Paul Feig exclusive interview: 'I don't think I would have done Jackpot had it been more cynical about humanity'
In this exclusive interview with Hindustan Times, Paul Feig also shares his love for Jackie Chan's brand of physical comedy and how that inspired Jackpot.
Paul Feig has been directing movies in Hollywood for more than a decade, having delivered comedies like Bridesmaids, The Spy, Ghostbusters, A Simple Favor, and Last Christmas. He is back with his next film, Jackpot, which stars Awkwafina and John Cena as an unlikely duo trying their best to escape being the target of a multi-billion dollar jackpot lottery. (Also read: Shaking Shah Rukh Khan's hand at Ambani wedding in Mumbai was emotional: ‘Awestruck’ John Cena recalls meeting)
In this exclusive interview with Hindustan Times, Paul Feig sat down to talk about making Jackpot, how his love for Jackie Chan movies inspired him to make the action-comedy, and what change he wants to see in the near future.
You've said in an interview that with Jackpot you finally got to make a Jackie Chan movie. Tell me a little bit about your love for those movies and what inspired you the most about them
I mean, I love Jackie Chan's style of physical comedy. He is always great as a loveable kind of innocent character who gets caught in really bad situations and he doesn't want to be there. Its fun to watch him get out of it with whatever skills he has or with whatever is available to him. Whether it's a ladder or a bottle! I find it really fun! So, I have always wanted to do that with one of my movies and got to play that idea little bit in my movie Spy... but I always felt there was a way to get much more action in a way that he has got so many action scenes in his movies. I love the Police Story movies that he did and they are really fun with a driving engine with good villains. I love Drunken Master too its one of my favourites, I think the fight scenes over there are so inventive. Yeah so I really wanted to bring all that to this film.
As a director how do you see the state of comedy movies today? What do you think draws people to comedy?
{{/usCountry}}As a director how do you see the state of comedy movies today? What do you think draws people to comedy?
{{/usCountry}}I think these days comedy has to relatable, it has to be surprising but it has to feel honest. The comedies of the 90s were amped up with big and crazy characters... I think these days people aren't much into that as it doesn't feel as honest to them. So they really want to invest in real characters who can be in whatever situations you need as long as it feels believable. Even if it's pushed in those situations with those characters acting funny as people would do and not just say a bunch of written jokes.
The vision of future in Jackpot is that of course there is chaos and a lot of unruliness. But there's also space for human compassion and friendship. Tell me a little about that aspect and was it something that you really wanted to bring in the script.
{{/usCountry}}I think these days comedy has to relatable, it has to be surprising but it has to feel honest. The comedies of the 90s were amped up with big and crazy characters... I think these days people aren't much into that as it doesn't feel as honest to them. So they really want to invest in real characters who can be in whatever situations you need as long as it feels believable. Even if it's pushed in those situations with those characters acting funny as people would do and not just say a bunch of written jokes.
The vision of future in Jackpot is that of course there is chaos and a lot of unruliness. But there's also space for human compassion and friendship. Tell me a little about that aspect and was it something that you really wanted to bring in the script.
{{/usCountry}}Yeah, I don't think I would have done this movie had it been more cynical about humanity. When I first started reading the script, I was like, 'Oh, is this gonna be like The Purge?' I like The Purge movies because they are pretty cynical. What I liked is, like you said, that there is humanity around this. Everybody is not involved with it. People buy into it who want to do it but there's more people who don't approve of it who are around, outside of it. The fact that this was a story about a woman who has lost trust in people and it's this whole big experience that allows her to trust somebody again, with John Cena's character. I think that's really lovely. I am looking for something to be good natured at the end of the day. It can get dark, it can get crazy but the end message is people are okay. Humankind is not lost.
Tell me a little bit about working with Awkwafina and John Cena on Jackpot. We haven't seen Awkwafina in a role this, where's she is doing so much action...
Yeah! Awkwafina and John were both attached to the movie when I read the script so that was a gift. I have been friends with Awkwafina for a while and I wanted to work together. But what I loved about her was that she is not known for action and that's the character I want. She's one of us, somebody who gets thrown into this extreme situation and then with her training... she was just going to get the choreography and be believable as somebody who is completely over their head and tries to figure it out. She is so relatable in those scenes, where we are going like, 'Oh my god, if that was me!'
Lastly, tell us about one aspect about the world that you would want to see changed or updated by the year 2030!
(Laughs) I would like us all to get a little kinder with each other. I wish we weren't so divided in so many things. I think we have been so polarized by things that we read and the misinformation that we read and then there are opinions and affiliations to whoever is our leader at that time... I think it has gotten a little too 'sports-team' oriented. You know how you are so loyal to your team that your team can do no wrong? I don't think life can be like that. It is cool for sports but let's keep that out of life. Let's be a little more tolerant with each other.
Jackpot premieres on Prime Video on August 15.
