Interview With "Saturday Night" & "Your Monster" Actor Tommy Dewey

Hello everyone, welcome to the next best picture podcast. I am your host Matt Naglia the owner editor-in-chief of nextbestpicture.com and right now being joined by Tommy Dewey to talk about his role in Saturday night. Maybe we can also touch upon your monster a little bit here Tommy, but hey, how are you man? I'm great man. Thanks for having me. I love talking about both of these movies. So I can't wait. Yeah. Well, I feel like, you know, I've talked to a couple people about this this year even this feels like a significant turning point for you with these two films being released this year. I think I can't help but feel that the door is going to start knocking pretty soon and I would hope that your career is about to take a really really nice turn here. Do you kind of feel that? I would hope that too. That sounds great. I like your plan. Yeah, I mean if nothing else it feels like I'm getting to do more interesting work, you know, I'm getting to lose myself in character a little more stuff that I've always wanted to do and maybe have had limited opportunities to do and so I'm really I'm really proud of these movies. I'm I am I'm grateful especially in something like Saturday night. I don't know that I'm everyone's obvious choice to play Michael Donahue, but Jason, you know thought I synced up with his voice for whatever reason and you know, I'm biased but I think it worked out pretty well and so I mean, thank you. Thank you for the kind words, but but more movies like this, please. And if this is you know, if the if these last couple are opening those Well, when I saw Saturday night, you know, I know Rachel, I know Gabriel. I know a lot of people singled out Corey Michael Smith. I'm not saying it's because you're here. You can listen back to our podcast review of the movie to hear me save this on the record. I singled you out. I thought you were a huge standout in this film amongst a really really talented ensemble and I think a large reason for that is because man, you just got that deadpan humor tone down so so well. It really really stood out to me as some of the funniest moments of Saturday night and that movie is just chock-full of them. Well, thank you. I'm blushing but the and I'm in such good company with those with that cast you mentioned. I like as I'm sure you've heard a ton like, you know, you're working with good people just just raises your game and there was not a weak link in the weak link in this cast. I don't think but uh, but yeah, man, I love that bone-dry stuff. I I I'm such a fan of I'm such an Anglophile. I've always liked to just just super dry British comedic actors. So I'm probably borrowing stuff from from them. But yeah, and the writing was really good of Jason Hill just be great stuff to play with I I I go back to that scene that the my kind of big scene I get I get some great stuff in this movie, but there's there's it's at least my longest scene is the one with the great Catherine Burton the the network sensor in the writer's room, which is just just the language is so chewy and great and and Jason's a fan of of kind of playing small playing under to so his directorial style supports my comedic sensibilities. So let's backtrack a little bit here. Do you come across the script first or do you go in an audition without a script? How does this all come to be with at least just getting your name forward to Jason Reitman? I go back a little ways with Jason Jason was the one of the producers and in-house at the in-house director for a show called casual that I did on Hulu with Michaela walk in this year and dear to me. I guess we wrap that cheese time flies right five years ago, but so I'm to a certain extent sort of in Jason's clubhouse. I didn't did a movie called the frontrunner that I wish more people had seen another movie. I'm proud of so Jason and I see each other a lot. He he I think trust me to a certain extent on a on a on a set and we sort of speak the same language and we had talked about this script and I don't remember what it was like, but the understanding was I was always going to have to give a version of of O'Donohue. Like I said, I don't know that I was the obvious choice. So when he but he had you in mind though while he was writing in mind that he sent me a material and I I think my wife said start growing your beard because I have a pathetic beard but O'Donohue was almost always bearded and then I went to the drugstore and started tinkering with those wire rim glasses that were an O'Donohue staple and I tried to get close enough to to a look and then just did a work session with a taped work session with with Jason and we tried it a bunch of different ways and something worked, you know, I and I I don't know what his process was after that if he had to talk Sony into it. I really I really don't know but I think we both felt in that room that that it could it could work after that after that session. Now, was there anybody else in that session along with you as we just you and Jason just me and Jason and someone from John Paps Adair's casting office taping at all. That's my recollection. I think it was just three of us in the room. I really