Actors Jon Cryer, Abigail Spencer and Donald Faison talk to The Inside Reel about energy, context, performance and intention of comedy in regards to their new multi-cam sitcom: “Extended Family” on NBC.
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00:00 (dramatic music)
00:02 - Jim, how did you know I was here?
00:12 - Family sharing, that blinking green dot, that's you.
00:15 - You're tracking me?
00:16 - You're the one who opted into the sharing.
00:18 - When we were married.
00:20 - And just like we opted out of that,
00:21 you gotta opt out of this.
00:22 (audience laughing)
00:25 - Between the three of you, so much experience
00:27 doing so many different things,
00:29 but bringing you together, it creates,
00:31 all three of you creates an energy.
00:33 Could you talk about bringing sort of
00:34 those different experiences to bear for something like this?
00:39 - Well, it just brings hilarity, excitement, lightning.
00:43 (all laughing)
00:45 - Honestly, do I feel like I'm working with a dream team?
00:47 You know what I mean?
00:48 In past projects, I was new to,
00:55 we were all kind of, like in Scrubs,
00:57 we were all brand new to the game, really.
01:00 I had done some work and Johnny had done some work,
01:02 but Zach was brand new, nobody really knew.
01:06 I mean, I guess you knew who Sarah was.
01:07 Anyway, coming here, it's like, you know,
01:11 coming here, everybody's established
01:13 and worked really hard already.
01:15 And so it's like, you've got a group of people
01:18 who are like, all right, I've got a resume.
01:21 You've got a resume.
01:24 We should be able to dominate.
01:26 And so that's what we're trying to do.
01:27 We're trying to come in.
01:28 - Trying to dominate.
01:30 - I'm thinking, I'm talking team oriented.
01:32 - So you're Shaq, I'm Kobe.
01:35 - Yes.
01:35 - And I'm Michael Jordan.
01:37 - Yeah, sure.
01:38 (all laughing)
01:38 - And we've created this team and we're going out there
01:42 and we're gonna, you know,
01:43 and hopefully we're giving the people what they want.
01:47 - Hey, Grace.
01:48 - Welcome home.
01:49 - Hey, Jimmy.
01:50 - Oh, I see you got a new goldfish.
01:51 (audience laughing)
01:54 - What do you mean new?
01:55 - Isn't this dead one the old one?
01:57 (audience laughing)
02:00 - Trey killed Googles.
02:03 (audience laughing)
02:05 And then he asked us to lie about it.
02:07 (audience laughing)
02:08 - Why would you do that?
02:09 Grace, Trey didn't do-
02:10 - Because I was ashamed.
02:12 - Trey.
02:13 - Let him speak.
02:14 (audience laughing)
02:15 - Are everybody's comic instincts like,
02:17 you're all different,
02:18 but does the instinctual like timing
02:21 sort of just come together?
02:22 Did it come together fairly quickly for all three of you?
02:25 - Oh yeah, yeah.
02:25 It was super easy and immediate.
02:28 I mean, Abigail and I did what felt like hundreds-
02:33 - Many, hundreds of Zoom.
02:35 - Auditions going through the scenes and stuff.
02:39 But it was instantaneous.
02:40 We had instantaneous,
02:42 the timing was just locked in from the jump.
02:46 It was remarkable.
02:47 And that's, you know,
02:49 you feel incredibly lucky to get that.
02:51 And then bringing in Donald, you know,
02:53 he's this spitfire who just brings in this incredible,
02:57 you know, spontaneity.
03:00 And it's true.
03:02 - Yeah, it's true.
03:04 - I'm agreeing 100% with you.
03:05 - Yeah, yeah. - Exactly.
03:06 - By nodding at the camera.
03:07 - But yeah, it didn't take work.
03:10 And that's been a lovely, lovely surprise.
03:13 - And we're lifted by this beautiful script and concept
03:16 written by Michael Malley.
03:17 So, I mean, when you're supported by the page,
03:20 it really, it's like dancing.
03:23 You know, you just gotta jump out of the plane.
03:26 - Yeah. - And see what happens.
03:28 - But for you, because I mean,
03:29 we talked for "Timeless" a couple times, obviously,
03:32 but it's a different thing with multicam.
03:34 Obviously, I know you did "Soap" too,
03:36 but can you talk about using multicam
03:38 and understanding that and playing to it?
03:41 - Oh yeah, I mean, it was a crash course,
03:43 definitely during the pilot.
03:45 And these two have been so patient and kind and generous.
03:48 And I'm so lucky.
03:49 I really just need to listen and respond,
03:51 which is what I gotta do.
03:54 (laughing)
03:56 - It sounds easier said than done.
03:58 - And you know, but what was interesting on "Timeless"
04:00 is I was always trying to do,
04:02 like get everyone together to do bits off camera or add bits.
04:06 And I was doing it off camera, trying to add,
04:08 like I was doing so much work,
04:09 and now I get to do it on camera.
04:11 (laughing)
04:12 And I was like, no, bring all the bits on camera.
04:14 So I really realized that I was maybe in the wrong medium
04:18 for a very long time.
04:20 (laughing)
04:21 - Your mom was stuck in a meeting
04:23 and your dad and brother weren't here.
04:25 And I was tasked to watch the goldfish
04:27 and I failed miserably.
04:29 I am so sorry.
04:30 - Trey, who killed Google's mom or dad?
04:34 (laughing)
04:37 - But it also has to do with context.
04:39 Obviously, you know, this is,
04:41 it's about, it's modern families.
