How difficult is it to work with an actress who is also the writer? Was she possessive of her script?
No. As somebody who has done 300 episodes of comedy television, I’ve probably worked with more writers than anybody you’ll ever talk to. This is the most joyous experience with a writer, the most joyous collaboration, easiest collaboration, most fun collaboration, I have ever had. Right now if somebody said, “You and Nia [Vardalos] want to do another movie and she’s going to write it and you’re going to work with her,” I would say, “Where and when do I start?”
What is it about her Nia makes her so special? How does she manage to write so well about real people?
It is her indomitable spirit. It is her ‘every man, every woman’ quality. It is that she has never forgotten her family or her roots. It is that she feels blessed every day that this has happened to her. She’s grounded, she has all the same people around her that she had several years ago before she won the lottery. And I admire and acknowledge and respect that.
And you’d definitely team up with her again?
Right now. Right now!
Are there any plans for a sequel to “Connie and Carla?”
Oh I’m sure there are but that’s way away. I can’t catch up with all those people thinking about it, up in buildings thinking about, “Oh, we’ve got to do a sequel to this. The Hope and Crosby road movies.”
How tough was it to not make this movie campy? You want to make sure that the audience accepts these characters as real people.
You know, it’s really simple to take the audience on this wonderful conceit that this particular movie’s heightened reality is. It’s grounded, it’s genuine, it’s spontaneous, the people and the characters who inhabit this movie really want something. They feel badly about not getting it. It is emotional and there’s no comedy without truth. I made sure as the truth monitor that that occurs in these 92 minutes of film.
Is it true you were giving Nia instructions about keeping her mouth closed to appear more masculine?
(Laughing) Because I did a lot of diligent research on drag queens and that kind of thing, I became the girls' monitor to make sure, “Get your shoulders down, think more male, close your mouth, cover your Adam’s Apple..” Everything that says when you are with the other guys, you are male, you are male, you are male.
How fun was it to get David Duchovny, who isn’t really known as a comedic actor, to play the role of the straight man in this movie?
Okay, here’s the thing about David. I’ve been in his company a lot, prior to this movie. You know, Clooney said to me once, “Lem, this guy is one of us. He’s as funny as we are, he’s bawdy, he’s genuine, you are going to love this guy.” Then two summers ago he took a summer home near where I live and I got to spend some time with him. I was always laughing and really enjoying his genuine quality. Then he came into the movie and he basically represents society because he asks all the hard questions about why do you guys do what you do in this movie. But the thing about David is that he’s hysterical, he’s hilarious to be with. I mean, Nia and I just had to have him.
And you never get the feeling he’s winking at the camera.
Exactly, which is great. No, he’s a wonderful actor and we who know him, all know how funny he is. Now the public’s going to find out.
Toni Collette and Nia Vardalos really seem to have great onscreen chemistry.
They had great chemistry from the moment they got together. Sparks of positive, productive, wonderful relationship [feelings] were flying. They were great.
Did you know Nia and Toni had such great singing voices?
Yes. I had seen Toni in "The Wild Party" on Broadway. I knew she had as good a chops as anybody that sings today. I didn’t know at all about Nia. I’m guessing, “Well, she wrote this musical script, one would hope she could sing.” The first day she had me come to the [person's house who] trains her vocally. I thought, “Oh God, please let her be able to sing! Please let her be able to sing!” She said, “You guys want me to sing for you, right?” Me and Paul Bogaev – my musical arranger. So I said, “Yeah.” And she sang her butt off and we were so relieved and thrilled. Then when she and Toni - as you’ll see in the movie - sing together, it is bombastic.
Did you have to cut much and will we see many extras on the DVD?
From my first cut to now I’ve cut 43 minutes. On the DVD you will see three new songs that we cut. You’ll see four fully extended songs that I cut in half. So yeah, you’ll see a lot of additional music on the DVD.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
Interviews from the Premiere: David Duchovny / Nia Vardalos / Dash Mihok / Alec Mapa and Robert Kaiser
”Connie and Carla” Premiere Photos
”Connie and Carla” Press Junket Interviews, Production Photos, and Trailer
