The stars of Netflix’s “Thunder Force” (Melissa McCarthy, Octavia Spencer, Pom Klementieff) and writer/director Ben Falcone discuss their upcoming action comedy in this interview with CinemaBlend’s Jeff McCobb. They discuss that weird sex scene that involves Jason Bateman as a “crab man,” how Klementieff was the funniest person on set and more.
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00:00 I've been developing a genetic platform that will allow us to give ordinary people superpowers.
00:05 But do me a favor, please. Don't touch anything.
00:08 So like any good interview, I think we need to start by talking about the sex scene with
00:22 Jason Bateman as a crab man. Oh boy, who's the little alba? Did you take that from the restaurant?
00:27 I always carried my own in my bra. That was just my level of ridiculous. I was wondering
00:34 how much of that you shot that was improv that ended up on the cutting room floor.
00:38 I think, you know, when you have your first, there's just not very many, you can't really
00:47 go back to the well of like, well, let's see, when I've had other run-ins with a crab man,
00:53 there's not a lot to really go back to. And it's not like at 16, I had an experience with a crab
00:59 man as well. So I used that. It's just, especially with Bateman, it's like anything with Bateman is
01:05 going to, he's just so damn funny. He's so funny. And I don't know how he can always play under and
01:11 still, and still hit with such a punch. Like there's no, and we're such good friends that like,
01:17 just getting to be so stupid with him was such a blast.
01:21 The hell are you?
01:23 You'd think cancer, but Capricorn actually, Sag Moon.
01:27 Intentionally, structurally, I'm really careful. And I knew that the Lydia crab stuff was in the
01:35 quote unquote wrong place, because you shouldn't be taking a detour at that moment in the movie.
01:42 But I did it on purpose, knowing that I could really minimize it if I wanted to.
01:46 But I thought it might be fun to explore having a really strong structure and intentionally
01:53 deviating it just from a second. And it seemed like it worked pretty well. So we were happy with
01:58 the result, as nutty as it is.
02:00 You've both done the superhero thing before in the Marvel universe. And both of those films are
02:07 pretty funny. I was wondering what the difference was being in this super powered flick that was
02:14 straight comedy, comedy first and foremost.
02:16 Oh, it was great. Unlike Pom, I don't really get to play a superhero in the Marvel universe,
02:21 but I do get to be, actually do get to be in one of the funnier ones in Ant-Man. And so,
02:26 I get to have fun with that character, but it's very different, you know, in Thunder Force.
02:32 I get to play a really insecure, sensitive, thin skinned guy who's really strong and can kill you
02:41 when he hugs you. So I think that's pretty funny. And I don't know if that character would exactly
02:48 be the same in the Marvel universe. I think maybe that wouldn't be as funny. So I like the
02:53 opportunity to be able to do both in a movie like this.
02:56 Pom, what about you? What's the comedic vibe different on set?
02:59 Yeah, I mean, the difference, like mostly for myself was just, you know, the role, of course,
03:05 you know, in the Marvel universe, I play more like an innocent or, you know, cute and weird
03:11 kind of creature. And in this one, you know, she's very powerful and sure of herself and
03:17 destructive and completely evil, you know, that was really fun to play for sure.
03:23 Well, that cast, man, I mean, like the two of you, plus, you know, Bobby and Jason. And I mean,
03:29 we're talking about like major award-winning actors that are just also brilliant comedians.
03:35 I was wondering if there was anyone in particular on set that had you breaking and cracking up.
03:41 Pom's really funny. I mean, she's so willing to like go anywhere. And like so many of her
03:47 comments, like she was just so weird as Laser. And I just like, I loved it. But I mean, Bobby is,
03:54 Bobby's such a great actor, but he's such a funny guy. Like he really, really, like he can just say
04:01 stuff that like destroys me. And then like Bateman's just, you know, so it's like we had it
04:06 coming from all directions, but also everybody's really technically skilled and they're, you know,
04:12 so it was this great balance of you're never going to like jeopardize getting the work done,
04:18 but you can just have a really good time doing it. And I think all that stuff shows up on the
04:22 screen.
04:22 Pom surprised me. She just, I loved her deadpan, you know, delivery and
04:29 Bateman, everybody was brilliant. And what can't you love about Bobby? He's just a genius.
