“Is This Thing On?” opens with a question it keeps circling back to long after the laughs land: how do you stay connected when the relationship you are in no longer looks the way it used to? That idea carries straight into a conversation with Will Arnett and Laura Dern, guided by Rotten Tomatometer-approved film critic Patrick Beatty, where they discuss the insights they discovered working together, which celebrity actor theyd want to take the stage in their own open mic night, and the striggle ot taking risks.
Patrick B: I want to start with a fun question. The film is based on comedy, amongst other things, but if the two of you could start your own open mic night just for fellow actors, Will, what would you call that? And Laura, who would you want in the open mic?
Will Arnett: Oh, man. What would I call the open mic night? I’d call it “Peeling the onion”?
Laura Dern: You know, and I don’t know why. I just thought of Scotty, but I think Scotty Icenogel, Sean’s husband. I want to see him do stand-up because he’s such a great actor. He is a great dad, too. I mean, obviously, we know him as a musician. But Jesus, he was so good and to see Sean Hayes do it, too.
Will Arnett: Yeah. Sean Hayes would be good to see.
Laura Dern: They’ll both be there, and I’ll be serving.
Will Arnett: You’ll be serving?
Laura Dern: I’ll be serving people.
Will Arnett: I guess I’m working the door.
Laura Dern: Yeah. Yeah. I will not be standing up.
Patrick B: The film is about you two learning how to love each other differently. What did you discover about how love can evolve when the shape of a relationship changes?
Will Arnett: Well, we’ve talked about this idea that the shape of the relationship changes based on how we all are affected, we all change, and we’re not shapeshifters, but the shape of us changes as we move through life. And as we age, if we stop communicating, stop understanding, and stop really listening to who we are, we can become stuck in some kind of old story. I think that we need to be rigorous with ourselves and rigorously honest about who we are and where we are at all times, and look at our roles in stuff, look at our side of the street. And if we’re not doing that, that is a recipe for disaster.
Laura Dern: I’m just thinking about it.
Will Arnett: Please say ditto.
Laura Dern: Ditto. But one thing I would just add is that people have kindly said they feel our connection and our chemistry, and what the relationship holds, or what we as friends and actors hold. And I would say about Will, as I’ve gotten to know him deeply from all we’ve shared in this journey. I think we share a trait that we can feel proud of, about love for whatever we’ve been through as characters, and Will and Laura. We are not cynics about love, you know? And that’s a real blessing. Whatever we’ve been through and whatever Tess and Alex have been through, there’s a hopefulness in our belief in it that we got to learn from each other about and share, and that was a real, very cool blessing to discover.
Patrick B: It was a blessing to watch. The dynamic between you two is so good. It feels so lived in and so real. This film is also about risk-taking. Risk in love, risking, finding your own passions. Is there anything recently that was a risk to you that maybe you did on or off screen that scared you, but might have also set you free a little bit?
Laura Dern: Oh, my God, I hope he’ll speak to this. Watching him do stand-up, even in preparation for this, was so brave and amazing.
Will Arnett: Yeah, for me, just trying to give myself over to the process of doing this film and playing and sort of connecting with Alex and trying to access Alex on an emotional level and to allow myself to be available enough to try to be authentic in that way and express myself authentically, emotionally as Alex. That was a jumping-off-the-cliff moment. Luckily, I had somebody holding my hand.
“Is This Thing On” is playing now in limited release, with Utah showings starting January 9, so make plans to check it out and watch our full review on See It or Skip It.
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