The stars of Netflix’s “Thunder Force” (Melissa McCarthy, Octavia Spencer, Pom Klementieff) and writer/director Ben Falcone discuss their upcoming action comedy in this interview with CinemaBlend’s Jeff McCobb. They discuss that weird sex scene that involves Jason Bateman as a “crab man,” how Klementieff was the funniest person on set and more.
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00:00I've been developing a genetic platform that will allow us to give ordinary people superpowers, but do me a favor, please don't touch anything
00:16So like any good interview
00:18I think we need to start by talking about the sex scene with Jason Bateman as a crab man. Oh boy
00:25Who's a little out? Why'd you take that from the restaurant? I always carried my own in my bra
00:29That was just just my level of ridiculous
00:33I was wondering how much of that you shot that was improv that ended up on the cutting room floor. I
00:40Think you know when you when you have your your first
00:45There's just not very many that you can't go back to the well of like well
00:49Let's see what I've had other run-ins with a crab man
00:52There's not a lot to to really go back to and it's not like at 16
00:58I had an experience with the crab man as well. So I used that it's just fishing with Bateman
01:03It's like anything with Bateman is gonna piece just so damn funny
01:07he's so funny, and I don't know how he can always play under and still and
01:13Still hit with such a punch like there's no and we're such good friends that like just
01:18Getting to be so stupid with him was such a blast
01:22The hell are you you'd think cancer, but Capricorn actually said moon
01:28intentionally structurally
01:30I'm really careful and I and I knew that the Lydia crab stuff was in the quote-unquote
01:36Wrong place because you shouldn't be taking a detour at that moment in the moat in the movie
01:42But I did it on purpose knowing that I could really minimize it if I wanted to but I thought it might be fun
01:48to
01:49explore
01:50having a really strong structure and
01:52Intentionally deviating it just from a second and it's funny and it seemed like it worked pretty well
01:57So we were happy with the result as nutty as it is
02:00You've both done the superhero thing before in the Marvel Universe
02:05And both of those films are pretty funny
02:08I was wondering what the difference was being in this superpowered flick that was straight comedy comedy first and foremost
02:16It was great, you know
02:18Unlike palm. I don't really get to play superhero in the Marvel Universe
02:22but I do get to be a
02:23Actually do get to be in one of the funnier ones in Ant-Man. And so
02:27So I get to have fun with that character, but it's very different, you know in in in in Thunder Force
02:32You know, I get to play a really insecure
02:36Sensitive thin-skinned
02:38Guy who can who's really strong and can kill you when he hugs you. So I think that's pretty funny and and
02:45And I don't know if that character would exactly be the same in the Marvel Universe
02:50I think maybe that wouldn't be wouldn't be as funny
02:52So I like the opportunity to be able to do both in a movie like this on what about you?
02:57What's the comedic vibe different on set?
02:59Yeah, I mean, I mean the difference like mostly for myself was just you know, the role of course, you know
03:06And in the Marvel Universe, I play more like an innocent or you know
03:11cute and a weird kind of creature and in this one, you know, she's very powerful and sure of herself and
03:18Destructive and completely evil, you know, that was really fun to play for sure. Well that that cast man
03:25I mean like like the two of you plus, you know, Bobby and Jason and I mean we're talking about like major
03:31Award-winning actors that are just also brilliant comedians
03:35I was wondering if there was anyone in particular on set that had you breaking and cracking up
03:41Palms really funny. I mean she's so willing to like go anywhere and like so many of her comic like
03:48She was just so weird as laser and I just like I loved it
03:52But I mean Bobby is Bobby's such a great actor, but he's such a funny guy
03:58Like he really really like he can just say stuff that like destroys me and then like Bateman's shit, you know
04:05So it's like we had it coming from all directions, but also everybody's
04:09Really technically skilled and they're you know
04:13So it was this great balance of you're never gonna like jeopardize getting the work done
04:18But you can just have a really good time doing it and I think all that stuff shows up on the screen
04:22Palm surprised me. I she just I loved her dead pain and you know
04:29delivery and
04:31Bateman everybody was brilliant and now what can't you love about Bobby?
