scott: I’m doing “Hot Tub Time Machine 2” with Clark, “Parks and Recreation” starts this month, and then I’m in “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” which comes out on Christmas.

Question: Regarding “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” have you seen the original movie before coming into this one?

Adam Scott: Yeah, I saw it years ago and loved it. This is very, very different from the original for sure. The story itself (written by James Thurber) is so short that any movie that’s made out of it is going to have to wildly extrapolate from what it was. It’s a really, really, really good movie.

“A.C.O.D.” is now available to own and rent on DVD, Blu-ray and Digital.

‘Trouble in Mind’ Celebrates Its Anniversary Screening at New Beverly Cinema

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WRITER’S NOTE: This article was written in 2010, back when this anniversary screening took place.

Alan Rudolph’s 1985 neo-noir movie “Trouble in Mind” reached its 25th anniversary in 2010. This is especially significant because it got lost by its distributors about twenty years ago, and they only recently found a print of it. The movie has since been restored and been released in a new special edition DVD. To celebrate its anniversary, the producer of “Trouble in Mind,” Dave Walker, showed a new print of it at New Beverly Cinema. Along with him were actors Keith Carradine who played Coop and Lori Singer who played Georgia, and they were also joined by the composer of the film’s score, Mark Isham.

In talking about working with Rudolph, both Singer and Carradine said they never really rehearsed any scenes. A lot of it came down to them meeting with Rudolph, talking about the screenplay, and getting on the same page with what he wanted to accomplish. Singer explained how he created a “very vivid atmosphere” which came about from an “organic, real feeling.” In summarizing Rudolph’s filmmaking process, Singer said, “Whatever he was shooting, he was capturing his vision. That was our rehearsal.”

Isham described Rudolph as a “jazz director” in that he wanted to get everything right in the first take. When asked how he got the job on “Trouble in Mind,” Isham explained he was being represented by CAA and his agent encouraged him to make a list of directors he wanted to work with. After seeing one of Rudolph’s other movies, “Choose Me,” Isham decided he wanted to work with him. Rudolph ended up listening to one of Mark’s albums, liked it and hired him.

One question asked of Isham was in regards to working with singer Marianne Faithful on two of the film’s songs. Isham said he knew nothing about Faithful beforehand, but that he quickly learned she was an artist of instinct, and they captured a lot of magic on tape whenever she sang. Basically, he did an acoustic piano version of each song she would sing, and he gave her the music through headphones. Isham went on to say he added synthesizers to the soundtrack afterwards.

Isham is also considered one of the best trumpet players ever, and he did perform on one here. He stated how he has been playing the trumpet since he was eight years old and is always looking to put it in any movie he works on.

Another audience member asked Carradine about Coop’s hair and why it got all funky throughout. Carradine said he contributed to the look and described it as an “expression of descent into a kind of netherworld from innocent to deeply urban sensibility he was defenseless against.” Coop saw the change of hair as him becoming beautiful, and he was convinced that Singer’s character would like it. Carradine described it as Coop’s way of trying to fit into a world he was utterly clueless about, and that the hair he used was indeed his own, and these days he doesn’t have much of it left.

Carradine and Singer also spoke of working with Divine, the actor made famous in several films directed by John Waters, “Pink Flamingos” in particular. They said they really loved him because he was the sweetest guy and wonderful to work with.

After twenty-five years, “Trouble in Mind” still holds up very well, and hopefully its DVD release will open it up to a young audience waiting to discover something new and different. Rudolph has said this films is meant to have the look of a dream, and he gave Singer all the credit for that. The dream is still a strong one even with an elongated passing of time.

