Alison Brie and Dave Franco explain how their marriage fueled Somebody I Used to Know
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
A few months before the world ended, Alison Brie and Dave Franco had an idea for a movie. Visiting Franco's hometown in Northern California at the end of 2019, and walking the old path from his mother's house to his high school, the married couple conceived a story about "going home and confronting who you used to be compared to who you are now and how you feel about all that." They soon found themselves with plenty of time to write it once the COVID-19 pandemic began.
"We didn't know when we would actually have time to sit down and write it, and then, a few months later, the world ended," Franco tells EW. "At the time, they were saying that lockdown was going to last two weeks, so we looked at each other and said, 'Okay, we have two weeks to pump out this first draft.' We were waking up very early and writing all day. We ended up writing the first draft within that timeframe, but then, of course, the world stayed shut down for much longer, so we had a long time to refine that draft."
The result of that prolonged creative process was their new relationship drama Somebody I Used to Know, which starts streaming on Amazon Prime Video on Friday. It's Franco's second film as a director, and also the second (following The Rental) to star his real-life wife in the lead role. Brie also co-wrote the film with Franco, and she says their collaboration started as a way to spend more time together.
Alison Brie and Dave Franco on the set of 'Somebody I Used to Know.'
"As actors, we would sometimes spend months apart and have very little control over when and where we would be working on other jobs," Brie says. "So we wanted to start making stuff together partially just to be around each other more."
Brie continues, "It developed really organically. Once we were on the set of The Rental, everything went so well and I realized how much I loved being directed by Dave. I have so much respect for him, and I trust him so much. He knows me better than anyone in the world. It made for an ideal acting scenario where I knew I could take big risks as an actor and Dave was going to protect me."
Adds Franco, "I've always known how talented Alison is, but ever since I've been in a position where I've been able to watch her intently for months at a time, I realized that she's one of the best and she just makes my job really easy in that sense."
Brie's lead role in Somebody I Used to Know isn't always flattering. As Ally, a woman who takes a trip home after her "gotcha" interview show gets canceled, she decides to try reconnecting with high school sweetheart Sean (Jay Ellis)... even after she realizes that he's about to marry rock singer Cassidy (Kiersey Clemons).
Scott Patrick Green/Prime Video Alison Brie, Kiersey Clemons, and Jay Ellis in 'Somebody I Used to Know.'
The stage is thus set for a My Best Friend's Wedding-type anti-romcom — in fact, that reference is even made explicit in the dialogue. But Ally quickly starts to doubt her attempts to come between Sean and Cassidy, even as they wrestle with their own fears about which path to take.
"Our intention from the beginning was to not have any villains in the movie," Franco says. "Yes, these are characters who are flawed and making questionable choices, but at the end of the day, they're good people who are just going through a difficult time in their lives trying to get back to their truest selves."
Brie adds, "A lot of that also had to do with writing it during the pandemic when everybody was going through this monumental situation and taking stock of our lives: Are we happy with where we've ended up? Even though we set out to really make a romcom, as we followed the story and the characters to their organic conclusions, we started to move away from that."
Somebody I Used to Know is streaming now on Prime Video.
Related content:
