Alison Brie is a dream to interview. Joyously jocular, it feels like a chat with an old friend, and that’s rare for a studio press junket.
And as a standout player who leaped into the small-screen consciousness at the start of the last decade with not one but two smashes, Mad Men and Community. She followed that up with GLOW before branching out more into big-screen fodder, Scream 4, The Five Year Engagement, Get Hard, The Disaster Artist, and as the unforgettable Unikitty in The Lego Movie.
Brie’s talent for sitting neatly under the radar is intriguing, always relevant, never arrogant, and often full of surprises. In a sometimes dull and predictable world of entertainment, at this point, she is precisely what the industry needs.
Returning last month in Happiest Season, Brie plans to propose to her girlfriend at her family’s annual holiday party but is held back in her tracks when the revelation comes that her life partner hasn’t yet come out to her parents.
Kristen Stewart stars opposite Brie in this light-hearted romantic comedy that twists and turns, offering a feel-good fiber at a time when we need it most. The team behind Happiest Season was one of the few not to have their project severely hampered by Covid-19. They wrapped up shooting in February, just three weeks before the lockdown hit. Born and raised in Tinseltown, the 37-year-old still lives in LA. She is married to actor Dave Franco, James Franco’s younger brother.
STRIPLV: It must be nice to be back to work. BRIE: It’s exciting. It is nice. We have all been through a lot, and I think for everyone, work is the best reset into a way of life that seems normal again. STRIPLV: And film is a big release for people, excuse the pun. BRIE: It is. It’s escapism, something we all need. I think a lot of people have really embraced a few things we previously took for granted. Escapism is one of them. It really helps the human mind. Think as well about exercise, about the value of time with family. We have lost an awful lot this year, but I really and sincerely hope we have found a lot as well and rediscovered parts of us that we’d accidentally moved to one side. STRIPLV: What can you tell us about your third film of 2020, Happiest Season? BRIE: Third? Man, time is flying, isn’t it? That’s what happens when you’re sitting at home with your partner and also writing other stuff, as well. I had so much fun making this, and to work with such an unbelievably brilliant cast, as well, that was amazing. There was literally never a dull moment on set. When we weren’t being entertained by the script and things in the movie itself and having such a blast acting it out, we were laughing and joking in between takes. I love Mackenzie Davis and Kristen Stewart, and working with them was just the best. They are certainly the frontrunners for this movie. STRIPLV: Can you reveal any of the plot? BRIE: Well, Mackenzie’s parents are having their annual family party, and she decides to bring her girlfriend along. The only thing is that her totally conservative parents don’t know that she has a girlfriend, and even more than that, she’s never got around to telling them she is gay. Awkward. (Laughs) STRIPLV: It has such a great cast. I’m sure the audience is going to love this one. BRIE: Yeah, I think so too. The writing is great, and the cast is one who performed it perfectly. I was laughing throughout films, and you’ve got so many brilliant comedy actors who are steeped in excellent stuff like this, Mary Steenburgen (Curb Your Enthusiasm, Back to the Future, Step Brothers), Victor Garber (Sleepless in Seattle, Legally Blonde), the fabulous Aubrey Plaza and also Mary Holland, plus Clea DuVall as director. I love Clea. She knew exactly what she was doing. When you’ve got great people like that and such a strong piece of work, how can you go wrong? It was also such a welcome bit of relative relaxation and fun to have after filming a horror and a mind-bending, psychological thriller-mystery headfuck. (Laughs) So, I say bring them on and my husband Dave needs to write more funny ones instead of horrors to scare me with. STRIPLV: You are an actress who has successfully made the break from TV series to doing feature films while never closing the door on either. BRIE: That’s true, and I find it exciting and scary to morph between the two. These are the sorts of challenges I want to give myself, both as an actress and someone capable of very different kinds of performance across different formats. It’s not as easy as it seems, but I love the challenge. STRIPLV: Apart from the bigger paychecks that movie stars typically earn, are there any other advantages to making the switch to film? BRIE: The money thing seems to be balancing out with the real emergence of TV drama. I would say the biggest advantage to film is actually having