00:00 I really enjoyed this film.
00:01 I found it incredibly intense,
00:04 but there's also just kind of something
00:06 so heartfelt about it at the same time.
00:08 And I think that's really tied
00:10 to the "Friends" series for me.
00:14 So I wanted to just start off by asking each of you
00:17 if you have a favorite "Friends" character
00:19 from the television series.
00:21 - Oh, I didn't really watch it like that
00:24 to have a favorite, if I'm honest.
00:26 - Yeah, I have to be honest,
00:27 we're gonna disappoint you profoundly here,
00:29 which is that I have a knee-jerk resistance
00:33 to anything that's popular.
00:34 - Yeah.
00:35 - And so when all my "Friends" were going crazy
00:39 about that show, I just resisted it.
00:41 It's just my personality.
00:42 I was just like, "I'm not watching it.
00:44 Everybody's talking about that, I'm not watching it."
00:45 - I feel the same way.
00:47 - I totally get that, honestly.
00:49 Like when everyone wants you to see it,
00:51 you're like, "No, now I've lost interest.
00:52 Now it's not as appealing."
00:54 So totally understandable.
00:55 Well, I wanted to also go over to you, Maihala,
00:58 and just ask, I mean, there's so many deeper themes,
01:01 you know, beyond this "Friends" series
01:03 that really talk about the humanity and identity of people.
01:07 I mean, no one in this movie is perfect.
01:09 So I wanted to know if you really picked up on those themes
01:12 and if it was something that drew you
01:13 to this project and to Ruth.
01:16 - Yeah, I mean, of course.
01:17 Like you put a diverse group of people in a room
01:22 and then watch them interact underneath
01:24 like what feels like a global pressure.
01:26 Of course, all of those things are going to come up.
01:31 But what I respect and was drawn to the most
01:35 about this project is that it's not like being like,
01:38 "We're talking about racism now.
01:41 Now we're talking about class."
01:42 Like all of those things exist because we're human beings
01:45 and we are talking and moving around in this space together.
01:48 And I like that this just, you know,
01:50 it like peels back the curtains
01:51 so that the audience can watch a situation
01:53 and then they go home and have the discussion.
01:55 You know what I mean?
01:56 We're not telling anyone how to feel about these instances.
01:59 We're just letting them exist.
02:01 And I think the best art does that.
02:04 - I agree. Well said.
02:06 - Yeah, no, I absolutely agree.
02:09 It's great that, yeah, it does have so much
02:11 that just leaves you wondering what's happening,
02:14 what's going on, who is right in these, you know, scenarios.
02:17 And going over to you, Ethan,
02:19 I know that I love Clay
02:21 and I really think that he is a very good dad
02:24 and he's trying so hard in these impossible situations.
02:27 So as a father yourself,
02:29 what was it like embodying this character
02:31 and bringing Clay's challenges to life?
02:34 - Well, it was really uncomfortable for me
02:36 because there's so much of Clay that I relate to
02:39 and there's so much about him that I don't like.
02:42 And it's hard when you're playing a character
02:46 that slightly turns up the volume on aspects of yourself
02:50 that you're not proud of, you know?
02:52 And a priority on being affable.
02:55 You know, there's a time in life for a spine
03:00 and at some key pivotal moments, Clay does not have one.
03:04 And what Mahershala did that,
03:07 so he brings such a strength and power
03:12 to everything that he does,
03:14 that in a lot of ways, we were like a quartet
03:17 and each one of us played in a key.
03:20 Once we started rehearsing, it was like,
03:21 oh, that's who your character is.
03:23 Okay, it adjusts your key.
03:25 And so we were all playing in relationship to each other.
03:29 And Clay, there was, not to be too personal,
03:34 but I remember I was one of those people
03:36 when the pandemic first started happening.
03:37 I just didn't believe it.
03:38 I thought everybody was overreacting.
03:40 You know, they're not making you go to school today?
03:42 That's ridiculous.
03:43 You'll be in school next week.
03:45 And they're like, no, like school's gonna be over this year.
03:47 I'm like, you'll be back in class.
03:49 You know, I mean, I just, it takes me a little while.
03:51 I'm such an optimist that I just,
03:53 I sometimes don't see the truth.
03:55 And that's where optimism gets really dangerous.
03:59 And Clay has that to an extreme degree.
04:02 And I find it really powerful scene in the movie,
04:06 almost so much so that I didn't wanna play it,
04:08 the scene where he doesn't stop for the woman
04:12 on the side of the road.
04:13 'Cause it's such a toxic situation where
04:17 Clay doesn't leave her 'cause he's a bad person
04:19 or he's malevolent.
04:20 He does the wrong thing 'cause he's afraid
04:23 and he wants to be safe.
04:26 And that's why a lot of bad things in this life happen.
04:29 'Cause people don't put themselves at risk at all
04:33 to help their brothers and sisters, you know?
04:36 And so the scene is actually a really dangerous scene
04:40 in the best sense of that word,
04:42 because like you said, it doesn't talk about racism
04:45 or classism or whatever.
04:46 It's just the subconscious is very loud
04:50 and it's penetrating and it forces you to look at it.
04:53 Lots of people leave people by the side of the road
04:56 every day and they do it because they're scared
04:59 of what it will cost them.
05:00 And this is an exaggerated scene of it and I hate it.
05:04 And it was very difficult to play.
05:06 It's beautiful work.
05:08 Thank you. Beautiful work.
05:10 It was, yeah.
05:10 And you really do get to see how fear can really,
05:13 you know, hinder your own humanity.
05:16 It hinders your ability to be your best self, you know?
05:19 And it's tragic and it's tragic every day
05:22 in so many places all over the world.
05:24 Absolutely.
05:25 Well, thank you both.
05:26 Congratulations on the film.
05:27 That's all the time I have today.
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