Amy & T.J.Co-stars Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick are a part of the latest Hollywood feud everyone's talking about, or aren't they? Director of "Another Simple Favor," Paul Feig, sets the record straight and reveals what the film's recent backlash has taught him. Plus, he shares which A-lister he'd love to work with next as Amy & T.J. reminisce on some fond memories with him during their final weeks at ABC.
Welcome everyone to this episode of being the in TJ. We have a legend in the studio. Well have you heard of a little movie called Bridesmaids? Or how about the Heat? There's Ghostbusters from twenty sixteen, a simple favor and this soon to be new mega hit another simple favor. And I'm just talking about the big screen small screen. I mean Freaks and Geeks, Arrested, Development, Nurse Jackie, Madmen, the Office, Parks and Recreation, thirty Rock. I mean, it just goes on and on and on.
I'm exhausted hearing about my career.
But TJ. Obviously we're talking about producer, director, and the amazing man behind all of this, the comedic genius Paul fig But he's more than that to us, is he not?
He is, And we haven't talked about this with him yet. He's in the studio right here. We're going to talk to him. But Paul, you you were one of the very last interviews we did before leaving ABC. Yes, you were one of the very last ones. And we walked out of that interview. I said, yes, we're familiar with you movies that that is my favorite director. Because we met you, we were so excited Rose that day, like he is the coolest freakin' dude, and we had the greatest time with you, and that is one of our final memories of ABC.
I'm not kidding.
I remember it very fondly, very fondly. We were making martiniz.
Right, yes exactly, we were making mocktails, remember that, because it's Disney and we weren't allowed to actually use alcohol. But I do believe you left behind a gift for TJ.
Yes, yeah, a.
Bottle of your gins, which I will I'll do. I'll tell it at the end, But you when we left ABC, Paul. This sounds crazy, but one of the first disappointments and things that came to my mind had to do with a memory of you.
And I'll explain at the end. I cyppointing people.
But yeah, but welcome everybody, who's the Paul Veiga two.
I'm with you.
Oh, we are so excited, and today is a big day because last night we're recording this the day after your big movie premiere here in New York with the red carpet. What did how? How did it go? How did you feel?
It was fantastic? It was so much fun.
We did it an Jazz at Lincoln Center, which is an amazing theater to show movies in. Dear Hollywood. Do all your premieres in New York at that jazz Jazz. It's it's fantastic because we always used to do premieres at the Zigfeld and then that closed. And the Zigfeld was nice because it was big, but it was always kind of a barn and it was really long and narrow, and the kind of sound wasn't great and stuff. So this it was just spectacular, you know, eleven hundred people and the place was rocking.
You know.
The movie's very fun. It gets a lot of response from an audience. Yeah, laughs and screams and gasps and all that kind of thing, and it was we just had the best time. How's the New your premiere compared to a LA premiere? I like a New York premiere a little bit better, just because people are very responsive.
You know, LA is such a dustry town.
I mean, you know, they hoot and holler and share, you.
Know, so they're like, okay, well, you know, because there's a my people in the business who are too cool to laugh. But we still get good audiences in LA.
But New York, you know God, yeah, I mean in the movie is just like you said, it's a fun wild ride and it's just beautiful to look at all.
Thanks.
I mean, Capri, does it get? Does it get more beautiful than that?
Wherever you point a camera in Capri, you got a beautiful shot. So yeah, it was I'm I'm you know, I really wanted to make this eye candy make it.
You know.
The keyword for these simple favorite movies is they have to be delicious, and I think this one's extra delicious.
We have to be honest.
We missed about a third of the movie because we were planning our next vacation because we were so inspired by what we were seeing.
You were, well, that's my favorite place of vacation, and I just can really, I completely screwed myself because now whoever's going to book and I'm gonna be get it's so true.
You're gonna white Lotus Caprio. Everyone's gonna watch the movie and then book their plane tickets and no one's going to get into.
Gabrie this year.
That's hilarious. So I was looking today because it's been wildly just people love this movie for the exact reason you said. It's fun it's amazing, the cast incredible. You've got Blake and Anna. And then I was looking at some of these stupid headlines and I know you've been dealing with a lot with them, but there's this like fake beef that and I cannot stand this when people pit and I say people, but certain and I don't even want to call them journalists, certain outlets try to pit women against each other. And they were even doing like body language experts as to how Anna and Blake were on the red carpet last.
