Lauren Miller Rogen On the Six Year Journey Of Her Netflix Film 'Like Father'

2 days ago

"I wanted to explore what a woman who was put in that situation would feel like, what she would go through, what her emotional journey would be," Rogen told The Hollywood Reporter.

Transcript

00:00How are you? It's Kevin Kenney. Welcome to a brand new episode of In Studio. Our guest

00:07today is the writer, director, and producer of a brand new Netflix film entitled Like Father.

00:12Joining us now, Lauren Miller-Rogan. Hello. How are you? Hi, I'm doing well. How are you doing?

00:16I'm great. How do you feel with it being now out in the world? This thing that you've, I mean,

00:20it goes back about six years, this story. We'll get into it. But this has to be liberating in a

00:24sense. It feels so good. I feel like I've birthed my child and it's out there and people are getting

00:28to see it and they're enjoying it and telling me that they're seeing it. It's exciting.

00:34Now, we're going to get into the story of the film, but what I love and what made me such a fan of

00:38wanting to go out and watch the film, which I did this weekend, is your story of persistence and how

00:43passionate you were from the moment you heard the pitch. And I believe the pitch dates back to a

00:47producer, Anders? Anders Bard, who's one of the producers in the movie. Yeah, we met at this point

00:51a little over six years ago and he just had the kernel of the idea. A woman gets left to the altar

00:56and her dad, who she hasn't seen since she was a little girl, shows up and they go on her honeymoon

01:00cruise. And I was not left to the altar and I have a fantastic dad. But yeah, I was really drawn to it,

01:08I think, because I really wanted to explore what a woman who was put in that situation would feel

01:14like, what she would go through, what her emotional journey would be, which is why I bugged him to write

01:20it, which I did, which took a little while. But then, yeah, I mean, honestly, to make anything,

01:24our journey is no different than most movies. Like, it takes a long time. Like, Hollywood is an

01:29industry where I think no is their favorite word. And sometimes they say yes and that's great and

01:34that's why we're here. But you hear no a lot more than you hear yes. Oh, I can imagine. And talking

01:39about the process there in Hollywood, how did this film differ from maybe a traditional film? This is

01:44a Netflix film as opposed to a theatrical release. Did anything, is it pretty much just like the

01:48distribution is different but everything else is the same? Well, it's pretty similar. We actually got

01:51Netflix on board two years ago in the development phase, like before we made the movie. So they

01:55were there from the very beginning. So different than like a movie that say premieres at like a

01:59Sundance and then is acquired by a Netflix or a studio. So similar to a studio movie, they acquired

02:06it. They were part of casting. They were part of the whole production and then part of the marketing

02:11and now the release. It's just, it's the same thing, just sort of the modern day version of it

02:16really, right? Like it's, it's crazy. It's crazy. Yeah. It's just out and they can enjoy it. You

02:21don't have to worry about, you know, box office numbers like we were saying. I know, I know. It's

02:24nice. No, yeah. Not watching box office opening weekend is nice. Yeah. Yeah. I want to talk about

02:30how you introduce this character that Kristen Bell plays. You do it so masterfully because she's such

02:35a New York City workaholic. She can't even put her phone down on her wedding day. Now, I grew up here.

02:40I know this person. Yeah. Sometimes I feel like I am this person. Yeah. You, yeah. You probably are. I am.

02:44It's fine. What made you want to write about that person specifically? I know you've talked about,

02:49you know, seeing a female lead in that role, but the workaholic portion of it, where does that come

02:53from? You know, I'm sure a lot of it stems from my own self, my own love of my own job and my own

03:00inability to put down my own phone or my own work because I enjoy it so much. And that's the thing

03:06with Rachel. She's not miserable at her job. She really cares about her job. She's good at her

03:10job. And to me, that's a very real human thing. Like we can love our work. It's okay. That's why

03:16I do what I do because I love it. And I'm fortunate to get to do it. However, it's important to have

03:22balance. And like, like you said, like you go out on the street or like just any restaurant on

03:27vacations, like we're all like this. I do it. My husband does it a lot. And, you know, and it's,

03:34it's a thing that, that is, is a, you know, just a product of our society at this point,

03:40dark technology. And it's great, but we have to learn to, to put it down. And I think that

03:45I was really intrigued to take someone on that path to, to go from like, I can have the balance

03:53of, I can love my job, I can do my work, but I can also be a human being who's aware of the world

03:58around me. Right. That balance that I have not found yet, but hopefully Kristen does. No spoilers

04:03in the film. Yeah. Um, now marriage is something that just personally, uh, to be a bit self

04:08indulgent for a moment, it, it fascinates me. And, and this is clearly a woman that Kristen

04:12plays that is not ready for marriage. I'm curious that you're married in real life. How did you

04:16know you were ready to take that big leap? Oh God, honestly, I don't want to sound cliche,

