Director Laura Terruso on Family & Robert De Niro

ComingSoon Editor-in-Chief Tyler Treese spoke with About My Father director Laura Terruso concerning the Sebastian Maniscalco-led comedy film. The movie is now obtainable digitally and will likely be launched on Blu-ray, DVD, and On Demand on August 1, 2023.

“The film centers around Sebastian (Maniscalco) who is encouraged by his fiancée (Leslie Bibb) to bring his immigrant, hairdresser father, Salvo (De Niro), to a weekend get-together with her super-rich and exceedingly eccentric family,” reads the synopsis. “The weekend develops into what can only be described as a culture clash, leaving Sebastian and Salvo to discover that the great thing about family is everything about family.”

Tyler Treese: What components of the script actually grabbed you the primary time you noticed it? What elements actually grabbed you and made you need to be part of this?

Laura Terruso: Well, once I first learn the script, I used to be instantly drawn to the character of Salvo. I simply felt like he was so well-written and it simply felt so true, as a result of not solely am I Italian, I’m Sicilian American. My mother immigrated from Sicily when she was like 12 years outdated — it was across the similar actual time that Sebastian’s father Salvo immigrated. I’ve two uncles who’re additionally Sicilian. So I simply felt so related to the character and the world. I felt like I had lived the story in some ways, the place I’ve dated individuals who have been from a extra waspy background, and I’ve my Italian American household. It simply felt so private whereas additionally being this actually enjoyable Hollywood comedy. I known as my agent and I used to be like, “I have to direct this.” You know? I felt like I used to be the proper individual for it.

We’ve seen lots of nice artwork just lately about being the kid of that first technology of immigrants that come over. In this film we see that there’s a little bit of a divide between father and son, however finally, he realizes every little thing Salvo has performed for him has been together with his greatest curiosity, and we get a very nice story there. Van you communicate to that basic generational sort of divide there?

Yeah, I imply, one of many issues that actually struck me concerning the script and concerning the character of Salvo was how a lot he’s formed by loss. The lack of his nation and his tradition, the lack of his spouse, and now he appears like he’s shedding his son, and that’s the final piece of his household that he’s received. So that feeling of, “Oh my God, I’m losing everything” is what’s driving him all through the movie. Comedy and ache … they’re linked, you realize? There was a lot concerning the character and about that feeling of like, “Oh my God, I’m losing everything and now I’m going to lose my son.” So in fact, subconsciously, he’s going to behave out and attempt to sabotage him in some ways, and it simply felt so wealthy to me.

Robert De Niro is ideal for the function that needed to be a dream to see that he was connected to it, as a result of I can’t consider anyone higher on this function as he actually will get to point out his full vary right here. He is nice at being a really unfavourable outdated man, however he’s additionally nice at displaying such real emotion all through. Can you communicate to attending to work with De Niro as an actor and what he dropped at this efficiency?

So once I signed on the movie, De Niro wasn’t connected but. We despatched the script to him. He was the primary actor that we went out to, and two days later I used to be on a Zoom with him, and he was so variety and so heat and simply made me really feel so comfy. I used to be in a position to speak him by way of my imaginative and prescient for the movie and the way I noticed it and the way I plan to direct it and speak with him about how I work as a director. He was like, “Come out to New York, let’s do a table read,” which is such an unbelievable present as a result of with a screenplay, you usually don’t even get to listen to it till it’s all forged up and it helps a lot to listen to a script learn out loud by nice actors.

So Sebastian and I went to New York and we did this desk learn with Bob and some different unbelievable actors. This was all in the course of the pandemic, so we have been like six ft aside on this loft — it was actually weird. But I used to be in a position to see Sebastian and Bob side-by-side, and it was simply so clear that this was going to work as a result of they actually felt like father and son, although Sebastian’s Chicago and Bob’s New York, there was some Italian American … like they spoke the identical language, you realize? Their Italian-ness form of outmoded areas. I knew it will work. So afterwards, I spoke with Bob and I mentioned, “This is the part of the script I want to work on and let’s get this party started.”

And, and he was like, “Yeah, let’s do this. He was such a partner throughout the whole process. He was really a collaborator from beginning to end, in pre-production leading up to the shoot. He would call me every week, “How’s it going? How’s it going on locations? Where are we with cast?” He needed to learn with each single forged member, which is so uncommon that you simply get the forged not solely to audition, however to learn with the actor that they’re going to be enjoying reverse. So we have been actually in a position to take a look at this forged’s chemistry with each other due to Bob. I’m so grateful to him for that as a result of their chemistry is phenomenal and I felt like I gained a lot by way of working with him and discovered a lot within the strategy of working with him.

