At a nearby table, one couple is going on a blind date gone very wrong.
Back in the kitchen, a waitress and busboy are working a drug deal behind the scenes.
I’m grateful for being known as a comedian, but I’ve done other dramatic roles.
I understand that perception is 90% of this industry.
I always think of myself as this Midwestern nudge.
People think that a Midwestern person’s going to be polite, but I’m not.
I don’t know if that makes sense.
For much of the movie, your character Peter is alone.
Do you approach scenes where you’re by yourself any differently than if you were working with other actors?
It was a unique challenge, but I did know that it was Drea [de Matteo].
There was a lot of sitting by myself, and I didn’t want to play the same note.
Drea de Matteo:The script really blew me away.
It was right in the middle of the whole COVID thing.
Nobody was getting to act that much.
I felt like it was also placed in one location over one night with a bunch of different couples.
Mukunda [Michael Dewil]’s script was so perfect.
I felt like it was amazing.
Once I was there watching him do it, I was like, “Wow.
This is going to be pretty unbelievable.”
There’s all these things going on in one location.
What message do you hope that viewers take away from this film?
Do you think that message is different depending on whether it’s Peter’s or Angie’s perspective?
The only message you could say is don’t go on a blind date.
Jim, you’ve worked with Kat Graham on “17 Again” in the past.
Did you two meet any of the other actors while you were filming?
It was split up, and there were these individual storylines.
There wasn’t, even in the group scene some of it was COVID.
You had to do it in pieces.
I needed to know what was happening, and processing the betrayal.
De Matteo:Jim and I also probably had only a few moments together.
Everything was more us hanging out in the holding area.
De Matteo:Yeah.
I only met David, really, and you.
“Collide” is now playing in select theaters.
It will be available on demand Friday, August 12.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
