PL: So in a way, she’s the one who got away. [all laugh]
DF: We can still put that on the posters – it’s not too late! I’m curious, and I swear I’m not fishing for compliments, you guys are so good at identifying how to use actors in a way where they can really shine, for 21 Jump Street and The Afterparty, why did you think I was right for those roles?

PL: It’s funny, they’re both sort of roles that are heels, right?
CM: You’re the charismatic douche in both. [all laugh]
PL: They’re both characters you have to sympathise with, and have to say some ridiculous things, like “ja feel,” with total commitment.
DF: [laughs] As a sidenote, I remember when we were doing that scene [in 21 Jump Street] and it’s written on the page, “I don’t believe in possession, ja feel,” and I remember being like, “Ja feel? This must be some sort of lingo I don’t know, so I’m just going to kind of throw it away.” But you guys were like, “No, no, hit the ‘ja.’” [laughs]

PL: Yeah, [your character] saw one documentary about Jamaica and worked in some Patois. [laughs]
CM: It’s funny that we’ve cast you as douches on multiple occasions and yet you’re the least douchey person in real life. To Phil’s point, those characters don’t work if you hate-hate them, you kind of have to love them and then it’s more delicious when you don’t like them.
DF: Most people who meet me think I’m a douche based on those roles. [laughs]

PL: You’re a good actor – that’s why! We want to work with people who are in on the joke and can help us do it, rather than someone who’s confused and thinks they’re just doing a dramatic role.
DF: It’s obviously credit to your writing as well, you give these characters their moment to show that vulnerability.

PL: My experience with you as a friend is that you’re always asking people what’s going on, you’re a great listener, you want to create fellowship. That’s a great thing to sense in a character, that they’re really reaching out. I think that’s why you got so much out of Jonah in those scenes.
DF: It’s interesting. I realised that when I was part of these big comedy ensembles, I was never going to be the guy who keeps up with Jonah or Seth Rogen, they’re throwing out so many jokes and they’re so quick. What I realised was, “Nobody is asking me to keep up with those guys, I just need to listen and play everything as earnestly and real as possible and let the humour come from that.” But what I would say is that The Afterparty was a different scenario, it was maybe the first time where I was playing the completely ridiculous character who was throwing out the insane one-liners. I remember going into it feeling a little vulnerable, like, “Can I pull this off?” But because it was you guys and I have so much trust in you, it allowed me to put myself out there and take these huge swings knowing you’ll never make me look stupid. If I ever go too far, you’ll reel me back in, but for the most part you were like, “Go crazy, let’s see what happens.”

CM: You and your scene partners would also build of one another. I think about the many scenes with you and Ike Barinholtz, where you’d take the scene on the page to a much crazier place, where you had this weirdly sexual energy between the two of you.
DF: You didn’t know whether we’d fuck or fight – and that was most definitely not on the page. [all laugh]

PL: On set you have to retain a sense of playfulness, and I think you do that really well. I feel that in your new movie.
DF: What’s your criteria when taking on new projects?

CM: Similar to you, is it something interesting? Is it putting something out into the world that you haven’t seen before? Does it have anything to say that we care about? Then there’s the masochistic challenge of, “I’m not totally sure how to do this.”
DF: It makes me think about 21 Jump Street, I’m sure when people heard that you were going to remake it as a comedy they were like, “What the fuck are you doing?”

PL: “Why?! Why are you doing this?! [all laugh] We obviously like telling stories about two people who work together and are in love – it’s something we can’t seem to escape. I remember Channing Tatum telling me that he was going to play his character in Jump Street the same way he played The Vow [Dave laughs], a movie about trying to get someone to fall in love with you in every single scene. He was like, “I’m going to try get Jonah to fall in love with me in every scene.” And it worked!
DF: Amazing. That’s an example of you guys casting someone to do something they weren’t necessarily known for, and it working extremely well. Tapping into what makes Channing so loveable as a human and infusing that into the character.

PL: We were pretty sceptical, but he’d done… a Funny or Die video, believe it or not, with Charlyne Yi where he’s Patrick Swayze and she’s Jennifer Grey [laughs]. It’s so straight and earnest, so funny. He’s wearing a silly wig and you’re like, “Oh, that guy’s not afraid to make fun of himself.” Then we had lunch and he was so good at hitting the ball back and we laughed so much. We were like, this is great, it’s a romantic comedy with these two guys and they’re in love but don’t realise it [laughs]. So we needed someone who could be a romantic comedy lead.
CM: When you cast for your films, what are you looking for?
DF: With this latest one, the tone of the movie is not super jokey, even though there is comedy throughout. I really wanted to bring in people who could seamlessly navigate back-and-forth between genres where it didn’t feel jarring. So it was almost trying to tap into what I said earlier about how I succeed in comedy, throwing these people into strange situations and having them play it as real as possible.

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