According to Nick Kroll, the initial inspiration for "Adult Beginners," his debut feature as a leading man, came from a botched diaper change after babysitting his sister's young nephew. From there, the comedian brought the idea for a movie about a man-child nanny to his "League" co-star Mark Duplass, who came on-board as a producer, then teamed up with writers Jeff Cox and Liz Flahive (parents of a 3-year-old themselves) and longtime producer Ross Katz, making his directorial debut with the film.
In it, Kroll stars as a self-absorbed entrepreneur who leaves Manhattan to go to live with his pregnant sister (Rose Byrne) and brother-in-law (Bobby Cannavale) in the suburbs after his tech start-up implodes, and ends up becoming the nanny for his 3-year-old nephew in exchange for room and board. Fans of Kroll (from his sketch comedy series "Kroll Show" or "The League") won't be surprised to hear that "Adult Beginners" is extremely funny, or that fellow comedians like Joel McHale, Bobby Moynihan and Jason Mantzoukas pop up in cameos. But they may be surprised that the indie comedy about growing up is also legitimately heartwarming at times.
Following the "Adult Beginners" premiere during the Toronto International Film Festival, Moviefone Canada sat down with Kroll and McHale to talk about doing favours for fellow comedians, playing man-children, and how, thanks to "Wheels Ontario" and "Kroll Show," Kroll almost got to make a "Degrassi" cameo on his trip to Toronto.
Moviefone Canada: So every time you come up to Canada from now on, are you going to get "Wheels Ontario" references shouted at you?
Nick Kroll: Hopefully. While I was up here, it didn't work scheduling-wise, I was going to do a walk-on as Mikey on "Degrassi."
That would've been amazing.
Kroll: Yeah, so maybe we'll work it out. A couple of the kids from "Degrassi" are coming tonight [to the TIFF screening], but it was a bummer. I was hoping I was going to be able to do it.
I think people respond so well to that sketch because it's not just the same five stereotypical Canada jokes recycled again and again. And you see that in this movie too -- where it's specific, fresh parenting jokes, as opposed to the same old stale sitcom clichés of what being a parent is like.
Kroll: For me, it's all about specifics and details. And even if you haven't experienced the specifics, people know. I'm not a parent, but when I read the joke about -- Liz Flahive and Jeff Cox wrote the script, and they're parents of a 3-year-old and had a baby like two weeks before we started production -- the joke about them eating like rescue dogs, I was like, "Oh, I don't know that because I'm not a parent, but I know that that's funny, because that has to be specific to what that's like." And "Wheels," God, with the Canada jokes, it's filled with that.
Ross Katz had said that you were the originator of the story. How'd the idea come about?
Kroll: I have a bunch of nieces and nephews, and I literally babysat my nephew one night and my sister came home and she was like, [sighs] "The diaper's on backwards. And inside out." And I was like, What would it be like if I had to babysit, or really take care of a kid as the selfish youngest brother. It'd be funny to see that guy be his sister's nanny. So I took that to Mark Duplass and then we just started to keep building it and developing it out.
What's the benefit of creating roles for yourself and being able to write with specific actors in mind, like Bobby Cannavale or Rose Byrne?
Kroll: From what I've seen, in my limited experience, and watching my friends and colleagues and people I respect, it's really hard to make a movie. The advantage to being somewhat of the engine to get it going is that you get to partner yourself with people that you like and respect, and you stack the deck as much as you can. So, between Mark and then Liz and Jeff and then Ross and Rose and Bobby, and then Joel and Mantzoukas and Julie White, if you're just able to assemble a group of people that you know who will deliver, then it makes the whole process a lot less stressful and miserable. Because it's like, we're so f**king lucky that we get to make movies, but it's often a miserable experience. So if you can do it with people you like, whatever happens, at least that experience was a positive one. Except working with Joel, which was difficult.
You said after the premiere, that within the comedy community, it's a lot about doing favours for one another. So Joel, you come in for a day or two on this...
Joel McHale: You're asking what I'm going to have Nick do for me?
Have you decided yet on what it's going to be?
McHale: Uh... I think he's going to shave my balls.