‘Aliens’ Cast Discuss Their Most Quotable Lines

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While at the Days of the Dead convention held in Los Angeles, California in late August of 2023, I got to attend the “Aliens” panel which featured several actors from the classic film. An audience member told the cast how this is one of the most quotable motion pictures of all time and asked if they ever get their famous lines of dialogue yelled back at them on a daily basis. Indeed, there are a plethora of memorable lines throughout which stay with the viewer long after they watch this film. Whether it is Sigourney Weaver saying, “get away from her you bitch” or the late Bill Paxton yelling out “we’re on an express elevator to hell, going down,” there is no forgetting what is said onscreen. This is saying a lot as James Cameron, who wrote and directed this sequel, is not always known for giving his actors great dialogue to work with. Then again, it is far better than the dialogue George Lucas gave us in those “Star Wars” prequels.

There is no doubt that actors will often find themselves faced with fans yelling lines of dialogue at them as they love what was said, and they always want to see if they can get a reaction out of those particular thespians. I remember interviewing Pierce Brosnan once about his movie “The November Man,” and I walked in to see him pouring himself a cup of coffee and mixing in some milk and sure. To this, I could not help but bring up a famous line he and several other actors have utter throughout history, but with a certain twist:

“Ah, stirred but not shaken!”

Thank goodness Brosnan had a great sense of humor about it.

When it comes to the cast of “Aliens,” their memories of their most well-known dialogue remain very vivid to them, and this provided some of the most entertaining moments during this Q&A session.

Daniel Kash (Private Spunkmeyer): I was in Florida once, and while I was there, someone said, “Nice pet you have there, Bishop.” That was right out of the blue. It was such an average line that no one cares about.

Carrie Henn (Newt): So, there was a line in the movie that, at the time, I asked why I am even saying this. And I know everybody says to me I know you hate the line, but you said it anyway. I learned to love it. The word “mostly,” it is amazing how many times that comes up. People will say it, and my friends will text it to me and they will say, “While I mostly saw this…” And then they always send me a second text saying “mostly.” People, I will be walking by them, and they will say it, and someone will then say “mostly.” If they only knew who was walking next to them. But yeah, it is the weirdest line, but it sticks.

Ricco Ross (Private Frost): This was maybe five years after the movie was made, and I had done a music video with Whitney Houston called “Saving All My Love for You.” I was the guy she was saving her love for. I remember walking in the hood one day and, this is a true story, a guy shouts out, “Hey Mr. Whitney Houston, how’s that Arcturian poontang?”

Cynthia Scott (Corporal Dietrich): I had a next-door neighbor in London, and he would come home from the pup every night three sheets to the wind. If I happened to be entering the house at the same time he’d go, “Oy, say that line again! Say your line!” And I would go, “Borderline malnutrition, but I don’t think there’s any permanent damage.”

Jenette Goldstein (Private Vasquez): People will yell “let’s rock” at me a lot.

William Hope (Lieutenant Gorman): You know, it’s just like, nice to meet you. You always were an asshole. And this happened in a swimming pool!

For myself, I would love to know if Sigourney Weaver ever gets anyone quoting one of Ellen Ripley’s best lines to her,

“Burke, I don’t know which species is worse. You don’t see them fucking each other over for a goddamn percentage.”

Whatever you may think of Cameron’s talent for dialogue, this remains one of the best things he has ever written.

‘Aliens’ Cast Talk About Their Challenges at the Days of the Dead Convention

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On August 26, 2023, I found the time to attend the Days of The Dead convention which was held at the Hilton Hotel outside of LAX airport. The main highlight of the day for me was sitting in on the panel for “Aliens,” James Cameron’s classic film from the year 1986 which remains as exciting now as it was when first released. This brought many of the talent who worked in front of and behind the camera, and they were very enthusiastic to be here to discuss a motion picture you would think they have been asked every conceivable question about before this point.

One of the questions asked of everyone was about the biggest challenge everyone faced on set. The first to answer was Tom Woodruff Jr. He is best known as a special effects supervisor who studied under the tutelage of Stan Winston, and he later, along with Alec Gillis, founded Amalgamated Dynamics, an American special effects company specializing in animatronics and prosthetic make-up. “Aliens” was one of Tom’s earliest projects, and he was very direct with the audience about what he dealt with in this science fiction classic.

