If you’re going to hell, you might as well go there laughing.
Ever wonder what would happen if you mixed the comedy style of Alison Brie (Mad Men, Bojack Horseman), Aubrey Plaza (Parks & Rec, Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates), Molly Shannon (SNL and basically everything else), Fred Armisen (SNL and Portlandia), John C. Riley (Stepbrothers and Talladega Nights), and Nick Offerman (Parks and Rec and The Founder) with the power of God? Now you don’t have to. The Little Hours is a nuns gone wild dark comedy set in the 14th century.
Written and directed by Jeff Baena, The Little Hours follows a young ward (Dave Franco) on the run from his Master (Nick Offerman) after some serious indiscretions with the Mistress of the castle. By chance he stumbles into a priest (John C. Riley) who is in need of a new gardener for his convent housing Plaza, Shannon, Brie, and Kate Micucci. A whirlwind of hellish antics ensue right with the bishop (Fred Armisen) comes to pay them a visit.
The Knockturnal’s own Nicolette Acosta was lucky enough to get to sit down with most of film’s cast and director and get exclusive answers on filming, process, and why we’re all going to hell.
Nicolette Acosta: What was it like to put yourself into that world so fully and so committed?
Dave Franco: It was really fun, I mean, we went into it all with no script, it was just based on an outline, and so we kind of just really gave ourselves over to the whole experience and just found a lot of things in the moment and that’s kind of when the most natural stuff comes about usually, when your just really listening to each other, taking risks, and seeing what lands, yeah.
Fred Armisen: And like, there’s no sets or anything like that, its like, on location …
DF: Yeah…
FA: …. we really were in these, I guess where gonna call castles?
DF: Yeah.
FA: Or whatever, in these old farms and stuff, so it was very, a very real experience.
NA: But there was an outline. Where did this outline come from? You were just lying in bed one da and were like, “God, I want to see some witches try to sacrifice Dave Franco, that’d be amazing”. Where did this idea come from?
Jeff Baena: Well, originally I took a class called, “Sexual Transgression in the Middle Ages and Renaissance” at NYU, when I was in film school, and I read The Decameron which this was based on, and there’s one story in particular that I like really identified with and thought was great, and always wanted to work on it, and then years later a friend was crashing at my place, and it just came up in conversation and then one thing led to another and it turns out, one of my investors, has been asking people to shoot in Tuscany for the last 4, 5 years, that she has access to all these medieval villages and just all kind of was like, kismet… And yeah, it was just something that I really wanted to do for a really long time and it just all came together in a really funny, weird, fast way.
NA: That’s fantastic, and how early in the process was everyone brought into it? Was it kind of like, “I have this idea, I see these people”, or was someone like, “Oh, I have a friend that would be great as a nun, let’s bring them into it…”?
JB: Sort of. It was like, once I knew this thing was happening, I just reached out to all the people, like for instance, Aubrey, and Alison, and John, and Molly I’ve worked with before, and Dave is Alison’s husband, and when I sat down with her to kind of pitch her this idea we both had the idea that he’d be great for it. Fred, I’m a super fan of ever since Saturday Night Live and Portlandia, so it was a dream to get him, and Micucci, I know her sort of like, around. Jemima had a meeting with her and it was sort of like, just hanging out with her, I kind of created a character for her, so it was like a fluid situation, just because the amount of time between saying we’re gonna make this movie, and it actually being made was like a couple of months…
NA: Oh wow…
JB: … so it was, there was no real development, it was this mad dash, tidal wave…
NA: Like grab and go…
JB: … yeah, we just went for it…
NA: … I love that. Ok, so all of you, you guy’s die, you go up to heaven, St. Peter meets you at the gate, and he’s like, “Yo, I’m so sorry, I can’t let you in, you gotta go down to hell, because…”?
DF: Because I love cats too much!
NA: And St. Peter hates cats… he can’t look at cats.
DF: Exactly. Exactly. I don’t want to say bad things I’ve really done. Do you guys have something good? I’ll keep thinking…
FA: I would volunteer myself first, I’d be like, “Well, it seems like a more interesting place.” But other than that I’d be like, “Check your books again because, I am squeaky clean. I almost cursed once and that doesn’t count. It started with the ‘S, H,’ word and midway through I stopped. I remember I was just like, ‘I’m not saying that word, it is a curse word, I am so into the Bible, you guy’s rule, and and this place…’”
DF: … You’re trying to sweet talk your way in…
FA: … I would totally, I’d be like this is like, you guys are the best… I’d complement St. Peter.
JB: Sarte said, “Hell is other people”. And that would then mean, that there is no other people in heaven, and so like who wants to be there by yourself? So at least you get to hand out with people, and that’s fun.
NA: So it’s just gonna be a giant hell party, and we’re all gonna have fun?
JB: Yeah, I don’t even think you have to call it hell, just a party and then…
NA: Just a party in a really warm place…
JB: Yeah, its like, who wants to be cold.
NA: Ok, so, out of all the nuns you guys dealt with, which one would you be most afraid of, to deal with in a sacrifice ritual situation? Which I feel like is a very real question for [Dave] after filming…
DF: Let’s go with… probably… I don’t know… I mean Kate [Micucci] is a wild card, you never know what she’s gonna do…
FA: Yeah, yeah, I agree with that, yeah. There’d be some real pain.
NA: So across the board, we’re all gonna meet in hell for a party, but we’d all be terrified of Kate if there was actually a ritual happening… Agreed?
DF: I think I can jump on board with that.
FA: Yeah…
JB: I feel like if Aubrey is doing a ritual, it’s ultimately for the good of the world.
NA: Fair. Thank you guys so much.
Gunpowder & Sky will release THE LITTLE HOURS in New York & Los Angeles onJune 30th.