00:00Hi this is Mariah Gullo from The Hollywood Reporter and we're in studio
00:07today with Team Duck Butter. Hey! Hi! Alia Shawkat, Laya Costa, and Miguel Arteta.
00:14Thank you so much for being here. Thank you Mariah. And first and foremost I want to say
00:18congratulations. Best Actress at Tribeca Film Festival. Yeah. How does that feel?
00:24It feels really cool. Yeah, it's really cool, yeah. I can't believe it but it's
00:30very exciting. Now more people will see Duck Butter I hope. Yeah. Because there's a good
00:35performance in there. Yeah, there's an award-winning performance. So Jay DuPost was in here a few
00:42weeks ago and he explained the plot to me and I was like this is an incredible wall.
00:47When did the plot like kind of click in for you? And how did you feel when you were
00:53like, oh I got this. I know exactly what's going to happen in this movie.
00:57Um, Alia and I wrote a regular script, you know, about a relationship between a man and
01:01a woman that lasted a year and a half. And a friend of ours read it and said, you know
01:05that thing that happens in the first 30 pages where they stay up all night having sex every
01:09hour on the hour. I wish the whole movie was that. And we had one of those moments where
01:12we look at each other and it's like, let's just do that. And I think that was kind of that
01:17was kind of the moment where we were like, it really started getting energized.
01:21Yeah, because everything we had written started to fit perfectly into the 24 hour slots.
01:26Right.
01:27Um, but yeah, that's when the plot kind of started to meld and then when Laya came around
01:32we were like, oh she should play Sergio. No dude should play this.
01:36And um, and then yeah from that moment on the script and the plot just got more like streamlined
01:42even though we were taking out dialogue and it became all improvised.
01:45I think the day that she agreed to play Sergio was also a day where we were screaming and
01:50jumping up and down. I mean like we have.
01:52Now we know.
01:53Movie. Cause uh, it's, who could play Sergio other than her?
01:56It was very hard to find, to find the right person. Very lucky.
02:00All right. And then you, you assembled this amazing team together, this creative team.
02:05And then we're shooting over a 24 hour period for a big chunk of the movie and you're doing
02:11these multiple sex scenes. So was there at, at some point, did you feel like you were really
02:16redefining the sex scene? Like maybe even just personally?
02:19I mean I, I think going into it, you know, we had some rehearsal time with Hilary Sparrow,
02:24the DP. Um, who's so amazing. And um, you know, Laya and I and her would talk about it
02:29and how we wanted it to be shot and like, and the discussion of it and, but when we actually
02:35got, you know, to the day, we had always had like a clarity of the story of how each
02:40sex scene had a different motivation, you know? Like any scene. Like, uh, this represents
02:45when they're feeling really intimate. This represents when it's like still fresh and more playful.
02:49This represents when like someone's not as connected. So each sex scene, it wasn't just
02:53about sex, like sex never is. It's, uh, it's really about where the characters are at.
02:58So once we kind of started to, to shoot them, I don't think we were aware of like, oh, let's
03:03redefine it. But for me it was important that the way it shot, that it was like, it was just
03:08kind of between Laya and I and make it seem as like nobody else is there. Um, and just so
03:14it felt actually, you know, really safe and not about anybody else's gaze of it. Um, to
03:19make it just feel like you're alone with these, you know, two people. Yeah.
03:23Do you think that people might start trying this kind of level of forced intimacy?
03:28Maybe. I mean, those young kids, who knows what they'll do these days, you know what I mean?
03:33Start a hashtag and they'll just do it.
03:35What do you think?
03:36Well, I think, yeah, I think crazy people is everywhere, so.
03:39Right. Laya, you were totally on board with the idea of shooting for 24 hours, you've
03:44shot a continuous take movie, Victoria. Like, this is obviously something that's kind of
03:48appealing to you, this kind of challenge.
03:50Yeah, I always say that when someone asks you to do something that maybe no one is going
03:54to ask you again, you have to do it. So Victoria was one example. And then when I met them,
03:59it was the second example. I think that very unique movies, you have to just jump and go for them.
04:06You know, this movie kind of taught me something about myself, because knowing what, where the
04:15script went, I started putting the characters, assigning gender roles to them without even
04:21thinking about it. And then I realized, wow, I've really been brainwashed with how each gender
04:27is supposed to act or how they typically act in a relationship. And by the end of it, I realized
04:32that I had dated both of these people, and I had been both of these people.
04:36Yeah. Right. That's great. I'm so glad.
