On Monday, we have our first chemistry read with the three male leads all together at once. Barring something completely crazy and unforeseen, the guys already have the parts, this is really just to introduce the actors to the new producers/financiers and see them all together to make sure everything is as we think it is.
On Saturday, the actor playing SlingBlade called me and suggested that me, Nils and the three actors meet up for drinks on Sunday night. I told him that Nils and I had met with the guy playing me on Friday and gone over the sides with him and he was ready. But he said something smart:
"Yeah, it's not about going over the sides. It's just that if we are going to have to act like we're best friends, then we need to get to know each other for more than the two minutes before the reading starts. I know we have plenty of rehearsal coming up, but why wait? Let's start now."
Dude was right, so we set it up.
I just got home from four hours hanging out with them at The White Horse, and I am in a great fucking mood. I already knew that each of them individually were good guys, but when you get five males together who don't really know each other, you never know how it's going to turn out. Chemistry is a weird thing; even if everyone is professional and likable, sometimes people just don't click.
Of course, sometimes, it does click, and this time it did. Not like "I'm in love after the first date" clicked because after all, we're straight guys, but it went as well as it could have gone. We got to know the basics about each other a little, did the standard "where are you from" bullshit, but in no time we were busting on the guys who played tennis in high school, talking about the female prospects in Shreveport, where we would party there, etc, etc. It was like, well, like hanging out with my real life friends, especially my law school friends.
This is the perfect fucking situation. Obviously the most important thing is for the actors to look and act right on camera, but ideally, we wanted them to be friends with each other off screen, and in the perfect world, to be cool with all of us. This is because if we are all friends in real life, that sort of camaraderie and chemistry and fun will show up on screen. Even aside from the added benefit of making the movie a lot of fun to make, it will make the movie itself better. This is a comedy after all, and if we are all laughing and having fun off camera, you will see that as an audience when it shows up on camera. Well, I don't want to get ahead of myself, but if tonight is any indication, we've caught lightning in a bottle, especially with the off screen aspect I was talking about.
At the end of the night, we took this pic. It's kinda preposterous because I can't show the faces of the actors until we finalize their deals and the trades get their shot to announce the cast, but I am going to put it up anyway. As soon as the cast is officially announced, I'll put the pic up with the faces there (btw, left to right it's Nils, the guy playing [PWJ/GoldenBoy/El Bingeroso], the guy playing SlingBlade, me, and then the guy playing me).
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