We have this cliché falling in love montage that’s in every Nora Ephron movie but in our version, the guys are getting gay bashed while they’re holding hands on the street. So the humor is sort of a means into an end. But, really, we’re just showing how they’re the same and how it’s different when you’re two guys. I think the reason why so many straight people relate to it is because it’s just the stuff that we all deal with when we’re trying to go on a date and trying not to make a fool of ourselves, and learning how to be vulnerable with someone else and learning how to have a relationship. So those themes, I think, are really universal. But it’s not an issue movie, like it’s not about politics or about being gay.”
Choosing the Cast: “I did staged readings of the screenplay because I used to read scripts for Miramax and I know how difficult it is to read comedy. I got Finding Neverland. I passed on that. So, I knew that comedy was hard to read because the tone is impossible to communicate on the page, so I didn’t send out the scripts to get the financing. I staged readings and I invited acquisitions people to the readings - the development people - and that way I could control how the project was perceived. I could cast it and I could basically show them what they were getting right up front.
I did probably 15 readings of the script in New York, LA. Like every actor in New York was at one of these readings at some point. So one of the readings Malcolm Gets and I were in, and then another reading Parker [Posey] was in the same reading and I needed somebody to play Michael. I called this agent and they sent over Chris [Kattan’s] headshot and I thought, ‘Well, that’s interesting,’ because the character originally in the script was sort of like this big burly kind of John Goodman-type guy. Like a big guy’s guy. Bill Murray in Tootsie, that guy.
Chris came to the reading on very short notice, basically did a cold reading at this theater in New York. For whatever reason that night, the cast just gelled. Like Malcolm and I had chemistry, Parker and Chris had chemistry, and when you’re casting a romantic comedy, you cast because of the chemistry. That’s what you’re looking for. It’s not about one individual actor. It’s about how do they play off each other. Chris and Parker had such great chemistry, I thought there was a lot of potential there to see where that went. He made me see the role in a completely different way than I had seen it, which is great.”
A Different Side of Chris Kattan: Chester said that although Kattan brought a lot of energy to the set, his performance is much more subtle than normal. “The great thing about Chris in this film is that he gets to really quiet down. [It’s] a real performance. People like Malcolm [Gets, who plays Steve] I had to sort of pull out of their shells, so everyone has their own sort of thing. But yeah, I loved directing Chris. I don't think he ever worked with a director as good as me before.
The nice thing I think Chris does in the film is really subtle stuff, like when Parker [Posey] hypnotizes Chris and I have them both look right into the camera and just very subtle expressions. They’re both doing subtle comic acting in that shot and that’s the kind of stuff that I think Chris got to do in this. It’s hard to do that on film because film is a very intimate medium. You can’t go too big because you’re right there with the audience.”
Craig Chester on the Highs and Lows of Making Adam & Steve: “Well, the high point was the actual shooting process. The low points were getting the financing.
The hardest part, there were times when I was in the post process during the editing process where it’s just like the OCD Olympics. You’ve got this Rubik’s Cube and you’re trying to get all the colors to match and it’s just like, ‘I can’t play with this Rubik’s Cube anymore.’ So by the end of it, I would be in the car driving home form the editing room and I’d just be like, ‘This is not worth it. This is too hard. It’s too much for one person. I still haven’t had a break. Everyone else has gone off and done other things and I’m still working on Adam & Steve.’
If you’re the kind of person who likes losing yourself in your work, then it’s great because it’s completely all-consuming. You’re living in your creativity 24-7.”