Night, flat out misogyny heads. I mean, I'm telling you, it drives me crazy. And I spend all the I spend half my time putting these rumors out. We were just in Austin in the you know, the south By Southwest Film Festival. I'm in the back with with Anna and Blake and then the rest of the cast, and we're doing these videos together and they're having the best time and they're talking and laughing and all this stuff. And then like people are putting on the internet, Oh, you know, Blake's very mad at all this all, Like you guys, it doesn't it's not true, but they just I don't know, they somehow they love the pit women against each other.
And then I was just putting myself in their place because they were saying that Anna Side hugged Blake, and I'm just thinking that gets in your head. You think everything I do, every move I make. Anytime you've been followed by paparazzi, you know every facial expression you make is going to be misinterpreted to fit the narrative that they wanted to I was angry for it.
We've been fighting before, and I say, look, we got a whole hands yeah, crushing each other.
Smile, don't look like you're not at me, because there'll be a whole story about it.
But you know what, there's so much useless outrage these days. There's plenty of stuff to be outraged about, my god, right now, there's but the outrage over pop culture and that kind of stuff is like, you, guys, you gotta get channel that energy into some meaningful Please stop with it all.
But you said just a second ago, how you put it, But you feel like you're trying to put out fires. You still, as much as that stuff is out there, you still feel like it's necessary to find a way. From a business standpoint and maybe from a personal standpoint to still try.
To combat some of those headlines. You know what I mean.
I mean, business wise, it's not bad and any controversy is good. I'm always like, no press is bad press. But I just I know these people, and I like these people so much that I work with that I want to defend them when somebody just telling blatant lies.
It makes me crazy.
Because you know, and it's why, you know, I have so many rules that I break all the time. But you know, I really screwed up on social media when Ghostbusters came out because I started fighting publicly with trolls and it's losing them every time, every time, and I was like, okay, so I never again. Just don't respond those. But sometimes some of you will just say something is so infuriating and they've got enough of a reach where you're like, I just I gotta stamp this.
Yeah, do you went on Twitter when obviously we know all of the the Blake and Ryan have been going through it with all of the Justin Valdini thing. You actually did though, You broke your rule and you went onto Twitter to defend her.
Yeah. I love Blake.
I love Blake, and you know, I just I don't like to see people who I really like, who I know are good people to get, you know, get bad mouth are just to be taken down for false reasons.
What you just said, I haven't heard anybody say it in a while. There's no press is bad prece but that still kind of sticks in a situation like this. There's a curiosity people are talking about it.
They're going to possibly about awareness. You want to be aware of your project, whatever it is.
And if they're talking about they're talking about it, if they're gonna hate watch it? Sure, Hey, you know, click's the same as a click or taking the box office is the same whether you liked it or hate or.
So another simple favor. It drops on Amazon Prime Video on May first. So what is when you when you measure success with versus the theaters? How do you how do you measure success as a director of Prouser when you're when your projects live in streaming?
Well, I mean they the metrics change a lot. It used to be completion rates, you know, like who watches at the end. Then it was like minutes watch. Then it's kind of like how far into it they go? So they keep kind of moving the bar for me, It's just like whether we're getting talked about, whether I'm getting good feedback people like it, and then whatever number metric they have, if it's high for however they're judging it, I'm happy.
So but it's a little hard, you know. I'm so I'm such an.
Old school, you know, theatrical guy that I used to box office an opening weekend. So you know, my last it's I think my fourth movie now that's been a streamer, and uh, you know, it's different. I love being in theaters. You know, thank you Amazon for for letting us make this movie. But you know, I'm excited that my next movie is going to be in theaters on Christmas.
So you said four movies of yours have gone, You've done the streaming thing. Does it?
How do the Does the process feel any different if you're shooting a movie that's going to Yeah, you're.
Already shaking hand. Yeah, the same. What about promotion and how you go about getting word out?
I mean, the slippery thing is that, like almost all theatrical movies kind of go into the culture and become a thing unless they're really really small, but they get talked about. People want to talk about movies for some reason streamers. I think there's so many movies that come out on streaming and some of the TV shows, and there's certain movies that they call kind of programmers, which are just kind of like filler. You know, those generally become the giant hits, you know, that the unexpected thing, like some weird little Western romance or something suddenly goes through the roof and takes out the movie that costs two hundred million dollars. But yeah, it's I find it slightly harder to get people excited about streaming movies. This one's different because it's you know, it's got the pedigree of being a sequel that people really liked. But in generally, yeah, you kind of got to fight a little harder to get people to watch.
