Feig finds humor in an ‘Other Space’
Director has funny women lined up for ‘Ghostbusters’ take
Comedy is heading to the cosmos on Other Space, which blasted off last week with eight episodes on Yahoo. A long-gestating project of creator Paul Feig ( Bridesmaids, Freaks and Geeks), the quirky galactic sitcom follows a ragtag crew of space explorers in 2105 whose ship is drawn into a strange, alternate universe. Food shortages, alien attacks and overwhelming incompetence ensue.
USA TODAY caught up with Feig to chat about the new series, reuniting with the Geeks cast 15 years later and directing the allwomen Ghostbusters reboot.
Q: Other Space has an offbeat sense of humor, despite putting its characters in grim situations. How did you decide on the tone of the show?
A: It can be a very realistic tone, even if there’s absurdity happening around them. To me, there’s nothing funnier than funny people in peril, because it’s just a great springboard for people to be at a heightened emotionality and things get funnier. That’s what I really liked when I came up with the idea, like, “Wow, we’re putting them in a really hopeless situation and seeing how they go with it.”
Q: You reunited with the
Freaks and Geeks cast on the TV Land Awards (which aired Saturday). Can you believe it has been 15 years since it was canceled?
A: No, it was weird. But when you look at the accomplishments of everybody on the show, sometimes you’re like, “Oh my God, I can’t believe it’s only been 15 years.” Seth Rogen, who’s a powerhouse in Hollywood now, (Jason) Segel, John Francis Daley (along with James Franco and Linda Cardellini). ... That’s when you go, “Wow, look at how successful everybody is.”
Q: It’s rare for a show to have so many cast members who go on to be successful. Was there anybody in the cast you had an early instinct about or who stood out?
A: They all stood out. What I didn’t know was how many of them had aspirations behind the camera, too, but we kind of slowly found that out. John Daley was making little films. Seth Rogen ... I remember him talking about this movie he was writing. He was 16 years old, and it was about two guys trying to buy beer. I was like, “Oh, that’s cute,” and it turned out to be Superbad. It was a driven bunch of kids, and we kind of brought them into the process and made it look attainable, I think, because we were so open with it and relying on them.
Q: You’ve worked with Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy (on Bridesmaids), but how did you land on ( Saturday
Night Live co-stars) Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones for Ghostbusters?
A: I’m just giant fans of theirs. I wanted to make sure I got four women who were very diverse in their comedies. There’s so many funny women I could’ve put in that, and so many I’m dying to work with, but you always have to make sure you don’t duplicate personalities or styles of comedy. I’m always in the ( SNL) audience, I go whenever I’m in New York, so I know the cast really well. And I’ve hung out with Kate, I love her to death. She’s one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. And then when Leslie Jones burst on the scene, I was just like, “That’s just an undeniable force of nature.”
Q: Seeing how most people on the Internet have embraced the casting, has that helped ease any anxiety about rebooting the franchise?
A: Yeah, I mean, casting is 90% of a director’s job. But now it’s like, “OK, I got the greatest players, I just don’t want to let them down.” But that’s the way I work. I work very loose and we play around on the set, and you always have to have a good script, because you have to have the blueprint. But that’s just the jumping-off point for me, and getting these amazingly talented women. I have Katie Dippold ( The Heat) writing with me, and Katie will be on set writing jokes and we’ll have other writers coming in and out, and we’ll be improvising. It’ll be very funny.