Murder Mystery

By starrymag | June 12, 2019

By: Walter Tabayoyong

 

 

Q) It all starts with the screenplay. The script is truly the thing. So James, what inspired you? And how did your love of Agatha Christy and James Bond come together for this Murder Mystery?

JAMES VANDERBILT: I was a child of the 80s. So I grew up with movies like Murder By Death and Clue and just sort of these great, funny comedies. And when I first read the script, I had recently gotten married. And I realized there were movies about couples who were falling in love or movies about couples that were just about to break up. But there was never sort of a movie about a couple who was married and were in love and worked together to do something. So I sort of loved the idea of what if an American married couple like that crashed into an Agatha Christy story.

 

Q) So Kyle, what was your take on the screenplay? What made you see all the different potential possibilities for where this movie could go?

KYLE NEWACHECK: Well, I mean, James wrote it. So I read it and then I just imagined it. But I knew that these two were going to be a part of this by the time I read the script, so I was able to plug them in. And the idea of them at the center of this very truthful genre comedy was so appealing. Yeah.

 

Q) Luis, when you first came on and you just saw you were going to be making a movie with Adam and Jennifer and the filmmakers here, what was your take on just how exciting it was going to be, especially when you started to film around Europe?

LUIS GERARDO MÉNDEZ: I was terrified at the beginning. It was very exciting, but I grew up watching these guys. I grew up watching them the whole time. So I guess a lot of my comedy comes from watching them. So I was very nervous about working with them. But it was the best deal of my life. It was pretty fun.

 

Q) Shioli, what’s your take on just how the movie blends action and comedy and really turns out to be a movie for everyone?

SHIOLI KUTSUNA: I mean, it was such a great experience. I have actually never done comedy back in Japan. I avoided comedy because I was terrified to. I felt so much pressure to have to be funny. But yeah. It was just really amazing. Yeah.

 

Q) Adam and Jennifer, how did you help Shioli be funny?

ADAM SANDLER: Oh, Jennifer would yell at her.

JENNIFER ANISTON: You threw a dart at her. That will get your butt in gear. No, she was lovely. She’s fantastic.

 

Q) What’s it like to free team after seven or eight years after Just Go With It and work together again? But in a way, it’s a little different this time because it’s been a few years.

JENNIFER ANISTON: Yeah. Actually, it was just like no time had actually passed. Because we’ve seen each other over the years. And it’s something that just comes sort of extremely naturally to us. I think just because we’ve known each other for so long. And it’s kind of what we do. So it just felt very natural. But he is a lot older now.

ADAM SANDLER: I did age. I did age. I saw Just Go With It the other night. I was going to sleep and I said let me watch one of my movies tonight.

JENNIFER ANISTON: Put yourself to sleep?

ADAM SANDLER: Yeah. Peaceful. No. I sometimes will watch my movies and just put the entire family on speaker phone and go, do you see how much I have accomplished? Now do you like me? But I watched Just Go With It and I was laughing. Really. Yes. It was really funny.

 

Q) Does it hold up?

ADAM SANDLER: It holds up great. My part holds up strong. Jennifer, no, Jennifer. Have you seen it in a while? Incredible. You look incredible in that movie.

JENNIFER ANISTON: Thank you.

ADAM SANDLER: And you look incredible in this movie. And I think I’ve become softer.

JENNIFER ANISTON: No.

ADAM SANDLER: And more lovable.

JENNIFER ANISTON: Well, yeah, more lovable. But I also think you’ve maintained your look as well.

ADAM SANDLER: Thank you. It’s all the mustache.

JENNIFER ANISTON: I know. Holds your lip up.

 

Q) Do you two have a clause in your contract that when you work together, you have to film in exotic locations?

ADAM SANDLER: Yes.

JENNIFER ANISTON: He seems to. I’m just lucky I get to come along for the ride.

 

Q) How was the making of this film? Filming in Europe, filming in Italy and everything like that?

DANY BOON: That’s great. Because I have an answer. That was just great. I was so happy. The thing is, of course I was a little bit nervous to play in English. Because I used to speak French before. But the thing is, both of them, I’m a huge fan of their work. And the chemistry of both of you are just great. And it’s great to see you getting the lines and make fun of the things and invent all around. And to be also generous with the other actors actually. That’s the point. Not to keep the funny part and to share it. And I think it’s what we feel when we see the movie. The agents laughed out loud yesterday because it’s a lot of generosity in that movie and humanity.

JENNIFER ANISTON: That’s a beautiful observation.

DANY BOON: Thank you. I’m leaving now. Thank you.

 

Q) Not so fast. One of the things that I love about the film is that you could be 8, you could be 18, you could be 88, and love this movie. It’s an across the board film for them.