Tom Woodruff Jr.: For me, the biggest challenge was being on set with James Cameron (audience laughs). He was very specific. He’s a rare guy. He knows exactly what he wants, and he knows exactly what parts you don’t understand. The first time we had the aliens on set, it was a scene where there were a lot of fire throwers going on, and the alien was supposed to be hidden up in the wall and crawls out and reveals itself. We did a run through, and Cameron stopped the whole thing and he said, “Why is this alien brown and the rest of him is black?!” The answer I knew in my head was, I didn’t check it out. I remember he just grabbed a can of black spray paint, shook it up and sprayed it on the head. I also realized at that point we wasted a lot of time painting alien heads when we could have just grabbed a can of spray paint.

For Carrie Henn who plays the orphaned Newt, she had no prior acting experience when she was cast in “Aliens.” Her career as an actress did not last long as she later decided to become a schoolteacher after earning a degree in liberal studies and child development from California State University, Stanislaus. Her response to question given proved to be quite surprising.

Carrie Henn: One of the challenging things was actually being scared of it (the aliens) because, I mean, look at it. Everyone was in the suits at some point, but then they would turn around or I would see them outside of the suit completely or their head would be off. So, I would try to act like I was scared of it, when in reality I knew it was my friend. I was scared of dogs and still am because I have been bitten by many, so I used to just pretend that it was a dog chasing after me.

Ricco Ross portrays Private Ross in “Aliens,” and his most memorable lines of dialogue include “guess she doesn’t like the cornbread either” and “what are we supposed to use, harsh language?” He ended up turning down the opportunity to act in Stanley Kubrick’s “Full Metal Jacket” in order to appear in this film. Since “Aliens,” he has remained a busy actor in both movies and television and does not look to be lacking in work. This would still be the case were it not for the SAG/AFTRA and WGA strike which still rages on as I write this article.

Ricco Ross: The marines would have lunch and hang out in one area and the aliens would hang out in another area, and we didn’t kick it together. But I remember walking by one day and one of the aliens had his head under his arm and smoking a cigarette, and this was before iPhones, and I wish I had a camera because it was an amazing kind of classic photograph.

Cynthia Scott, also known as Cynthia Dale Scott, portrayed Corporal Dietrich in “Aliens,” and her other credits include “Rush” which stars Jason Patric and Jennifer Jason Leigh. She has long since left acting behind her and now dedicates her life to working in the visual arts. Her answer to this question reminded me of perhaps her most famous line in this film which is, “Maybe they don’t show up on infrared at all.”

Cynthia Scott: I think I am the only one that was grabbed by the alien, and it was extremely challenging because I did half of my own stunt. If you recall, I was taken straight up in the air, and we were so old school that the stunt was achieved with a gigantic sea saw. It was operated by a bunch of crew members. So, I was standing on the downside, and I say my line and the stuntman in the alien suit landed behind me, grabbed me, and simultaneously the crew members pulled down really fast on the other end and we go shooting up in the air so our whole center of gravity changes. And simultaneously I am lowering my live flamethrower and using it ostensibly on my friend Ricco (audience laughs). The first three or four takes, I fell off. I was so terrified of James Cameron that I thought I would be fired today. I’m telling you; it was really hard.

William Hope portrays Gorman, the inexperienced commanding officer of the Marines who would have been best to listen Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) if he had been quick to think about it. Like Ricco Ross, he turned down a role in “Full Metal Jacket” to appear in “Aliens.” Since then, he has given memorable performances in such movies as “Hellbound: Hellraiser II,” “Shining Through,” the cinematic version of the television show “The Saint,” “Captain America: The First Avenger,” “Dark Shadows,” and the recent reboot of a sequel to “Texas Chainsaw Massacre.” His words about James Cameron rang very true.

William Hope: Jim in those days was cutting his teeth in more ways than one because he knew everybody’s job better than they did apart from the actors. So, I was just obsessed with don’t screw this up. We knew the script was just something of a masterpiece. We knew it was very, very special. As for you guys (the alien actors), the only direct contact that I had was when the aliens come through the roof. It was just the most exciting scene to play. The big challenge was getting it right and Jim saying, “Good, okay, move on.”

