Nick Jonas spoke to The Hollywood Reporter at the Los Angeles premiere of his new film 'The Good Half' about working on the "emotional" movie which was directed by his longtime friend Robert Schwartzman. Jonas opened about how he and Schwartzman first met, as well as why the script made him want to play the character Renn in this film. Plus, Jonas spoke about his wife Priyanka Chopra and their daughter, Malti Marie, saying that "life just got a lot better" after he and Chopra married and welcomed a child. He also commented on his return to his Broadway roots in 'The Last Five Years' next spring, sharing what made him want to be a part of the show.
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00:00You were in pretty much every frame of this movie.
00:03How did you approach playing this role and carrying the weight of this film?
00:07You know, it was a pretty heavy film for me.
00:12Emotionally, but also the workload was pretty tense.
00:15But I think when you're making an independent film,
00:17there's a camaraderie that happens
00:20where everyone understands that you're working against a limited budget,
00:23limited number of days, and you've got to get in there and just give it your all.
00:28I got to work with a longtime friend of mine, Robert Schwartzman.
00:31We've known each other since 2006 or 2007,
00:34and so there's a lot of trust built in.
00:36And so while there's the heavy emotional moments of the film,
00:39at its core it's really about hopefulness and family and connection,
00:43and that's kind of what I tried to focus on.
00:46I'm thrilled now to see so much excitement about it
00:49and that people are here in the theater today.
00:51It's bizarre and amazing.
00:54I love the photos you posted recently of your family with Priyanka and Malti.
00:58And thinking of the title of this movie, it made me think,
01:00do you feel like you're in the good half of your life now as a husband and father,
01:04and how would you describe this era of your life?
01:06I mean, you know, hard to sort of pick a half.
01:09It's all been pretty beautiful.
01:11But certainly, you know, after we got married and had our daughter,
01:16life just got a lot better.
01:18And, you know, to share moments like this with not only my wife,
01:23but before we left, saying goodbye to my daughter
01:25as she watches Moana or something is a pretty incredible thing.
01:29Like you said, you and Robert go way back.
01:31I went to the When You Look Me in the Eyes tour in 2008.
01:34I saw Rooney open for you guys.
01:36Take me back to that time, and what's one memory you have
01:39of when you first became friends?
01:41So we first met through our mutual producer, John Fields,
01:46who, you know, knew that we would hit it off right away.
01:50You know, we wrote a couple songs and got to know each other
01:53and eventually did the tour.
01:55And he's just a phenomenal guy who has a really clear creative vision,
01:59whether it's in music or film.
02:02And, you know, I think we just kind of spoke the same language right away,
02:06and that's what you need in a collaborator.
02:10You know, to be this far into our friendship and relationship
02:13and have a movie coming out together is a pretty cool thing.
02:17And I heard this movie was many years in the making.
02:19How did he first approach you about playing Ren in this film?
02:22Well, I first heard about the film because I got sent the script
02:26kind of out of nowhere, and I read it really quickly
02:29and then picked it up again and read it right away again
02:33and just thought it was so well written and funny and sad
02:37and all the things and kind of said,
02:40Look, I want to do this if we can figure it out.
02:43And luckily the stars aligned for the schedules to work out,
02:46and we went back to my home state of New Jersey and made the movie.
02:49And coming up, you're going to be in the last five years.
02:51Returning to your Broadway roots, what is it about this show
02:54that made you want to come back to the theater?
02:56Well, this show is obviously so beloved.
02:59It's never been on Broadway.
03:01So when I was approached by the creative team to bring it to Broadway
03:04for the first time, I was over the moon.
03:06I mean, at my core, I'm a theater kid.
03:08I'm a theater nerd and couldn't be more excited
03:12to be a part of this production.
03:14And then to get to work with Adrienne Warren is a dream come true.
03:17She's a phenomenal talent, and she's going to bring so much to the role of Kathy.
03:22Now that the tickets are on sale and it's closer every day,
03:27I feel like my excitement about it is just getting bigger and bigger,
03:31and also my nerves are getting bigger and bigger.
03:34But it's going to be a great experience, and I can't wait.