DANY BOON: Even then, you could be dead and love the movie.

 

Q) You could still love it. Well, look at Malcolm. He could be dead and love this movie. But were the challenges, Kyle and Jamie, to make a film that was like really for everybody?

KYLE NEWACHECK: Yeah, this was actually new for me. Because I have been hard comedy, hard comedy, basically males between 14 and 25, like everything that I did before this. So to have the opportunity to broaden a little bit and actually a lot a bit and make this for an eight year old for everyone, it felt really good. Like my first movie that I made. It was so out there and pushed the boundaries that my uncle turned it off halfway through.

 

Q) And told you that.

KYLE NEWACHECK: Yeah. No. He did not. My mom told me that later. And I was like Uncle Stu watched my movie? Like what’s up. And so this movie the whole time in my mind, I was like I’m making a movie that Uncle Stu is not going to turn off.

 

Q) It’s all about Uncle Stu.

KYLE NEWACHECK: It’s all about Uncle Stu. Yep.

 

Q) Did Uncle Stu see it?

KYLE NEWACHECK: Uncle Stu will see it on Friday. When it comes out on Netflix. Yeah.

 

Q) Adam and Jen, when you are working together, when you worked together on Just Go With It and in this movie, too, how do you elevate each other? Especially like the comfort level because you did work together. And like oh. You get each other, so you can elevate each other even more with that comfort level.

JENNIFER ANISTON: We also worked really hard as we were going. Every night, we would go back and sort of tweak the scenes.

ADAM SANDLER: Jennifer worked harder than me for sure.

JENNIFER ANISTON: Hey, come on. You would read what we did together.

ADAM SANDLER: Whatever Jennifer put together, I would say hey, way to go.

JENNIFER ANISTON: Because for me, it’s really important that it’s grounded. Comedy, there’s great like balls out comedy and then there’s comedy when it’s this broad to find some level of truth in it in order to find the organic laugh as opposed to the bedump bump laugh. So I think that just, that kind of work as we went along really was fun and it made it better as we went.

ADAM SANDLER: Yeah. Nonstop.

JENNIFER ANISTON: Yeah. I was a pain in the ass.

ADAM SANDLER: You worked hard. And also, but when the cameras are rolling, all of us felt this. We did get comfortable with each other. Like day two or three, we all became pretty tight. And everybody felt comfortable with the script. Everybody felt comfortable with coming up with stuff on the day. And there was nobody in the movie that doesn’t score. Nobody in the movie that isn’t fresh and funny. This is something that doesn’t happen a lot where everybody gets a nice moment. Loads of moments. Yeah.

 

Q) Shioli, what was it like, your favorite moment of filming overseas and filming in Europe? What was a moment that stands out for you?

SHIOLI KUTSUNA: I have never been to Montreal or Italy. So just spending a month in each place was just so amazing. But I usually watch what I eat a little bit. But in Italy, I allowed myself to eat and drink.

JENNIFER ANISTON: Yeah, and it was like, for some reason, you could eat in Italy. Pasta.

SHIOLI KUTSUNA: Yeah. So my dress was like, I had to wear the same dress in Italy as well, like a really tight one. So that was like really hard to zip the back in Italy. But it was amazing, yeah.

 

Q) How about for you?

LUIS GERARDO MÉNDEZ: I don’t know. I like everything. But I remember with a special memory, shooting in Monaco in the Grand Prix. I was dressed like this McLaren driver with Kyle with the camera behind me. And people, they thought I was an actual McLaren driver. So everyone was like asking me for pictures or autographs. And I was looking at the title. He was like yeah, yeah, go with it. So I was like signing autographs and shit. And these people are like huge fans from actual F1 racecar drivers. Or when they were looking closely to me, they were like, he’s a fake one, you know? But yeah. That was fun. And then when I got into the car. Because everyone was asking me, hey, did you have fun being in the McLaren car? And I was like no. I fucking hate it. Because I had a panic attack in there. Because you’re so tight with all these things and bells and the helmet. You cannot breathe. I remember Kyle was watching me and he was like, and I was like take me out. It was horrible .

KYLE NEWACHECK: But we only had like ten minutes to get the shot, so you had to stay in that car, buddy. And you did a great job.

JAMES VANDERBILT: Are we the first movie I think that shot at the Monaco Grand Prix?

KYLE NEWACHECK: Yes, we are in fact the first film crew to interface with the Monaco Grand Prix Formula One driving.

JAMES VANDERBILT: Wow. Amazing.

 

Q) What is your standout moment filming this movie?

DANY BOON: I love the time we spent in this country’s castle. [INDISCERNIBLE]. We spend a great moment over there. It’s gorgeous. And it was amazing to shoot over there with the team. We were all together.

