Drama Queens - Work in Progress: Tig Notaro and Stephanie Allynne

Episode Date: June 27, 2024

Power couple Tig Notaro and Stephanie Allynne are talented multi-hyphenates who can do it all! Comedy, acting, writing, producing, and now directing! The duo joins Sophia to chat about co-directing their first feature film, "Am I OK?" starring Dakota Johnson. The film follows the journey of a woman who doesn't realize until her 30s that she is gay, a story that Sophia and Stephanie admit they can relate to. Stephanie and Tig also discuss how the project came to them, what it was like working together and calling the shots, and the story of how they met and fell in love! It's a meet-cute involving a Canadian wool sweater -- that coincidentally Sophia also has in her wardrobe!  "Am I OK" is streaming now on Max.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Hi, everyone. It's Sophia. Welcome to Work in Progress. Hello, Work in Progress. Today I am joined by not one, but two of my favorite funny gals. Today's guests are Tignixts. Taro and Stephanie Alin. They are incredible comedians. You likely know TIG from being a brilliant stand-up. She's also an amazing writer, radio contributor, actress, even though you'll hear today why she's not

super comfortable wearing the moniker of actor and a wonderful director and producer. And along with her wife, Stephanie, who is a genius improv comedian and a phenomenal writer and director in her own right. She is here to talk about the movie that they co-directed. Am I Okay? Starring Dakota Johnson. This movie is so funny and so poignant, you guys. Not just to me, given the last year of my life, but I think we'll be to all of you. It follows Lucy and Jane, who are the best of friends, they finish each other's sentences, they can predict every detail of each other's food order, and pretty much know everything about each other. But when Jane gets promoted at work and agrees to move to London for her new position, Lucy finally confesses her deepest long-held secret.

She likes women. She has for a long time. And she's sort of shocked and sort of terrified by this later in life revelation. The film is actually based on the friendship between writer Lauren Pomerantz and producer Jessica Albam, who took their sister LeVon to the screen to showcase the many life-defining friendships shared by women. And it felt like the right opportunity for TIG and Stephanie to co-direct this movie. Stephanie directed TIG's most recent stand-up special Hello Again. And today I get to pick their brains about what it's like to work together as a married couple, why the tropes about working with your spouse are just not true for them, how much fun they had making this movie, how amazing Dakota Johnson and all the other actors in it were to work

with and what it was like to be on the journey of getting this film out into the world for five years. It's finally here. It's perfect. It's on max. You're going to love it. And as a bonus, of course I get to ask these two about their love story. It involves a sweater from Canada. And I think you're really going to enjoy the details. Well, hello, ladies, TIG, welcome back to work in progress. Stephanie, welcome. I'm so happy to have you both here today. Happy to be here.

Yeah. So normally, I love to kind of sit with people who are doing really exciting things in their lives and careers and start in a big rewind and ask a little bit about whether or not from this sort of seat you sit in today, you see similarities to your current self and your childhood self. Like, if you looked back at yourself at eight or nine, were you telling stories, telling jokes, or were you a completely different kid? And Stephanie, since it's your first time in the hot seat, let's go to you first. Oh, I feel like a news anchor.

Yeah. It's funny. I feel like in recent years, I feel more connected to how I felt as a kid, which I feel is a very good thing. And it's kind of taking me a long route back to that feeling. And I feel like as a kid, I really felt, you know, as all kids do, like, you know what you love and you know, and you're just confident in it. And I feel, I do feel like, I do feel. similar to that kid now, especially directing. Yeah, really? Yeah. Is that because you can sort of create a world? And that's something we do so easily when we're children? I think so. And it's like, you know what you like. And you don't think you just, you don't question it. You just go, oh, I think this looks good. I like this line. I like this. And you just kind of do it the way you want to do it, and it feels very childlike to me. It feels very free. Yeah, it's, it's funny. The, like, feeling I get in my chest as you're describing it is it almost feels, it feels really pure. Yeah, totally. To operate on that level of instinct, to always go for the yes and is

is really free. Yeah, and you're in the present. So I think it's, for directing for me, I feel more like, oh, I'm not thinking, oh, is this going to work? Oh, is this going to be bad? Oh, is It's more just like, oh, this is fun. That was good. I like that. Is that a very different feeling from like, say, going on stage to do comedy? Well, I do improv. And so I feel like that is very similar, actually.

