The Knockturnal spoke with the director and the stars of the upcoming romantic comedy ‘The Boy Downstairs’ at the Tribeca Film Festival.
The film, directed by Sophie Brooks, stars Zosia Mamet as Diana, a woman who moves back to New York City after a few years abroad. Upon moving into her apartment building, she discovers her ex-boyfriend (Matthew Shear) lives downstairs. Starring Sarah Ramos and Deirdre O’Connell, ‘The Boy Downstairs’ is the story of Diana reconciling with her feelings.
Interview with Sophie Brooks
Tell me a little bit about what inspired the movie.
I always knew I wanted to do a romantic comedy genre. It’s my favorite type of movie. When I was thinking about what I wanted to write, I knew I wanted it to be in that vein. A few years ago before I started writing it, I was walking across the street and I got hit by a car and then I got appendicitis ten days later. My brother moved into my apartment to help me recover because I was incapacitated and while I was recovering and I had this idea: What if the only person who could take care of you was an ex? And what would be the reason for that? It was if they were neighbors.
We can generally say that appendicitis incident inspired the film.
Yeah, exactly.
Tell me a little bit about your cast. You have the fantastic Zosia Mamet in this movie. Tell me about how she got involved.
She got involved really early. She was the first person we cast and was the first piece of the puzzle. It was amazing working with her. She’s so incredible with comic timing, such a wonderful improviser. We did a lot of improv and she’s just really on-board to try stuff.
How about working with Matthew?
He’s so sweet. Matt has something behind his eyes which is just an innate sincerity, so you don’t have to do that much. With any of my actors—they’re all so wonderful. He’s such a lovely person and it was really wonderful working with him.
What was the production process like?
We shot 21 days fall of 2015 in New York. It was a little spread out over five weeks because we randomly had a couple of holidays in there, which was nice. We shot two days in Westchester, and the rest just in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. Just all over New York.
What else do you have in the works?
I’m writing a script right now that I want to have finished by the end of this year. I’m making a short that I co-wrote and I’m producing next month. I’m just writing. I wrote a zombie comedy that I almost finished. I’m jumping around a little.
How did you get your start in filmmaking?
I went to NYU for film and I graduated 2012.
Interview with Matthew Shear
Tell me a little bit about the role you play.
I play Ben Weinberger and Ben is a guy who has had his heart broken a few times. He finds out that one of the women who broke his heart lives in his building. He’s forced to confront that relationship and the awkward reality of being around someone you really don’t want to be around. We get to explore that in the movie.
How was working with Zosia?
It was awesome. I loved working with Zosia. She’s so funny and smart and just easy to be around. We like to improvise on this movie. We could go all night. She’s just the easiest person, she’s so fun.
How was working with Sophie, the writer/director?
Sophie is sort of an ideal director. She’s someone who has a lot of focus and knows what she wants, but is like totally okay with letting people improvise and experiment and then reigning it back in. We land on our feet together. I think she’s a really good director.
What’s coming up next for you?
I’m currently filming a TV show called The Alienist in Budapest, Hungary. It’s been really great and I’m going back there tomorrow. I’m here for the week, visiting family and doing this.
Is the show on a network?
It’ll be on TNT. It’s a crime investigation show that takes place in the late 1800s in New York. I play a detective.
Interview with Deirdre O’Connell
Tell me a little bit about being here in Tribeca.
It’s very exciting, I’m so happy for this movie. This movie is like ‘The Little Engine That Could.’ It’s a movie that was dear to my heart from the first time I read it, so I’m so excited that it got this far. It’s really a beautiful thing.
Tell me a little bit about your casting
Most of my stuff is with Zosia. And we had a fantastic time together. The relationship in the movie became the relationship that we actually have, where we just have a great chemistry and it was a big pleasure to work with each other. It’s an interesting story about those two women because they’re so different in age, but they find each other and there’s just something at that moment in life that they help each other with.
Was it fun to shoot in New York?
Yes, it’s always fun to shoot in New York.
What other projects do you have that you’d like to share?
I’m doing a play called ‘The Fulfillment Center’ at Manhattan Theatre Club that starts rehearsal in a couple of weeks and it’ll be in June and July there and I love it.
Tell us a little bit about it.
The play is about a fulfillment center. I don’t know if you’ve ever ordered from Amazon, but the places that pack all the boxes. This is the story of a woman who finds herself living in a campground and getting a job at Amazon packing boxes. That’s the simple version.