A simple favor. I mean, I love that the original of the first movie in that it really became him a cult classic and it took was it. I mean I watched it streaming, I didn't watch it in the theater. Yeah, and so you see how these movies get life. And at what point were you then thinking I can do a sequel for this movie.
Yeah, because you're right, I mean, it did really well in the theaters. We made like one hundred million dollars worldwide off of a twenty million dollar budget, so that was considered success, but still that only has limited reach. Yeah, it was really during the pandemic. I think when it really started.
That's when I saw it. That is when I saw it.
Yeah, and then it's just and then when it hit net because that was I think it was on Amazon I think, and then when I went to Netflix it they had this whole resurgence. We were number one all over the world, and it was that was when we were kind of like, well, maybe we should. There was interest in doing it. It's always been a I love these characters, and it's always when I was like, maybe there is a sequel in those I think yeah, And so that just kind of was like, let's do it. And Amazon stepped up. We had a little bit of a bidding war with other places, but they did it.
That's what you mentioned because I was telling TJ. Obviously we love you for your brilliant mind and also just your amazing personality, but I love as a woman how much you have put strong female leads in big movies box office successes. Just reiterating the fact that women can sell tickets and women will go out to watch other women? What have you all? Like, Melissa McCarthy like, obviously you just think about all your movies. What is it about that you weren't afraid to do that? I think you know it's it wasn't about romance and this is about the girl getting the guy. They're interesting, creative, unique stories about powerful, interesting, diverse women. Yeah.
I mean, I just I love I love women. I all my friends have been women. You know, since I was a kid, and I was an only child, I was really close with my mom, and I've always hated the way that women are portrayed in movies in the last number of decades versus the movies of the thirties and forties, when all the women were kind of equals with the men, and they were strong characters and stuff and three dimensional. And then suddenly, you know, especially in the comedy world, it became very male dominated and all the women were just kind of props and you know, just foils and stuff like this. And I knew so many talented women in the business who were playing these terrible roles on screen and not getting to showcase what they do. And I was just like I want to correct that. And also I just I'm just I'm just more interested in stories about women. I don't know it just for some reason. I grew up watching all these male dominated stories, and it's fine, and I enjoy those, but I don't have a lot to say about those about the male condition.
You said, naturally, you gravitate me, you talk about your friends and the people you're around. But did you also identify an opportunity and avoid.
Well, I mean, it wasn't It wasn't that calculated, you know. I was just I kind of just relate to these female characters more. And after I did Freaks and Geeks. You know, my favorite character right for it was Lindsay, you know, the part that Linda Carter Leading played, And so coming out of that, I was like, I want to tell more female centric stories and started pitching them. But then that would always be told by whatever studio person. Oh no, you can't, because internationally women don't sell blah blah blah, and you kind of you. I was green enough then to go like, oh, oh, I didn't realize it was a rule. Sorry, sorry, And then after a number of years you started going like, well, why is that a rule? That's crazy. Like women are more than half the population of the planet. Clearly they want to see stuff, you know, that they can relate to. And then fortunately, you know, Bridesmaids came along, you know, and then jud had it had just worked with Kristin and I'd worked with Kristin on a movie, a Christmas movie that I'd made, and you know, he was like, hey, I know you like to do female centric stuff. You want to, you know, work on this. And it took a few years, kind of fell apart for three years, and then it came back out of out of nowhere and thank God.
For the movie.
Is that pushback you talk about steel there or is it has there been enough success with female leaves that that's not.
I can only speak for myself. I now that I'm known that I do that. It just I don't get a lot of pushback on that.
I'm the man now when I was green.
But what I think though, is I don't know if that happens for a lot of other people. And so there's still there's not enough women, you know, there's still the disparity is still too wide.
It's just I just love how creative you are with with the roles too, and the types of stories you're telling about women and they're funny, and I just I love, love, love love watching all of your movies. You mentioned we well you're very busy. But I've seen you your inking deals here, your inking deals there. You've got multi year contracts movies with Lionsgate. You just did is it Warner Brothers for television? So what, like, what are you? What's next? I'm so excited.
Oh, we had a lot of stuff in the pipeline. It's very exciting. Yeah, we're I mean, we're just developing a lot of things.
You know.
I love television. That's you know, that's where I came from. Uh, movies are my passion. But yeah, there's a lot of TV projects. There's the original that I wrote that we're trying to they were setting up right now.
That will be a lot of fun.