Because, and I love that feeling of, God, I don't know what's going to happen. And I don't have to prepare, which I enjoy that feeling. Yeah. I see TIG doing stand up and it's like, oh, what are you doing tonight? what are you talking about, you know, where I can just show up and walk on. Yeah, like if you're going to do one of those big Largo shows, for example, you just get to show up and play and then you're doing, when you're doing a special, which by the way, Steph, for our friends at home, Stephanie's directing,

like you've had to tour that all over the place, right, to get the cadence of it and to figure out what the joke order is and it's so prepared even though for us watching at home or from the audience, it feels like it's just sort of happening like magic. Does the preparation, like were you a preparer as a kid too? Or is it totally a different thing from who you were as a whippersnapper, yeah. Was I a preparer? No. Oh my God. Oh my God. I was like, no. I was, you know, disorganized. class clown failed eighth grade twice moved up to ninth grade failed that dropped out um my apartments were a mess i just it was not uh no i feel like it's such an example of when you

follow who you really are everything falls into place and when i started um doing stand up That taught me, my passion for stand-up taught me life skills that I didn't have before because I was so into comedy that I wanted to get organized. I wanted to have a schedule and make sure I, you know, my work ethic appeared out of nowhere. And yeah, it just, I started being able to pay bills and everything just kind of clicked into place. And it's just funny how as a child, being the class clown was looked down upon. And the fact that that was parlayed into an actual career that got my life into order is just mind-blowing to me. And that all goes back to just figuring out who I was. Yeah. It's a really interesting thing, right?

I don't know, there's so much pressure in society to kind of like do the things that look good on paper, to check all the boxes. And like, once you've checked all the boxes, you'll have done it. You'll get to happy. Maybe it won't be so hard. And like, nobody's ever really encouraged us to go, like, maybe stop pushing the rock up the hill and go in the other direction and see what's over there. Yeah. Like, maybe you're supposed to be over there. see see what happens when the rock runs over you that might be the place where everything begins

everything that's really for you anyway yeah i mean i feel like especially in like teenage high school years of like feeling very competitive feeling very like i needed a's i wanted to go to a good college i was in every activity like every sport like really in that world that the world tells you to participate in and then trying to achieve in that world and when I I also dropped out of high school and when I did and sort of I felt like I like sidestepped out of the world and then all of a sudden I was having a great time and everything felt really fun and it's like oh I didn't have to do that and it's yeah but it's I think a lot of people get stuck in that other version so did did you each know that being an artist would kind of

be it for you or or did it happen did it just happen and surprise you i didn't think it was in the cards for me because my stepfather was very um regimented and um all about education and um i just felt like there was something over on the side i wanted to be doing uh whether it was playing guitar or um acting foolish but i i just kept thinking how can i make a living and be around things and so i went in i thought the happy medium would be if i went into music business because i could be in entertainment but i would be having a job you know and um which i did for a while but did you have a desk I did

I had a desk that's crazy a true desk I had a desk I rented a space in my friend's basement of their coffee shop in Denver

and I think I paid them like $200 a month for the space and yeah but as soon as I moved to Los Angeles and I saw

all the opportunity for stand-up I was like this I thought it was all over everything was all over and what about you Stephanie when you dropped out what happened well I think prior to dropping out I thought it was like I knew I thought I wanted to be an actor I knew I wanted to be an actor but I still saw the route as sort of through the conventional system of like oh I'll go to a school and I'll major in theater and then I'll do like plays and then I'll maybe graduate and then I'll like audition like I was still following that sort of like schedule and like timeline and so when I dropped out and sort of removed myself from that the the freedom of going oh I can do this however I want and I that's where I found

improv and similar to TIG was like oh here are my people here's my group and and sort of started doing things sort of on my own, very random. I still feel like I'm very random in my career. Do we ever get over that feeling, though? Of it being random? Yeah, I don't know. Like, what we do is so fucking weird. Yeah. But every single time, I just finished this movie. I went to shoot in Utah, which, by the way, was beautiful. I was like, what are we, where are we going anywhere but this place? Like, what's happening? There's deer outside. It was a amazing, but not the point. And I was talking to one of my coworkers, and I was like, yeah, I'm 20 years into this. And every time I get to a set, I'm like, well, this be the one where everyone

figures out, but I have no fucking idea what I'm doing. I don't know. I just show up everywhere and tell everyone I have no clue what I'm doing. Yeah. Let's get started. Let's figure it out. And now for our sponsors. How in this lovely journey of being a little clueless as to what our jobs are, where and when did you two meet? We met on the movie in a world, which is like Fell's film. I love that movie. What? I love that movie.

