There’s nothing like a good friend. I’m sure everyone can relate to the intentional efforts and sacrifices made in order to maintain a friendship, especially as an adult.
Adult Best Friends captures this sentiment perfectly. The film explores how two people, once inseparable, face the complexities of growing up and apart. The main characters (Delaney Buffet and Katie Corwin) find themselves questioning whether their friendship can withstand the test of time throughout life’s curveballs. With a mix of nostalgia and realism, Adult Best Friends highlights the significance of creating spaces for the people who matter most, even as we evolve into different versions of ourselves.
In an exclusive Q&A interview, we chatted with Zachary Quinto and Katie Corwin about renegotiating the terms of a friendship as an adult, memorable behind-the-scenes moments, and advice for aspiring filmmakers.
The Knockturnal: How did your friendship in real life guide you through your character’s emotional arc?
Katie: Delaney and I really have been best friends since we were 10 years old. There’s a lot of elements of truth in the movie that are mostly emotional. We made up the actual plot points. Thankfully none of this happened, but over the course of our lives together, you know there’s a million things that can put a strain on a friendship.
I think everyone can kinda feel that pull of like the busier my life gets, where does my friend fit in? Especially a childhood friend. When you’re younger, you’re best friends because you like all the same stuff and you’re together 24/7. Thankfully, we were able to navigate different relationships and different strains pretty well. We’re very communicative with one another but I thought it was an important story to tell and Delaney definitely agreed that friendships, when you get older, kinda get the short end of the stick. You focus on a lot of stuff so we wanted to be able to highlight that.
The Knockturnal: What have you guys done to build the necessary chemistry to make your sibling dynamic feel authentic in the film?
Zachary: I’m lucky to have known both Katie and Delaney for a while, so there’s an inherent familiarity that we relied on. It’s a dynamic that’s really fun to explore. Delaney and Katie created characters in a story that reflect that. It wasn’t particularly difficult to generate that dynamic for me, maybe Katie has a different experience.
Katie: I always pull that as my favorite experience on set, the scenes filming with Zach as Henry because one, he has been such a mentor to Delaney and me throughout the years that being able to work alongside him on camera was very exciting for me. But he also helped Delaney and me develop the characters so he knew it just as intimately as we did as the writers. Henry, the brother, became one of my favorite characters. Just from the first read through that morning, Zach completely blew us away so it was fun to see Henry in the flesh.
The Knockturnal: How did you approach this comedic role? Did you draw from any specific research or personal experiences?
Zachary: I love the opportunity to do comedy. For me, it was really about leaning into the tone that Delaney was setting for the project, and then playing it in the world. We were lucky to have Heather Mazur play my wife. I’ve known Heather since I was 11 years old. She’s a long time friend so again there was that familiarity and that comfort which made it so much easier. It was just fun. I was only there to film for a day and I knew the project intimately like Katie said so I knew what they wanted to achieve so it was a fun experience for me. It wasn’t stressful.
Sometimes you show up to something and there’s the intensity of not exactly knowing what a director wants or what the theme should be. And if you’re only coming into something for a brief amount of time, then that can be slighting daunting. But that’s the great thing about this project for me in so many ways. The film is called Adult Best Friends but it really is a bunch of friends who came together to tell a story. I think that’s also a part of the reason why it’s so successful is because it reflects that spirit of friendship and connectivity.
The Knockturnal: What was the collaboration process like, in terms of making sure the visual style compliments the story and themes?
Katie: Well I can only speak to what I’ve picked up on as an actor and writer. Delaney was the director and did such a fantastic job setting both a visual and emotional tone with all of her decisions. We definitely wanted it to have a nostalgic feel to ground the relationship that we have, especially since it was going back to the early 2000’s. Those are the movies we grew up watching together. From the writing to the costumes to the color, we wanted it to feel intimate but also very casual and hopefully nostalgic.
The Knockturnal: Do you guys have any favorite or memorable behind the scenes moments?
Zachary: Again, I was only there for one day so the whole thing is a fond memory. I just look back on the whole day as really fun and efficient. Delaney did a great job at knowing what she wanted and executing it. So my fondest behind the scenes memory is the one day that I worked on the movie.
Katie: Without giving anything away, I’d say my favorite behind-the-scenes moment would be when we shot what I’d call the emotional climax of the movie. There’s a monologue where we kind of discuss what this friendship has meant to us in the course of our lives. It felt very exposing because so much of the material is extremely authentic. At the end of the day, I was just really happy to have said it all. I do feel lucky to have an adult best friend that has lasted all these years. To be able to convey what it means to me felt really important to me.
The Knockturnal: What advice would you give for aspiring filmmakers looking to write for a film festival?
Katie: It can be extremely discouraging. Everyone knows that entertainment can be “an industry of rejection”, but the actual feeling of that makes it normal to question yourself. I think if you genuinely believe in what you’re doing and keep getting back up to try again. That could be submitting [scripts], taking classes, taking notes, not taking every note. You just have to stay in the saddle and you will eventually get traction.
Secondly, and this is advice that Zach gave us when we first started working together. Be ready when you get your chance. They don’t come around very often so once you actually have a window of opportunity open, you need to know exactly what you want to do and what you want to say.
The Knockturnal: In the movie, Katie chose the beach to break the engagement news because it was her and Delaney’s favorite getaway spot. What’s your favorite getaway spot in real life?
Zach: It depends on what I want to experience when traveling. I love to travel. If I had to choose a place to go to today, I’d probably pop over to London. I really love to go to London, see my friends there, and go see theatres. Plus, it’s not so difficult to get there from New York.
Katie: If I’m being totally honest, my most rejuvenating spot is the sofa in my house. It’s where I recharge but if I had to give another answer, I’d say a town called Yamba in Australia.
The Knockturnal: Are there any upcoming projects you two are working on?
Katie: Yes! We have a script that we have finished that is more of a traditional rom-com. We are hoping to be able to bring it to life. Adult Best Friends is kind of our calling card at this point so we’d love to do this again on a larger scale and take on more responsibilities.
Zach: It’s really so exciting to watch Delaney and Katie’s evolution. We’ve been developing projects with them for a while. It started with television projects and then when this film came along, it was their resourcefulness that got it made. To watch them take that experience and channel everything they learned into creating this next project has been thrilling for me as a producer. As their friend, it’s exciting and gratifying. I’m so proud to support them in any way that I can.
Adult Best Friends is now available on VOD.