more free time to do other projects. Working on a series is often a long-term commitment, and it also means that you’re pretty much booked for most of the year. Film means you can go after many different projects and play different kinds of characters as opposed to playing the same character for six or seven years. STRIPLV: There are echoes of Sleeping With Other People in this new film, would you say? BRIE: Certainly, there are similarities in the way each film is able to combine traditional elements of the romantic comedy with some very serious moments. Both are the kinds of women that I felt I could relate to and that women in general would be drawn to her for the kinds of conflicts and contradictions about her in dealing with sex and relationships. STRIPLV: You had your first sex scene in Sleeping With Other People. How did you react to that? BRIE: I liked the erotic aspect to the story because that’s often not really explored to any serious extent in these kinds of movies, and that’s very unrealistic. I’m pretty open about sex and nudity. I went to a very liberal arts college (California College of the Arts) where we did a lot of performance art where you would often be naked or where the girls would paint their bodies or have them covered in chocolate. The college had a policy where clothing was optional, and you could walk around naked on campus if you liked. Every once in a while, I would jog around campus naked, wearing only tennis shoes! (Laughs) Nobody really paid any attention. STRIPLV: Have you had your fair share of dysfunctional or complicated relationships? BRIE: I had some unhealthy and very messed up relationships with guys - especially when I was younger. But I’ve been very lucky meeting Dave (Franco). He’s the sweetest man in the world and very funny and charming. He’s so great. STRIPLV: Do you ever miss single life? BRIE: Not really. Freedom is something, but there a lot of crappy moments, some dark times. I actually hated being alone. And then I dated a lot of jerks who I stayed involved with for too long because that’s who I felt I deserved. All that fun stuff. (Laughs) But it’s also a really important time when you figure yourself out while you’re by yourself. My main goal in life was never to get married, but I failed at that, and I’m certainly very lucky to have found such a great guy. STRIPLV: It’s five years since both Community and Mad Men finished. You’ve moved on to some significant other projects, but do you still miss them? BRIE: I definitely miss both of them, but I don’t feel that void too much. I miss the people a lot, they become your little work families, but luckily I’ve been pretty busy to notice too badly. STRIPLV: You started on Community maybe a year after Mad Men, and they were both successful series. Did you believe they would be hits? BRIE: With Mad Men, I don’t think anyone had an idea, and it was really difficult to predict. I didn’t come in till the fourth episode of the first season, but I knew it was very good, very complex, very different. The character was fantastic, but it’s TV. It’s a free for all. A total crapshoot. How many amazing shows end up in the toilet? And Community, when I first read the script, it was so clever and funny, I thought maybe it would be like 30 Rock or somewhere in that vein, but I don’t know, it felt like a special kooky show that earned this life and this audience, and it was pretty magical. I remember when we went to Comic-Con after the first season, before the second, and it was chaotic. Amazing, amazing chaos. I had no idea that would happen, and it was mania. Unbelievably cool. And the reaction was huge and intense. STRIPLV: Working on such different shows simultaneously, as you did then and still do now, must be pretty fulfilling as an actor? BRIE: Going from one to the other is cool because you’ve got the diverse range of emotions, of environments and climates. I need that sort of diversity as an actress. STRIPLV: So which do you lean towards, comedy or drama? BRIE: I’m happy playing different characters because I’m a character actress. So pinballing between the two is the dream. I remember in college, all I wanted was to be a leading lady. I got to play the ingénue over and over, but I wanted to be the leading lady. Everyone wants that. But as I’ve gone on, I’ve realized how many more opportunities there are for character actresses. It’s more challenging, I find, because there are more risks and stretches involved. STRIPLV: Do you get recognized a lot on the street? BRIE: I rarely get recognized. I sometimes get, “You look sort of like Alison Brie.” So I’m not quite there yet. It’s always just been about the work to me, and I think it will stay that way. I see people going crazy for stars, and I’m not in that league, nor do I want to be. It has too many advantages.