By H. Alan Scott
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“Sometimes you feel like you got away with something when you make a movie.”
Director Paul Feig wants you to support local movie theaters, ideally at his new movie The Housemaid, based on the popular book series by Freida McFadden. “My last three movies have been streamers, and thank God I got to make movies, but I make movies for audiences in a room.” Adapting a popular book into a film is “intimidating,” but Feig is content with McFadden’s approval. “She said she thinks it’s better than the book. That was a huge thing to hear from the author.” The film follows Millie (Sydney Sweeney), a live-in maid for Nina (Amanda Seyfried), who begins to discover this perfect family is hiding dark secrets. “The marketing department’s line says, ‘Spend the holidays with a family more dysfunctional than yours.’ And I think that’s kinda true.” Best known for directing comedies like Bridesmaids and Spy, Feig has created his own genre of thrillers with a comedic edge.
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Editor's Note: This conversation has been edited and condensed for publication.
When I saw the movie, people were engaged, vocally reacting. That must make you feel good that people reacted so vocally?
Yeah, I love it. And it's why I'm so happy we're in theaters. My last three movies have been streamers and thank God I got to make movies, but I make movies for audiences in a room and to get that kind of response on a movie that's looked at as being pretty dark is really exciting.
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You’ve really created a genre for yourself, that mystery meets thriller meets comedy. Was that intentional?
Well, I mean, I've always loved thrillers. They're kind of my favorite movies to watch, because of the twists and turns and how tense they can be and how much you lean in as an audience and how you're driven through the story. But then, I don't love movies that are just so heavy. I can enjoy them, I just don't want to spend a year of my life making something like that. But I want the stakes of a thriller and the twists and the turns and the investment from an audience. But then I would look at the Hitchcock movies. The Hitchcock movies always had something kind of funny in them. They had either funny side characters or just the way that the main character would react to things. I mean, the classic example is North by Northwest, which is just an entertaining movie. You're laughing, you're scared, you’re all this stuff. And I was like, I want that back in these thrillers. The thriller is about such extreme situations, and usually extreme characters in extreme situations. Those extremes can be funny because you're releasing tension. So you need to be able to release things. You know what I mean? And so I think that's why I just kind of seek out these stories that can do that. And that naturally comes from the way that I like to do it and my actors that I work with and the way that I direct them, of what they bring to it, too. It just happens in a way that I'm really happy every time it does.
What was it about that chemistry between Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried that worked so well?
They're just both such good actors, and they're both such good people that it just was there, because I didn't audition them together. When I came on board, Syd was already attached, which I was so thrilled about because I've been dying to work with Syd. And then Amanda I had met 10 years prior for coffee, and we kind of hit it off. And I've just found that great actors, that chemistry will just happen if they're in the characters and if they're willing to be open to each other. And it was just masterfully fun to watch the two of them together. We kind of shot in order a little bit, and so they started out as the characters in their embryonic state. My whole thing to Amanda was you're just kooky and fun. That's all she is, because once you turn in the kitchen the next morning, you have to be like Millie [Sydney Sweeney’s character], like, "What the f*** just happened?" And then for Syd to just play this sweet, innocent, "Oh, I live in my car, I'm down on my luck, poor me, poor me." That you're like, "Oh, she must be this helpless little thing," and then suddenly you find out no, she's not. So it's just playing with stereotypes. And I think they just got so into that and knew how to play it, and just had to feed off each other because Millie has no idea what's going on. "Is Nina [Amanda Seyfried’s character] hormonal because of her pregnancy? Is she crazy? Does she hate me?" That's what I think is great, and it allowed them to—like two tennis players—had to be so, playing off each other.
Does adapting the film version of a popular book add pressure at all?
Yeah, it's intimidating. I knew going in, [it had] already been on the bestseller list for a year and a half, so people are very into this book. The great thing is, it's a great book and it's really structured well for a movie. So it's kind of perfect source material. And then Rebecca Sonnenshine, who adapted the script, did a great job of cherry-picking what she could from the book, and that would keep all the readers happy, but then giving the reader something extra because the ending is not in the book. The ending [in the book] ends in the attic. I always want to deliver more for the reader audience. 'Cause you're always kind of bummed out with a movie like this that people know the book, because it's so much more fun if you don't know what's gonna happen. But at the same time, people are gonna come in knowing, so we gotta give 'em more. And then I was able to go through and go into the book and go like, "Oh, let's add this, these couple things back in, 'cause I think these are big moments for the readers." Because I know, just when I read the book, the things that stuck with me. I'm a pretty populist guy, so I think other people want that. I think we got everything we needed from the book, and the greatest compliment of all was Freida McFadden, when she saw it, she said she thinks it's better than the book. So that was a huge thing to hear from the author.
