-Alison, welcome. Thank you
so much for doing our show.
I appreciate this.
I know. Look at that.
Come on, see? That's the
attitude you got to have.
-I think I always liked
to really dance out
onto the stage, and even though
there's no stage for me
to dance out on, I still want
to bring that energy for you,
Jimmy.
-I appreciate this.
Now, you are quarantining
right now with your husband,
Dave Franco.
You are in Los Angeles?
-Yes, that's correct.
We're at home here in L.A.
-I read somewhere online
that in another interview
you did that you guys during
the quarantine
wrote a romantic comedy
together?
-Yeah. [ Laughs ]
Yeah, you know.
-No big deal.
-Well, when everything started,
we were a couple of weeks
into shooting "Glow,"
and the first news
of the shutdown was like,
"We're taking
a two-week hiatus."
[ Laughs ]
-Yes.
-You know, four months ago.
-I thought it was two weeks
as well, yeah.
I got a selfie stick.
I'm like,
"I'll do the show from my house
for two weeks."
-We were like, "Oh,
a little two-week break."
Dave and I had been kicking
around this rom-com idea,
and we were sort of like,
"Oh, wow!
This is our opportunity."
And so, we kept really strict
writing hours
and just hammered it out
and had a draft of the script
in two weeks, and then
have spent the next few months
kind of refining it.
And the good news is everybody's
trapped in their homes.
So we've been able to send it
to friends to get notes
and, you know, people don't
have an out as much
as they might have in the past.
-Yeah, now they're stuck like --
-"Hey, would you read this?
Do have you anything else
going on?"
-"I don't. I have nothing else.
Sure, give it to me."
-Yeah.
-It's kind of an interesting
story how you and Dave met.
Do you mind talking about it?
-Oh, yeah, no.
We both have sort of recently
started talking about it at
length, I guess, which is funny
that -- Well, you know we met --
It's a very romantic story
and very sweet.
And it starts off
in New Orleans at Mardi Gras,
where all great love stories
begin.
[ Laughs ]
I was there with some friends,
and, you know,
the shortest version
of the story is that
it was some incredible
matchmaking done by my friend
Jules, who -- We ran into Dave
at the airport.
The two of them are friends
and she invited him out
to dinner with us,
and when he
finally got to dinner,
he was sitting next to her
across the table
and, you know, everyone's
drinking. It's Mardi Gras.
My friend texted me
under the table and was like,
"You should hook up with Dave."
-Yeah, you're feeling it.
-[ Laughs ]
-And I responded like,
"Yes, please."
Like thumbs up, thumbs up,
thumbs up.
-Yeah, why not?
-Very enthusiastic response.
And then she showed him my text
under the table.
-No!
-And was like,
"What do you think?"
And he was like --
-Jules!
-"I'm in!" And she was like,
"Don't tell her that I showed
you that text."
And he was like,
"Totally, I'm cool."
So then she and I get up
to go to the bathroom,
and she is like,
"So you and Dave?"
I was like,
"I mean, I'm into it.
I'm not really sure
if he would be on board."
And she's like, "I showed him
your text under the table.
He's totally in."
And then she's like,
"Do not tell him that I told you
that I showed you --
that I showed him."
-That a friend. That's a friend.
That's a friend.
-It was the perfect setup
'cause we both got to leave
the restaurant, like,
head out to the evening
of drinking and debauchery
having like a sexy secret
that we knew the other person
was on board.
-Yeah.
-So then, you know, it was,
you know, 48 hours of,
you know, drugs and sex,
a lot of making out.
[ Laughs ]
And then we -- And then Dave was
actually shooting a movie
for weeks in New Orleans,
and the movie took him
subsequently then to New York
and then to Paris.
So we met up again in New York
when he was in New York
and that was sort of like
the wining and dining,
romantic portion of our,
uh, meeting each other.
-Ah.
-He was -- You know, he left
a secret note in my sweatshirt
on our last day of our trip
in New York saying,
"Come with me to Paris."
And so...
-Secret note!
...in very -- in cliché fashion.
-Secret note.
"Come with me to Paris."
Oh, my gosh, of course.
-How could I say no? You know?
So, yeah.
-Is any of this story
in the romantic comedy?
-You know, it's not.
And I will say
we thought about it.
We totally vetted --
we started to flesh out
a version of like,
"Oh, our love story,
we've been talking about it
a lot recently
and people are saying
it's so cute.
This would be great
for a movie."
But then when we started to
write it you realize
that movies need conflict.
[ Laughter ]
And, you know,
it started to feel really weird
and bad to create scenarios
where it would be like,
"Well, then maybe this person
cheats on that person,"
or "That person's --
maybe they're still with
their ex,
and they have
to get out of that."
And I was like, "I don't
want to put that out
into the universe."
Like that just feels --
-I don't like this story now.
-I don't want to, like, cosplay,
like, fanfic about our lives,
but in a negative way.
-Yeah, exactly. Yeah.
-Like bad energy.
-All of our lives
can't be movies.
You need a little Hollywood
magic.
-Exactly.
-"The Rental," by the way.
-Yeah.
-Let's set this things up,
'cause, man, oh, man,
this scares me.
-Yeah.
-This scares me.
You're directed by your husband.
He directs this as well as --
wrote it, as well.
Is it easy to be directed
by your husband?
-Yes, so easy. Too easy.
Like, way easier than I thought
that it would be.
This was the greatest
filming experience.
I think just because I trust him
so much and, you know,
I was also able to watch him
through the whole writing
process and the prep process
and kind of know everything
that he was going for
with the movie.
So we sort of had this, like,
telepathy going on on set.
I feel often when he would
come in to give me notes,
he would be like, "Maybe..."
and I'd be like, "I know."
And he'd be like, "Okay."
-I love that!
Now, is this movie
based on anything?
'Cause it's scary, and I think
right now is a perfect time
for it to be released.
-This movie is based
on Dave's paranoia
about using homesharing apps.
And the reality is that while
we were shooting the movie,
new articles were coming
out every week about cameras
that were being found in homes
that people were renting,
and so that's definitely part
of the plot of this movie.
-Are you -- Are you
a fan of horror movies
or the genre or --
-I love them,
but I get very scared.
-Me, too. I know.
I got to really -- I got to plan
on it, like it's a vacation
or, I go like,
"All right, let's do it,"
but I need to like --
I need to be safe.
I need to be in a place
where I can get out
if I want to get out.
-I gotta know that Dave
is going to be in town
for the next couple weeks.
-I do.
-Not going to be alone.
Sometimes if it's too scary
of a movie --
and he'll prep me because
he loves horror movies.
He'll watch them all and then
he'll tell me like which ones
are worth the scare.
And when we watch them,
some of them, I'll be like,
"This is going to have to be
a Sunday afternoon
with all of the lights on
type of movie."
Every horror movie maker's dream
for how someone would watch it.
-There's a scare coming up here
in this clip.
-Yeah.
-So just to let everyone
know at home.
But it's good.
It keeps the blood moving.
I want to show everyone a clip.
Here's Alison Brie
in "The Rental."
Take a look at this.
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
[ Inhales sharply ]
[ Warning lights clicking ]
-[ Gasps ]
-"The Rental" is on demand
and in select theaters
this weekend.
We'll be right back with a
performance from Jimmy Buffett.
Thank you so much, Alison.
-Thank you.
-Stay safe.
