How was it for you to come from a stand-up background, being in front of so many people, and then work on a small film?
Demetri Martin: I just had my 16th anniversary of doing stand-up, so I’m comfortable, and probably most comfortable as a performer in the live stand-up realm. As a comic you have the luxury of doing your own material and if you’re uncomfortable you can improvise, you can throw away a joke, you can add a different ending and all that stuff. Stand-up’s weird because I think personally it doesn’t really teach you how to collaborate with other people. It doesn’t teach you trust, it teaches you vigilance. If anybody makes a sudden movement or something, ‘is this guy going to heckle me, like I’ve got to shut this down.’ So it’s very kind of self-contained.
The few acting jobs I’ve had have been kind of cool because they’re just an exercise in trust. In my trusting not only the director, but the people who are lighting you, the hair and make-up, it’s like you realize it’s not about you. You’re a participant in a larger thing, so I like that about it, the collaboration, and then how it comes out, there’s something more mysterious about the whole thing. With stand-up it’s just so immediate. I know if it worked. The word leaves my mouth and it’s focus group tested, promoted, everything right there in that moment, and like ‘oops, that one didn’t work,’ and you’re on to the next one. It’s also cool working with a friend, to work with someone you know. Even a little bit, there’s already a head start with some rapport, and the last thing I’ll say for that question is, it’s cool to see a friend getting to a point where you know it took time to come up with an original story, an original idea, to write the story, to re-write it, to go through all that stuff, to get the financing. You guys know with movies it’s just such a long walk to get to the point where you’re shooting. It’s kinda nice to come in like I did, I’m lucky, I just get to come in when she’s done like 90% of the work. It’s cool on the other end, now that we’re sitting with you guys, that a lot of people liked the movie. It did well as Sundance and stuff, so that’s nice. It’s a nice thing, it’s like a bonus.
What about your characters do you think audiences will relate to most?
Lake Bell: I think that all the characters, I hope, in the movie are heartily flawed, but earnest in their intentions. Though Sam Soto, played by Fred Milemed, he has a challenging moral compass at times when it comes to feeling competitive with his own daughter, but I do think that they’re all honest trajectories and feelings, even if sometimes they are unsavory. And I think, obviously, flaws are relatable. None of us are perfect. Even in the way that they speak with each other, I purposely made the dialogue in the movie kind of messy and overlappy, that’s the kind of comedy that I like to see, slightly imperfect. So I think the characters are earnest and honest in that way.
I liked when Sam’s bimbo girlfriend stood up for you, and it came out of the blue.
Lake Bell: I mean, amen sister. I agree with you because I guess she’s sort of the fantasy step-mother. The woman that you think is one thing and then turns out to be another. In a way I sometimes feel like Jaime, played by Alex Holden, is sort of the heart of the whole movie in a way. Even though she’s been peripheral, she does care and she is very attuned to everyone and their stories and trying to be as polite, she was raised right, and she is polite to the powers that be, and she is sorta full of love, and just misunderstood. Somewhat in part by the way she speaks. She has a Midwestern accent. She has sort of higher pitched tones, and there’s a judgment involved with that sound. And I kind of wanted people to judge her, so that then she could rise to the occasion and sorta poke a hole in the theory.
What do you guys enjoy the most – writing, directing, or acting?
Demetri Martin: For me, I don’t know, this is such a strange business, I often think if I get to make money from being creative until I die then I should consider that a victory. And then, if I can have different ways of doing it, I have more of a chance of keeping that streak going. So if it’s like writing a thing, if I get to act in a thing, if I get to hopefully direct something, for me it’s kind of like a wheel that spins around. The last thing I just did, I probably don’t want to do for the longest time again until the wheel comes back around.
Lake Bell: That’s a beautiful way to describe it. I always speak to really respecting, but I’m also very inspired by the machine, the entire filmmaking machine. Every single cog and nut and bolt that makes up this living, breathing, functioning thing that is storytelling. That includes the writing process. When you’re someone who wants to do this for a living, and you finally are doing it, I feel being surrounded by creative like-minded people is really a blessing and the best place you could be, period. I will always continue to do all of those things, hopefully, if I’m lucky enough.
A big thank you to Lake Bell and Demetri Martin for taking the time for this interview, and be sure to catch them in In A World…, out in theaters on August 9th!