04:38Yeah, that's something that we realized, you know, in a way, I was doing another interview
04:42before this, but I realized when we had written it for a man and a woman, it was just because
04:48we were both talking about relationships we had been in. And even though I had been with
04:52women, too, I didn't think of it. I was just like, no, a man and a woman. That's what you write a story
04:56about in a romantic storyline. Like, okay, this is the thing. And then as we kept working through
05:01the script, when Laia came across and Miguel was like, I think Laia should be Sergio, all of a sudden
05:06the script made so much more sense. But in a way, it still wasn't about gender. It was just about
05:10these two people, which is what it clarified more by having it be two women. But yeah, it is interesting.
05:16There's just not as much content out there for same-sex relationships or that the definitive
05:22point of the story is about the fact that they're same-sex. It was also important that we were like,
05:26this is just a film about two people. So it's not about the fact that they're gay or anything.
05:31Yeah. And for better or for worse, people really do take on the traits of their partners
05:36after a relationship. So are there any traits that you know about yourselves that you've experienced
05:41where you're like, well, I got that from somebody else?
05:45Oh, wow. That's a big question. We don't want to talk about that.
05:48We're like, no. We're like, we're fine. We're too broken.
05:52We have nothing to do with the girls, you know what I mean?
05:56It's all made up. I fart into phones constantly now.
06:02Yeah, you learn something from making a movie too.
06:05Yeah, that's for sure. You can kick off personality traits.
06:09I mean, you know, the movie was definitely a way to kind of pay tribute to
06:13disastrous relationships, you know? And so like, there's a lot that's personal.
06:17But it was a way to find something that, you know, I like making movies about things
06:20that you don't have a handle on emotionally. And for me, this was like, you know,
06:24I've had very bad relationships. I apologize to all my friends.
06:28I really think apologies are needed.
06:30Not to the people who are in a relationship.
06:31Yeah.
06:32Just the friends.
06:33I mean, some ways this movie is an apology and also a way for me to reconcile, like,
06:37why was I so, like, you know, and to say, like, you know, there's something,
06:45to find something positive for me to be able to say, like, okay, you know,
06:48those relationships are necessary, even though they're disastrous.
06:52I wrote down some comments about things that made me think while I was watching the movie.
06:57And the first one is one that you have said before.
07:00The question that you looked into for this movie was why does love hurt so much?
07:06And do you think that it's been answered or just explored?
07:11I think just explored.
07:12I think that's one of the reasons to make film, if you want, is to work through your questions
07:18and continuously try to answer them.
07:21This movie was definitely very therapeutic for me and, you know, I think for us to write it
07:27because it came from such a personal, you know, space about, yeah, why does it hurt so much?
07:31But I think ultimately, like, you know, what I hope anyone takes from it is that, like,
07:36it's always worth it to try and throw yourself into something.
07:39Not to be self-destructive necessarily or fall for, you know, dangerous people,
07:44but that you have to, to learn about yourself, you have to kind of just go all in
07:49and see what happens, step up to the plate.
07:51Right.
07:52Exactly.
07:53Which is so much harder than anybody can know.
07:56No, of course.
07:57And then, you know, yeah, we watch movies and we're like,
07:59oh, people fall in love all the time and it's easy.
08:01They met and it's perfect.
08:02And you're like, no, it doesn't really work that way.
08:04Yeah.
08:05Some of the other questions I had.
08:06Why do people become annoyed by the things they are initially attracted to in other people?
08:10Why do you think?
08:14I don't know.
08:15In the movie they are not annoyed by the things that they are attracted to at the beginning.
08:19It's simply that as the time goes by, like, the mask starts falling down.
08:24So you don't, you see more than just the first ten minutes of conversation, you know.
08:32So I think that's what happens to them.
08:35It's like when people know your duck butter, then you need to see if they are going to be still there or not for you.
08:43That's love.
08:44Yeah.
08:45You know?
08:46Otherwise it's bullshit.
08:47Yeah.
08:48So it's so complicated.
08:49That's very true.
08:50Like when you really love somebody, you can say, I want to know your duck butter.
08:54Yeah.
08:55Then you know you're in love.
08:56And I'm going to be here.
08:57I'm not going to be a coward.
08:59I feel that way about my wife for sure.
09:02Yeah.
09:03Um, she gets very historical about that.
09:06Is that what I put up?
09:09Yeah.
09:10Why do opposites attract?
09:12Hmm.
09:13I don't know.
09:14Because we get bored of ourselves?
09:16Hmm.
09:17I think also because somehow maybe it's a way of, in this case, like I think Nima needs Sergio.
09:24Yeah.
09:25And then Sergio ends up needing Nima.
09:28It's like, you know, we try to, we get attracted to stuff that you have that I don't have.
09:34I'm missing.
09:35So I'm seeing my negative points in you and I'm just feeling better because you're next
09:41to me.
09:42Yeah.