04:43 And I mean, you know, you guys have done something
04:45 with unconventional families before,
04:47 but it's all about what was interesting
04:48 that you just said, Abby,
04:49 was the aspect of reaction and action, you know,
04:52 'cause that's something that always,
04:54 where I mean, two and a half men, obviously, John,
04:56 that was the big thing.
04:58 Could you sort of talk about action and reaction
05:00 in these scenes because of the context of the divorcees
05:03 and the new family and all this,
05:05 because it has to hit just right.
05:07 - Well, yeah, just to give you a little background
05:10 on the story, the story is Jim and Julia
05:14 are a couple that is divorcing,
05:16 but they are doing their best to be amicable about it.
05:19 But what happens is Julia meets Trey,
05:22 the owner of the Boston Celtics,
05:24 Jim's favorite sports team, and they become engaged.
05:28 And it's how do you reform your family
05:32 when it's, you know, when it's a completely new situation.
05:37 And they're doing a thing called nesting,
05:39 which is where the kids stay in the same apartment
05:42 and the parents actually go back and forth
05:44 instead of the old school swapping every week.
05:48 And so it creates a lot of situations that are unusual,
05:53 but universal at the same time.
05:54 - Yeah.
05:55 - So like our first episode is just about what happens
05:59 when our daughter, who is away at summer camp,
06:03 when her goldfish dies, it's like, you know,
06:05 this is a four alarm fire
06:07 for three completely very capable adults
06:11 who of course completely fall apart
06:13 in the face of the smallest, tiniest sitcom crisis.
06:16 - Yeah.
06:17 - It really is too many cooks in the kitchen.
06:19 - It really is.
06:20 - It really does.
06:20 - Yes.
06:21 - We're gonna go grab that little sucker.
06:23 Yeah.
06:24 - We get the apartment so the kids can stay there
06:28 and we're the ones who come and go.
06:29 We gotta get your grades up.
06:30 Dad said, don't worry about it.
06:32 I wasn't here to cover dad's mouth when he said that.
06:35 - Hey, Trey Taylor, owner of the Boston Celtics.
06:38 You don't need to say that.
06:39 I didn't say Jim Kearney, owner of a 2004 Honda Accord.
06:42 (audience laughing)
06:44 - The thing I like that you guys do,
06:45 every single character, all three,
06:47 give each other so much crap.
06:49 And that's the great thing.
06:50 It feels real because the thing is,
06:52 even if she's engaged, you know, you're engaged to Trey,
06:55 Trey's still giving crap to Jim.
06:57 Jim's still giving crap to you.
06:59 It's just sort of great.
07:00 Everybody takes the quote unquote piss
07:02 out of each other all the time.
07:04 - That's a part of who our characters are as a family,
07:08 but it's also a part of where we are.
07:09 We live in Boston on the show.
07:12 Trey's character is the owner of the Boston Celtics.
07:14 And if you know anything about Boston,
07:16 it's a place where people are very free
07:17 with their criticisms.
07:18 (all laughing)
07:20 That's one thing you know.
07:22 And that's been great, just being infused
07:25 in the culture of Boston and letting it be kind of who we are.
07:30 - Yeah, and it's part of how they show love to each other.
07:33 And kind of to your question about action and reaction,
07:35 that is the show, it's character-based.
07:37 It's how and who and what is gonna happen
07:40 when any situation arises.
07:42 And that's been the joy, is to really see
07:45 these three characters in a room just working crap out.
07:49 (all laughing)
07:50 - There's a lot of love between the three of them.
07:52 And you touched on it about how they give each other crap
07:56 and stuff like that.
07:57 Trey isn't safe either, you know what I mean?
07:59 Even though he's the outsider and he's the new guy,
08:01 they'll eat, Jim and Julia will quickly gang up on Trey.
08:05 (Donald laughing)
08:06 And bust his chops also.
08:08 You know, so I think that's their--
08:11 - But there's a truth, there's a truth behind it, Donald.
08:13 Yeah, 'cause the thing is they love each other--
08:15 - That's their language though, yeah.
08:17 And that's how they speak it.
08:18 - What's the update?
08:20 - Things are good, things are fine.
08:22 They're not good, they're bad.
08:24 (all laughing)
08:26 - I wanted to ask about truth,
08:27 because truth only comes from heart.
08:29 Can you guys talk about the heart?
08:30 Because the heart, if that doesn't work,
08:32 then the humor doesn't work and the drama behind it.
08:36 - I think our heart on the show is our children,
08:39 you know what I mean?
08:40 That's where Jim and Julia's love really lies, you know?
08:45 And that's why they tried to make this divorce so amicable.
08:48 - Yeah. - Yes.
08:50 That's why, you know, and so when you realize
08:54 that they're doing all of this
08:56 and they're going through all of this for their children,
08:59 Jim is accepting Trey into his life
09:03 because he knows that Julia's gonna be with him
09:05 for hopefully ever in Trey's eyes and Julia's eyes,
09:10 but he's doing that because he knows
09:12 that they're gonna be around his kids
09:15 and he wants his kids to be happy
09:17 and still feel love from their mom.
09:19 - The show is very funny and very elevated in its writing
09:23 and at the core of it is heart.
09:25 I mean, that is what we're,
09:26 that is, and Michael Malley, our creator,
09:28 is definitely, that's what we're talking about,
09:30 Jamie Widows, our director,
09:31 like how do we bring the love and the heart
09:34 into every moment?
09:35 So thank you for picking up on that.
09:37 (laughing)
09:38 - Making us helpless. - Yeah.
09:39 (upbeat music)
09:43 (gunshots)
09:46 (gunshots)
09:48 (dramatic music)