Kroll: Which, joke's on him, I was already planning on doing that. [Laughs]
So it works out perfectly then.
McHale: Well, Nick has come on "The Soup" multiple times. He's also possibly one of the greatest guest stars in the history of "Community." But it's not like comedians have a little board where they keep track of everything. [Laughs]
Kroll: Yeah. I think it's more of an unspoken thing.
McHale: Right. Just like any business.
Kroll: You create a group of people that you like and you get to work with them, and then they help you out. That's the beauty of comedy, how collaborative it is. It has to be. So when I got to do "Community," I was really psyched. I was a fan of the show and got to go in and play. And we didn't really know each other, that was kind of how we met.
McHale: People always go like, "So in Hollywood, it's who you know." Yeah, but that's in any f**king business. Unless you're a solo row-boater to Antarctica or something. But even then, you've got to know people to build the boat. I mean, a contractor would be like, "Oh, I know a guy that can do those counters. He can come in and do that. He's a good guy, he'll do that work, for cheap." It's like that.
Joel, what was it like for you to come on to the shoot for only one or two days? Was it easy to jump right in?
McHale: Well, you know, I did a lot of preparation by renting an apartment for two months in New York...
Kroll: Doing coke and screwing hookers. [Laughs]
McHale: Yeah, I spent about a million dollars.
Very method.
McHale: I mean, it was worth it in the end. Uh, no, I was very happy to come in. The character was very fun. And watching these guys work as fast as they did, they were working very fast and they were getting it done. The moment in the bathtub, where Nick realizes his world is falling apart, that was like one take, maybe two. And then Ross was like, "OK, that's it! We've got to move on, we don't have any time." The apartment was being turned into an American Express photoshoot in like four hours...
Kroll: Yeah, it was the last night of production of our shoot. That was the last thing we shot. So Joel came in beautifully. We shot all of his stuff, in that apartment, that was the last day or two of production, and everyone was cooked. And Joel was such like a breath of fresh air. When you're in these things, you're just getting beat down, and then Joel comes in and it brings the energy back up and keeps everyone pumped.
McHale: Because I'd been sleeping. And they'd been working.
Kroll: [laughs] Yeah, because he sleeps a ton, because he's got two children and two television shows and a movie career.
McHale: I did snort a lot of cornstarch.
Kroll: Yes, that was the real sacrifice.
McHale: It hurt. I don't know if cocaine hurts that much ... I mean, I don't remember if cocaine hurts that much.
Kroll: [Laughs] Joel's trying to reposition himself as a Hollywood bad boy coke monster. It's coming.
McHale: It's the new breed, where we have families and kids. And are very responsible.
Kroll: [Laughs] By the way, they're out there.
McHale: [Laughs] Yes. "Guys, I gotta get back, I gotta take the kids to school."
Kroll: Gotta just do a quick bump, got soccer practice in 10.
Well, that's something that I did want to ask you guys. You both, for all intents and purposes, have your act together. So what's the appeal of playing characters who are in a state of arrested development like this?
McHale: Well, I literally was on the movie for two days, so f**king around was great. It was just fun to mess around. It's what I always dreamed of doing, getting to pretend to be other people. I had an affliction, where I was like, "I gotta be on stage!" I have a problem. He had an entire movie on his back, including the story, the whole production. Every moment was on his back.
Kroll: I mean, that is the fun thing. I think it's cathartic in a way. If you do have to have your s**t together all day, to deal with the minutiae of making something, that then you get to slip into this guy who is a selfish asshole. And it's weirdly cathartic. It's a real release of things that are not who you are, but you have in you. And what was easy in this particular case was that I am the younger brother, I do see myself as a probably selfish, self-involved little brother -- who my siblings love, but are probably also like, "Oh great, Nick has deigned to grace us with his presence at dinner tonight, but he's gotta leave early, because he's got an event he has to go to." So in this particular case, there were a lot of aspects of this character that is stuff that I'm like, this is probably how my siblings see me. And it was cathartic.
"Adult Beginners" is screening at the Toronto Film Festival, and will be released in theatres at a later date.
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