"Dive into the enchanting world of 'Good Grief' with Daniel Levy, Ruth Negga, Himesh Patel, and Arnaud Valois!
Join the cast as they spill behind-the-scenes secrets, heartwarming moments, and the journey of love, loss, and laughter.
"
Join the cast as they spill behind-the-scenes secrets, heartwarming moments, and the journey of love, loss, and laughter.
"
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PeopleTranscript
00:00 I'm so excited to chat about this beautiful, beautiful movie.
00:03 Congratulations to you all.
00:05 And Dan, I have to go to you first.
00:08 I mean, as the writer, director, and star of this film,
00:12 did you face any challenges in bringing this story to life?
00:16 And how did you navigate the emotional nuances
00:19 of each of these unique characters?
00:21 Well, I think every project you encounter challenges,
00:26 I think that's part of what ends up shaping
00:28 the film in the end, in this case, the film.
00:32 I think at the end of the day,
00:35 all you can do is fight for the integrity
00:38 of what you intend the project to be.
00:41 And I think the struggles are you're dealing
00:44 with so many different things at play.
00:45 There are so many different variables along the road
00:48 to making something.
00:50 And it's about picking and choosing
00:52 how and when you protect the integrity
00:56 of what you know to be the story.
01:01 So that, I think, was the big challenge.
01:03 But it wasn't so much a challenge
01:05 as it was a series of conversations and explanations.
01:07 And the reality is, someone who doesn't understand
01:10 one part of a script requires me to provide an answer for it.
01:14 And if I don't have that answer,
01:16 we got to go back and change it.
01:17 So all of those things were constructive,
01:19 but I was fiercely protective of the tone
01:24 and the sensitivity and the intimacy of it.
01:28 I never wanted it to feel too broad.
01:30 It's a very particular story,
01:32 and I wanted the specificity of it to be preserved.
01:36 And then the second part of your question, which was...
01:40 - How did you navigate all of the emotional nuances
01:43 of each of these characters?
01:44 - You, it sounds easy, but you cast brilliant actors
01:48 and you allow them the space to crawl into these characters
01:53 and make them their own.
01:54 I think the last thing I wanted to do
01:57 was to impose my vision for a character on an actor.
02:01 That's not what I'm here to do.
02:03 I'm here to lay the foundation
02:05 and allow the actors to come in
02:07 and lift the story to different levels
02:12 that I could never see as a writer.
02:14 That's the beauty of an actor,
02:16 is they come into a story and they make it more impactful
02:21 and they make it more significant.
02:23 And so when you find a beautiful team of actors
02:26 to inhabit these characters,
02:28 all my job was was to be able to answer questions,
02:31 to provide some kind of direction
02:33 in terms of what I had originally intended this character
02:37 to be or how I want it, you know,
02:39 and then let your actors, let them shine.
02:43 Like you can't stifle those moments,
02:45 particularly in a movie as intimate as this.
02:49 It is so dependent on the impulses
02:52 and the personalization of the actors that come in.
02:55 So for me, it was just a dream
02:56 to get to work with everybody
02:58 and then to just say, "Run free," kind of.
03:02 - And that's the way it should be.
03:03 It's not always like that, though.
03:05 You know?
03:06 (laughing)
03:07 - I mean, I can only imagine,
03:08 but I do think that it truly turned out wonderful.
03:11 And all of the characters have so much personality
03:13 and so much depth and you really see who they are.
03:16 I personally loved the Ferris wheel scene
03:18 and just kind of having those messy conversations
03:21 that are hard and difficult.
03:22 That's just so, so relatable.
03:25 And going over to you, Ruth and Himesh,
03:27 I wanted to ask if there's any scene personally
03:29 that really resonated with you and left a lasting impression.
03:32 - I think, I mean,
03:33 I think maybe we'll agree on this one, Ruth,
03:35 but it's a scene that neither of us are in,
03:36 which is the scene at the end with Celia's character.
03:40 - Oh.
03:41 - You know, where she,
03:42 where you guys are talking over sort of the last,
03:46 I don't know, just the climax of the,
03:49 the emotional heartbeat of the story.
03:52 And her line, which I'm not going to butcher,
03:56 (laughing)
03:57 it was...
03:58 - To avoid sadness.
04:00 - Yeah, it's to avoid love, right?