like how Jason is is really great at casting. I think this movie is is evidence of that and and he's really thorough. I mean for an actor you just want you just want a a put this like a full opportunity, right? You really want to be able to show off and sometimes when you do have to read or audition for stuff. It's it's it's really quick and someone's not a director or producer or casting person is not paying attention, but that is not Jason. You are not leaving that room until he gets, you know, a lot of options and really it really puts you through the work and I he did that for me going way back on on on casual. I'm not sure I was the obvious choice for that either, but he he gave me a chance to to show off and it worked out. Well, as I said earlier, hopefully with the release of these two films this year, you'll start to become people's obvious choice moving forward. I think it's pretty evident that you've got really exceptional talent. I personally have not seen casual, but now I'm like tempted to check it out now at this point. I will say it's still there. It's still, yeah, it's still on the Internet going off of that. Yeah, but going off of that, though, so you get the role Michael Donahue O'Donohue is not now no longer with us has been for quite some time. So what is your reference point for how you capture his essence, his personality? Like, what do you turn to for that? Well, you know, like we all do these days go to I go to, you know, YouTube University for a little while. There's not a lot out there on you. There's, you know, a good 10 minutes on the entire Internet, but so I just start listening to him and watching him on a loop to get a sense of of of body language and voice and stuff like that. I mean, I'm I'm playing a little bit of a different game than then then, you know, Corey and Matt and some of those people that were playing the icons in this movie, whereas a physical and vocal likeness was, I think, more important, frankly, whereas people don't have as much of an awareness of Michael Donahue, but I still wanted to get as close as possible and just really, really capture that subversive spirit. Then you talk about dry delivery and stuff like that. I mean, man, O'Donohue could slice you open with with a throwaway line, just some literature, no sub vocal something. And that comes across in the interviews and stuff. And there is a there's a biography of Mike called Mr. Mike. And then one of the most important. Pieces of research was talking to Mitch Glazer, who was O'Donohue's writing longtime writing partner, wrote Scrooge with Mitch. Bill Murray happened to be at Mitch's house when I had that session and dipped into our meeting and shared some stories also. And what Mitch said to me was I said, if there was one headline, what would it be? And he said, just never forget that Mike was having fun. He enjoyed this. He wasn't it wasn't as if he was looking to hurt people and take people down for the sake of doing that. He was always the smartest guy in the room and took great joy in winding people up. It's kind of how he got through the day. So it was that idea of joy and fun that I think was the key to unlocking it. He's a dark figure in the movie. He is a he is a black hole that threatens to suck the whole show down with him. But you play that too hard or too broadly. I don't think it works. I think you've got to see the twinkle in it. And that's so if the ship is going down, he's one maniacally laughing basically. That's exactly right. I mean, he was Bill Murray said something to me that it was also helpful of which was that Mike loved a big swing and he was either going to if he went into a pitch meeting, he was either going to leave a hero or be kicked out of the room. And I thought yeah, that that feels like something I can I can sort of sink my teeth on to one of the one of the cornerstones of building this performance. So that was really helpful. And then, you know, you kind of do all that work and then you got a then you kind of got to forget it and just show up and do the acting and the I'm probably getting ahead of us, but and I'll stop rambling in a sec. But but that there was something about Jason's full recreation of Studio 8-H that you could shoot any angle move in and out of rooms. I mean, you completely rebuilt the thing in a soundstage in Atlanta obviously set in the mid 70s. He had trained the the background actors got training and how to operate all that old equipment. So it was a fully immersive experience and it was one set you never left. So after an hour there every morning you do kind of time travel and and to the extent you're able to give yourself over to that process. It's really it's really good for acting, you know, when you have an immersive set like that where you can go anywhere and still be a part of this world that Jason is recreated. What are you doing most of the time when you're waiting for your time in front of the camera? Like what? Well, how are you passing the time between takes? I was watching Jason and his team work the the the way that that squad operates is really impressive. It's Jason when started every day with the whiteboard almost like a football coach. And like, here's how we're going