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The director and producer of the thriller talks about making fun of the tropes of the genre, revisiting Hitchcock for modern times and explaining why Hollywood has to challenge its "default setting".
Lionsgate & # 39; s A simple favor may seem like a new adventure for Paul Feig, but the thrilling mystery is nothing out of the ordinary for the comic book maker.
Moviegoers recognize Feig for his collective summary of comedies, notoriously creating a cult favorite Freaks and Geeks and catchy female comedies such as Bridesmaids, The heat and Spy. On paper, A simple favor is a frightening mystery that may seem like a surprising departure for the director, but appearances are misleading as the film honors the thriller genre while implementing comic tricks that are common in Feig's work.
Feig's new business focuses on a budding friendship that is quickly turning into a sinister game between two matriarchs. Based on Darcey Bell's novel in 2017 of the same name, the film focuses on mom vlogger Stephanie (Anna Kendrick), who forms an unlikely friendship with Emily (Blake Lively). After mysteriously disappearing from Emily, Stephanie is afraid to find her best friend, whom she quickly learns that she has a threatening past and secrets. The premise of the story of examining all the "nuances of what humans can do and how good they can be" has attracted Feig to the project, but the director says his "good-natured" style will be visible all over.
Although the film makes fun of the tropics of the traditional thriller genre, Feig says he did not want to make people laugh "at the expense of gender". Instead, Feig wanted to revive Alfred Hitchcock's suspense equation: an alarming thrill combined with fun. Pay tribute to films such as from north to northwest and Rear windowFeig classifies his film as a "behavioral comedy" that keeps the audience at the edge of his seat while keeping a smile.
Feig talked to The Hollywood Reporter about paying tribute to Hitchcock and why Hollywood has to "challenge the default configuration" of projects run by men.
This movie is considered something new for you because of its darker scenario. How was this film made for you and would you say that it shows the dark side of Paul Feig?
Fox 2000 had ordered an adaptation that [screenwriter] Jessica Sharzer wrote and then they had the script and we sent it, because of our production contract. And they said, "We do not know what the script is, because it's a thriller, but it also looks very funny.It's also dark and seems a little crazy." So they were like, "Maybe you can understand it!" I'm dying to make a thriller, like a Hitchcockian-type thriller. I could also see the comic potential in this movie, as Anna Kendrick's character was that nerdy mom. It's my favorite character, a clumsy person at the center, who feels undervalued and does not really know where she's going in life.
This film is dark, but for me, it does not look different from my other films. We are not laughing so much, because I just want it to be true for the suspense genre before letting the comic moments add to the thriller and fun. I just want it to be fun, like an old Hitchcock movie. You laugh during these. You do not take it too seriously.
This film serves both thriller and comedy. What were the main challenges in balancing these two genres?
The challenge is that the film must first and foremost be a thriller. You can never try to laugh at the expense of the genre. Where are the laughs [from] play with the tropes of the genre and just play with the quirks of the characters and the extreme reaction to sometimes the absurdity of what is happening, but always taking seriously. It's a very behavioral comedy and it comes from the weirdness of these characters and all the actors around them.
It's easy for the audience to assume that this movie would look like Missing girl. Were there any movies that you personally wanted to emulate or use as inspiration for this film?
I sometimes think that I approach the genres knowing what has been done in the genre, but also wanting to correct some things that I've always wanted them to do or things that I was missing and that they do not do anymore. For me, it kept coming back to Hitchcock's movies as from north to northwest and Rear window. It's a thriller and there is danger, but you always laugh because, with this kind of movies, we want you to take them seriously. But we also want you to have fun. We really want to entertain an audience and I wanted to bring it back in a way that I have not seen in a long time, while keeping everything that is good. Sometimes I saw a movie ending in vain and sometimes they tend to be slightly naughty. I like happy ends. I like that everyone is somehow in a better place by the end of the movie, even the bad guy.
The thriller genre has a lot of memorable female characters – from Mrs Danvers to Rebecca to Annie Wilkes in Misery – Why do you think the thriller, in particular, has brought such complex and durable women to the screen?
