Meg Ryan is on triple duty as co-writer, director and star of the new film "What Happens Later." Her co-star David Duchovny says it was a true "gift" to work with her on the project.
The actors stopped by Studio 1A on Wednesday to discuss the film, which debuts on Nov. 3. As the SAG-AFTRA strike forges on, the duo noted that the independent movie has a waiver from the union, allowing them to promote.
“What Happens Later” follows a pair of exes who reunite after more than 20 years when they’re stranded in an airport overnight. The unexpected encounter forces them to take a trip down memory lane.
“These guys are trying to make sense of a life actually not lived with one another. And they have this sort of subtextual question (that) I think people might be able to relate to, which is, ‘Why didn’t you love me enough? Why didn’t it work?’ And they kind of connect and disconnect and connect again, and it’s the story of that,” Ryan said.
Duchovny echoed his co-star’s sentiments.
“I think what’s fascinating about it is that (our characters) broke up when (they) were in college and (they) broke up for specific reasons. But it turns out that those reasons were kind of false assumptions and then we lived our lives almost in reaction to you know, ‘I’m not gonna do that again,’” he said.
“They finally get their facts straight,” Ryan added.
Ryan described the movie as a “love story with rom-com elements.” Duchovny said it takes on a different flavor since the characters are older.
“It has a bit of melancholy to it because we’re older. We’re looking back at love in a way and rediscovering it, so there’s a lot of different vectors in the film. It’s not just like the bloom of first love. It’s almost like a remembrance of that and also a 'reblooming,'” he said.
Ryan said she didn't initially want to star in the film, but it turned out being "fun" to toggle between director and actor mode.
"What was fun about it for me is when you're directing, you have a micromanaging mind and my character is really loose and kind of very flaky. And it was a relief to play her. David plays a much more kind of conservative guy," she said.
This was the first time the two stars worked together, and Duchovny marveled at Ryan juggle her responsibilities as director and actor.
“The gift was she was also acting with me, so I think sometimes she kind of direct-acted if it was a change or just a change in feeling that she wanted. I think she would act it and because we’re reactive actors she would manipulate me ... not manipulate me, but kind of move me into a different area,” the 63-year-old said.
Duchovny was Ryan's first choice for the part. He said it was an "instant yes." The two workshopped the script together over Zoom before arriving at the final version.
"Talk around it, talk about it, talk about our lives. It evolved and evolved and evolved. The characters evolved. There's a whole magical element that evolved," she said.
Once the movie went out of planning and into filming, they hit a minor, humorous road bump. While filming in an actual airport in Arkansas, they were frequently interrupted by passerbys.
"You'd have people talk to us in the middle of our long walk and talks. You'd try to ignore them," Duchovny said. "Like, 'Meg Ryan, over here!'"
"Maybe we won't use that," Meg said.