Yeah. It's really great. And yeah, we were in scenes together and kind of met and enjoyed each other, but then didn't reconnect until a year. year later when the movie went to Sundance. So you had a date in Utah? It's a magical place. That's right. We had exchanged numbers because, like, I had, when we were making the movie was when

everything exploded in a bad way in my life where I had cancer and this intestinal disease and pneumonia and my mother tripped and died and my girlfriend and I broke up. But once we finished the movie, I had run into Stephanie and was coming through all of that. And then we exchanged numbers because we were going to Sundance. And we just started texting and ended up just really really liking each other and and then we had gone I was writing my book and she was like oh I'm at this bar with some friends why don't you come meet us and it happened to be Valentine's Day and it was 11 o'clock at night and we hadn't met up in in months we were just texting and I was thinking oh my God I haven't showered my hair's a mess and then I was like oh she

doesn't like women. Like, who cares what I look like? And so I was like, yeah, I'll come down there and meet up with you and your friends. And I went, you know, filthy with my hair going every direction. And I walked in with this like really thick Canadian wool sweater with like an eagle on the back. And, and then when I walk in, Stephanie has almost the exact sweater on, but it was dark blue. And I was like, it was so weird. She was so crazy.

And she's sitting at this table with like eight friends. And I was like, oh my gosh, how funny. We're in the same sweater. And I said, let's switch sweaters. And when we did, her friend was like, oh, I'll get a picture of you two in your switch sweaters. And we went to put our arms around each other. And we immediately started kissing in front of everybody at the bar.

and at the table yeah and i i was like what is happening and um and then i said to and i had never kissed a woman before ever no and and so i was like well this is fun i said do you want to go which is by the but i should say it's very out of character for both of us it wasn't like we weren't we're not those types of people to make out in a bar ever in any way and there it wasn't like alcohol induced it was like the weirdest thing of just like putting your arm around someone and going like oh this is very comfortable this feels very normal wow your bodies took over yeah yeah and our texting that led up to that for months was not flirtatious it was just all you know jokes and making each other laugh and um and then i was like do you want to make

out in my car like I was just like whoa because I already thought I had a crush on her and she was like sure and so we go to my car we make out and then the next day I get like a 50,000 page email from her saying that was really fun I'm not gay I like you so much I love hanging out with you but can we be friends and and I was reading it going oh gosh and then um I just wrote back, okay, Dyke, just like lighthearted because I thought I can't like force this person to like me. So I was, that's all. I just thought it'd be funny to write back something very short and casual. And, and well, we've been together ever since. Yeah, and I got that. And it's like, oh, no, I like her. Oh, my goodness. Yeah. Oh, my goodness. You guys, I love it.

God. First of all, I own one of those sweaters. Maybe all, maybe all Canadians do. I'm like, I know exactly the sweater you're talking about. Mine is also brown. Mine is white. Stephanie's is blue. Oh, mine is that like sort of, maybe it's more of a gray. Like, it's a brown, gray, and the, and the bird is white. Oh, okay. All right. Well, we can all hang out in our... Listen. Sweeters, see what happened. So wait, is this... Does this... the movie that you've now directed together, does it feel especially familiar for you then,

Stephanie? Because in, am I okay, you know, we follow Dakota Johnson as a woman who's 32 realizing that she's gay and wondering how she couldn't have known this about herself. And yeah, I don't know. I'm just like, hold the phone. There's a whole group. of us that clearly needs to be having this conversation. Yeah. And I think that's the thing. It's like, I, similar to Lauren Pomerant's wrote the script and similar to Lucy Dakota Johnson's character and myself, it's like, we weren't the people that were like, I know I'm gay, I got to come out, I got to tell people, when am I going to tell people? Or there wasn't shame around, oh, I'm gay. You know, it was more like, am I gay? Like, it's, it wasn't, I really.

didn't know. I 100% didn't know. And I, and over the years from being with TIG, I can look back and go, oh, I wasn't, I wasn't connecting with men. I wasn't falling in love with men. I was, I liked them. I thought they were cute. I thought they were cool. I were gravitated toward the ones I liked probably the most as friends and thought were cute pretty much. And then, but in, in that part of myself, it's like, oh, I bet there are so many women at many ages that they don't, they're not really in love with the person they're with. And they don't, they, they, and they're not going, oh, it's because I'm gay. Well, I think there's so much too in the, in the narrative. This is something I've spent the last year really talking to a lot of friends about. Like, you hear these tropes, right? Like,