to move around this space today and he really empowers his camera team to find stuff. So on one hand, you really can't relax when you're not on camera because you might be on camera. They're they're fine. They're always finding and doing that all many kind of zooming across the room and getting reaction and stuff like that. But I did it wasn't one of those jobs where I was retreating to my trailer and taking a nap or you know, binge watching something I stuck around because I like to I like watching this process and seeing how it how it worked and it's a big fun cast, you know, it was like it was like summer camp. It was fun fun people to to be around and I'm an actor nerd. I like I like show people. I like hanging out with them and cutting up and all that stuff. So it was it was a great gig in that respect. Now, I'm just curious from watching Jason working with him as closely as you have as well over the years. Does that give you kind of a little bit of an itch to want to try directing yourself? I'd love to direct. I mean, I think it's, you know, waiting for the right thing that feels like, you know, that I I kind of have to, you know, be like, I I feel like something that's personal and and so totally specific, but I mentioned to The problem with watching someone who's so good at all of it, including the tech stuff with Jason, you think I mean, like I got a long way to go, you know, but I would really like to I in in any endeavor. I like to be as involved as they will let me. I just think the the work in front of the camera only benefits from that that your monster movie, which was my my my other release this month. I was a producer on it's been a lot of time in post and I am that's the way, you know, sometimes you're just a hired gun, but if if given the choice, I like to be brought in early read early drafts, you know, all that stuff. So I am totally yeah. So when talking about the script for Saturday night, which I think has like so many outrageously funny zingers and lines is all that pre-written or do you guys get a little bit of a local room to play around on set and maybe ablib a little or improvise good question. There's there's a little room for that, but but not much that script is really musical and tight and and and and Jason and Gil write really good jokes. And so I would rather but fuck can serve and make these changes is something that was pre-written is what you're telling me that wasn't me that wasn't me mom correct and also I think it's a little scarier to improvise in a period piece. I know it's only 1975 but I think that they they did so much research on their end to to make that all seamless that there wasn't a lot of it. I have heard Jason we were doing an interview way back in the day for casual if we were doing a panel somewhere and someone said do you do you like actors to improvise and and he said something to the extent of what they can improvise with their faces as much as they want. So I haven't forgotten that Jason so not not not a ton of it on this but there were days where it would need a little piece of dialogue or something to cover something so it wasn't terribly strict in that way. But this this script was so tight not not a ton of it on this cake. Yeah, what was the most fun day on set for you? There were a couple days where John Batiste was there and was it was it was just a jam session and play between setups. He's so talent speaking of improvisational and he had this great band and I don't I don't know music very well. I'll speak about it poorly but but the bottom line was they would just you know on a turnaround Frank up the band and play and we were all just kind of hanging out and watching it drinking our coffee. I I just remember that day being full of joy and that kind of pinch me like they're paying me for this, you know, this is this is one of one of our great musicians who I get to you know, you share a room with for 12 hours and he's going to he's going to play music when you know when we're on a break. I can think of that also. I just love shooting that scene with Kathy that that day was great. JK Simmons sat in and watch from Video Village. I've gotten to know JK a little bit. I got I got to meet Tracy let's yeah, right. He was sitting right behind me. That was another really really special day. Nerve-wracking when you know an Oscar winner and a Pulitzer winner, you know, show up on set five minutes before your coverage, but but awesome. Well, a lot of your scenes are also shared with little mini Steven Spielberg himself Gabriel Labelle who I love Gabriel. He's a he's a great guy and I'm really happy to see his career continuing to blossom as well very very few film credits. I'm just curious to know like in terms of your dynamic, did you guys like swap like any kind of like did like did you provide him with like any pieces of advice or anything like that? Or was he just always like was he just game? Was he always on? I know I'm just curious at this stage in his career like where he's at. I mean, yeah, like, well, it's a it's a short list because apparently he can only play icons. The bar is set so high for Gabe now, right? He does it he is is the most lovely guy. In fact, I had my I had my wife and