How many of us would choose to live out our meet cute again and again if we could?
There was room for this to be a more honest rom-com.
I don’t know.
In my twenties, sure, that sounded great.
Today I’m [like] giant eye roll.
My wife and I will give you a giant eye roll together.
Also, the commitment that these two characters have, the amount of B.S.
they put up with, because they believe in the relationship …
It’s not a perfect relationship, and they know that, yet they’re still committed to it.
That’s romantic to me.
It’s a very honest romance, and that’s why it hooked me.
There was a huge question …
I’ll give you the hard one first.
The hard one was Gary.
I didn’t exactly know what we were looking for in Gary.
He’s somebody that can take the weight off your world by making a joke and being silly.
Yet he still embodied this element of pain and hurt, and I wanted to save him.
We all wanted to save Pete Davidson.
That’s what Kaley’s so fantastic at.
She is so underrated as a comedic actress.
All that “Big Bang Theory” and all she’s got her timing down to the microsecond.
Yet she’s got the dramatic chops behind all that comedy.
She’s unlike anyone.
I knew Sheila needed to be that Ferrari the energy, driving it all.
Were there any moments in particular that impressed you?
It would impress me when Pete could do five minutes of comedy on the movie “Jaws.”
But also, it’s not just comedic improv.
It’s dramatic improv, and I’ve done it on all my films.
and then chasing that.
You find out what’s going on and make a run at capture that human, in-the-moment experience.
There’s no PG story I can tell.
Can you talk about logistically what went into that?
But there was no improv in Sheila hitting herself in the car.
That one we figured out in advance.
It was the most planned out and down to the minute.
We went hard for six hours.
It was a really interesting experience, so different than the tone of the rest of the film.
What did you feel was most important to depict when it came to Sheila’s mental health?
I don’t know.
I think we walked the line there.
We didn’t want to upset anybody.
But Sheila’s Sheila.
We wanted to be our own thing.
Then, what are all these characters in rom-coms doing?
Were there any films or rom-coms in particular that inspired you while making “Meet Cute”?
It’s still a very honest story, so “Eternal Sunshine” was a model for that.
What was it like shooting in the dark in New York City on the streets?
Well, New York City is never dark.
[Laughs] That’s the beauty of it.
John Matysiak, our DP, did such a great job.
We feel the city lights on the actors' faces.
That’s the best, where a lot of the backdrop was real New York City.
Man, that is a great question.
I’ve always loved relationships, and I love the idea of love.
I laughed so hard for a month straight.
Forget the world’s problems and laugh.
What projects do you have coming up next?
There’s a couple exciting things.
I can’t talk about them yet, but Pete and I have been talking.
Kaley and I have been talking.
We all had so much fun.
We would love to work together again, and I’m excited about the future …
There’s our closer.
Unlike Sheila, I am very excited about tomorrow.
“Meet Cute” is available to stream Wednesday, September 21 exclusively on Peacock.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