marriage is hard relationships take work you have to settle down and i think there's there's this sort of assumption i don't think we realize how deep heteronormativity runs like we know the stats i guess on like how many people you know identify as fill in the blank you know straight gay bi queer whatever but like i i think so many women are like well i'm settling a little bit everyone says everything's hard all my friends hate their husbands all and and you sort of go like oh and then maybe that's not it like right after my last breakup one of my best friends looked at me and was like I got to say like that was just painful to watch and I'm so glad you're getting out of it but like I don't just think like he was not the right person for you but also like I don't actually

think you like men and there was sort of this aha moment where I was like, oh, maybe the drama when, like, I fell in love with this beautiful French exchange student when I was 16, like, wasn't about her being a girl. It was like that she lived in France. My parents were like, this feels irrational and really like a set up for heartbreak for you. You're 16. And like maybe when I was 25 and some friends who I think met well, but who were like, you've mostly dated men, you can't say you're by. And then I was like, oh, my God, like, the queer community has been like my home and is the home of my whole. family since I was old enough to understand that like Uncle Tony had a boyfriend and not a

girlfriend like I would never want to hurt the people I care the most about right who've been like in this fight for liberation for so long I'm going to get out of the way and then it was like well maybe I don't have to like get out of the way maybe I just get to like who I like yeah what a revolutionary fucking idea and Dakota's in the movie being like I'm 32 shouldn't I know this by now and I was like try being 41 hello yeah like I get it and I just I'm so excited you've made this movie because no matter what it is you're looking for, I think there's real power

in expanding your purview of what might make you happy. Yeah. And it is so special to like watch somebody sure, I have to come to terms with their identity, but like I don't want every queer story to have to be about suffering because they're not. There's so much joy and beauty and all of the things and like your love story is so beautiful and like I die for do you want to go make out of my car

and like I don't know I want more of that on screen and I feel like I feel like sitting and watching this movie that you two made I was like I've been waiting for this movie I love this movie TIG was it was it like an interesting thing because obviously well for folks at home I should hope you've seen it but if you haven't get your shit together Stephanie directed TIG's most recent special. So you've been directed by your wife. Was it an interesting thing for the two of you to go to work and direct together? Do you feel like because of your relationship and the fact that you're both phenomenal comedians, it gave you this amazing shorthand? Or did you go to work some days and be like, this is so weird? Like normally we're talking about work over coffee and now

we're on set telling people what to do. No, it feels so natural. Stephanie and I, I feel like we just flow in and out of work and marriage and kids and everything we I don't feel like we're career focused couple where that's like the leading vibe in our house because I feel like we are very much a family and a couple with children but we have act we met on in a world we've acted together, we've produced, we've written, created, we've done everything together, and we have such a similar sensibility and we make each other laugh so deeply. I mean, we make each other laugh so hard. And I always explain it like we do have that similar sensibility and then we have

slightly different ideas and thoughts and feelings about whatever and those differences, I think, elevate our projects perfectly. I mean, whether people are into them or not, we walk away going, yeah, that feels right. And we love being on set together. And even when we're doing separate projects, inevitably, one of us texts saying, I wish you were here. Like, I wish you were on set with me today. Yeah. And that's true.

And also, just like we have hard days at home as a married couple and as parents or just people in the world, we have hard days on sets, but I feel like it's very few and far between and we can get through that, just like we get through our days that are rough at home. Well, it's really interesting because, like, that sort of hard. that you're talking about. I think it's such an aha when you realize that like

there's constructive hard and then there's like torture hard. And constructive hard is pretty cool because you're building something together. And like the whole time you were answering that question, the image that kept coming to my mind was like the way bees build a beehive and the honeycomb and like the group project,

that requires flow like you're talking about. And when you have flow as an artist, I think it can make you feel so creative and so free. And if you manage to create flow in a family with you two as a unit and with your children and like you're building something that's greater than the sum of its parts and how totally cool that you get to do that together. I feel lucky, but what if we threw it to Stephanie now and she's like, it's a living home? What are you talking about?

She's like, well, it's really interesting. She gets very... She is a nightmare on set. She's a nightmare. Get this woman her order from craft service quickly. Yeah. I think TIG and I have that in common truly across the board. And we, I think other people pointed out to us.