Mark Rolston portrayed Drake, a close friend to fellow badass marine Vasquez who was played by Jenette Goldstein. His other credits include playing Hans in “Lethal Weapon 2,” Stef in “Robocop 2,” and Bogs Diamond in “The Shawshank Redemption.” He also acted in “The Departed” which earned its director, Martin Scorsese, his first ever Academy Award, and co-starred in “Saw V” and Saw VI” as Dan Erickson. On television, he portrayed Gordie Liman on “The Shield.”

Mark Rolston: The thing I remember was the creature creation. I actually came back to set to watch the entrance of the queen alien. It is seared in my memory because she was like a two-story puppet which was controlled by guys on the crew. The smallest guy on Tom (Woodruff Jr.’s) crew was the guy who gets stationed in the head, and his sole job, aside from being dressed in black and trying to hide, was to push the queen alien goo out the tail. Cameron at one moment said, “There’s too much goo! Too much goo! You are pushing on the wrong tube!” I was giggling my ass over that one, but it was such an impressive shot. You look at the film and you believe this is a living monster, but onstage you see it’s just a puppet. Such masterful filmmaking.

We are getting closer to the 40th anniversary of “Aliens,” and this sequel still holds up all these years later. Some of us got to see when it debuted in theaters back in 1986, and others like myself watched on VHS. But even on the small screen, this still proved to be one of the greatest cinematic roller coaster rides we ever went on, and it is so great to see new generations of movie buffs feel the same from one new year to the next.

Exclusive Interview with Ashley Rickards about ‘A Haunted House 2’

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I got to attend the press day for “A Haunted House 2” back in 2014. This satirical horror comedy sequel was released one year after the original, and it catches up with Malcolm Johnson (Marlon Wayans) as he moves into a new home with his girlfriend Megan (Jamie Pressly) and her two children, Becky (Ashley Rickards) and Wyatt (Steele Stebbins). As you can imagine, Malcolm and company are soon met by a bizarre series of paranormal events, and the sequel goes out of its way to spoof such horror hits as “The Conjuring,” “Sinister,” “Paranormal Activity” and “Annabelle” among others.

In addition to speaking with Marlon Wayans and Jamie Pressly, I also did get to sit down with Ashley Rickards to talk about her role as Becky. For various reasons, this interview was not published at the time of this film’s release, but I present to you now after rediscovering all these years later.

Rickards is best known for playing Jenna Hamilton on the MTV comedy-drama series “Awkward,” and as the troubled Samantha Walker on “One Tree Hill.” She graduated from high school at the age of 15, and is currently a member of MENSA. In addition, she also published a book entitled “A Guide to Getting it Together Once and For All” which we did talk a bit about during this interview (although she did have a different title for it back then), and she helped to launch the Project Futures Somaly Mam Foundation which works to prevent and end human trafficking and sexual slavery in Southeast Asia.

Please check out my interview with Ashley Rickards down below, and you can also watch the interviews I conducted with Marlon Wayans and Jamie Pressly which I did for We Got This Covered.

Exclusive Interview with the Cast of ‘The Gallows’

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Looking through my vast collection of movie interviews, I came across this one which I did with the cast of “The Gallows.” Released back in 2015, it is a found footage horror film written and directed by Chris Lofing and Travis Cluff, and it opens up on a production of a play called, coincidentally, “The Gallows” which was done at Beatrice High School back in 1993. Everything looks to be going smoothly, but then an actor named Charlie Grimille is accidentally hanged and killed when the prop noose around his neck ends up malfunctioning, and the students and parents look on in horror.

The film then moves forward twenty years later to 2013 when the school attempts to put on a new performance of “The Gallows” in honor of Charlie’s memory. But, as you can expect, the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and the young adults who are part of this production soon find that they are not alone as something ominous is hiding in the shadows. Suffice to say, they find themselves in fear for their lives, and some learn in the worst way how certain things are better left alone.