And we just have a lot of all the people we work with. You know, I get tired of my own voice in my work, and so that's why it's I don't write a lot of original movies anymore, as much as I'll rewrite ideas that are brought to us, because I want other people's take on the world. You know, it's really exciting to get something that you would never have thought of yourself, you know, or what. Like, I love watching things that I just like, you know, I just saw Sinners, which is the most amazing movie. It's amazing, and I just thought, I just Ryan, like, how did you write that? But like that comes from his experience and things that he wanted to say. And I love that when I go like wow, that's when I see something I would never.
Have thought to do. Is really exciting.
And so that's what's fun working with new writers and they bring you ideas and you're like, cool, let me hear your voice, you write.
It, and then we'll help you.
You know, make it commercial, help us make sense of Sinners. And the phenomenon that has become back to back weekends almost making the same amount of money.
That's just huge. That's huge.
But that's an original story that got made. Yeah, And it seems like so many things that folks wanted. There was a Minecraft movie, there was a Super Mario, there's a bar, but there's they want to do some stuff that's already out there that people know. Where are we headed? I just want you to give me your take as being in Hollywood of where we're going in terms of seeing the types of movies like Centers and having more of the types of creators like Ryan. Yeah, to have that kind of power to get something made.
Well, I mean you got to credit kind of everybody in that one, because I credit Warner Brothers for taking a swing and putting that kind of budget into an original idea like that. But they got Ryan who is a known successful filmmaker who's brilliant, and it was a clearly a passion project for him, and that passion comes off the screen and that means a lot to an audience, you know, And that's I think, you know so much stuff. It's all about ip you know, you know, llstual property, and so everybody wants something based on something so that they can make sure that there is a built an audience somehow, you know, And so that's always.
Going to dominate people.
Are He's still going to be afraid of original ideas because what will happen is, you know, something is original does great and people like okay, then they green light a bunch of original stuff that might not be as good, and then they don't work and they're like, well, see, you can't do that it's like, well, no, it's case by case. Everything has to be good, you know. That's why you know, I think, oh, come on, blinking on his name, who did get out? And you know, Jordan Pepine is brilliant because he comes up with undeniable ideas and that's in my company. It's like, what is an undeniable idea? If you go into a theater and you see a trailer and go like, I have to see that opening weekend. But that's the hardest thing in the world to come up with. So but that's what always looking for.
You know. Obviously your your comedic genius is apparent. But this one, another simple favor, also has It's a dark comedy but also has a thriller thriller element to it. And when we were watching Sinners this weekend, I was surprised because I didn't do a lot of reading about it beforehand, about the musical element to it, and I'm seeing that obviously theater. I love theater. You have a theater background as well. Have you ever thought about because I'm so amazed watching so many different genres of movies incorporate singing and music into the movie, and it's jarring to some people, but then it's it's kind of fun. It's an incredible experience.
If you do.
It organically to the story, it's harder to get people into, like and then we burst in the song. Although there are great movies that do that all the time, or there have been.
We'll talk about Amelia Perez here. Yeah, yeah, I love that movie.
No, I'm one of everybody knows of my company. For years, I've been saying, we got to do a musical. We have, but they're really hard to develop, really hard to because I wanted to do an original one and it's just hard to figure out that thing, you know. And Ryan did it with that because it's about a club where people play music, so it's off to the races, you go.
You know, that music was great.
We've been listening to it.
It's nonstock. And then Buddy Guy shows up. That's the greatest.
I saw Buddy Guy Lai years ago, and he's such a legend. I was like when he came in at the end, I was like, oh, yes, now the movie is complete.
I can't wait to see the musical comedy thriller mash up that you create one day, because I know you will and that's very Excitingly, I will, I definitely will.
You know, I was trying, can you tell what what what genre.
Is simple favor? What genre is another simple favorite? Because I was talking to our producers about it, what thriller?
I said, well, it's kind of a comedy dark.
Where do you put it?
I say, it's a dark comedy, dark comedy. Yeeah, yeah, yeah. But you know, I'm very true to genres. If all my movies are genre movies, if you look at them, and I love thrillers, that's all I watch. I don't watch comedy.
I just I love I love. You don't watch comedy. No, I don't, really no, because I do it.
It's my job, you know, and I'm always trying to figure out what people are doing.
But I'm more.
Interested in in moving an audience, making them laugh because they're so invested and they're so scared or tense or worried, and watching these extreme characters in these extreme situations. That's it to me is the most fun thing. And audiences have gotten really suspicious about just straight up comedy in the last decade, I would dare say, because I think they've seen so many comedies that they didn't get invested in even if the jokes are funny, you're not you know, you're not getting pulled along, and so putting comedy into all the best comedy movies right now, horror movies. If you see horror movies, they're funny. I mean, Megan is hilarious, Abigail is hilarious, you know, and so because the stakes are so high, but everything's so extreme, that's what's fun to Megan.
