I sat down with the cast and crew of Max's rollicking new horror-comedy The Parenting - including Nik Dodani, Brandon Flynn, Dean Norris, Vivian Bang, Craig Johnson (The Skeleton Twins) and Kent Sublette (Saturday Night Live).
The film follows couple Rohan (Nik Dodani) and Josh (Brandon Flynn) as they host a weekend getaway in a country house with their respective parents. Unfortunately, things do not quite go to plan - and that is even before the families discover that an evil, 400-year-old demon lies in wait ready to wreck its own blend of havoc. Suffice to say, the film is a lot of fun, whilst delivering its fair share of delightfully creepy moments.
We discussed the film's roots in classic horror, situational and improv comedy, and the colour of Brian Cox's vomit, amongst other things.
Dean Norris ('Cliff')
Dean Norris: How are you doing?
John Cullen-Kennedy, NPN: I'm great. How are you doing?
Dean Norris: I'm great, thank you.
NPN: I must say the film, I loved it and I don't want to put words in your mouth, but it did seem like you had a blast on the film. Your joy just came across and I imagine the hijinks you got up to, I mean, just the amount of vomit alone [NB: in the film itself, not on set] must have been quite a sight to behold. How was the experience for you?
Dean Norris: Oh man, it's literally one of the most, maybe the most fun set I've ever been on. Myself, Lisa Kudrow, Parker Posey, all had shared a house and Edie Falco was right next to us and it was just instant family and fun and friendship and laughing. We would have film nights together, we would have game nights together, we would go out to eat together, we would cook sometimes and we were all in a small town in Massachusetts. So it was amazing, man. It was just so much fun and on-camera, off the set off camera. What you spend a lot of your time doing in a movie, even with you're working that day, there's a lot of times sitting around waiting and it was just so much fun with these brilliant actors and actresses to shoot the shit and laugh and come up with stuff.
And we would do improv stuff with ourselves. We would come up with a story, I dunno, [laughs] Parker Posey is great at this, and her and I had this whole kind of joke that we had an affair and we would keep fighting so off-camera. We would pretend like we were fighting and we couldn't work together and all that kind of stuff. [Laughs] So all that kind of thing was fun and I think kind of helped inform the movie itself.
NPN: No doubt. Speaking of that sort of blurred line between the film at hand and your own life, the character of Cliff, how did you find yourself drawing upon just your own life experiences to craft that character and how much of him and his arc in the film did you relate to?
Dean Norris: I think the concept of when two people get married, that's hard enough - and then you got to deal with these two families and their dynamics. So I certainly know what that is, having been married and I think that that informed a little bit - but mainly what informs me is the written words in the script.
And it was so well written, it was clear who Cliff was from the beginning. When he talks too much, he's not diplomatic. He'll say whatever's on his mind, but at his heart he loves his son and he accepts the world as it is. And I think he obviously loves his wife too and is willing to stick a finger up the ass of a dog to a saver. [Laughs]
NPN: Yeah. How was that experience? I did wonder about what you did on that set. Was it real? Was it to scale? Were there multiple dogs? What was the deal there?
Dean Norris: [Laughs] They had multiple real dogs and they had multiple fake dogs. So yeah, that was a fun day.
NPN: Were there any surprising moments on set, which you've drawn from as an actor moving forward?
Dean Norris: Yeah, well I appreciated the chance to kind of improvise with Lisa Kudrow and Parker Posey, who are both just genius comedic actresses in my humble opinion and the chance to get to, like I said, we had long running improvs off camera. We would just go into something and it really sharpened me, because I haven't done a lot that type of stuff - but it really sharpened my skills there and I'll be looking for it in the future.
NPN: Thanks so much, Dean. Great talking with you. And congrats again on the film.
Dean Norris: Thank you, man. Appreciate you.
Vivian Bang ('Sara')
NPN: Vivian, it was really just so heartening to actually get a comedy of this kind that (a) is funny and (b) has those scares in there as well - a little bit of edge to it. Also, just your energy - I really enjoyed your performance as Sara. I'm curious, in terms of the genesis of the character going into it, how much of yourself did you put into the role and what were your general inspirations when it came to the performance?
Vivian Bang: Yeah, I think I related to the character so much upon immediate reading because I've always been that friend that is a fixer and has no boundaries and is just going to have your back whether you want it or not. So I think this kind of feeling protective over your loved ones, especially, I think the movie's so funny because it's so true. We have these families - families so complicated and so horrifying and especially when you don't agree on views and these people are coming from all different walks of life, multi-generational, just very different ways of parenting even.