04:23but like, I'm really lucky in my relationship. And my husband and I, we've been together now

04:29over 13 years. Um, and we met, um, one night, my friend was dating his friend and the four

04:35of us went to a party together. And literally just that night I was like, wow, I don't think

04:39I've ever talked to someone so easily before. So it was quite early on when I was like, Oh,

04:46I'm ready. And took him a little bit longer. Um, cause I think guys have this whole thing

04:51in their head. Like I have to be able to take care of my family when I get married. And it's

04:55like, no, like marriage is a partnership. You don't need all your shit figured out

04:59before you enter in it because your partner is going to help you figure it out. And that's

05:03the point. And so I think that like, I know a lot of guys were like, well, I can't get

05:07married. And then they get married and they're like, well, that was stupid. Cause this is

05:10the greatest thing ever. Even my own husband is like, I have no idea. I'm so sorry that

05:15it, I was, I had the brakes on. Like, I don't know what I was doing. Cause like we lived together

05:19after, from after a year and a half, like what were we doing? It was six years before we got

05:23married, but I think marriage is wonderful. That's great. Well, speaking of your husband,

05:27he is in the film, stars in the film, does a tremendous job. Uh, perhaps never more so than

05:31in the scene where he turns down a joint and says, I've never smoked weed a day in my life.

05:35I got a big kick out of that. It was almost like an inside joke there for a long time

05:38fans of his work. But in all seriousness, he actually does a masterful job. He's downplayed,

05:43uh, the whole aspect of working with his wife on set in, you know, in red carpet interviews

05:48that I've seen, but it had to be a little bit different than working with just any other actor.

05:51So what was it like? I mean, I don't know. I feel like he loves some of those guys just as much as

05:56he loves me that he's worked with before. So no, I mean, it was, it was amazing. Like I said,

06:01like we're very lucky and we really like each other a lot and we respect each other. And like

06:07my first instinct when he was on set was to be like, I need your help. I'm, I'm fine. I can do it

06:12on my own myself. And then I was like, what am I doing? I'm so stupid. Like, I think he's the most

06:17talented filmmaker that I'm lucky enough to know. And like, he's so smart and he's so supportive.

06:21And like, he was really supportive of my vision. Like I really knew what I wanted going into this.

06:25And like, he just really like was very respectful of the whole process and was there to give an

06:31opinion when I wanted one and was hands off when he knew that I was like, I'm tunnel visioned in.

06:36I know what I'm doing.

06:37Yeah. One of, some of my favorite, uh, things to watch like in high school,

06:41growing up where the, uh, the bonus features on some of his movies where he and his buddies

06:44would just ad lib. Were there any ad libbing on set?

06:46I mean, a little bit. We were in a pretty tight schedule. We shot this movie in about, uh, 28 days,

06:51I think it is, which is, you know, large movies are much longer than that. Um, and so we were in a

06:57pretty tight schedule. So there wasn't a ton of time, little things here and there. Um, you know,

07:02little words here and there. I'm very like, you know, if someone, if a word doesn't sound right,

07:06change it, that's okay. As long as the general idea is there. Um, but we didn't have those,

07:10have time for those like long, funny joke runs. Like that's, yeah. And that's just not really the

07:15tone of the movie. No, no, not at all. Yeah. So it wasn't something we necessarily tried to do too

07:20much. Right. Kristen Bell's, uh, story arc is, the journey is just, it's so engaging and it's one

07:26that just, uh, took me along for it the whole movie. Uh, and there's all these moments throughout her

07:30journey where you think she's going to figure it out. Okay. This is the opportunity for her to turn it all

07:34around. And then it finally happens or eventually happens when the one person, it seems that she

07:40says the one thing that she needed to hear. Right. Uh, again, I don't want to give anything

07:45away, but that scene is so beautiful. And the acting of course is tremendous, but the writing

07:49is so strong that I have to imagine that came from a real place. And I'd love to ask you,

07:55who was that person for you? What was that one thing you needed to hear at some point in your life

07:58that, you know, it's interesting. I think it was actually a combination of things that I wish I

08:04could hear that I haven't heard that sort of ultimate apology of like, I was wrong. It wasn't

08:10you. Cause of course I, you know, like I said, I'm fortunate to have my dad, um, in my life very much

08:16in an, in an amazing loving way. Um, so I couldn't put myself in that headspace, but I certainly have

08:22been rejected. I have been brushed aside and felt completely like it was my fault. And now that I'm older,

08:30I imagine that it wasn't, um, that it was all about the other person. And in this situation,

08:35it wasn't about Rachel. It was about Harry being a human being who made a mistake, who made the wrong

08:40choice and lived a life where he was living out that choice over and over again until it was the

08:45right time to remedy that situation. And, you know, for me, it was just about like putting myself in

08:51that headspace of what would I need if someone was coming to me with this big apology. And that's,

08:59that's what I came up with. Yeah. The film is about a lot of things, but one thing, a prevailing theme