This interview took place at Hollywood High School in Los Angeles, California, and it quickly proved to be one of the most cinematic press days I have ever been a part of. “The Gallows” stars Cassidy Gifford (the daughter of Frank and Kathie Lee Gifford), Reese Mishler, Pfeifer Brown who would go on to appear in “The Gallows Part II,” and Ryan Shoos who co-starred in “The Red Tie Massacre.” We had fun talking about the improvisation they did on set, working with the video cameras given to them, and of the advantage of playing characters with the same first names as theirs.

Please check out the interview below. “The Gallows” is now available to own and rent on DVD, Blu-ray and Digital. Watch it if you dare…

Exclusive Interview with Tye Sheridan on ‘Last Days in the Desert’

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Credit: François Duhamel / Broad Green Pictures

Continuing my explorations of interviews I have conducted in the past, I came across this one with Tye Sheridan and his performance in “Last Days in the Desert.” Written and directed by Rodrigo Garcia, it focuses on an imagined chapter of when Jesus (played by Ewan McGregor) went on a fasting and praying journey for forty days in the desert. Among the people he encounters on his travels is a character known as The Boy who is portrayed by Sheridan. The Boy is taking care of his ailing mother and building a house for her and his father to live in. But while he is eager to help his parents, he really wants to visit Jerusalem and hopes Jesus can lead the way for him.

I got to talk with Sheridan back in 2015 when he was promoting “Last Days in the Desert.” These days he is best known for playing the young Scott Summers/Cyclops in some of the “X-Men” movies and the lead role in Steven Spielberg’s “Ready Player One.” When I talked with him all those years ago, he was coming off of “The Tree of Life” in which he made his film debut, Jeff Nichols’ “Mud,” “The Stanford Prison Experiment” and “Entertainment” where he played an actor doing an unorthodox clown act.

While talking with Sheridan, I discussed how interesting his resume was in how it led up to him playing his character in “Last Days in the Desert.” We also talked about how he prepared for this role and how his costume helped to inform his performance. In addition, we discussed the challenges of filming in the California desert, and it gave me a strong appreciation of those who have experienced the hottest of summers Texas has to offer.

Please check out this exclusive interview below. “Last Days in the Desert” is now available to own and rent on DVD, Blu-ray and Digital.

Exclusive Interview with Lorene Scafaria about ‘The Meddler’

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While recently going through my large archive of interviews I have done over the years, I came across the one I did with filmmaker Lorene Scafaria on her film “The Meddler.” Released in 2015, it stars the great Susan Sarandon as Marnie Minervini, an aging widow who, to cure herself of loneliness and heartbreak, moves from New Jersey to Los Angles to be closer to her daughter, Lori (Rose Byrne). In the process of trying to restart her life, Marnie starts getting a little too involved in Lori’s life to where her daughter gets increasingly aggravated, she comes to make various new friends she desperately wants to help out, and she becomes especially friendly with a retired policeman named Randall Zipper (J.K. Simmons) to where a new chapter in her life begins to form.

Born in Holmdel, New Jersey, Scafaria previously wrote and directed “Seeking a Friend for the End of the World” which stars Steve Carrell and Keira Knightley as strangers who form an unexpected bond, and she penned the screenplay for “Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist,” a romantic comedy starring Michael Cera and Kat Dennings. Since making ‘The Meddler,” she gave us “Hustlers” which featured a critically acclaimed performance by Jennifer Lopez which somehow got snubbed by the Oscars, and she has directed several episodes of the acclaimed HBO series “Succession.”

I had a lot of fun talking with Scafaria about “The Meddler” and how the screenplay was inspired by similar situations with her mother. We also discussed what it was like working with Sarandon and Simmons, and we even talked about the time when she used to fake book reports to get a bunch of Pizza Hut gift certificates. It turns out she was not the only one who did such a thing.

Please check out the interview below, and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel if you haven’t already. There are many more videos yet to come!

“The Meddler” is now available to own and rent on DVD, Blu-ray and Digital.