And so coming together, I felt like, "Oh gosh, this is my family. This is loaded." It was really easy to relate to because my family is messy, my friendships are messy, especially these days when so many kind of different various views and viewpoints and then having sort of this demon or a generational trauma, it's this darkness and fear and anxiety that can be drawn. I really could relate to all of it. I think it's funny because it's so true. We all have friends like that. We all have parents. We all have parents who have to be in control.
NPN: That's so true - and as you say, that really came across on screen, just the chemistry. I suppose you must have had quite a bit of fun filming it, especially some of the... physical effects, shall we say, that are involved. There were some moments where I did kind of just think, how must that have been for you guys to have those creature effects? I am always interested to see the colour of movie vomit, you know what I mean? There's so many shades. It wasn't quite as... luminescent.
Vivian Bang: I mean, it's a good time, it's such a good time. All of a sudden you see Brian Cox transformed - and all of a sudden Brian Cox is a demon and sort of running around with your players. A lot of it was about the performance and sort of meeting these gruesome [situations]. It was hard to keep a straight face, at the same time. You're scared and you're terrified, but then a lot of times you also kind of lose control of your body functions and all of a sudden you're letting go and it's hilarious. And I think as humans, I always laugh when horrible things happen, so this kind of tone is perfect for me.
NPN: Did you have a favourite moment on set that comes to mind? Favourite scene to shoot?
Vivian Bang: I love when we're all together at the table. It reminds me of so many dinner times where you're trying to connect with humans and we're all just not quite coming at a same place and everyone has their thing. And then on top of it, we have a 400-year-old demon who's haunting this space! So yeah, dealing with all of that, it was so fun to kind of be at the table with all of these people. For me, I love movies and I grew up watching everybody. So to be at the table, it was like such a metaphor for "I get to play now, I belong, I belong to this family, I belong at the party even though I wasn't invited."
NPN: That really came across - but a bit less slicing with steak knives or bodily harm, I hope. [Laughs] No, that was a particular favourite scene of mine and I'm just so glad that you had a wonderful experience on the film.
If I may, what's coming up next for you? I know you've got a film called Song of the Bigfoot, which I must admit piqued my curiosity. How has that been going for you?
Vivian Bang: It was so fun. I mean this film [The Parenting], the horror genre was something that I had never worked in before and comedy for sure - but then this mixture of tone, of horror comedy, it was so fun.
And then with [Song of the Bigfoot], that was the hardest sort of filming I've ever done, being in nature and literally fighting with nature... and we were fighting demons in [The Parenting]. We're fighting nature and cliffs, and we shot in Portland, which was supposed to kind of represent Washington State and just the wildness of the forest.
At one point, I think one of our cast members almost died because he fell off a cliff. It was very gruesome and physically challenging, the most sort of physically, it just is very physical to look for Bigfoot. It's a very physical task that I wasn't used to. Lots of hiking and being in nature. And yeah, it was really fun times. I think it's going to be a really special film. I actually knew not much about Bigfoot, but now after having shot the film, I really do believe in Bigfoot.
NPN: I can't wait. You've sold it to me. Thanks again, Vivian - really great chatting with you and congrats again on the film. And yeah, looking forward to seeing Bigfoot myself, and whatever you've got coming down next on the pipeline.
Vivian Bang: Thank you!
Nik Dodani ('Rohan') and Brandon Flynn ('Josh')
NPN: It is just always great to watch a film where I can kind of tell, and you can, well, you can correct me if I'm wrong, but it did seem like you guys had quite a lot of fun making the film. [Nik and Brandon nod]
I believe this marks your first times leading a feature film, a big, big Hollywood production, and congrats on that milestone. So I'm just sort of curious what the experience was like for you. Any highlights?
Nik Dodani: It was like a comedy summer camp. We were all staying in this haunted hotel in Massachusetts, and during the day we were shooting these insane scenes and at night we were cooking dinner or playing board games or watching trash reality TV. And by the way, Lisa Kudrow is really good at Boggle and you should not challenge her to that ever. But it was great. I feel like I learned so much. Just being around this cast and working with Brandon was a dream. He's a dream.
Brandon Flynn: Yeah, it was really very meaningful. As you said, first time leading this scale of a film. It was a really meaningful experience and exactly what I hope for when I work is that I also leave having learned a bunch of stuff from the people that I'm working with.
NPN: In terms of highlights - and I suppose there were many both off and on set, too many scenes to name where I just thought "Wait, they went there?"
I hope you didn't have too many takes of getting drenched, Brandon, by the vomit of ghostly Brian Cox. Yeah. I'm just kind of curious whether there were any highlights... or lowlights, however you want to phrase them.
