KELLY: It was very collaborative. I’ll say that just about by no means occurred. There can be instances when he would ask very sensible questions. We attempt to work with actors who like the fabric and really feel related to it. The primary impulse is, ‘How do I make it work?’ After which, if for some motive they will’t, then it turns into a query of, can we do it a distinct means? However that didn’t actually occur.
ALEX: Keith was, together with a couple of others, part of our workshopping of this script. He would ask the query, “Would Dan actually do that?” Would he actually flip again and sit down and play this function? I bear in mind even on set, earlier than we shot actually the close-up of Keith when he makes the selection to take a seat, I mentioned, “It’s the minimize. The minimize will do it. We minimize and also you’re there. So the stress is just not on you.” What I really like about Keith is he’s at all times listening, and he understood that and instantly went and offered that. His little half-smile, sort of rakish look, possibly that is for me – completely sells that. I bear in mind once we shot that. I knew we had performed it. Dan makes this selection, and it’s not gonna be the weak leg of the desk. I believe that it was actually cool that Keith was asking the questions after which at all times eager about how we’d pull it off collectively.
KELLY: We did attempt to create an setting the place actors might say one thing. A few instances, Dolly got here as much as me and requested, “Is it OK if I say this?” Yeah! It might be annoying if an actor did it with each line, however when you may inform they’re discerning, and it makes a distinction to them and their understanding of the character—yeah! Go for it!
Let’s discuss that forged. How did you discover them?
KELLY: I wrote the half for Keith. He and I did a play collectively ten years in the past. Keith had already performed my dad. So I had him in my mind.
ALEX: I’d supply that there’s a little bit of you in Dan. You’re guarded about revealing that vulnerability, particularly to a bunch of strangers. I believe you, like Dan, imagine that, to a sure extent, it is possible for you to to determine this shit out by yourself. There’s you in Dan.
KELLY: Yeah. Keith had performed my dad, so I noticed him from this distant each night time. Oftentimes, I’d be in scenes with him and simply be awed. It’s distracting. It’s annoying, actually, how good he’s. We’d come to a scene, and I’d be like, “This scene isn’t gonna work,” and he’d make it work. So, as I used to be writing Dan, I already had him in thoughts. He wrote and mentioned he’d like to audition, and I advised him I wrote it for him. Shock!