And then that's how we kind of were like, oh, yeah, we really don't think about that or care about that or we're not worried about that. that sort of like grasping energy I don't think either of us have that's really cool like a desperate panic anything I think it's unnerving to some people that we're like we're going to whatever yeah we're going to do our best we hope this works out we hope this comes out we hope this and that and if not on to the next thing you know I don't feel like we both have that clinging to things in a panic. It has to happen like this. It's like you have to remain fluid. I mean, through all of it. Yeah, I mean, this circus we all work in is so bizarre. You kind of have to hold everything with an open hand. Otherwise, you're like punching yourself in the face

with a close fist all day. I know. I always tell people what I remember, well, I don't have to go into the example, but just, I always think about everybody's trying to get in the front door. Everybody's in a long line, just trying to get in that front door. And it's like, okay, well, or see if there's a back door. Or maybe go see if you can open the window or wait. Yeah, but whatever it is, it's like, people get in this, like, we got to do this. We got it. This is the way to go. This is how we have to do it. And it's like, eh, or, yeah, head home back another day. Or, yeah, yeah. Yeah, see if a window opens. I feel like you have excellent blood pressure.

Like, it's just nice. Yeah, your doctor must be like, well done. No, my doctor is like, are you alive? Yeah. My blood pressure runs so low, which has got me into many, many terrible medical situations. Oh, dear. But I think I'm, but yes. You're alive.

I'm alive. I'm alive. Thankfully, you are here. And now a word from our sponsors. that I really enjoy, and I think you will too. Was it an interesting thing? Because I read a little bit about how, you know, the merger with, like, the studio was happening, and you'd made this movie, and was it going to come out?

Was it not? We've got all these weird people who don't seem to care about movies who run movie studios now, who, like, throw movies away for tax write-offs, which is crushing for us artistic humans. and now here it is. Like it's coming, it's arrived, it's wonderful. How long, because I do think people at home don't know how long this stuff takes. Like, how long did it take from beginning to do this to finally, it's June 2024,

and this movie's coming out on HBO Max? I think we signed on to the project in 2019. Oh, my gosh. And then we were about to start shooting right before the pandemic. and then we were one of the first projects up and running in 2021 where we were like in masks and shields and you know before the vaccine and then uh and then it went to sundance and then it was two years after it went to sundance in 2022 and so now it's been two years two years since then wow i know i was saying this

definitely i think about when you see award shows and somebody's accepting an award and they're like, I just want to thank this person for believing in the film. This took us 10 years to get here and Bob. And I would sit at home thinking, why did it take them 10 years to make that movie? Yeah. And you don't understand that it's a game of Jenga. You get an actor and then it falls apart and their schedule moves. And then you lose a tax credit and then you have to go from L.A. to New Jersey.

There's just a million different things. They're financing falls through, and it's just an ongoing game of Django. It really, really is. It's like, it reminds me of that carnival game where, like, the guy has all those solo cups and one of them has a ball under it, and you're just trying to figure out where the ball's going. Yeah. It's totally manic. And people would always, like, ask us, like, when's am I okay coming out?

Where's am I okay? And it's like, we don't let us know. yeah we wish we knew we have no clue but also why isn't it called am i.o gay or am i gay is it too late like can the cover artist just turn it around for you or it's the i when it comes out in ireland it can be am i oh okay apologies you know and and then oh and then the the bottom of the question mark is a teeny tiny little four-leaf clover that's right that's right that's correct. It is. I love it. I have a question for you, too, because this is something I find sort of fascinating. And Stephanie, I don't know if you experienced this, but like, I watched

Jane ask Lucy in the movie, like, you really didn't have any thoughts about this, or like, how long have you felt this way? You didn't have any sort of inkling. And they have such great chemistry. Like, they're such beautiful intimacy in their friendship. And, I think the notion of platonic chemistry can confuse some people. And I definitely had a moment where I was like, I guess maybe I thought the pool of like women that I liked versus like your earlier point, men was just smaller. And I was like, I don't mean this to sound insane, but like look at all my friends. Like, they're hot. They're brilliant.

Like, they're so amazing. And I've never wanted to like sleep with any of them. And then one of my guy friends was like, well, yeah, but straight guys always try to. sleep with all their female friends. So like, is that maybe why you think that? And I was like, huh, that's really, it's really super interesting because I do think, like, when you have your best friends as a woman, like, you love each other. Like, I am in platonic love with my best friends for sure. Yeah. But, like, it's such a different situation. And, like, knowing that, you know, a lot of straight dudes run studios, I'm like, did someone ever try to pitch to you that Lucy would