04:35He's just genius
04:37Pom and I had never met and so I was really delighted to be surprised like that by somebody who I had never
04:43Seen, you know acted with before and so I had a hard time keeping it together there with Tom and and I think Octavia's
04:50Got a pretty solid deadpan
04:56Bateman this money every single time because it's how serious he always is and
05:01You know, Melissa is a given Melissa just Melissa makes me laugh. I'm just so used to Melissa now at this point
05:07But she's you know, she's brilliant. She never does the same thing twice. So, you know, really like heavyweights there
05:17I break I have to be scrubbed out of the soundtrack for almost all Melissa stuff so much of Octavia stuff
05:23All of Bateman stuff tons of Bobby's. I'm like a disaster, but I found out early
05:29That I can laugh because the sound people are so amazing
05:32They can usually get my horrible laughter out of the track, but I run I would have run tons of takes
05:49Thunder Force remember it
05:52Octavia
05:54You are also a student of comedy and you played deadpan great in this but you often play the more eccentric character. Listen, I
06:02leave all the brilliant comedic writing to Ben and I I
06:10Whatever you see in that performance is all due to his direction
06:14I had the best time but it's also easy to play off of Melissa
06:20I mean she gives you so much
06:28We've got to rethink this car. Yeah, it was a dream job, honey. What can I say?
06:33God, it was fun. Yeah, I was not like a real serious work environment. We took the work seriously
06:40But enjoyed every aspect of it. I mean you just I
06:45can't tell you every single day was
06:48My jaws hurt from laughing
06:51Did it lend itself to more of an improv vibe? Yeah, there's a lot of improv for sure and even yeah
06:58there's um, they're like always at rewriting the
07:01You know the size and giving a new ideas and then we come up with new ideas
07:06so it's just a bigger collaboration for sure and
07:09Ben and Melissa come from
07:12An improv background as well and Octavia as well, you know
07:16At school together at the Brownlings I think and so it's always a playing ping-pong, you know with like
07:22Oh, what about we're gonna do this and like, oh, yeah, and they say this and you know
07:27It just changes all the time, you know, so it's fun. Do I say okay here?
07:32I know what the scene is. Here's of the first pass at it. Does Melissa look at it and punch it up?
07:37She sure does and then
07:40Yeah
07:41You know once we get everybody on set and start working it out, you know comedy is the living breathing organic thing
07:48Bobby you you've developed a solid career as a dramatic actor. You've had a handful of Emmys in that genre
07:55I was wondering what it takes for you to take on a comedic role like this. Well, the pedigree is pretty important
08:01So, you know Ben and Melissa, they've got a I've got a very good track record
08:05I think Melissa is one of the greatest actresses we have working today. So there's nothing I won't do with her
08:10I've done so many different kinds of films with her now. I've done four different very different movies with her
08:15So I guess the you know, it's the people that you're working with
08:18It always comes down to the people you're working with in the material and usually when those things match up
08:23It's a pretty easy decision to make and look I've been very lucky
08:26I think I've done probably more dramatic things than I then not
08:30But I always try to find a way to make these characters even if they're not on the page funny
08:35I think the boardwalk Empire character is one of the funniest characters I've ever played even though
08:39You know, he kills a lot of people and it's not really considered a comedy that show and then there's you
08:47Fucking breadstick in a bowtie to me. That was one of the funniest characters I've ever played
08:52so I think I always approach it in a way that I think is
08:55You know, I try to find what the you know, what what the characters
09:00Achilles heel is and what their insecurities are and where their desperation lies
09:04And I think in there that you can mine a lot of comedy Lydia. Yeah, do not throw that bus
09:18I'm sorry, that's on me
09:30You