Jay Duplass Shares the ‘Affirmation’ He and Brother Mark Duplass Use to Help Each Other Through ‘The Muck’

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PLUS: Jay Duplass reveals his kids have only seen one movie he’s ever made

Transcript

00:00Now, it's a sit down with Jay Duplass. Hi, Jay.

00:04You have a new movie, and it's not just a movie. It's your solo directorial debut.

00:10First movie I've directed without Mark.

00:13We had a pandemic. We had a strike. Independent film is dying. We got to make something.

00:18I know this guy, Michael, who has this crazy true life origin story.

00:24And we were just like, what if we just go to Baltimore and just make this movie with like a handful of people?

00:30Like the old days. It was a movie that couldn't be stopped.

00:33You know, it was a movie that I could go out with some young, fun people and make by hand.

00:37And of course, I was like deeply moved to tell Michael's story.

00:41We spoke to your brother back in November, and we talked about the one for them, two for me mentality,

00:47meaning he has to be part of more commercial projects to fund his own passions.

00:51What does that process look like for you?

00:53I hadn't been until this year. And then at a certain point, I was like fighting TikTok.

00:59We're not just fighting tentpole movies, you know?

01:01I think right now I'm kind of operating on, um, I make my money acting and I make my art directing.

01:09You know, I lose my money directing kind of thing, you know?

01:13You and Mark both make projects that sort of explore mucky aspects of life.

01:17When all else fails, how do you guys pull each other from the muck?

01:20Yes. Mark and I are very, very good at helping each other out of the muck.

01:26And I think we both fundamentally understand what we need, and that is to not be pulled out.

01:31It's just to be like, dude, you are in the muck.

01:35Like that affirmation of like, holy s***, you are f***ing in it on a level that is unprecedented right now.

01:42So that's kind of what we both need, and we're very good at doing that for each other.

01:47A couple of your projects this year are Emmy-bound, including Dying for Sex and Somebody Somewhere.

01:53Where do you stand on award shows? Do they excite you, or do they fill you with dread?

01:57I can breathe at them if I'm not nominated.

02:00That's, which I'm not, which is, you know, totally, totally fun if I'm not nominated,

02:08because then I'm just like enjoying a free night of food and drinks and funny stuff,

02:13and a lot of great people watching, you know?

02:17When's the last time you maybe rolled your eyes at something your wife or kids were watching,

02:21and then it accidentally sucked you in?

02:23There's a show called School Spirits that my daughter started watching,

02:28and she was like, um, we gotta watch this, we gotta watch this,

02:33and I was like, oh my god, I don't, it's a YA thing, oh my god.

02:37Totally got hooked.

02:38Great performances, great storytelling, great actors.

02:42That was a big surprise for me.

02:44The only thing that I've ever made that my kids have watched is Percy Jackson,

02:49so I play Hades on Percy Jackson, and that's literally their favorite piece of art, period,

02:56you know, is Percy Jackson books.

02:58They've probably read the whole series several, several times,

03:01so that's been pretty cool for them to be forced to reckon with the fact

03:08that I am not as deeply uncool as they think that I am.

03:12We're gonna put 10 seconds on the clock.

03:14Tell everyone why they should check out the Baltimoreans in theaters September 5th.

03:18Ready? Go!

03:19What people are saying when they leave this movie theater is,

03:22this is the movie that I actually want to see on a Saturday night with my person.

03:27You know, it is very, very rare to get a substantial theatrical release for a movie with no stars.

03:32Listen to the people. That's all I gotta say.

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