Audience go, we're laughing because you are speaking our language, and because we always traditionally loved horror movies, like just from the time we were like five years old, the two of us, we're seeking out horror movies. You know, when I the first thing I saw was Nightmare on Elm Street and then Poltergeist and all that. But now it's gotten so elevated, and I think obviously filmmakers are understanding the passion and the excitement for that genre and they've gotten it now where horror comedy it's our absolute favor genre totally, and I don't know that it even we had can't be horror movies before.
I mean horror.
The thing about horror is people who make horror are laughing in the editing room tired. They are just because you're because you're so manipulating an audience and the power you feel of like, oh my god, they're gonna ship their pants, you know, like that's the greatest feeling in the world.
So hard eyes. Have you seen this? This is a recent I have not seen that yet.
They've nailed both elements. They could it could be a standalone comedy, it could be a stand they've nailed both.
Blackening is a good one. Yeah, oh, I love that one.
That's a great one. But we have in the past week watched Abigail. We saw it in the theater. But it's just a fun movie.
Kills me. It's so funny. It's so extreme. The ending. I've never seen more blood in a movie, and it's so funny. It's so funny. It was the death of a Unicorn. We saw that.
Oh yeah, we loved that, you know it.
And I just watched Smile Too, which is so good.
Five minutes alone, you're like, holy.
And in the last three minutes yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That is so fun to talk films with you. In particular, you talk about you said something about about comedy and I want you to say you get people invested, where would you put the heat when it comes to getting an audience invested. I'm gonna explain why we can't watch this movie. We've seen it a hundred times, but we can't have it on and be doing something else because we get caught up in the movie. We can't focus on anything else. So where does where does that fall in what you described?
I mean, it's it's a buddy cop comedy. But what I was really inspired by for that is the movies of the eighties like Beverly Hills Cop and forty eight Hours, Because you know, I remember as a kid, you know, I'd only you know, you go see comedy is gonna be comedy and fun and all that. So I go to see, you know, forty eight Hours, which you know, oh my god, Any Murphy is so funny they can't wait. And some guy gets executed, like gets his head blown off right in the first few minutes, and you're like, oh my god, what's happening. But you realize it's like that. Now I'm so invested in the danger that these guys are in. So when Eddie Murphy goes into that redneck bar and starts throwing things around You're like, Okay, you could get really beaten up in here, things can go really wrong, but that that's more fun to me now. And so that was with with The Heat. You know, we've you know, we got some people get killed pretty badly in that movie, and it just I think.
It's just ups the stake. I've never made that connection. You're exactly right.
I know Beverly Hill's cat really well, but his partner was Nick Nolty, a drunk, divorced bad cop kind of right.
It was a very intense movie.
I never made the connection between The Heat and those classics.
And I think that's where kind of comedy needs to be these days again, as opposed to just it's all silly and the villain is silly and we're not worried abou him because he's bumbling. It's like, where's my investment in that?
They'll buy no scene in The Heat. I could listen to that over and over and just tears are coming out. It's funny. My mom is not like really into cursing or anything too vulgar, but I had her watch The Heat and she was on a plane. She told me she saw it. She said she was laughing. So hard that people were staring at her because just I mean, it's just you cannot stop laughing.
My goal, My goal was watermelon, Yes, and you know because when we shot that, the whole crew was horrified.
Yeah, do you.
Worry because look, is it harder to make comedy now this whole there was all this wokeness. Now there's anti wokeness. Everyone gets offended. How hard is it to do good comedy in that.
I am not a person who says, oh no, we can't do anything. I think I don't want to offend anybody, you know. And I think if you just make things funny and based on people's personality and you're not making fun of things people can't change about themselves. I mean, I will say the only thing I've ever been like is the Albino thing, because it' so funny, and we set it up going like, look, it's it's making fun of the fact that so many movies had bad guys that were albino. We actually had that little montage when she's flipping around the channels.
It's all.
So I tried to set it up, you know, and Dan Bakeadell, who's so funny good, But then you know, when the movie after it came out, I got some A woman wrote me, some of my daughters in albino and this is not helpful, and I and I felt bad and like I kind of broke my rule or making fun of something that people can't change about themselves.
But it's still really funny.
But you're also making fun of the fact that they're often made into evil characters, that's.
