Hint: enjoying a joint can break many barriers.
Standing Up, Falling Downpremieres in theaters and on-demand on Feb. 21.
It was directed by Matt Ratner and written by Peter Hoare.
Credit: Noah M. Rosenthal/Tilted Windmill Productions
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY:You spoke to EW previously about Crystalhand-picking youto be his co-star for this movie.
Lets say you stayed at your age right now.
AndMonsters Inc.,but I couldnt do Sully.
My mind goes straight to animation so quickly.
Its so well done.
Danny DeVito is directing it.
it is so fun.
It was a movie that Barry Sonnenfeld might have DPd.
I would want to jump into those movies even in a cameo or something like that.
I grew up watchingMonsters Inc.Even then, I could definitely say that hes still a household name.
What it is about him is that his movies are everlasting.
Like those movies from that Rob Reiner era.
You want him to succeed so badly because you see the real emotion everything with everything he brings.
I remember we did this thing for the Friars Club.
I was there and they gave them this award.
you might see all the people just admired him.
So its really like generation after generation.
Lets take a step back for a bit and talk about Up, Falling Down.
What was the shoot like?
When and how long was the shoot?The shoot was 21 days.
I think I worked every day on it.
It was in New York in Queens and Long Island.
A lot of the movie itself takes place in Long Island.
Funny thing is, you know, Billys from Long Island.
For the shoot, we went to a synagogue and thats where he got bar mitzvahd.
All these crazy things came together during the movie.
We didnt have much time since I was shootingNight Schooluntil almost the day we were filming.
That was really helpful too, because we had very similar notes.
The day came when it was time to act and we were already loose.
Our language was so similar that it was off to the races immediately.
Matt Ratner was the director.
He said it was a huge load off his shoulders to see that that part was taken care of.
So it was really helpful to chat up and become friends.
In the movie, you have to be a struggling comedian who moves home from California.
Of course not as much as in the beginning.
Theres so much doubt.
I mean, anytime you go on stage and you fail, you think its over.
All I wanted to do was this, so I put myself into a kind of 24/7 work cycle.
I was working on jokes for Letterman at 6am.
This was when I was a page for Letterman the whole day.
I was then an intern at UCB (Upright Citizens Brigade).
Then I took classes at UCB.
I just wanted to do it so badly.
Have I been faking it this whole time?
Can I do this again?
Am I really able to do this role?
Am I able to write this movie?