One of my favourite scenes early on is the flashback sequence after we see Salvo with the ponytail. How was it while you noticed Robert De Niro come out with that entire getup? That needed to be unbelievable.

That was superb. So Sebastian’s dad regarded precisely like that when Sebastian was rising up. For Bob, authenticity is every little thing. It’s crucial factor there may be while you’re making any murals. It’s no surprise that he usually performs characters which have existed as a result of there’s one thing for him to tug from. So I despatched up a bunch of images of younger Salvo and I used to be like, “Here’s what we’re thinking.” And he’s like, “Yes, ponytail, done.” We simply did it.

And at one level there was a dialog about de-aging, and I used to be like, “No,” as a result of while you’re a child, your 40 yr outdated dad seems 80 to you anyway. It doesn’t make a distinction. It simply labored. It’s so humorous, he simply was utterly all-in and when it got here to the hairdressing stuff, he actually needed to ensure that he was doing that correctly. So we had Sebastian’s dad Salvo really come to set and educate him how you’ll spotlight a girl’s hair, how you’ll do it. It was like actually, actually cool.

Speaking of Sebastian, that is such a private story for him, and we get to see him mix components of his stand-up act into the film as nicely. How was working with him to mix these two mediums between stand-up and a extra scripted leisure like this?

I imply, Sebastian might be one of many funniest comedians on this planet proper now. I really like that that is the film he selected to make as a result of it’s a love letter to his father. In a means, it’s like much less about … I imply, it’s a love story, proper? Ultimately, I described this movie as a romantic comedy between a father and a son. Sebastian has such a giant coronary heart and that is simply such a love letter. Working with him was simply seamless. Quite a lot of his stand-up, we have been in a position to sort of plug and play proper into the film after which we’d speak to him a couple of scene and he’d have these nice concepts the place he’d be like, “Oh, when I was on the helicopter and I freaked out, my dad gave me a lemon.”

Things like that, the place we’re like, “Oh, we’re putting it in, we’re putting it in.” So it was actually seamless and I really feel like comedians can do something. It’s exhausting to get a dramatic actor typically to be humorous, however I really feel prefer it’s so much simpler to get a comic to carry out dramatically. The moments that I believe I used to be actually most shocked by on set have been the place he actually was like in a position to lean into a few of these extra dramatic scenes and get to a very true place. And it was simply cool, working with him on that and seeing that facet of his, as a result of I don’t even suppose he knew it was there, however seeing that facet of him emerge, that this man’s received appearing chops as nicely.

Those are among the greatest moments. One factor I actually beloved was the opening 10 minutes. Can you communicate to utilizing that narration? There was some actually nice modifying to speak the histories of each households. Can you discuss that opening and including your personal fashion to that starting?

Yeah, that was within the script from the very starting, and I believe it’s so necessary. There’s a lot setup that has to happen with a movie like this, as a result of finally you actually need to get to the assembly, proper? Like you need to get to the good things, however it’s a must to perceive the place Sebastian’s coming from and the place Ellie’s household’s coming from. It was such a very enjoyable piece of writing on the high of the movie. Then when it got here time to place it collectively, I knew we’d be pulling from plenty of archival stuff and we shot a few issues right here and there. Like that household portrait of the Collins household the place we sort of pull out from one portrait they usually’re posing for one more portrait. [Laugh].

I needed to, as a filmmaker, take into consideration, “Okay, what is this going to look like? How are we putting this together?” It was really sort of a nightmare as a result of lots of the archival … there have been images and archival footage that we beloved that we couldn’t use due to rights and stuff and authorized causes. So we needed to preserve developing with … “Okay, here’s an alternative that will work. Alright, we’ll do this and then we’ll put him in a casino.” It felt like lots of train in that part [Laughs]. But I’m glad it resonated for you and it’s actually enjoyable and humorous and it units up the entire film. I beloved taking pictures these flashbacks. De Niro was utterly recreation and it was superior.

I beloved David Rasche on this — he was nice in Succession. He will get to essentially showcase his comedic abilities right here, and he and Kim’s chemistry’s is so nice. What actually stood out about attending to see him because the patriarch of the wealthier household?

I believe for me too, he was the true shock, as a result of a lot of his greatness on this movie … lots of it’s improvised. Quite a lot of these traces that he says which might be simply gold [are] improvised. He’s a Second City man. He’s been doing comedy for a very very long time and this was such a chance to flex his muscular tissues and to play. Everybody was there as a result of they needed to play with Bob. They needed to play with De Niro and get an opportunity to work with him.

I felt like David simply nailed it. He simply killed the task. It’s humorous, in a means that is like his Succession character’s personal life. [Laugh]. Although Karl appears much more … sort of evil than than Bill Collins [Laughs]. Bill Collins looks like a reasonably candy, good man.