Clark Duke on His Role in ‘A.C.O.D.’

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WRITER’S NOTE: This interview took place in 2013.

Actor Clark Duke made his big breakthrough with his own web series “Clark and Michael” in which he played a fictional version of himself opposite Michael Cera. Since then, he has gone on to give a number of hilarious performances in movies like “Sex Drive,” “Kick Ass” and “Hot Tub Time Machine.” This past summer, he stole some scenes in the eagerly awaited sequel “Kick Ass 2″ in which he reprised his role of Marty who has now taken on the superhero identity of Battle Guy.” Clearly, he has become the guy to go to for memorable supporting roles.

In his latest movie, “A.C.O.D.” (Adult Children of Divorce), Clark plays Trey who lives in the basement of his older brother Carter’s (Adam Scott) house. Both Trey and Carter managed to survive their parents’ bitter divorce as kids, but it looks to have forever soured Carter on the thought of marriage. Trey, however, ends up getting engaged to his girlfriend and begs Carter to get their estranged parents to come to the wedding. Knowing how their parents can’t stand to be in the same with one another, Carter knows that this will be a challenge to say the least, but he goes through with the improbable reunion because that’s what his little brother wants. But as things get underway, Trey has yet to learn the real truth of what is going on behind his back.

We got to catch up with Duke during a roundtable interview which was held at the SLS Hotel in Los Angeles, California as part of the “A.C.O.D.” press conference, and he proved to be as funny off screen as he is on it.

Question: When you’re playing a character like Trey, how do you keep him grounded in reality as an actor?

Clark Duke: Well, this script was pretty grounded. We didn’t have to improv a lot. A good script makes our job a lot easier.

Question: You and Adam Scott play brothers in this movie. How did you go about establishing that chemistry and working together?

Clark Duke: Well, it probably helped that we knew each other beforehand and we were friends before the movie so there wasn’t much of an acclimation period, I guess. I have one sibling, a younger brother, so I kind of tapped into that. As to how to play it, I related more to Adam’s character while reading the script. When you have a cast that’s good, nothing’s too hard.

Question: How did this project come to you and what made you want to do it?

Clark Duke: I just read the script. You get sent scripts all the time, but ninety-nine percent of them are just unreadable and terrible. So, when you get a really good one that really stands out… That’s just the truth; most of them are just god-awful. I went to the table read in just actively wanted to do the movie, so I did (laughs).

Question: Ken Howard, the current President of the Screen Actors Guild, co-stars in this movie as well. What was it like working with the union boss?

Clark Duke: No riffraff on the set. No grace periods for lunch, just ended right on time every day (laughs). He’s a licensed deputy as the SAG-AFTRA head.

Question: Adam Scott joked that Ken Howard deputized the both of you and gave you both firearms…

Clark Duke: We immediately abused it (laughs). I would waive mine at cars. We were in Atlanta so I would go to a lot of strip clubs with the gun, and then I’d float my SAG card and they are like OK. They just had to put up with it (laughs).

“A.C.O.D.” is now available to own and rent on DVD, Blu-ray and Digital.

Jane Lynch Plays Yet Another Therapist in ‘A.C.O.D.’

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WRITER’S NOTE: This interview took place back in 2013.

Who doesn’t love Jane Lynch? We see her everywhere these days either as Sue Sylvester on the hit show “Glee” or hosting the NBC game show “Hollywood Game Night.” Lynch is an endlessly talented actress who never fails to give a tremendously entertaining performance in anything she does. While we may not have recognized her right away as a doctor working alongside Harrison Ford in “The Fugitive,” she would later go on to steal scenes in the Christopher Guest mockumentaries “Best in Show” and “A Mighty Wind.” After that, she made her big breakthrough opposite Steve Carell in “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” as Paula, the electronics store manager who offers, in a rather bizarre way, to have sex with the man of the movie’s title.

