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