The genre itself requires everyone to be smart because it's about finding something. Over the years, women have become intelligent characters in these movies to become victims, but they have lived the experience. [in which] they would not become victims.
On the screen, it is clear that there is a great chemistry among the actors. How did you do this casting and do you have someone in mind?
The first time I read a script, I'm a bit blank, but I'm starting to get pictures of people. I had it with Anna Kendrick. A few years ago, we really succeeded and we always wanted to do something together. The minute I started reading this [script], [I realized] the main character is intrinsically comical – because of her stupidity – but she must also be a great actress. It's like that, who is funny and a great actress? Well, it must be Anna Kendrick. Who can just hit all those notes? She's just perfect for the role.
So I'm windy that Blake [Lively] wanted to work with me and knew this script. I'm a big fan of him and I've never seen him play a role where she was not the heroine and … she was just going to – really leaning into the delight from Emily, but in a way where it would not be one-dimensional. I want to understand why a bad guy is a bad guy. While we were working on scripts and rehearsals, she really wanted to create more sympathy in Emily's backstory, so she was an important part of adding that extra layer. They are [both] actors so smart and thoughtful that you just get such things.
It is clear that each of the characters in the film has their own struggles and, although there is a tension between them, there are also tensions in themselves. What do you think were the greatest challenges of the character with their personal identity?
Loneliness is huge [film], especially for Stephanie but also with Emily. Guilt is also a mammoth thing that hangs over this movie because Stephanie bears this huge guilt about what she did in the past and works so hard to hide it. Still, I love the idea that everything with Stephanie is bright and colorful. She dresses up happily and she has little cats all over her dresses to tell the world, "Listen, you have nothing to do here.
As for the character of Blake, it's someone who is hiding and who is such a survivor. She is happy to settle in [somewhere] if she thinks she's in a safe situation, but she's already ready to change her character. She wears those armor that keep people away, but are always so attractive that they always attract them. That's Emily. She's kind of pushing and pulling.
Female friendships on the screen can often be one-dimensional, but Emily and Stephanie share a complex relationship where they are the best friends and the worst enemies. How did you want to convey their relationship to the screen?
They are very similar people at the end of the day who run and hide. What I never want in any of my films is that women disagree in some way. I never want characters to lose their dignity in this way. Even if their relationship is contradictory, there is a mutual respect that never disappears. They both know that the other is very smart. Even if they both handle each other, they do it out of respect because they know that the other is smart.
Since the whole movie is centered on a mystery, how did you determine each of the characters' ends?
I am tender for a happy ending. I never want my films to be mean and never want the message to be, "You can not win, you give up, human beings are terrible." I am too optimistic, but I like to see all the nuances of what humans can do and how much they can suffer. I also like to see how they come out of it. I do not like to see people give up.
Throughout the film, neither Stephanie nor Emily are necessarily under the surface. Who would you trust most, and why?
I would always trust Stephanie. For me, part of the inspiration for Stephanie was my mother who is no longer with us. She loved women by profession and … she was impressed by all the women who had a career, who had taken control of her life and who had really fallen in love with women like that. She thought that they were so cosmopolitan and sophisticated. That's why I'm really in touch with Stephanie. I am always a fan of the most optimistic person because it is me. Optimists are the ones who tend to be jostled, but that's why I always want them to win in the end. I want this optimist to be rewarded.
As a director defending women-led projects, what do you think is still needed in the industry to further promote multi-faceted female characters on screen?
This is at the pipeline. It's up to the studios that develop projects. This is for filmmakers who develop projects. It is the writers who invent the stories. It is up to agencies to sign women writers for their jobs and get them out. You just have to have more parity to know who tells the story, who invented them but also who bet them. Make sure all voices are narrated in the most accurate way and that you do not stereotype about a genre, race, philosophy or way of life. Hollywood just needs to actively challenge the default setting that makes them go "Oh, I'm writing a movie." It's about a guy who … "That's all I'm doing. , hear! My first question in any of these arguments is: Can it be a woman? We just have to get out of this "one group can do it all".
A simple favor is in the rooms now.
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