Sleeping With Other Peopleis a sexually frank new romantic comedy from writer/director Leslye Headland (Bachelorette), and such is the state of the genre that those qualifying descriptors don’t have the sort of novelty they once did.
From 1998’s There’s Something About Mary through to the films of Judd Apatow (Knocked Up, Trainwreck), the concept of blending sweetness and raunch is nothing new, but it’s the lack of genre calculation that makes Headland’s latest film such a refreshing take on the rom-com.
“I’m writing a screenplay now, but it’s very difficult, and very confusing, and I’m not sure what it’s about,” Headland begins. “But this particular one really flowed out of me. It’s funny – sometimes you sit and think, ‘I have no clue what I’m doing,’ or ‘I don’t know what this is gonna be.’ But Sleeping With Other People really flowed out, and I was just as surprised as my producer to find out that it was a romantic comedy.”
Headland’s surprise is perhaps understandable: Sleeping With Other People premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, was made on a relatively low budget, and is top-lined by two talented and charismatic comic actors (Saturday Night Live’s Jason Sudeikis and Community’s Alison Brie) who aren’t yet A-list movie stars.
“Jason was having dinner with his wife at a restaurant, and I interrupted them and I pitched it to him. I’ve done that to other people… it doesn’t always work,” she deadpans, adding that Kirsten Dunst (who starred in Bachelorette) dropped out due to scheduling conflicts and was replaced by Brie, who was suggested by Anchorman director and producer Adam McKay.
“I was hoping that we could get a studio interested in making it, and it turned out they had zero interest in making it,” Headland laughs. “I think part of the problem is that we don’t have any real movie stars anymore that are in that age range. I think apart from Jennifer Lawrence and Julia Roberts, there just aren’t a lot of women and men that are popular in that genre anymore. Or they do one, and that’s the end of it. Like Natalie Portman did No Strings Attached, Justin Timberlake did Friends With Benefits … Everyone wants to be an Avenger now. If they are going to do a romantic comedy, it’s gonna be a comedy and not a romantic comedy.” She pauses, before laughing again. “Or maybe they just didn’t like my script.”
While watching Sleeping With Other People, however, it becomes clear that a broader target audience might’ve led to a detrimental change in casting, or some of its riskier moments to be softened or excised for mass appeal. There’s a perfectly written and acted scene in which Sudeikis nonchalantly instructs a naive Brie on how to masturbate to an orgasm – a scene that hints at Headland’s start in the New York City theatre scene.
“I sorta love when I hear people gasping. I watched Billy Wilder’s The Apartment a little while ago at a second-run theatre in New York, and it was a packed audience, and everyone was gasping at stuff. And this is what I love, when people are fully invested and not sure what’s going to happen next. Or even if you know what’s going to happen, the way it happens, y’know?”
Indeed, the narrative trajectory of Sleeping With Other People may be predetermined, but like every good rom-com, it’s less the will-they-or-won’t-they conclusion that matters than the getting there, abetted by the chemistry between its two leads and a terrific cast of supporting players, including Natasha Lyonne, Amanda Peet and Adam Brody.
When asked if her involvement in theatre or film came first, Headland replies: “They were always sorta in tandem. One of the reasons I got started in theatre was because I didn’t have any money, and making a film back in the day on digital – which was when I was coming up – was really expensive … Theatre was an easier and cheaper way to get my work produced. I also think it made me a better actor’s director. A lot of my friends who are men who went to NYU film school, they’re all directing franchises now and doing well for themselves – I always talk to them for sorta technical advice and they talk to me for actor advice.”
On the shift from the cinematic experience to on-demand home viewing, where so many small(er)-scale films find a life (Bachelorette was a record-breaker in the on-demand market in 2012), Headland is pragmatic about the sobering reality of her disadvantaged position as a filmmaker.
“I think it’s a bummer, because you don’t get paid as much. Like, it really affects your career, and your acting price. It’s very easy to hide how much money you’re actually making on VOD [video-on-demand]. I showed the film in New York, and these older ladies were there, and they really loved the film, but they were almost telling me, ‘This isn’t going to go anywhere.’
“I think with the wage gap between what male directors make and what female directors make, if you don’t get proper support as a director for a theatrical release, then you may not have a career. Actors don’t want to be in a VOD release, and it’s hard to pitch to them when you’re only successful on VOD.” She perks up at the end of her rumination, however. “I really love [what I do], though, so I can’t really complain.”
Sleeping With Other People(dir. Leslye Headland) isin cinemas Thursday October 29.