kid visiting and he had a bigger apartment and he was as you know, really busy, you know, would go home every day and have to drill lines because he's the you know, he's what takes you through the whole movie and he heard that and I only had this one bedroom and he said, you should take my apartment. And that night he traded apartments with me. We moved each other's stuff in and out and vice versa. So that's that's the kind of guy he is. I'm not one to give it, you know, offer unsolicited advice. And he is such a cinephile. He's seen everything. And he's you know, it's really impressive for someone young. And I hope this doesn't sound patronizing. But someone with young and not many credits like you usually see the work, you know, you usually see him pushing a little bit and you just don't with Gabe. He's just got it. He's just in it, you know, and there's especially with something like this when you're paying a known figure with a known talk about a known voice. Everybody in the world has a Lorne Michaels impression, but to be able to underplay all that and find the nuance in that was was really impressive. And you and you know him. He's got this. He's got this great. Maybe this is the energy of youth, but he is I didn't see him tire or complain or anything. So I don't even remember what your question was, but I don't know. No. Yeah, I do like it was like talking shop with a much older, more experienced actor. Put it that way. It was like sure. Sure. And we're not here to talk about shit about Gabriel about we're here to understand the depth of his incredible talent, if anything, because I am super impressed by him. Like I said, with so few credits that he carries himself with such professionalism and really with like a seasoned mentality of someone that's been doing this way longer than he has. And like you said, to shoulder a project like this or like Fableman's, you know, on him at this stage in his career is mightily impressive. So yeah, and then kind of piggybacking off of that here, you know, you have your monster event also just came out. Finally, my God, I saw this movie like back at Sundance, and I was like wondering if it was ever going to find its way out into the world. And, you know, for smaller films like this, independent films, like the marketplace is so tough now to forget about even releasing, just even getting it off the ground and getting it made is in and of itself. When it comes to balancing, you know, smaller projects like that, you mentioned before you were a producer on your monster. So having a hands-on approach to something like that and ushering that into the world. Can you just like take me through a little bit? Like just what is the current state like right now within the industry for independent films and getting them off the ground because from the outside looking in, it feels like it's becoming more and more constricted. I know and you know, some of that's above my pay grade. But for this thing, I think I mean, it made me so grateful for the what I think is still and actually I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on that. I do feel like the festival world is still very robust that there's still a it is those festivals. Still have this great very real energy around them in that. Yes, I this the second I fly home from Sundance I get cynical again, but man while I am there it still has that magic to it. I here's my maybe Pollyanna optimistic take on it, but because of that energy and because people are still finding ways to cobble money together and make these inspiring movies and I think there are a lot of good ones this year. I I'm proud that your monster is is of what we were able to do with it. And I think it is a it is one of those good movies. Is that as things contract and I don't know, but as more commercial studio kind of stuff becomes more rule-bound, I think maybe it opens up a little vacuum space for Indy for Indy films this. I can't take much too much credit for it. Caroline Lindy who wrote and directed it and Kayla Foster her lead producer on it. Really just never took their foot off the gas. This was a short film and you know, how many how many gazillions of short films have people made being like and I've got a feature version to you know, and actually happened, you know, they it was developed as a TV show, you know, it was it had many different forms as a feature and then finally four years after we made the short three four years after me in the short. We found money to go make the feature-length version of it and then the did not expect them at all. That was huge. Especially that placement in the midnight section, which kind of turned people on to it and and then the sale out of there. So it all feels like you know on one at one one side. Maybe I'm being you know, a little too pie in the sky about Indy films on the other hand. This did feel like a miracle that it that it made it this far. And I think I don't know any other way to say that. It's like you've got to have a you know, a creator director writer type and then one or two producers that that just will not let it go, you know to get these things out into the world. It's really just an a personal energy-driven thing that you just