MALE SPEAKER: Yeah. And your family came by. That was great.

JENNIFER ANISTON: Beautiful family.

DANY BOON: Yeah. Thank you.

JENNIFER ANISTON: It was like summer. It really was like summer camp.

DANY BOON: We brought all the kids. And my daughter, she’s nine years old. And she’s a big fan of You Don’t Mess With the Zohan.

 

Q) Jen and Adam, honestly, you two have such dynamic chemistry in this movie. You really hold the screen and really sell this movie. All the rest of you guys are great, too. A lot of it falls on their shoulders. Let’s be honest. So that being said. I know you guys have worked together before. What is a particular quality that you each like about one another that kind of brings you back to wanting to work together?

ADAM SANDLER: I think she’s incredibly funny. Everything Jennifer, when we work together, I feel so relaxed. I’m like if I don’t what’s happening right now, I know Jennifer will. I feel very safe. And she’s funny as hell. And I really have a great time every scene. We do come up with stuff.

JENNIFER ANISTON: It’s like a weird language that we sort of speak. I have no idea what it is. But it’s the most abstract, weird jokes. It never goes over his head.

ADAM SANDLER: Oh my God.

JENNIFER ANISTON: Everyone else, it’s over their head. But as long as I can make Adam laugh, I know that I’ve done good.

 

Q) Kyle, so when you’re making the film and you’re filming your very first scene with the ensemble, what was the first thing that struck you about particularly Adam and Jennifer, their dynamic and their chemistry?

KYLE NEWACHECK: Well, I mean, I’m an editor at heart. Like I always get in and get all this coverage so I can manufacture stuff in post production. But the first thing I noticed is when I put these two in a frame together, I did not want to cut. I just wanted to watch them. And so that was kind of a defining thought process for the movie was whenever we could get a two shot and play the chemistry real, we did. Because that was the fun. Their dynamic was what brought me in. So capitalized on that.

JENNIFER ANISTON: It’s easier to cut together because when you keep it in a two shot, because sometimes we just never match in our singles either. So that was kind of a problem.

KYLE NEWACHECK: Yeah. Exactly. Continuity is a nightmare when you’re working like that. So you cross shoot it and you do a two shot and shorter days. So that was dope.

JENNIFER ANISTON: I love that.

 

Q) Jennifer, are you the kind of person when you get a murder mystery novel, you jump to the last chapter to see who did it?

JENNIFER ANISTON: No. Are you?

 

Q) Of course.

JENNIFER ANISTON: Of course?

 

Q) Yeah.

JENNIFER ANISTON: But doesn’t that ruin everything?

 

Q) You do both drama and comedy. Do you find one that’s easier for you or one that you like better? Or are they just both parts of the acting wheel?

JENNIFER ANISTON: They both come with the difficulty. There are challenges. I wouldn’t say one is easier than the other. I’ve been doing comedy. I always like to breathe some kind of, again, reality into my comedy. So I feel like it’s just a different form of behavior and existing. One makes you laugh and one just doesn’t. It makes you, you know, turn.

ADAM SANDLER: And Jennifer has the discipline to make sure that it all comes from a true place. And with both comedy and drama. And it has to be real and make sense to her and to the audience, right?

JENNIFER ANISTON: I also think because he’s an incredible dramatic actor as well.

ADAM SANDLER: One of the best. That’s right.

JENNIFER ANISTON: I’m serious. But I think there’s something to being able to have an ability to dip your feet in both pools. That you can actually… it’s surprisingly hard for strictly dramatic. I don’t even know what that means. The strictly dramatic actor or actress. But I remember when we were doing Friends, to have someone, we brought in some actors from [SOUNDS LIKE] Salem. And they were terrified. Because it was just a different. They thought they had to do something different, because it was comedy. Which is I think the biggest misconception.

MALE SPEAKER: You know, one of the things I was noticing. During the Formula One, the car chase, I’m like, this is an action comedy. I would love to see you do like a full on action movie.

ADAM SANDLER: No, Jennifer, you were so cool in that car. Remember when we were shooting the car stuff?

JENNIFER ANISTON: If only I was really driving it. But that would be fun. We could do the next one. It could be more action.

 

Q) And you guys did do some of your own stunts. You were out on like the ledge and stuff climbing around.

JENNIFER ANISTON: I think it was this far from the ground. [LAUGHTER]. But it was pretty action packed.

 

Q) Adam, my favorite scene in the movie is when you were so star struck at Grace Ballard. I was like oh. I got kicked in the belly. So I was wondering. Just curiosity. Which other actor or star that you are star struck about still to this day and why?