The thing, and so that would and I kind of want to go, oh no, here's why, but you're like, it's still you've got to get caught in the blowback of that. So but I, you know, I don't feel like, you know, if it's good natured and kind of everybody gets hit the same way, and you're not being mean, if there's a difference between mean spiritedness and just kind of like, hey, we're just having fun kind of making fun of people things that they can change about themselves. You know, if somebody's a jerk, it's really fun to make fun of them, or they have really crazy beliefs, like that's kind of fun to make fun of because they could change that if they wanted to.
Their dialogue they're back and forth, how they equip at each other in that scene is absolutely hilarious.
I have to have you here.
I'm curious what you said you don't watch comedy necessarily. Let's go through this the Oscar season. What were some of your favorite movies that you saw during this season and what kind do you have any like, oh, I gotta go watch this show, or like we watched ninety Day Fiance or whatever it may be. Do you have as a just I'm curious what a guy in your position, what kind of stuff you watch you admire?
You like?
Well, I watch a lot of thrillers and I watch a lot of true crime because I'm fascinated by terrible people because I like to think I'm a nice person, you know, and so you know, you get to act out in that way. And so I'm just watching especially, I mean, we're such in the age of.
The con man right now. Let's not talk about.
Who who's leading that charge in our country right now, but but that so, all these true crime things are about people conning people, you know, and trying to pull stuff off and being fake and putting up these scams and stuff, and I'm just fascinated by it. And then on top of it, just you know, a good murder thing is always fascinating to watch. I really like all that, like the movies, you know, the movie movies from from this Oscar season. You know, I saw Honora thinking it was gonna be like a drama. It turns out is one of the funniest movies I've seen in a long time, and I didn't know that going in. And honestly, when when you know the guy leaves and that those guys are coming over to get her, I was like, oh man, this is gonna get really dark. And that turns hilarious because it's so bumbling and but that but that's to me, that's what a great comedy because you don't know it. It's it's hidden in there, and it still really emotional, you know, And you know, I'd still tear up in that end scene when she's in the car.
Oh my god, it's just a killer.
You know. We honestly everything you're saying we are vibing with because we do murder in the morning. We watch all the true crime stories. We love horror comedy. We love your movies. It's about moving people and making people feel think about things differently. I love that you do that. You mentioned you've got this Christmas movie coming up, can you give us a little taste of it?
Very dark Christmas?
We love that too.
Yeah, it's called The Housemaid is based on this book that's been a bestseller on the New York Times list for a year and a half now, Freedom McFadden wrote it, and uh yeah, it's Sidney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried and Brandon's glenar and then Michaelay moroney from another Simple Favor. And it's a dark thriller. It's still got funny stuff and it just because it gets very extreme.
But it's great. I'm really excited about it.
We just started our first test screening of an early cut and it tested through the roof, so I mean the cast.
It's just amazing.
Yeah, I love your two strong female leads there.
Oh yeah, boy if they turned in the amazing performance.
Oh what is what is your assessment?
Right? We went through COVID. As far as the industry goes, has the industry come back?
It's hard to say come back, like where is the need to get? But do you feel good about how the industry has recovered to a certain degree? And as always back and forth about movies and what type and these theories. There's all kinds of stuff going on. But what is the state of the industry that you are such a leader in at this point?
Well, thanks, I'm very optimistic about it. It's changed a bit. It's contracted a little bit because it got so wild West with all the streamers and everybody having a streamer that there was just a glut of content, which is kind of great because it got a lot of people working. But I think the writer's strike made that contracted everything in a way that Hollywood was looking for an excuse to contract and so they really used the writer's strike too as an excuse to do that. But what the good thing I think is that people are coming back to theaters. I mean this past weekend you know we're taping right now, was a big weekend in Sinners. Yeah, it's holding. I mean they had like hardly any drop off between weeks. So that's so it shows audiences are ready for stuff. It's just we in our business have to service that. We have to give them stuff they want to see. We have to challenge them. Not challenge challenge sounds like homework. You have to give them stuff where they're like they're going to be surprised that they like, you know, I mean you Sinners is a total surprise. You know, if you would have asked people, you know, a year ago, you know, how do you feel about a vampire movie about the Blues? You know, I don't know if they'd be like, oh cool, but you know, the minute you see what it is, you're like, oh my god, I go to go see that. So yeah, it's really it's the opportunities are out there. They're fewer, but they're a bigger payoff for an audience when they're done right, and it's just up to us to make sure that we're good.
