AdultBeginners-posterA brash entrepreneur (Nick Kroll) crashes and burns on the eve of his company’s big launch. With his entire life imploding, he leaves Manhattan and moves in with his estranged pregnant sister (Rose Byrne), his brother-in-law (Bobby Cannavale), and their three year-old son in the suburbs. With nothing else going on in his life, he agrees to take care of the little boy. Faced with real responsibility, he may finally have to grow up — but will he be able to rise to the occasion? I was so moved by this heartwarming and funny movie that I saw it twice. Nick Kroll, known for his insane sketch comedy on three seasons of Comedy Central’s Kroll Show, shows his acting chops in this poignant ensemble film that also features Joel McHale, Jane Krakowski, Mike Birbiglia, and Bobby Moynihan. I had the chance to chat with director Ross Katz  just prior to the film’s DVD and Blu-ray release.

Danny Miller: How closely did you personally resonate to this story? Did you have a similar dynamic with your sibling?

adultbeginners-cast1Ross Katz: Oh, yes! I have an older brother. We’re great friends but we’re very different people. He’s the one who went to Stanford and Yale while I dropped out of school to pursue my insane dream of making movies. Our dynamic is quite interesting and this story resonated with me a lot!

I am a huge Nick Kroll fan and so loved the three seasons of Kroll Show but I was still delighted at what a good actor he is in this movie. Did you worry at all about having to rein him in?

You know, I didn’t worry about that because when you get to know Nick, you realize right away that he’s a very soulful, deeply creative guy. I think of him more as an actor than a comedian. He slipped so seamlessly between the drama and the comedy, it was incredible to watch. He’s also an incredibly generous actor. On this movie he had to frequently step aside and let other people get the laughs like Bobby Moynihan and Joel McHale. And he never felt that he needed to be “the guy.” Nick is really an actor with a great deal of depth and emotion, I think people have not even seen the beginning of what he can do.

This is such an emotional film and made me tear up on several occasions. Were you ever worried about it bordering on schmaltziness?

I was a producer before I was a director and one of the films I produced was In the Bedroom. That was a very emotional movie and I really learned from the director Todd Field that less is more and that restraint is what brings on authentic emotions. If you go over the top then it can become schmaltzy and sappy. My first film as a writer/director was Taking Chance for HBO with Kevin Bacon. That had a very loaded, very emotional subject matter and I knew I had to exercise a great deal of restraint. Same here. When Nick had his big scene with Rose Byrne where they’re arguing and it gets very emotional and he reveals that her husband is having an affair, we were very careful to keep the gun loaded until the last possible second. To start with anger and lead gradually to those other emotions. For someone who’s known for broad comedy, Nick is a very nuanced actor, he’s able to bring many shades to his performance. What I love is that it never felt like a big radical left turn for him, like “Oh, the funny guy is going to start crying,” it was baby steps toward the emotion. I think Nick handled it beautifully.

On paper, you wouldn’t necessarily think of Nick Kroll and Rose Byrne as brother and sister but I completely bought them in those roles. I continue to be wildly impressed by Rose Byrne every time I see her in a movie!

Honestly, Rose is a goddess! She is so hard-working and so special. We shot Adult Beginners in the worse winter imaginable in New York. We didn’t have big trailers or comfortable places to wait between shots. Not only did Rose never complain, she rose to the occasion every single time. The scenes in the swimming pool were a nightmare because the heater broke in the pool so that water was freezing. Rose never complained once and delivered one beautiful take after another. There’s nothing she can’t do. As a producer, I worked with her on Marie Antoinette and there, too, she was lovely and the life of the party. Right after we did Adult Beginners, I went to see her on Broadway in You Can’t Take it With You and she went toe-to-toe with James Earl Jones and knocked it out of the park. She is a dream. Believe me, she didn’t need to do a low-budget film shot in a brutal winter. She just loved this character and wanted to do the film.

Nick Kroll, Rose Byrne in Joseph Altuzarra and Bobby Cannavale.

It’s fun to see her and her real-life partner, Bobby Cannavale, playing a married couple here.

I think it was nice for them to be able to work together. Bobby is also someone who’s honed his craft to the finest possible point. He had seen my first movie, Taking Chance, which was a very heavy film. I’m very proud of it, it won all sorts of awards we didn’t expect, Kevin Bacon won the Golden Globe and SAG award, but Bobby called me and said, “Dude! I liked your movie but it’s not funny!” So I had to convince him and Nick Kroll and Mark Duplass that I could be funny!

Do you worry about being put in such a box in Hollywood?

Yes! I was very lucky that I worked for three spectacular directors. My first job was for $50 a week on Reservoir Dogs with Quentin Tarantino. I worked for Sydney Pollack for three years, and I also worked for Ang Lee. None of them ever got pigeon-holed into just one kind of movie, they’ve done comedies, dramas, everything. I’d love to be that kind of director.

Not having made a comedy before, though, were you terrified the first time you watched this film with an audience?

Oh God, yes! With a comedy, if a joke doesn’t land, you’re dead. I don’t think most people don’t understand how hard comedy is. These actors really showed me what it takes to pull off a comedy that has heart — it’s very tricky!

I’ve seen people comparing this film to last year’s brother-sister film, The Skeleton Twins. Does that bother you?

Not at all! I thought The Skeleton Twins was a really beautiful movie — and they were both Duplass Brothers films so I can see why people think of them together.

They would actually make a great double feature. Did it bother you that this film didn’t get a wider theatrical release?

To give you a very honest answer, I would have loved a wider release. But look, we made this film on a wing and a prayer. To make a movie with a cast of this caliber in New York during a winter where there were 60 inches of snow was extremely difficult. The fact that the people who took a chance on us made their money back is a big deal because a lot of independent investors never get their money back. And this film has been having this life online. I’m really happy  there are platforms for people to see it who live in Kansas or other places without a lot of arthouse theaters that show cool independent movies. For this movie to even see the light of day with our budget and then to premiere at the Toronto Film Festival was so electrifying and thrilling for all of us. This film is having a life that I never dreamed it would.

The DVD/Blu-ray of Adult Beginners is now available. You can also watch the film on VOD and other digital platforms.