09:04that I took away from it is that life does not give a you know what about our plans. No. It's filled

09:09with unexpected turns. And I thought it just a fun little exercise to do is if you were to go back

09:13to 15 year old you. Oh my God. And what you thought your life was going to be like, and then what your

09:18life is like now, how would those two things compare? What's the most unexpected things about

09:22your life now compared to what you envisioned? Well, when I was 15, I wanted to be a fashion

09:26designer. Um, I had big dreams to go to FIT here in New York for fashion design, which I did for two

09:31years before going to film school. So that's a pretty big difference. I thought I'd be a fashion

09:36designer living in New York city instead of a filmmaker living in Los Angeles. So, but you know,

09:41but I definitely like was the kind of kid with big dreams and never intended to take a conventional path

09:48and luckily had parents that supported that. And, um, you know, and just really, I'm, I think my

09:5515 year old self would be pretty psyched and wouldn't be too disappointed. I, you know, I wanted to

10:00sort of try to live true to what I wanted to do. And I feel like I'm, you know, I'm, I'm circling that.

10:06Yeah. Yeah. I'm close to it. Yeah. I've always thought that that's as funny as it sounds like that's like

10:10the ultimate mark of success is if like tween you. Oh yeah. You are like the coolest. I think you did a good job.

10:16I think if I went back and read my diary from those days, I think I would make that person happy.

10:22Absolutely. Yeah. Now I want to congratulate you on the tremendous work you and Seth do and a bunch

10:26of people do on hilarity for charity. Thank you. 10 plus million dollars raised so far that cannot

10:31be understated. It's just tremendous what you've done, taking something that is of course very

10:34difficult and turning into such an amazing, beautiful, positive thing. What is your eventual goal?

10:40If you can quantify it at all, where do you want to take hilarity for charity? I'd like to cure Alzheimer's.

10:44You know, I don't think hilarity for charity will raise the kind of money that cures Alzheimer's. I

10:49think that's the job of the government. And they have stepped up in recent years. Not enough, but

10:55it's happening slowly. My goal is to make Alzheimer's a part of the conversation. I want to tear away the

11:03stigma that makes people keep it a secret because they do. My family did. My mom insisted on it for the

11:08first few years. People still do that. They're ashamed of it. I want to tear that stigma down. It's why it's

11:14part of this movie because I want to make it part of the normal conversation. You know, I want to

11:20take action on it. I want there to be treatments. I want to help people that are going through it. We

11:24have a grant program where we provide in-home care to people who can't afford it. I want to be able

11:30to grow that program so that anyone who needs help in their home can receive it because it is

11:35extraordinarily expensive. You know, no plans to stop on that side.

11:41Yeah. To close it out in somewhat of a full circle moment here during a chat, you've said

11:47in previous interviews that you hope that one of the biggest lessons people can take

11:51away from the film is the idea of forgiving and moving forward. Is that right?

11:55Yeah.

11:56Now, I understand that at the time you wrote the film, it was actually a pretty tumultuous

11:59time in your life for dealing with your mother's Alzheimer's, of course, but then there was

12:02also this pretty major falling out with a friend. So I'm curious just personally, if you don't

12:06want me digging a little deeper here, have you two been able to forgive and move on?

12:11Unfortunately, some relationships are not meant to last forever. And, you know, some people are

12:16in your lives for a certain reason for a certain amount of time. And that relationship existed for

12:23a lot of amazing reasons. And now we are both in different places in our lives. And it was an

12:28interesting process, you know. That time was a tough time where I had to sort of take a look at

12:36the things that were eating me away, but I was burying them and not paying attention to them.

12:41And it's why this script has some really sad moments and some really angry moments, because I was

12:47feeling really angry and really sad some of the time when I was writing it. And so, yeah, the loss of

12:53that friendship was one that was hard to get over and still is. It's funny when you end a friendship,

12:59it's different than a relationship, you know, because you can't, like, sit across from someone

13:03and be like, you know what, I think we're better off as friends, because that's, you know. And so

13:07it's a tough thing. But I really firmly believe that, like, there are people in our lives that sometimes

13:13for some reasons and then not. And I love that and I love what it gave me. And, you know, and my mom's

13:20journey as well, like, something beautiful has grown out of something really awful. And I'm a

13:25firm believer that even the saddest things, there can be light in there. And I learned that through

13:29going through that at the same time and pushed through to the other side and a lot of good has

13:34come from it. Absolutely. I mean, this film came from this. And in closing here, I just have to say,

13:38I think the best thing that a film or any piece of art can do is allow us to examine something about

13:44ourselves and better ourselves. And Like Father certainly did that for me. So thank you for making the film.

13:48Thank you for watching it. And it's available now on Netflix everywhere.

Lauren Miller Rogen On the Six Year Journey Of Her Netflix Film 'Like Father' | In Studio

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