Do you have any comedic actresses or actresses that you want to work with that you haven't yet that you've got your eye on that you're thinking about for future projects?
I mean, yeah, there's so many people that I'm dying to work with. I mean, I hate ton't name anybody, but just because I'll send anybody else but Jennifer Lawrence and I've been trying to figure out something to do forever, and so I think we might have something for her and have a.
Stone I love.
And you know, yeah, there are people that I know that I've met with who are always kind of like, we got to figure it out. But you know, it's got to be the right thing. You can't just throw somebody into a role if they're not perfect for it, you know. And that's what's fun is trying to figure out who we want to work with, finding the right project.
How do you find the you know, my daughter actually is graduating from NYU with a theater degree, and she's got four jobs right now, but hoping, you know, trying to do what she loves, which is acting. But she's always saying like, I wasn't right for it, I didn't look the part, I didn't you know whatever it is during these auditions. But how do you know do you know immediately within five minutes five seconds, that's the perfect person, that's who I need to play this character.
Yeah, it comes in different waves. I mean to me, it's the material first that dominates everything. So I very rarely kind of go, oh, we've got this person, let's develop this thing for them. It's more like, we got to get this story right, this has to be right, and then it's like, who do I think of for this? And it usually you get someone in your head pretty quickly when you're working on something. It's like they would be perfect. But then sometimes you don't get that person. You know, they turn it down or they're not available, and then it's always like kind of doing that shift. And I've had great success with that of like you know, say who they were, you know, because but you thought this person would be perfect for this, they didn't turn it didn't work out. And then the person you got, then you go like, I can't imagine the other person ever doing this.
This is them.
And also you tail once you get them, you tailor it to them. You know, it's not these scripts aren't set in stone. It's like this is their strength. That's why I loved before I work with somebody new, like let's just go out to dinner, let's have drinks or have lefe, so I can know who you are and I can see a side of you that the audience doesn't know exists, and then we're gonna play that up.
Do you have a story of I hate regret the word regret, so not one that you regret, But did you have a story or a person or an actors or actress that you passed on and then you saw something landa go I mate the wrong.
Call on that. I can't say who right, right.
No, there's some just you get something in your head, you know, and you like somebody so much, or you just kind of want to I don't know, you just get something stuck in your head and it's not It works fine, but you're kind of like, oh, I should have you know, I should have? Yeah, but very rarely, very rarely. It's just only been a couple of times. And I have no regret about who I did cast and just to go like, oh, I think maybe that.
Would have worked.
Is there a project that you passed on or something that ended up being developed and I should have done that movie?
Oh?
Nothing like that.
I can't say because it would make somebody else feel bad something. But no, they do very rarely, very rarely. I'm pretty good about that kind of thing. There's more for me. It's more things that I've developed that didn't get to go. I had a monster movie at the Universal called Dark Army that I was really excited about, and they just we developed it for a long time. They decided it was going to be too expensive. I didn't agree with them. I thought I could do it cheap, but they just didn't want to do it. And they were kind of in a weird place with their Monster Movie universe at that time. But I hope some day it comes okay.
I mean I was going to say it sounds like something that we would watch.
One hundred percent.
I mean, and with all I mean, with all of your success, what would you say it is about? Paul Figue? What is it that you bring to the table that creates so many incredible successes? I mean, what is it that you do? What you know that maybe other directors, other producers don't do it, because you really do. I mean your list of just art because it's movies and television is remarkable and it's lasting. I mean, these are movies that you don't just go to the movie theater once and see and say, yeah, that was great. I mean, these are movies that I watch over, we watch over and over because they're that good. They they have holding power, lasting power, and they're still funny. What is it? What do you do? I'm fascinated.
Well, I'm awesome. First of all, Well that's very kind. You know, if I could really figure it out, I'd be even more successful.
No, you know what, I.
Try to have fun. I want to make everything fun. I always kind of say, my movie these every movie should be like a party, some kind of a party, you know, whether it's a scary party or a just a nutty party or whatever. But it has to be good natured, you know. I don't like nihilistic. It's not only beef with a lot of horror, is that it all ends very nihilistically. And that's why I love to love Megan so much. It's like there's a victory at the end of it, you know, And so that's what I'm always looking for because my message is never you can't win.
Terrible people win. Good people get pushed aside, you know. I don't like that.
So even as dark as my movies can get, they are fairly good natured, even if they.
Get very dark.
And so I think people kind of respond to that. And then we just try to make them as dense as possible so you can watch them over and over again.
You know.