Brandon Flynn: For sure. One of the highlights was that family dinner scene that was just so chaotic and all of the personalities together. It was one of the first scenes that we all shot together as well, that was really active and had a larger arc within the scene. I mean, there were so many highlights, so many highlights.
Nik Dodani: Yeah, I think probably the highlight for me was when Brian Cox as a possessed host of a demon stripped butt-naked and made us all look at his... little 'Brian Cox'. [Laughs[
NPN: Very eloquently put, Nik.
When it came to the freedom that you had - because again, it all felt like you were very free on set and very comfortable - did that extend to improvisation?
The wonderful script that Kent wrote for you guys, did you sort of feel you had much freedom to improvise? You don't have to tell me the secrets behind movie magic, but did you come up with a few lines on the spot and riff? Were there maybe scenes that ended up having to be unfortunately cut for time that were full of comic gems?
Nik Dodani: There is one scene that was cut for time that I really miss, but I feel like it'd be a spoiler to say it.
Brandon Flynn: Oh yeah.
Nik Dodani: Well, there was a scene that we shot a wedding for the two characters. A dream sequence. Really a nightmare sequence. And Brandon had this crazy makeup and everyone was singing, what was the song everybody was singing?
Brandon Flynn: [Sings] "Karma, karma, karma chameleon."
Nik Dodani: Everyone was singing, it was like a choreographed dance, like an Indian wedding. But with this cast and demon Brandon. It was really sad it's not in the movie.
Brandon Flynn: It's so weird that we witnessed Edie [Falco] and Brian [Cox] sing this song... [laughs] and no-one else will.
NPN: I love the sound of that. Thanks so much, guys - and I hope that one day that finds its way out into the wild.
Craig Johnson (director) and Kent Sublette (writer)
NPN: I really enjoyed the fact that [The Parenting] invites me in, of course, to a comedy, ostensibly - but then hits me in the feels with those real heartfelt moments. It felt far more relatable at times than perhaps I would have wanted, let's say [laughs].
Craig, how must this felt returning to what, in many ways, is more of a traditional comedy - although there are so many other layers to it - in contrast to your previous two films (The Skeleton Twins and Alex Strangelove) and how you took the lessons from those films and then went in new directions?
Craig Johnson: Yes. I've always identified as genre agnostic, right? I'll play in any genre as long as the characters are great and there's a little bit of a sense of humour. Those are my only requirements, and then I'll do a sci-fi, I'll do whatever - but [The Parenting] reminded me of the movies I loved as a kid from the Eighties. I grew up on Gremlins and Death Becomes Her and Beetlejuice and these wonderful genre mashups that were these spooky, freaky movies - but they were also really funny.
And you're right, this is a comedy at its core - but it's a comedy trapped in a horror movie. And those are two genres that just kind of, I think belong together. You don't see them as much anymore. And when I read Kent [Sublette]'s script, I was like, "Well, this is the kind of movie that made me want to be a filmmaker."
NPN: Yes, that really resonated for me. It felt rich, unexpectedly, dare I say, because of course you have to fit a box when films are marketed and you have to almost somewhat sand down the edges when it comes to the whole way of film is marketed. There's a limitation there.
So one thing that I felt as well, you talk about the influences, and again, yes, I did think of Beetlejuice, especially that wonderfully quirky score. There was some real stings in there, and I just felt like it really took me back.
Kent, when it came to crafting the script - and also Craig, from a directorial point of view - when it comes to homages, you of course have The Exorcist, but are there any other deeper cuts and other influences, whether in horror or other genres that you drew upon?
Kent Sublette: Yeah, when I was writing, I mean, it was important to me to make it funny, with my comedy background - but I also love horror movies and I wanted it to be genuinely scary. And I sort of remember in early draughts, the studio saying like, "Hey, less blood, maybe less of this."
So I definitely could have brought out more of it, but I think with Craig and [the studio] we found this amazing balance of those tones. I also grew up with The Exorcist, The Shining, Poltergeist, Beetlejuice - and all those things sort of just earned the background. It's like I wasn't specifically trying to "This is for this, and this is for this" - it was just like I have those amazing works to sort of build off of and hopefully do a new spin on and then make them fresh. And not that they need to be fresh, amazing - but just my own version of them.
NPN: It really came across and I just found again, your film was just so full of heart and the care and attention that you put into it just really came across. Congrats again with the film. I had a great time with it, and I am sure that audiences will too when it comes out. Thank you.
The Parenting premieres 13 March on Max.
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