04:37 Pom and I had never met. And so I was really delighted to be surprised like that by somebody
04:42 who I had never seen, you know, acted with before. And so I had a hard time keeping it together there
04:47 with Pom. And I think Octavia's got a pretty solid deadpan.
04:51 Do not throw that bus.
04:53 I can't hear you because I'm literally throwing a bus.
04:56 Bateman is money every single time because of how serious he always is. And, you know,
05:01 Melissa is a given. Melissa just, Melissa makes me laugh. I'm just so used to Melissa now at this
05:05 point. But she's, you know, she's brilliant. She never does the same thing twice. So, you know,
05:11 really like heavyweights there.
05:12 Oh my God, what's that smell?
05:14 It's the suits. We can't wash them.
05:17 I break. I have to be scrubbed out of the soundtrack for almost all of Melissa's stuff,
05:21 so much of Octavia's stuff, all of Bateman's stuff, tons of Bobby's. I'm like a disaster.
05:26 But I found out early that I can laugh because the sound people are so amazing. They can usually
05:33 get my horrible laughter out of the track. But I ruined, I would have ruined tons of takes.
05:38 [Screaming]
05:41 Em, stop! You're cooking him from the inside out!
05:45 Oh man, please don't film this, sir. It's a mistake!
05:47 Thunder Force, remember it.
05:50 Octavia, you are also a student of comedy and you play Deadpan great in this,
05:58 but you often play the more eccentric character.
06:01 Listen, I leave all the brilliant comedic writing to Ben and I,
06:07 whatever you see in that performance is all due to his direction. I have the best time,
06:16 but it's also easy to play off of Melissa. I mean, she gives you so much.
06:22 It's go time.
06:24 We've got to rethink this car.
06:29 Yeah, it was a dream job, honey. What can I say?
06:32 It was so fun. God, it was fun. Yeah, it was not like a real serious work environment.
06:36 We took the work seriously, but enjoyed every aspect of it. I mean, you just,
06:44 I can't tell you, every single day was, my jaws hurt from laughing.
06:50 Did it lend itself to more of an improv vibe?
06:54 Yeah, there's a lot of improv for sure. And even, yeah, there's always a rewriting,
07:00 the size and giving new ideas. And then we come up with new ideas. So it's just a bigger
07:07 collaboration for sure. And Ben and Melissa come from an improv background as well. And Octavia as
07:14 well, they were at school together at the Brownlings, I think. And so it's always like
07:21 playing ping pong, with like, "Oh, what about, we're going to do this." And like, "Oh yeah." And
07:25 they say this and it just changes all the time. So it's fun.
07:29 Do I say, "Okay, here, I know what the scene is. Here's the first pass at it. Does Melissa look at
07:36 it and punch it up?" She sure does. And then once we get everybody on set and start working it out,
07:45 comedy is a living, breathing, organic thing.
07:48 Bobby, you've developed a solid career as a dramatic actor. You've had a handful of Emmys
07:54 in that genre. I was wondering what it takes for you to take on a comedic role like this.
07:59 Well, the pedigree is pretty important. So Ben and Melissa, they've got a very good track record. I
08:04 think Melissa is one of the greatest actresses we have working today. So there's nothing I won't do
08:09 with her. I've done so many different kinds of films with her now. I've done four different,
08:13 very different movies with her. So I guess it's the people that you're working with. It always
08:18 comes down to the people you're working with and the material. And usually when those things match
08:22 up, it's a pretty easy decision to make. And look, I've been very lucky. I think I've done probably
08:27 more dramatic things than not, but I always try to find a way to make these characters, even if
08:33 they're not on the page, funny. I think the Boardwalk Empire character is one of the funniest
08:37 characters I've ever played, even though he kills a lot of people and it's not really considered a
08:42 comedy, that show. And then there's you, fucking breadstick in a bow tie. To me, that was one of
08:50 the funniest characters I've ever played. So I think I always approach it in a way that I think
08:54 is, you know, I try to find what the, you know, what the character's Achilles heel is and what
09:01 their insecurities are and where their desperation lies. And I think in there, I think you can mine
09:05 a lot of comedy. Lydia, do not throw that bus. I can't hear you because I'm literally throwing a
09:12 bus. I'm sorry. That's on me.
09:20 You're dead.
09:21 [Music]