I like when people go like, oh, I missed half the jokes because the audience was laughing. Like, good, watch it the can and you'll pick.
Up the jokes.
Yeah, I mean that is so true. Like, and I love the idea because we might not even realize it. As moviegoers or as consumers of your art. But yeah, you remember all the funny pross, but you also remember how it made you feel.
Yeah, well, you know.
It's I always say my movies are just dramas that are funny, because that's how you have to plot out a movie. It has to have a real storyline with real emotions and real stakes in it, and then you build the comedy up from the extremeness of the characters, the extremness of the situation and how they interact and react to each other. That's where the fun comes from.
Just hit nor to hear you put it together. We've watched your movies and all that makes it. Oh yeah, oh yeah that's why. I Oh, that's what that was. So it's it's cool to see it. It's so good to have you back, just to see you again. We were jumping through the phone when they say we have a chance.
To get pauffee. I'm thrilled.
No.
I've always loved you guys, and you were so nice to me on the show, and I've was following all this stuff you went through and I was like, oh no, I want to please get through this. Then you came out so strong. I mean, my god, congrats, but.
Your name came up and it was a moment of I guess just a little reverence and little strength and maybe we understood that things are going to be okay. But I'll tell you this. Through it all, when we got off the air, there there are all kinds of stuff in tabloids and folks were trying to unname source as this but to make us look essentially as bad as possible what.
Was out there.
So one of the stories was about Robot being an absolute drunk, right they did. It was, you know, better than idea, but there was you were accused of being drunk and on.
The air at the game.
Okay, while we were negotiating our exits, all of a sudden, like literally, it's unbelievable, all of a sudden.
Isn't that magical?
Isn't it weird how that coincidentally just started. No pressure was intended. I'm sure to have all of these false stories leaked.
Yes, crisis pr No, No, they would never do that.
So this is happening to that point, talking about her drinking and working all this. Never a word anywhere about me and drinking or anything else. Paul I had a full bar in my dressing room a full bar, A hero and everybody knew it because when people come through, they look.
We've had several people.
Duane the Rock Johnson gave me a bottle of his tequila. I had a bottle of gin from Ryan Reynolds. Cecilia Vega worked there. She brought me a bottle of tequila. One of the floor directors went to the Caribbean brought me back a bottle of whiskey. You can only get so people just gift you think. One day when we were out of there, I had I needed somebody to go into my dressing room. We weren't allowed in the building, and somebody went to my dressing room to grab something for me, and they had taken pictures and say this which you needed. My entire shelf of liquor had been cleared out.
All of it.
What's gone? No big deal, It's fine. But we just thought it was funny. But one of the things I said to her, Damn, Paul FIG's gin was in there. I never got a chance to open it. No, I kid you not. And we looked at each other. We just kind of laughed that we were so disappointed. We're in the midst of losing Careers.
For a review.
Losers, But it was that segment you were on talking about your book about cocktails and this and but you left and you gifted me that and we appreciated it. But in that moment of all that chaos, we just looked at each other and laughed about we were upset that we didn't get your.
Gin sending you a bottle. So it's going to happen.
And we'll apologize to you as well, because in that last segment we did late November, you weren't aware, just like the rest of the world was, that we were actually dating at that time. So excellent, Hi, paul, I'm TJ.
This is my girlfriend.
I could tell, and we were both in the middle of divorces at that time, so it's just like it's just a ridiculous thing that happened.
I was so happy for you guys when I despite all the b you went through, just because I like you too, so so I'm really happy for you.
The feeling is mutual, and yeah, just I'm so excited about all the projects that you have coming up and we get to have more Paula figue magic in our lives, and I just thank you for sharing the process behind how you make all of this great art, because it is so cool and I understand it now. I understand why I like it now more the psychology behind it. But it's it's your brilliance. And thank you for bringing it to the world because that that is a gift. It is a gift to laugh. You know, we leaned on a lot of your movies during there was about a year of confinement for us where we consumed a lot of entertainment to try and escape our own fate.
There you go, And.
Honestly, your movies were a huge part of that, like a huge part of that. And that's a that's a service, you know, to give people an escape, to give people a reason to laugh. And so thank you for what you bring to the world.
I appreciate it.
I always say, like, if my movies can just be considered comfort food, I'm happy as a clam.
Yes, thank you, thank you for coming on the on the on the podcast today because we consider it a huge honor for you to be here with us in studios.
So thank you honor for me and another simple favor starts streaming on maybe first Amazon Prime Prime Video, right, folks, I appreciate it always for listening. We'll see a new
