Reporter: Congratulations on the film.
Jennifer: Thank you.
Reporter: I brought little cigars for you.
[The reporter hands them each a bubble-gum cigar]
Alex: Oh, that’s so cool.
Jennifer: Yeah.
Alex: Oh delicious. Thank you. I look forward to smoking that …. It’s bubble-gum cigars.
Reporter: Yeah, I haven’t seen them in years. I thought they would be fun.
Jennifer: It’s so cute.
Alex: The best.
Jennifer: Thank you.
Alex: Thank you.
Reporter: Do you think that you played the part of a mom-to-be differently, now that you are a mom in real life?
Jennifer: Ah … yeah. And I have played a mom before in other movies. But you really ….. and you can kind of get an idea of what it is and play it convincingly, but at the same time when you really do have kids; it is a whole different world.
And you really do feel things in a different way. And it is just .. It’s just awesome. And it was great timing for this movie for me.
Reporter: How has having kids changed your life?
Jennifer: I mean in every way possible. I mean I think it mostly your perspective …..
Alex: Right.
Jennifer: … on life. It just …. How you see things. The way you feel things. Ah … what’s important, what’s not important. Just really just put things into perspective.
Alex: It’s also … it’s also the first time …. I think having kids is the first time you actually love another person more than yourself.
Jennifer: Yes, absolutely.
Alex: Right.
Reporter: And do you have kids as well?
Alex: I have a son.
Reporter: Right. And …. and did that deepen your experience of working on this film?
Alex: Absolutely. I mean … having a child deepened my experience of life. You know, day-to-day life. Just like Jennifer was saying. Your perspective, everything kind of gets ….
It’s like the funniest thing you know. You have … everything is so important in your twenties. Everything is so important … oh my god .. everyone’s got to like me. I don’t want to upset anyone …
Jennifer: My hair.
Alex: ….with my hair. My hair, my hair ….
Jennifer: My skin..
Alex: My career. And then you have kids and it’s like …
Jennifer: Seriously.
Alex: … whatever man. It’s like God could come down tomorrow and go, “I’m taking everything away but your kid”, and I would be like, “Do it”
Reporter: What you see in the film was your conversations with Anthony where he says, “It’s awful, it’s awful, it’s awful”, there’s a life changing moment. Then it’s awful, awful, awful again.
Alex: Yeah, it’s pretty accurate.
Jennifer: That’s one of my favourite lines in the whole movie.
Alex: Yeah, it’s great.
Jennifer: Because I really feel like it sums up the whole experience of the film as well. You know that you can’t plan for things. You know we try to, but at the end of the day, you know life is about a series of moments. And it’s a struggle.
And with kids it’s hard and whatever, but it’s better. And you do have those amazing moments in-between that just. They are so life affirming that you just couldn’t imagine it ever how it was before.
Reporter: The film is interesting in a sense that it also kind of flips on a dime after …. in the same scene it will be dramatic, and then it will take a turn for the comedic or visa versa.
Jennifer: Yeah.
Reporter: Tell me a little about playing that and just trying to find the balance somewhere between kind of doing some crazy slapstick, and the more tender stuff as well.
Jennifer: I think all of it has to be based in reality. A lot. You know, even when you are going for the slapstick. You know to make it really funny, it has to be really true.
Where people go, “Oh my god. That’s right. That happened to me.”
Reporter: Right.
Jennifer: And that’s where you ride that fine line of always being real.
Reporter: And for you, Alex?
Alex: You have to play it straight, I mean you can’t play …. There’s very specific comedy. If you study comedy, that you play in a different … I mean if you are doing a French farce. You know there’s a certain … and there can be certain styles of comedic acting.
Reporter: Lots of slamming doors.
Alex: Exactly whatever. Or a big nose. Yeah, yeah you know.
Reporter: Yeah, yeah
Jennifer: Like the tone of the movie.
Alex: Or Commedia Dell’arte for instance is a mask, you know it’s a very physical… But this is like, comedy, naturalistic comedy; you have to play it straight. And that makes it funny. And that’s in the writing and you know. And that’s where writing is so important all the time.
But the thing is there are moments of drama in this film and there are moments of like outrageous comedy. And there are romantic moments and there are …. And I think that it is so well written.
Kate Angelo did such a great job and Jennifer and I did our part … And Jennifer did such .. I think you are great in this film.
Jennifer: Thank you.
Alex: I mean she’s never been more vulnerable or stronger or funnier. I think it’s a perfect film for her.
Jennifer: [Giggle]
Alex: And yeh, it’s good. And I think the dramatic ….. I came as an actor to the dramatic points in this film and I was like … I was almost hesitant to kind of …. not play the drama, but play the truth of the drama. I felt like I should pull back a bit because of the nature of …. You know it’s a comedy you know.
And the director was like , “No, come one man” Like that’s … and as a result the film really has a beautiful arc and moves really naturally.
Reporter: I guess that, that’s the point at where you really have to trust the director. He’ll just say, “You know what, I’m going to guide you through this. Don’t be afraid to ….”
Jennifer: Right. But it’s even how life is … isn’t that’s how life is? One moment you’ll be laughing and then the next, you know, something will happen. And it’s very natural.
Alex: Right.
Jennifer: A very natural thing. That’s what I love about romantic comedies, you know although they are very kind of very “fairytalish”, there’s something so true to life about the really great ones.
Reporter: Right.
Video:
Alex O´Loughlin ~ An Intense Study 