admit that she was in love with Jane? Like, did you have to fight that battle to be like, no, that is her best friend, that is not the person she's interested in? Or did people get it and leave the story be? I think people got that. Okay, good. Well, I do feel like there were early conversations of wanting to define it. I don't think anybody was like forcing an agenda, but I think there were a lot of conversations of like, well, are they falling in love with each other? Are they not? If they're not, then they're not. And it, and I, and I, think we always were like it doesn't matter they're friends like i don't even remember that i'm embarrassed to say it's very open hand yes but i think even that is like no they they are best friends and that

we don't want to like put a scene in that's going like see they're definitely friends or or a scene where it's like oh they might be you know it's like it is what you're saying they're friends and there's a lot of intimacy. And we, I think girls do that. They, they, like, have, they sleep in the same bed very platonically. And it's, there's never, it never crosses their mind. And they can be really physically close. And it, that's, that's like a joy. And so that's what I, I mean, that's what their friendship is in a movie. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like it's such a special thing to show people what healthy intimacy looks like in every form, which, friends, between lovers, like, it's really, really just refreshing. I feel like I know all of

these people. Uh-huh. Yeah. And it's also nice to see a movie about women in their 30s who don't have everything figured out. Yeah. Like, I love that you've created something in that space between, like, the teen TV shows so many of us grew up doing and then like playing the mom on the teen TV show, which is fun. Right, right. Like, there's this whole juicy section of our lives that I don't feel like we get as much content about. Yeah.

And where people feel confused and they are in a gray zone and they also feel really young. Yeah. And this sort of like idea to advance that or, you know, like, I don't know. I think we were both really drawn to that part of it, that it was someone in their 30s. And maybe not everybody has their dream job yet or maybe not everybody. is in the right relationship and is going through the moment where they have to start over it. It all felt really, really, yeah, refreshing is the word that I keep kind of coming back to. That's so nice. Yeah. Something that we were, we just screened it at Newfest in New York and

something that came up during that, which I also feel like is a important piece of it. It's just that it's like in terms of the friendship, it's like this is her best friend who she tells everything to and she had to come out to her too, you know, and that's, like, just as hard. And I feel like aside from whether it be sexuality, when you want to change something in your life, whether it's career, a relationship, the way you dress, your house, color, the color palette you like. Go on. Anything. Like, but totally.

But those things, I feel like people in your life, whether it's family members, friends, they often sometimes don't want you to change. and there's this pressure to be like, well, that's not you. What are you wearing? That's not you. Oh, you like that now? And there's this sort of attitude of like, how dare you change? And so I think it keeps people like in these decisions that they made really young.

And it just go, oh, that's me. That's how I dress. That's what I like. That's what I do. This is the career I chose. And so I have to. And I think the beauty of this is that you're like, if you don't like it anymore, that's what humans do. We evolve. We change. And the people around

you should go, cool. What are you into now? Yeah. And that was the relationship, the friendship needed to evolve in that way. Yeah. Yeah. To be loved by people who want you to know yourself better and better. Yeah. I think is the greatest gift. And it's a really interesting thing. This theme has come up so much lately. I literally have goosebumps. I'm wearing pants so I can't demonstrate. I'm like kicking a leg. But it's a friend of mine said to me recently,

anybody who rejects a happier or more evolved version of you never really wanted you to be happy in the first place. They liked you being small. And it's like, oh. So to have somebody who will look at you and say, like anything that makes you more fulfilled, happier, any change you go through that has you sleeping better, like I'm here for it. And that I think is really, really important to show people as well. Yeah. And it's cool to be in that curiosity. It's cool to go, God, like, I'm being drawn to

this for some reason. And, oh, I wonder why this is speaking to me right now. And to just have your friends going like, huh, that's interesting, you know? Yeah, yeah. And talking about it. Making a movie like this, especially when, you know, you get pandemic delayed and, as you said, TIG, like the Jenga pieces are moving around so much, did the delays give you guys, you know, as directors with your writers? Because I know Lauren wrote it, it's based on her real-life friendship, right, with her best

friend Jessica, who's a producer, did that give the four of you and then Dakota opportunities to just sit and do versions of this to, like, shoot the shit and talk about relationships, you know, over meals while you were waiting? Or were you like, okay, well, while this is delayed, we'll all go do these other projects and, like, hopefully remember the details of this when we come back? I think we were really ready to go. And then, and we had, I think we had, yes, I think the first part, We had tons of time to discuss everything and to really have time with Lauren, have time with Dakota, have time with all the cast. And then once it was like into COVID and it was shutting down, I think everybody was scared. I think the code, the reality of COVID was a very different vibe.

