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Julia Louis-Dreyfus knew that filming a remake of 2014s critically beloved Scandinavian ski satireForce Majeurewas a major risk.
Ultimately, theyre all fine just a bit shaken but none of them can unsee Petes abrupt abandonment.
And its true: Louis-Dreyfuss performance isnt exactly comedic.
First, though, we had to talk about our sweaters.
I love I love that sweater.
Thats what I was just going to say.
Should we switch?We should.
Can I feel it?
[Reaches over and feels my arm.]
Ugh, and with these shoes?
Our sweaters are actually quite similar.Were very similar vibes right now.
So when did you see the originalForce Majeure?I saw it close to when it first came out.
Searchlight screened it for me.
I dont actually think it was in theaters yet, in the States.
They screened it at the studio because we were talking about the possibility of adapting it.
Oh, before youd even seen it?Yes.
And I loved it.
I was positively thunderstruck by it.
And all of a sudden what you think is one way, is another way.
A really extreme shift.
Thats what was appealing to me.
And Im not kidding you, I said what I just said to you.
Thats how it began.
Ever?Believe it or not, I have not.
]Hes seen [Downhill].
He loves the movie.
Hes said some nice things about the movie.
But we didnt collaborate during the process.
Sorry, I have to eat this chocolate.
[Eats chocolate.]
It was important to him.
He wanted to let us do our thing.
Adapt it for American audiences, I suppose.
Though I wouldnt say thats what we were doing.
It was an American family, blah blah blah.
But I think he wanted to stay out of the way.
So who were you remaking it for, exactly?
The culture of it it has a Swedish sensibility thats absolutely marvelous.
I like the idea of her being very flawed, and making some bad decisions along the way.
So its not just one bad decision there are a couple.
She comes across as sort of a control freak.
Is that what youre referring to?She makes some real mistakes in the film.
And not being truthful, to a certain extent.
No offense to all of us.
And thats a theme of today.
Thats a theme thats very present today.
What made you the most nervous about adapting something critically beloved?That made me nervous!
What you just said.
I wanted to do it proud.
I didnt want to butcher this.
I wanted to do a very respectful adaptation, an inspired-by take on that film.
So that was important to me: Tone, tone, tone.
We needed to nail the tone.
And that started with the writing.
And frankly, thats why I made it at Searchlight.
How would you characterize that tone?
I think in this one, the tone is a little more … hm …
I dont want it to sound …
I think the comedic moments in this film are a little more evident.
Maybe a little less subtle?I think so.
Lets talk about your monologue where you break down completely.
We didnt chop it into pieces.
We played it like a little play, over and over and over again.
It was very demanding.
It was very arduous.
But it was also thrilling.
That was a really hard place to go.
And we had to go in and redo a particular angle.
And it was the one we ended up using.
I thought we had it in the can and we had to go back in.
I just remember trying to steel myself.
I went into this tiny, tiny trailer and I gathered myself to pull that up again.
I heard you had never met Will Ferrell before making this movie.
How is that possible?
And how did you develop your onscreen relationship together?Its true.
The fact that wed never met before is so bizarre.
We still cant believe thats the case.
But in addition to the big comedies hes done, I was a big fan ofStranger Than Fiction.
I thought he did an absolutely remarkable job in that film.
We met and we immediately started talking about … tone!
Do you see the ending as hopeful?
Have you ever had any kind ofForce Majeuremoment in your life?I have not.
I dont think I have.
But fortunately Im married to a guy who Im certain would never run away.