ADAM SANDLER: I still get butterflies around Jennifer. Yeah. She knows it. She knows it. I’ve met a lot of people over the years. And all of us have gotten to meet a lot of cool people. I’ll tell you, I don’t know where I was the most star struck. But I did, the first time I met Nicholson, I went to his house and I told this story maybe ten years ago. But I sat with Jack for about a half hour in his house while we were talking. And I was here and Jack was there. We were talking back and forth. And the whole time, I thought it was a fake Jack Nicholson. I swear to God. Because I kept going. It’s dim. They brought another one in to test me. So he would talk to me, he would say stuff. And I would be like, well. I think he asked me, you want a peanut butter and jelly sandwich? And then I said, yeah, sure. And he goes, what do you like? Skippy or Jif? Peanut butter. And I was like this isn’t Jack Nicholson. There’s no way. And I was talking about. I think maybe if you have Jif, I would have Jif. He was like get the guy some Jif. And I was like, he’s really making me a peanut butter sandwich?

JENNIFER ANISTON: He made you a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?

ADAM SANDLER: He didn’t make it. His buddy Oscar did.

JENNIFER ANISTON: Nice.

ADAM SANDLER: Yeah.

 

Q) Who do you get star struck or nervous about?

LUIS GERARDO MÉNDEZ: Oh yeah, all the time, with them for sure. Yeah.

ADAM SANDLER: No.

LUIS GERARDO MÉNDEZ: Yeah. I mean. A little bit. The first day. The first day. Not now. The first day. Yeah.

JENNIFER ANISTON: Now we’re old news.

 

Q) So what would be the real life Murder Mystery you would like to resolve and why? Could be JFK, Jesus Christ? Who would it be?

ADAM SANDLER: Yeah. That’s for everybody. I don’t know.

KYLE NEWACHECK: Yeah. I think the case of who killed Jesus is pretty great. That’s excellent.

Q) There’s been some writings on that, yeah.

KYLE NEWACHECK: Oh, there has? Okay. I’ll just go read them.

JENNIFER ANISTON: What? It’s too many to count. There’s all sorts of murder mysteries that I would love to solve. But I can’t think of one off the top of my head.

 

Q) For any of our actors who would like to chime in on this, when you get scripts of this genre, how would you characterize your detective skills? Are you good at kind of figuring out the who done it of it before the reveal or is it a mystery to you?

JENNIFER ANISTON: It was a mystery to us until the end. We really kept going what’s going on?

ADAM SANDLER: Yeah. Every rewrite, we were like, oh he did it this time?

JENNIFER ANISTON: It was really tricky actually because there’s so many characters and there’s so many twists that you have to really kind of comb through it with a fine tooth comb making sure there is no holes in the canoe. Which was kind of a fun challenge.

KYLE NEWACHECK: Yeah. Because like when you’re shooting it, you’re out of order and you’re shooting a part of a misdirect over here on this day. And then the next day there’s another one. You’re like wait. Is this right? This is right.

JENNIFER ANISTON: I still don’t know who did it.

KYLE NEWACHECK: You have to trust your first read. I just kept trusting the first read of Vanderbilt’s script. Where it’s like I know that I did not know this when I was reading it the first time.

 

Q) Obviously we’ve all seen the film. So no spoilers anyway. But so I’m watching. It gets to the end of the film. And I went, I would love to see the continuing adventures of Nick and Audrey. How much fun? How much would you love to see? This could be like the start of… right?

KYLE NEWACHECK: Oh yeah. That would be cool.

 

Q) I’m going to be in a wheelchair. I would love that.

KYLE NEWACHECK: You’re in a wheelchair and you’re a good guy now.

JENNIFER ANISTON: We could go into a business together. I think you really were impressed.

DANY BOON: Of course. Yeah. I’m a bit of a detective now.

JENNIFER ANISTON: And this will be done through France.

DANY BOON: Well said.

 

Q) It actually was really nice to see a film about a couple later in their relationship who were actually in love. And not having to cheat or almost cheat to figure that out. So I just wanted to know what you guys thought about being part of something that breaks a trope like that?

ADAM SANDLER: It was great.

JENNIFER ANISTON: That was sort of the fun of it.

ADAM SANDLER: That was the best thing. Just being a couple, being in l very, having the ups and downs.

JENNIFER ANISTON: Being in a rut. And a lot of couples just fall into ruts. You kind of freshen that up.

ADAM SANDLER: Yes. And then I enjoyed lying to Jennifer’s character. I also enjoyed her running off into the night and leaving me there, getting in the car with Luke Evans driving away, leaving me there like a fool.

JENNIFER ANISTON: It was a little bit…

 

 

 

PRESS CONFERENCE INTERVIEW

Check Out Murder Mystery:  netflix.com/murdermystery