09:43But that feels good just for a while.
09:45Hmm.
09:46Just for a while.
09:47Yeah.
09:48Just for 24 hours.
09:49Just for 24 hours.
09:50Um, how can you become authentic if you can't figure out who you are?
09:54Oh, that's a very, very difficult one.
09:56Who can figure out who you are?
09:57That's probably in the room also.
09:59Um.
10:00I don't think you can.
10:01I think that's part of the, you gotta work on it.
10:03It's a process.
10:04Yeah, but it doesn't happen overnight.
10:05You're not like, I found out who I am.
10:06Yeah.
10:07It's like, we're always changing.
10:08Yeah.
10:09I was gonna say, do we ever know?
10:10Do we ever really know who we are?
10:11Yeah.
10:12I mean, and also being authentic is so complicated because you feel so many different things at
10:16once, you know.
10:17I think one of the keys to learning how to do it better after 25 years of therapy, thank
10:21you all my therapists.
10:22They're all watching.
10:25Uh, is that, you know, you learn to say, you know, I'm feeling this way but I'm also
10:32feeling this way even though it's contradictory and makes no sense.
10:35But that's an authentic picture of how I feel.
10:37Yeah.
10:38You know, so like, it's learning to understanding that you have contradictory feelings.
10:41I think that helps a little bit.
10:43Mm.
10:44But I mean, intimacy is like a, like a brick wall where you, you, you plug it, you know,
10:47you break a hole and then like the bricks magically start coming slowly again and you
10:51have to, oh my God, we gotta take them out from upstairs, from everywhere.
10:54You have to keep working at it.
10:56If you don't, the wall closes again, you know.
10:58Yeah.
10:59Uh, Alia, you've mentioned the desire to, uh, write more stories or make more films.
11:04Based on the Arab American perspective.
11:07Mm-hmm.
11:08How is that going for you?
11:09Are you getting closer to that goal?
11:11Yeah.
11:12Well, after writing this, I know that I can, I can finish something as long as I have a
11:15talented, smart friend who believes in me.
11:17So, um, I hope to just keep writing.
11:20Yeah.
11:21And that's definitely, um, something that piques my, piques my interest.
11:24Mm-hmm.
11:25And this is also personal to me in a different way.
11:27And what, what is your conversations with other actors who are Arab American been like?
11:32What's the conversation been?
11:34Like, you know, I guess it's just, like, more representation.
11:37Yeah.
11:38Um, that, you know, we all want, and getting to have roles that, um, aren't terrorists.
11:46Uh, I don't know.
11:47I don't feel, you know, I haven't been put in that category because, um, I can play, you
11:52know, I don't look as Arab as I am.
11:55Yeah, just more representation in general.
11:57And there's also just, like, especially when it comes to, you know, Muslim families and
12:01stuff represented in the States, it obviously seems very of the moment, um, to separate
12:06that from what a lot of people's lack of education, what they think, um, Islam represents
12:11and all those kinds of things.
12:12So, yeah, just more stories, you know, comedies.
12:15I always think comedy is a great way to mix serious worlds, to be like, hey, we all laugh
12:20at the same shit, you know?
12:22Yeah.
12:23And more poop in my Phillips lessons.
12:24Absolutely.
12:25And Miguel and Laya, uh, what, what do you want to see from film, filmmakers in the future?
12:32Yeah, I think more or less I would agree.
12:35I'm, I'm really happy that I have this feeling that every time more and more we can see more
12:39different profiles on the screen.
12:41Like, the story of Duck Butter, me getting in, it's, it's totally amazing.
12:45It never happened to me, and I cannot imagine that happening to other countries, though I
12:50hope in the future it will be happening more and more.
12:53So that's what I'm expecting, actually.
12:55Um, I mean, I, I just want independent filmmakers to try and be brave and, and, and do things
13:01that are, they're scared of.
13:03And, you know, run towards your fears and, and, you know, tell us something that you're
13:10not the expert of.
13:11Oh.
13:12Oh.
13:13Very good.
13:14Very good.
13:15Thank you so much for being here.
13:16And, uh, congratulations again on Tribeca Film Festival Best Actress.
13:20And, uh, we will see you...
13:21Stop doing this!
13:22She can, she can't take a compliment.
13:24You're gonna be suffering the whole week.
13:25You're gonna be suffering the whole week.
13:26She's blushing.
13:27Good luck on a week full of congratulations.
13:28Thanks, guys.
13:30Bye.
13:32Bye.
13:33Thanks, guys.
13:35Bye.
13:36Bye.
13:37Bye.
13:38Thanks, guys.
13:40Bye.
13:41Bye.
13:42Bye.
13:43Bye.
13:44Bye.
13:45Bye.
Comments