Anders Holm, Brett Dier & David Rasche On Bringing The Collins Men To Life In About My Father - Exclusive Interview
It's a clashing of cultures in the new comedy "About My Father," when Salvo (Robert De Niro), an old-school Italian man, spends a summer holiday weekend with his son Sebastian's (Sebastian Maniscalco) future in-laws: the wealthy Collins family. While Salvo raised his boy to understand the importance of a strong work ethic and how to stretch a dollar, patriarch Bill Collins (David Rasche), the CEO of a luxury hotel group, didn't quite do the same for his sons: Lucky Collins (Anders Holm) and Doug Collins (Brett Dier).
Lucky can usually be found playing golf or tennis in his signature polo shirt and pompously tossing around insults. As for Doug, he's in a constant state of mellowness as he meditates and plays his beloved sound bowls.
In an exclusive interview with Looper, Rasche, Holm, and Dier shared details on what went into bringing the Collins men to life in "About My Father," why they were drawn to Maniscalco's script that's loosely based on his real life, and the extracurricular activity that helped enhance one of their on-screen performances.
Creating Bill, Lucky, and Doug Collins
Your characters [are] quirky, lovable, and a little hateable, particularly ... [points to Anders Holm]
Brett Dier: You were great, dude. Beautiful, man.
I would love to know what went into bringing the Collins men to life on screen.
David Rasche: They always say that 90% of the whole thing is casting. I don't know, but for some reason ... Actually, from the very first scene, all of a sudden, everybody locked in and understood what everybody else was doing and appreciated what everybody else was doing. There was a lot of laughing and fooling around.
Dier: I learned the sound bowls. That was fun. I went to a lot of sound bowl classes and yoga classes.
Anders Holm: You took classes to do that?
Dier: I did. No, I went to classes and observed, and I took things from it.
Holm: You were just in the window?
Dier: Yeah.
Holm: For me, I'm realizing right now that wardrobe played a huge part in this, for sure. As soon as you tuck in that polo, you become a different guy.
Back to the sound bowls — did they ask you to observe, or did you do that on your own?
Dier: No, I did that on my own, preparing for the role.
A solid script from the beginning
None of you are strangers to the industry. What made you all want to be part of this project in particular?
Rasche: It was a funny script. It was really, really funny and very well-written, and it stayed that way. There weren't huge, big changes. There weren't huge, big cuts or anything like that. It was delightful. Also, of course, the opportunity of working with Mr. De Niro. It was remarkable for everybody. He was really something.
Holm: And Sebastian [Maniscalco] — I'd seen his stand-up a little bit, and it was the perfect vehicle for his stand-up and all the sensibilities there. It was tight. It wasn't like, "Oh, the script still needs work." It was ready to go.
Rasche: Delightful.
For people who come to see "About My Father," is there any message or anything you hope they take away from it?
Rasche: Relax. Enjoy.
Dier: Forgiveness. There's a lot of forgiveness in this movie to your family and that kind of stuff. No one's perfect.
Watch "About My Father" in theaters on May 26.
This interview has been edited for clarity.