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What do you think makes this the perfect movie to see over the holidays?
Well, the marketing department came up with a very funny thing which says, "Spend the holidays with a family more dysfunctional than yours.’" And I think that's kinda true. The holidays are such an interesting time. You're surrounded by happy stuff. Everything is supposed to be very happy, and yet there's always tension in the family, and there's always an underlying roiling of unhappiness. And so I think this is the thing of just go in and just give in to it, blast it out. You're gonna have a great time because it'll be cathartic and you can still laugh and have fun during this dark, unhappy event that you're witnessing because of the way that we all put it together with myself and the actors, made it purposefully fun in its cathartic retribution, if you will. So I think it's literally you're gonna be all bottled up from the holidays and having to be nice and everything. Go here, let it all out and go home and you'll feel much better about facing the family again.
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I need to ask you about the state of the comedy. I fear if Bridesmaids were made today, it likely wouldn’t be made in the same way, likely wouldn’t get a theatrical release.
I brought this up to an executive a couple years ago and said, "If we made Bridesmaids now, would you guys release it theatrically?" And they said, "No. It would be on streaming." And I think, look, I've got a lot of opinions about where comedy is these days, but the one thing I can say is comedy is much better in front of an audience. And that sounds like a very obvious thing to say, but here's why I say that: Think about all your favorite comedy movies that you watch over and over and over again. I guarantee you probably saw them with an audience. And so when you see a comedy for the first time with an audience, you bring that experience, that group experience with you every other time you watch that movie by yourself in your house. You hear those laughs. You remember, "Oh my God, this got a big laugh." So it means something to you, but you were also part of this collective that stays with you. And I think when you're being exposed to comedy on streaming by yourself, you're not getting that experience. Look, a movie still has to be good. It can't be a sh**** movie, but at the same time, it becomes more of kind of a religious object to you in a way. That sounds overblown, but it becomes this very important thing to you when you have that experience.
Fully, I remember the huge laughs Bridesmaids got when I saw it at the Regal Cinema in Union Square in New York City.
Exactly. A couple of movies back, I made a movie called Jackpot! People were like, "You're not making comedies anymore." So I was like, I'm just gonna make a balls-out comedy, like a Jackie Chan kind of action comedy. And the critics destroyed it. But I also realized, they're all watching it at home on their TVs. That happened when we did Another Simple Favor, which that movie tips a little more comedic than the first one, and I said to the studio, "All the critics have to watch it with an audience." So all these critics have to be with other people so they can have this group experience. So we come out, and we are like 85 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, and we get certified fresh. Then the whole other group of critics who are watching it at home come in, sh** all over it, and we lose that rating. We drop down into the low sixties or even less. I was like, "Yeah, because you guys didn't have that experience." Look, if you don't like the movie, don't like the movie. Fair enough. But if you're sitting there with people having a good time, you're not sitting there like, "F*** this," you know what I mean?
Speaking of comedies, I need a Spy 2 badly. What’s happening with that?
Not much. I think they should just re-release Spy. [laughs] They're re-releasing all this other stuff. No, I don't know. I mean it's been talked about over the years and sometimes people at the studio want it, then they don't want it, and then I'm not sure, and I'm busy with other stuff. I've had an idea for the story for many years now, but I don't know if we want another one. I'm not sure. Sometimes you feel like you got away with something when you make a movie. But look, we had a great time, and I know the whole gang would want to do it again.
I also have to ask about the suits. It’s really become your thing, and you’re known for that. How does that feel?
It's cool. It's a choice I made many, many years ago. I love pictures of old Hollywood, like the old directors being in suits and ties. I was like, "I want to do that. I want to show respect to my cast and crew." But sometimes when you're referred to as the best-dressed director in Hollywood, you're like, "But do you like my movies?" Let's face it, it's a pretty low bar for best-dressed directors. There's Chris Nolan, you got Wes Anderson, you got me, and then some other people that occasionally do it.
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