Would you feel that way, too? Yeah, for sure. For sure. How did you guys manage to navigate that? Because coming back to work in 2021, as you mentioned, you know, for our friends at home, it was a very scary time. You know, the testing protocols on sets were really rigorous. There were departments that were never allowed to interact with each other, you know, sets are sort of like being in the circus. Like everybody's working on this crazy project and performance together. And suddenly during the pandemic,

the height of it, the experience was very bifurcated among all the departments. So were there changes you had to make? Were there people you had to take, you know, out of scenes? Or were you sort of able to work around most of what was on the page and keep it feeling the same on screen? I mean, I feel like I can't remember specifics, but I do feel like things had to shift because of COVID. And I'm trying to think of what that was exactly. Don't you feel that? Yeah, we had casts that we lost, that we had to shift because you could only kind of be on one,

if you were shooting in another city and you couldn't go back and forth with the different sets. Yeah, you couldn't even, even if you were in L.A., you couldn't work on. Right. Yeah. So we did recast for people that had conflicts with other things. and then it's also just a weird way to go about filmmaking because you're in like little pods of who you can talk to, you know, so there's like the crew and then there's like the writer, director, producer, and then the actors. And so we did, we had to communicate a lot through like

our assistant director who was, you know, with the actors and giving notes over, you know, speaker, which feels not ideal. So the sort of like that thing that's so great onset of everybody kind of being really together and intimate, we lost that. And I think that's what's such a massive testament to Sonoya and Dakota because they were able to really convey that in a situation where they were like separated and masked, you know, until they were shooting. Yeah.

They did such a phenomenal job. It was so fun to watch it in front of a live audience here in New York a couple of nights ago. It was explosive, like the laughter and the tears and the energy was so, so much filling the room. It was really exciting to all these years later land in that theater and get that response, especially when it seemed like the movie went away. Yeah. Yeah. And so it was, it was a nice, a nice evening to say the least. Oh, I'm so glad you guys got to have that. Yeah.

And now a word from our wonderful sponsors. One of the things I enjoyed so much, and it's interesting to think about you guys having to do this, again, at the, you know, sort of height of masking and. and all of that strange separation on set. Like, one of the things I really love that you did so much of in this movie is you let their looks and reactions to each other communicate a lot, not just the dialogue. And one of the things I've found historically, you know, on some of the TV that I've worked on, which, you know, I love a show because you get to week after week discover someone. But when you have to fit into that perfect timing so they can stick the commercials where they want to, you lose a lot of that air. You lose like looks before someone says something or whatever because they're trying to get it for time. And I always am really taken aback in a good way when I get to watch people have the air to see each other and get all their little visual reactions in around the words that they're speaking.

and I thought the chemistry between them in their looks and their physical comedy and responses to each other was so excellent. And it's wild to think that they managed to do all of that and communicate all of that when they had to mostly be separated when the cameras weren't rolling. Yes, absolutely. And that is so nice to hear because I feel like that I just, I love actors so much. And I feel like when movies used to take their time and just the pacing was really slow, it was like, it's like so beautiful to get to watch actors for like those longer spaces.

And not that this movie is long in any way, but it's just, that was certainly a goal. Yeah. It's so nice to hear. It definitely doesn't feel long. It just feels like it's breathing. Yeah. Like I don't feel like I'm watching people live. life on 1.5X. It's very, very lovely to be in the world that you made. And just as a, you know,

Native Angelino, I also was thrilled to see the 101 cafe in scenes. I was like, oh, it's home. Which actually, by the way, that was a benefit of COVID. It's all of those places we shot at. We could not do. We couldn't, we didn't have the budget for that. And they couldn't close those down and for permits and whatever. And then when we shot during COVID, everyone was like, please come in here you know everything was shut everything was closed so we like got to really shoot in those types of places that's so cool and it's interesting like when you say i love actors so much i do too i just i love i love everyone in our funny little family who shows up and is like hey let me be as vulnerable as possible in front of all of these strangers and equipment let's see how it

goes and like and then tig i find it so funny because you'll talk about how you're like you're like, I don't identify as an actor. Like, I did a spit take when you recently were like, could you imagine if they cut to me, like at the SAG Awards? And I was like, hello, I'm an actor. I was like, stop. Like, why do you think that feels weird for you? Because you are, like, you're a comedian, an actor, a director, a producer, a writer.

