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Tell me what specifically appealed to you aboutPalm Springs.I really liked how deeply flawed Sarah is.
I think thats what I love about the time-loop mechanism.
Yes, its sci-fi, but were experiencing that right now in quarantine.
At the beginning, people were like, Oh, we cant escape ourselves.
Its, like, one of the great works of ones life to learn how not to escape yourself.
How much do you relate to the philosophy of the film?
Id describe it as a sort of hopeful nihilism.It did resonate with me.
Theres something about it we do repeat the same patterns.
We do sometimes feel like we cant get away.
So much of Sarahs journey, I think, is her inability to escape her shame.
This world is wildly overwhelming, and its easy to numb yourself.
Its easy to tell yourself that you dont care, because the stakes are so high.
And she chooses to do something about it, you know?
I really loved that when I read that.
Was it even stranger to do the same thing like 100 more times?It was!
But I kept very detailed notes.
I had my script with me at all times, and I would track on every page.
It was veryBeautiful Mindstyle, scribbled everywhere, especially because shooting out of order is just so insane.
We shot all the stuff where I wake up in one day.
We had the bed for that one day, and that was the first day of shooting.
This is the thing that just happened.
This is the information I know at this point about him.
This is the information that he knows about me.
How many days did it take you to film all the wedding scenes?I think a week.
It was in these chunks.
At first, shes waking up and fighting this, fighting this, fighting this.
Its just a very slow burn of her finally accepting where she is.
It was fun to be able to play that.
You know that phrase, Lesprit de lescalier?
I live in that when Im shooting.
Where Im like,Fuck!
Its kind of a perfectionists dream.Yes!
Its a perfectionists dream!
A control enthusiasts dream.
I dont call myself a control freak anymore.
We did talk a lot about that scene.
That was a scene we kept pretty loose.
Hes a fucking sad boy, and hes in love with his own grief and his own nihilism.
Thats an uncomfortable scene, and I thought he was so beautiful in it.
We really went toe to toe.
I was really trying to Richard Gere him just pull a reverse Richard Gere![Laughs.]
That was very, very, very loose.
We were pretty loose when we were in the car.
The montage was pretty loose.
It was a blast, I gotta say.
I wanted to talk about the dancing scene because its incredible.
How did you guys put that together?
How long were you rehearsing?Are you aShowgirlsfan?
I want to verify I get the characters name right.
Okay, Michelle Johnston, who played Gay inShowgirls.
Yes, yes.Get her some brown rice and vegetables and a bottle of Evian!
She was such a blast, so much fun to work with.
I loved working with her.
When we bust bring up the doors!
That scene stood out to me, and so did the cake-bomb scene you mentioned.
You improvised the accent?
Was that a spur-of-the-moment choice you made?No, I knew like a day before.
I went to the props department and said, Can you get me the jankiest hook and eye patch?
They did and then I hid it under my jacket.
Did you keep filming through that take, or did Andy break?We kept filming.
I think everything thats there is what happened.
I asked for it in the campfire scene, and I had it hidden under my coat.
So when Andy replies to your pirate costume with Shes of unknown origins!
that was all on the spot?Thats totally him making it up.
And Connor OMalley everything he says is improvised.
What sort of conversations were you guys having about quantum physics on set?
Not the scene itself but the fact that it was cut.
There was a three-page speech Sarah had about quantum physics and how she figures out the time loop.
They sat with physicists, FaceTimed with scientists, and it was actually fully down.
And I have a folder called Cauchy You Stay.
Its just about the different types of black holes and how they work.
Theres a ton of YouTube videos about Quantum Physics for Dummies.
And then they cut the whole scene.
Maybe a couple of lines made it.
I remember when I saw it for the first time I was like, What?!
But it is incredible to know how it all happens.
Do you feel you could confidently explain it right now?Not at all.
So it kind of just fell out of your head.Much like my education in New Jersey growing up.
So I have atoms in me that belonged to dinosaurs.
I find that to beverycool!
Speaking of dinosaurs, I want to hear about the dinosaur scene.
I also am a huge fan of magical realism.
I love things that are unexplained.
I binged all ofBetter Thingsin quarantine.
The things they do with Duke, the youngest daughter, and the ghosts.
I was watching it, and I was like,Thats incredible.And they never explain it.
I think its all something we intrinsically understood.
The end of the film is sort of a vote for monogamy.
What are your own feelings on monogamy as a concept?My own feelings are sort of constantly shifting.
I feel like its such a personal choice, you know?
I have friends who met at 19 and got married and are still together and are wildly in love.
I have friends who are in open relationships, and that works for them.
I think women are told theyre gonna be rescued by someone.
Thats what we all grew up watching.
I dont know if youve watchedPretty Womanrecently, but it does not hold up, like, at all.
Shes like,Okay, fine.
Hes kind of cute.
All right, fuck it!
I know thats not necessarily monogamy.
I do believe that its possible.
Its definitely something that I would also like in my life.