you hear no 99 times and a hundred times that is the one that you know, that gets you get you into the end zone. I'm rambling now, but the but but but yes, it is hard but then you kind of get out there in it in that Indy community and it kind of feels the same as it did 20 years ago. I mean, you know, I don't know a stubborn artist really ever go anywhere. Just kind of try to keep doing it. I wish it'd be nice. If you you know, I do think maybe those giant payday instead of out of you know, Sundance and South by whenever I don't know if and when we we see those again, especially at scale, you know, there was a there was the bit. What was the what's inside this year was yeah big money thing. But that was it. That was really it and it was yeah, it wasn't that much this year for sure. Right? So but you know just in terms of paying the bills be nice at those days came back but anyway, that's my 10-minute answer to your short question. I'm sure you've been asked this before but I don't know the answer. How many hours in the makeup chair? Four and a half and an hour at night, but it was this guy Dave Anderson who's got a couple Oscars. I wouldn't dare get into his resume now. It's too long. But the he has this really and I've said this a bunch but he had this really Zen. Just this really kind of calming quality that I did not mind it and I'd either listen to a book on tape or learn lines or chat with Dave. So I went in thinking oh god, this is going to be a nightmare and it really it really wasn't so bad and you know is good going back to the beginning of our conversation. I I'd never gotten to do that before. So this is I was I was kind of a kid in a candy store. It's like the stuff you you know, like it's going back to being five years old and wanting to you know, play dress-up and put on a play for your parents. Yeah, it was it was that exhilarating really working on it. So yeah favorite line that your character gets to say in Saturday night. That's a great great question. There's so many good ones. Oh, yes. And then you know again credit to Jason and you'll there is the I love the speech. It is a little speech where he kind of points out the sensors hypocrisy and in the middle of the movie and this is a simple line. It's not a joke line, but it's such a great header for that speech. He goes I've got an idea for a sketch. I'm not sure if it's funny you can be the judge and that is just that's just Michael O'Donohue and I know that's maybe an unexpected answer to your question, but he is just turning that turning her bullshit back on her. Yeah, and we in certain, you know, full theater festival viewings of it. You can kind of hear everybody catch their breath being like, Oh the shits about to go down. Yeah, like oh, yeah, he just he just teed her up for a takedown just with that little header line. But then some of this stuff isn't is not jokey at all. He said the end of the first scene that he has with her in the control room. I forget what she says. I think she's she says I know what blue balls are and he just goes you don't say yeah, I love I love I end up really loving the smaller throwaway stuff as opposed to the perfectly crafted joke line. Yeah, like a big bird died from auto erotic asphyxiation and you're just like who knew? Yeah. Yeah, and then after I don't need to reperform the whole movie for you, but then there's a line and and what is he? What does he say? Jim Henson says says some, you know, goofy nerdy thing and and O'Donoghue goes, oh, cursing. I mean, it was a delight. It was just a delight to play that guy. Yeah. Yeah. So as we come to the end here, Tommy, I really appreciate the time, but I want to ask something that I ask a lot of our guests on the show here. What's next? What's in the future for you? Oh, that's a great question. I wish I knew. I'm writing a bunch. I've always been a I've always moonlit as a as a writer. So I'm working on, you know, putting some stuff together for myself that, you know, will hopefully hit the marketplace in the new year. But I'm just I'm just reading stuff right now. Very busy fall for which I'm very grateful. These two movies and it's that trick of like trying to be patient and picky but like I also really like to work, you know, so yeah, I'm doing friends. I don't think I'm at Liberty to say what it is, but I'm doing a friend short film next week just because I it's good a but be I can't help myself. I I collect rust if I'm not working. So yeah. Well, as I said, it's half of our conversation here being such a standout and such a large ensemble cast is Saturday night suffering for hours in the makeup chair for your monster and proving yourself as a charming romantic lead. I mean, let's face it. You've always been charming, but I'm really really hopeful that the double whammy of these two releases so close to each other opens up even more doors for you. Tommy and hopefully we can do this again soon in the future. I'd so appreciate that Matt. I appreciate you having me on. I'm a big fan of the podcast and just to thank you. Yeah, it's great. So keep doing what you're doing. And thank you so much for having me and I look forward to coming back sometime. All right, man. Take care. All right. See you, bud.