Like, you're very good at this. Why do you think that term feels so, like, ugh? Well, I just, I mean, I very much am a stand-up comedian that stumbled into this because my friends had TV shows and Zach Gallifanakis was the first person that hired me to act on his TV series that he had years ago. And it just kind of kept happening and I kept thinking like, oh, this is a weird little thing I'm going to do for a few episodes and then I'll be back to stand-up. And of course, I did always go back to stand-up. but then the acting kept happening. And I think I just feel like an imposter. It's like I'm on the season three of the morning show

and my childhood friend, who I've known since I was five, she calls me, leaves a message saying, okay, so I'm sitting here watching you in a scene with John Hamm and Jennifer Aniston, and I'm just thinking to myself, how the hell did this happen? You know, it's nobody, when I was growing up, I was never like, oh, my God, I want to be an actor. But I think I just identify as a comedian and I get acting gigs sometimes and I appreciate them tremendously. And I have so, Stephanie makes fun of me because I have so much fun acting, not necessarily acting, but hanging out with people.

on set you know where she'll call and she's like are you making are you making new friends and i'm like yeah have a good time um the people that take like they stay in character they have listen to music they're like very into the scene they're doing they know where you know all of that stuff tig is like at having snacks going like oh where are you from yeah i'm just like uh like a little social butterfly on set just wanting to hang out and chat and get to know everyone and so when people ask if I enjoy acting I say I do but it's really it's the people that I'm connecting with on set that that's making it enjoyable can you share the one thing you often do on set that you yell out then the one that I the one that you will yell out to like a director when in between

takes? I don't know if this will come across. I just like, because I don't, oh boy, because I love it. Because I, this is, of course, after I've kind of established myself and relationships on set and people understand my personality for the most part. One of my favorite things is just to randomly yell out. out, I'm bored. People are like, what? Is that during set up time or like mid-take? Yeah, just any time. Great.

But also, when a director is coming towards me with a note, oftentimes, I would say 95% of the time I stop them. And I say, before you say anything, just know that I have no range. okay what were you going to say but everything i do it's i always say it's tig in a police uniform tig in space tig uh you know is the fix it guy on the morning show and it's just you know i i i but i do i enjoy it i just feel like uh an imposter saying i'm an actor well i think you're doing pretty well at it well thank you i hate to break it to you. You're an actor. You're an actor. I'm a comedian taking on

actor jobs. You're a multi-hyphenate. I guess so. Yeah. When you, it could be upcoming projects. It could be, I don't know, making a model of the universe with the kids for a science fair. I have no idea. But what, when you look ahead at your summer and through the rest of the year feels like your work in progress now, now that the movie's coming out? I feel like, I feel like just across the board, what is always a work in progress for me is maintaining everything I have, you know? I always talk to Stephanie about, I'm not in what I'm doing to take over. the world or Hollywood or anything like that. I want to maintain my marriage, my family life,

my connection with my children and my friends. And I want to keep working. I want to stay on my health. I want to, I just, I've, that's really an ongoing work and progress for me. And it, it i think that's every year every summer everything for me yeah i also like want to have what we have keep having what we're having um but i i feel like for me right now it's really keeping my brain and my body in like a space of openness and creativity because i i can feel the the world sometimes the world where you're like oh i got to do all these things and you're you're just not in flow and for me, I feel like the more I can stay in that space, the better I feel. Yeah. Yeah. Keep the flow going.

Yeah. I like that a lot. Yeah. And I would be remiss not before I let you both go to talk about your podcast, because clearly we're on a podcast. And I will say our work in progress audience is both smart and funny. and handsome really feels like a zone for smart funny people. So can you tell our little whipsmart audience a little bit about what you and Fortune Feemster and May Martin do together? Well, it's pretty much just nonstop ridiculousness. It is our weekly podcast, Handsome. We get questions from our guests, and we just chit-chat about it.

And it's, yeah, we've gotten a really great response from our listeners in the world around us. So it's really fun. And if anybody's curious to hear some nonsense, check out the handsome podcast. I would call it wise nonsense. And I would also like to say, I don't host your podcast, but I am a fan. and I get a great response because I wear the little cowboy hat every time I fly

because I think it's... Well, yeah, I think it's adorable and I love to fly in a baseball cap and the number of people in the airport who stopped me to be like, I really like your hat. And I'm like, hey, have you heard of this podcast? And people will be like, is it yours?

And I'm like, no. I actually have a different podcast, but my friends do this one and they're hilarious. And so you should subscribe to both. That's amazing. You've made me very popular at LAX. oh good well it was my pleasure so thank you for the show and the merch yes yeah thanks for getting the hat

wow yeah and thank you both so much for joining me today thank you for making am i okay it's so much fun and congrats thank you thanks for having us yeah This is an IHeart podcast.