In Cyrus, John C. Reilly plays John, a dejected, idle, middle-aged divorcee on the verge of withdrawing completely from the world. Still strangely close to his ex-wife (Catherine Keener), love for him is a belated, bad joke. Invited to a party that initially offers little relief from his miserable life, he quickly drinks, over shares, and becomes exceedingly vulnerable with women. Through the powers of spirited desperation and The Human League's "Don't You Want Me," he meets Molly (Marisa Tomei), with whom he has an immediate, punch-drunk connection. But, just as things appear to be making sense, Cyrus (Jonah Hill), Molly's twenty-one-year-old son, upsets the harmony with his unyielding manner and troubling, sometimes threatening sense of humor. Under the direction of Mark and Jay Duplass (The Puffy Chair, Humpday), the sparring and riotously paranoid Cold War that erupts between John and Cyrus blends comedy and candor. Varying in pitch and largely intuitive, Cyrus revels in the genuine breakdown and wonder of new relationships. I spoke with stars John C. Reilly and Jonah Hill after the film's SxSW premiere:
DURGA CHEW-BOSE: Cyrus was very well received last night at the Paramount, how did that feel?
JOHN C. REILLY: It felt great! And you know, the movie plays really well and I think it's surprising people with its honesty. The dialogue in the movie is very much like the way real people talk, which turns out to be kind of revolutionary compared to a lot of movies. But also Austin, like Sundance was, is a real movie lover town. No matter what kind of movie it is, Austin audiences go crazy for it! Plus Mark and Jay are local heroes, so there was a lot of love there for that reason.
CHEW-BOSE: You've expressed an interest in spreading the "Duplassian" method of shedding the storyboard way of filmmaking. Can you elaborate on how that worked on set for you both as actors?
JONAH HILL: My background from Judd Apatow and friends like Greg Mottola–great filmmakers who I love and have worked with–were pretty good about letting us open up and try and find something new and different. But it was never to this degree, on this film. Mark and Jay created a beautiful platform and we just had to walk on it without falling off. That's why their films are unique because something so bizarre and tone shifting can happen and no one knows it's going to happen...
REILLY: Including them you know...
HILL: And you can see them getting excited about it and us being shocked, or John saying something that I am completely unaware is going to happen. I appreciate Mark and Jay for embracing that.
CHEW-BOSE: In the movie, Marisa Tomei is a very convincing...
REILLY:...dysfunctional hippie mom?
CHEW-BOSE: Yes!
HILL: Yeah.
CHEW-BOSE: Her performance really brought the story together and the character of Molly brought worth to this dueling tension between John and Cyrus. Because there were no rehearsals, how did that chemistry between you three come about?
HILL: Although we didn't rehearse with each other, I think everyone spent a lot of time talking with Mark and Jay about their character, personally. They were really attentive to each character and purposefully didn't work with us as all together. I liked that because I didn't know what they were telling John or Marisa. They kept everything separate which was cool because I didn't know sometimes where the other person was coming from. A lot of the time directors give directions for everyone, which is fun sometimes, but it was the first time for me where I was pulled aside and given individual direction that no one else knew about. It was fun to surprise each other.
REILLY: There's a lot of scenes like that in the movie where people are angling for position without the knowledge of the other people.
CHEW-BOSE: It did get pretty nasty at some points.
REILLY: Yeah, people get really desperate you know. We were going to call the movie, at one point, "You Belong to Me." That's not a joke. Everyone is angling!
CHEW-BOSE: The Duplass brother films layer so many emotions in one single moment and it never feels inauthentic or strained...
HILL: It's never forced.
CHEW-BOSE: It can be both tragic and tender, and angry. At times during the film, the audience might laugh but also feel guilty for laughing, I love that. How was it acting those very Duplassian, multi-emotional scenes?
REILLY: My life is very different than John's life, but emotionally you go through that. You know if you're really being honest with yourself when you're acting, part of it is touching the real you. You can only separate yourself so much from the character. Those vulnerable moments do touch me.
CHEW-BOSE: And for you, Jonah, since comedy is your main platform, what was this experience like? Tonally, there were many, rapid shifts.
HILL: I think you touched on something very interesting before which I think relates to this question very closely. Mark and Jay's films don't ever reach a place where you don't believe what's happening. And I think that's why all of those things can be in the same movie because a big set piece never happens that doesn't feel true to life. There have so many conversations in my life that have been funny and happy, and dark, all in the same hour of conversation, a break-up conversation, a conversation with family. I think Mark and Jay capture a lot. Where as in most movies when there is a conversation that's tough it usually sticks to being tough or being dark and it's usually kept to one shade. Mark and Jay capture how genuinely conversations shift from being hilarious and uncomfortable to really heartbreaking, to really sweet.
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