We got to meet with Lynch during the press day for the comedy “A.C.O.D.,” its title meaning Adult Children of Divorce. In it she plays Dr. Judith, a therapist who was there for Carter (played by Adam Scott) as a young boy when his parents go through an incredibly messy and bitter divorce. Now Carter has come back to Dr. Judith after hearing that his younger brother has just gotten engaged to get her advice on a few matters. But what Carter soon realizes is that Dr. Judith was not actually his therapist when he was a child, but instead a writer who used him and other kids for her study on children of divorce, and it ended up turning into a book which is now in its umpteenth edition.

The press day for “A.C.O.D.” came just a few days after the Emmy Awards in which Lynch got to share the stage with a number of entertainers including Neil Patrick Harris.

Question: The opening of the Emmy Awards this year was fantastic. What exactly were you going to do to lynch Mr. Harris?

Jane Lynch: I was going to throw him down and show him what kind of a woman I can be, but that’s something he would not enjoy unless I said that I would enjoy it less (laughs).

Question: You did have the somber tribute to your “Glee” co-story Cory Montieth, but then you are also celebrating and get to have this great comedic moment.

Jane Lynch: Yes, that was great and to see the company I keep on being one of the guys with Jimmy, Jimmy, Judy and Neil and Conan. I was just out of my body going wow, this is pretty amazing!

Question: Many were surprised that you didn’t have a singing and dancing number given that you have been on Broadway a number of times.

Jane Lynch: Yes, exactly! Well, I’m kind of glad that it was confined to what it was (laughs).

Question: What attracted you to the role of Dr. Judith in “A.C.O.D.?” You have actually played many therapists throughout your career.

Jane Lynch: Many times, and I’m playing one on Saturday in a little spot for a friend of mine. I think I’m fascinated with therapy and I’m fascinated with my own therapist (laughs). I have a terrific therapist who I have seen over the years and I would say that we’re probably friends now. We’ve come to the point where we’re friends. I always take a little bit of her and blow it up because she’s a very interesting person.

Question: Has your therapist ever been offended by your portrayals?

Jane Lynch: NO! She’s like ha, ha, ha! She loves it!

Question: It seems that many actors do go to therapy for years and years. Why do you think that is?

Jane Lynch: Well, I don’t know if that’s absolutely true, but I wouldn’t be surprised. What we do is we examine ourselves because we’re interested in all aspects of humanity, and the place you have to start to be any good at acting is with yourself. Everything is inside of you, all of it; the murderer, the great mother, the therapist, the husband, everything is inside of us. Because we’re human beings, we can relate to almost every emotion and I think that kind of exploration you do in therapy makes you more open and creative and more empathetic. You are able to see a character from the point of view of the inside out as opposed to, ooh, I’m playing a bad guy! Let’s get deep inside this person so we know what makes this sociopath tick. What in me is sociopathic? We all have it. For me, my therapy has always run parallel with the characters I play. I’ll find something that I’m dealing with that will come up in a character.

Question: For the longest time there was a lack of roles for women of age but now that seems to be changing. Do you believe that the tide is turning?

Jane Lynch: I don’t know if you will be able to point to a moment in time where the tide did turn, but I think that it definitely has. I love this new generation of girls coming up. It sounds so old when I say that, but there’s an entitlement to people like Amy Poehler and Tina Fey where they just expect to have a seat at the table so they have a seat at the table.

Question: Do you ever think you will step behind the camera to direct?

Jane Lynch: I don’t know. I don’t feel that I have to, but I have a feeling that I will at some point. But it will come out of something that will have me saying, ooh I want to do that. But I don’t think I can sit here and go, I would like to direct one day.

Question: Do you think you could direct yourself?

Jane Lynch: Yeah. Sometimes I wish I could, you know? One of the worst moments on set is when the director says, “Jane I have an idea…” I hate that! I will have the ideas thank you! I think a great director sees what you can bring to the table and they go okay and maybe they build on that. But to take you in a completely different direction… If Christopher Guest does that then fine, but not Joe Schmo.

“A.C.O.D.” is now available to own and rent on DVD, Blu-ray and Digital.