04:01 - It's to also avoid love.
04:02 - Oh, I mean, it just...
04:04 - Masterclass of acting.
04:05 - Exactly.
04:06 - Oh, she just...
04:07 - Unreal.
04:08 - Masterclass.
04:09 - But it also just really,
04:10 so beautifully sort of summed up
04:14 everything that the film was driving towards, really,
04:17 in such a beautifully emotional moment, so.
04:20 - To be alive is to risk things, you know?
04:23 You have to be, you have to,
04:25 you have to be able to, you know,
04:27 risk being vulnerable in your life
04:29 to really live a life, I think.
04:30 And that's a very,
04:31 it's a courageous thing to do.
04:34 It's not an easy thing to do,
04:35 but we must do it in order to live our lives fully.
04:38 Do you know what I mean?
04:39 And in order to do that,
04:40 we have to be honest with ourselves,
04:41 but also have people around us
04:42 who are willing to be honest with us, too.
04:44 And I think that's what this film is a testament to,
04:46 you know, that kind of,
04:48 that strong friendship that isn't gonna
04:50 just dissolve at the first hurdle.
04:53 - Absolutely.
04:54 Well, that's all the time I have.
04:55 Thank you so much for your beautiful answers and your time.
04:58 Thank you.
04:58 - Thank you.
04:59 - Thanks for the great questions.
05:01 - Just to start, there's this,
05:02 such a powerful scene with your character
05:04 that I really loved when he first kind of meets Mark
05:08 and he's pulling all of this trauma out of him
05:10 right off the get-go.
05:12 And he tells him that,
05:13 "Isn't art a kind of commemoration of pain?"
05:16 - Yeah.
05:17 - And I just love that quote,
05:19 but I would love for you to just talk a little bit
05:20 about what you loved about Theo
05:22 and how he fits into Mark's journey.
05:24 - I love the fact that he's really straight to people
05:28 and to himself.
05:29 He really tries to be honest all the time.
05:33 And sometimes it can be problematic,
05:37 particularly in that scene.
05:38 Maybe it's a bit too much with Mark,
05:41 but it worked.
05:42 So maybe he's right.
05:45 And the fact that he's trying to put a smile back
05:50 on Mark's face was really appealing to me.
05:55 That kind of character, you know,
05:57 who really wants to cheer people up
05:59 or try to lift them up.
06:03 - Absolutely.
06:04 And I know that this has such a wonderful cast as well.
06:07 So can you just kind of share what it was like
06:09 working with these people?
06:10 And if you have any powerful scenes
06:12 from the filming process that you can share with us.
06:15 - Yes, of course.
06:16 I am so happy and so humbled
06:21 to be part of that incredible cast.
06:24 When I arrived in London a few days before filming,
06:29 we did a table read with all these incredible actors
06:34 around me.
06:35 And it felt like a movie to me,
06:37 just watching at them like this.
06:40 They were funny, they were sparkling,
06:42 and I was just a little French guy.
06:44 And I was so impressed.
06:48 And then we worked together and it felt like,
06:53 like in the film, kind of a chosen family as well.
06:56 Friendship, we spent a lot of time together
06:59 in London, in Paris.
07:02 They're so funny, they're so sweet,
07:04 they're so brilliant.
07:06 It's a dream come true for me.
07:08 - Absolutely.
07:09 And I just have to ask,
07:10 I know that this movie,
07:12 it touches on such deep, deep themes of grief,
07:16 of loss, but also in love.
07:18 And it's also set in Paris,
07:20 which a lot of people might associate with love,
07:22 but it really goes so much further.
07:24 So what does it mean to be a part of a project
07:26 that has these deep, meaningful themes?
07:30 - That what I loved in the project,
07:33 it's so well written and it's the perfect mix
07:36 between sadness, profound feelings,
07:41 bittersweet, and also light, fun moments.
07:47 And it's, as an actor,
07:50 to be able to navigate around that kind of feelings,
07:54 very different, it's so exciting.
07:56 - And just my last question,
07:58 what do you hope people take away when they see this film?
08:02 - Everything they want,
08:03 but I hope the power of friendship and love.
08:08 - Absolutely.
08:09 I think that sums it up perfectly.
08:10 Well, thank you so much.
08:11 Congratulations again.
08:13 - Thank you very much.
08:14 Thank you so much.