The following questions and answers are excerpted from a conversation that followed the NBR screening of A Real Pain.
Jesse, what inspired this story? I understand it was a long road for you, between the initial idea and getting it up on the screen?
Jesse Eisenberg: Yeah, I’d been, like, sitting with the seeds of this movie for twenty years. My wife and I took a trip to Poland to see where my family’s from; turns out her family’s also from there, so we were kind of visiting both sites. And we essentially went to all of the stops that the characters visit in this movie, and ultimately wound up at the house in the movie, which is the actual house that my family lived in up until 1939. And, you know, I was standing outside the house (this was 16 years ago), expecting to have some amazing catharsis… and nothing was coming, and then I realized I was just a weird, invasive person standing outside a house in Poland. And it was that feeling, that strange dissonance, that kind of always stuck with me. Why didn’t I feel something? Why was I so disconnected from something that’s not too far off, historically? And so you know, as I wrote different things throughout the years, I would touch on these kind of themes… the materially comfortable privilege being disconnected from, from real world historical pain. And so that’s kind of where the seed began for this.
When you work with brilliant people, they come up with stuff like that.
What excited you about the script and got you on board with the project?
Kieran Culkin: I mean, I just I loved the script – it was beautifully written. It was one of those rare things where I read it and just loved this character and got excited about getting in there and having fun and jumping in. I think the character was just so surprising and spontaneous. I didn’t really know what he was going to say or do next! Just when I thought I had a good sense of who he was, he would do something else entirely. And I just wanted to go in there and do it, and not really prepare it, and see what was going to come out. That was sort of the exciting part. It’s a great script.
Jennifer Grey: I loved every word of the script. And I saw the movie when I read it, and I loved the movie when I read it. And I just wanted to be part of the journey with these incredible, smart, talented people that I admire. And it’s gotten to the point in life where, when you’re offered something this beautiful, you just think, “oh my god, gorgeous things are possible in life.”
Will Sharpe: I mean, I second everything that’s been said already. It was a really fully formed, precise script. One of the most beautiful scripts that I’d ever read. I felt like the tone was so clear. It was making me laugh, but there was also something profound that was being asked of the reader and now the audience. I felt like, even though they were quite complex, kind of nuanced questions, I felt like I knew exactly what Jesse was trying to say. So, yeah, I was just excited to talk with him about it and to be a part of it.
The tonal shifts of the film are incredible. It has a seriousness to it, but also incredible humor. How did you all create the relationships that we’re seeing throughout the film?
KC: I mean, to me it was all there on the page. And sometimes you get lucky, I guess, when you can actually just do what’s there. You don’t have to fill in any gaps. And that’s what happened here. There wasn’t a lot of work from us, right? I mean, it was right there.
JG: I met you, and you talked to me, and I felt that kindred spirit… thing chemistry that has to do with feeling seen, and seeing into somebody and I just saw your magic. I saw it before I met you, but then when I met you, I was like, it pierced me, your magic. And it was really exciting, and all I wanted to do was just play with you all the time!
KC: It was in the script. I’m just doing my job. I don’t know… what’s cool about Benji is, he just tries to get right into people, in a way, and tries to find the best avenue in there, which, as it turns out for our scenes, was just by being… I don’t know, I called you a fucking loser. And just to get in there and make fun of you. Yeah, maybe I was being flirty… fine, if you want. But then it took a different turn when it came to talking to [Will’s character] because, like, it was hard to penetrate that guy because, you know, he’s our tour guide and he’s pretty seriously smart. So that came out in the form of, like, criticizing him and berating him and telling him how he’s doing his job. But it got to the real person, and that just, like, worked and was a lot of fun.
WS: Yeah, I mean I think the tonal shifts were inherent in the script. And I feel like so much of the humor and the kind of light handedness was all there in the plan. But what I felt as I read it, and what I feel as I watch it now, is that that kind of light handedness sort of allows for a space for the more serious, profound questions to flow through. And that seemed to me like a kind of, almost sort of magic trick. It just felt like such depth in filmmaking. So if you’re asking me to explain that magic trick, it wasn’t me who did it!
JE: We just got really lucky. The actors just understood the exact tone, and I guess, to me… it’s my taste, so it seems like the most obvious thing in the world, but it is an unusual tone. And so, we just got so lucky that everybody kind of understood it. That’s something that, you know, if it’s one percent too comic, it would make the movie feel too light and irreverent, and then if it’s one percent too serious, it would make the movie feel kind of deadened and academic and kind of… you know, like the movie is kind of asking the audience to pat it on the back for being about these important themes.
One scene that really impressed me is kind of at the end of the trip, when James wishes them farewell and has this long, dramatic goodbye with Benji. And to David, he literally just waves and walks away. And it had the same kick for me the second time I watched it: I just laughed even more. How did you guys go about that scene? Was that an improv?
JE: Yeah. So the scene was this long, scripted, thing where Will is just, you know, pouring his heart out and Kieran is just saying like, “what? I don’t remember saying that…That sounds great.” And the point was that he’s just this frustrating, adorable character who kind of goes through the world and yells at people and doesn’t worry about it. And then when they tell him that, “actually when you yelled at me you changed my life,” he’s like, “oh, that sounds awesome.” As though everything’s new. You know, the dog who forgets that he just ate. And so in that scene, Will was supposed to just kind of walk off, without acknowledging my character. But in the last take, and it might have even been the only take, Will (a comic genius), turns to me and goes, “thanks David!” and abruptly leaves. And I was off camera, which was lucky because I was laughing so hard. And I turned to the producer and I was like, “that is so unbelievably funny… and will be nowhere near the movie.” Because I just thought it was too funny. And I thought the movie couldn’t support a joke like that. And then the editor and I are sitting in the room six months later… And I was like, “oh yeah, go look at this really funny thing.” And he was like, “yeah, it’s great, it’s great.” So it’s in the movie and not only is it great as a one-off thing, but it’s also great where it takes place in the movie because we’ve just been on this kind of long journey to this camp and it’s been quite somber. And it gets you back into this sly tone. It gets you back into the sphere of the kind of lightness of the character’s relationship. I’m so indebted to Will for that moment. It’s great. When you work with brilliant people, they come up with stuff like that.