You’ve Laughed at Their Work on ‘The Bear,’ ‘SNL,’ and ‘After Midnight.’ Now Hulu Is Sending Them Back to High School in Their 30s.
Carmen Christopher plays Chester on “The Bear.” Jo Firestone was the head writer for Taylor Tomlinson’s “After Midnight”, wrote for “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon”, and has acted in TV and film including “Broad City” and “Shrill.” Gary Richardson wrote for “SNL” and “I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson”, and has appeared on TV series including “The Good Place” and “The Chair Company”.
All three star in Hulu’s newest ensemble comedy film, Never Change!, about a group of 30-somethings who are forced to return to high school after the tornado that cut their senior year short has retroactively invalidated their diplomas. North Meadows High’s entire graduating class of 2008 must finish out the two weeks of classes and the finals they missed, while reencountering teenaged insecurities and lost loves as well as reliving rites of passage like school plays, house parties, and Sex Ed class.
We talked to Christopher, Firestone, and Richardson about improvising on a tight budget, getting “paid handsomely”, and why nobody’s nice to writers.
The transcript has been lightly edited for readability.
[Nicole Stawiarski] I wanted to kick it off and and talk about the ensemble.This feels like such an improvisor’s film. The way the spotlight is shared. Every character gets a chance to be absurd, but also emotionally grounded. Everybody’s got a fleshed out backstory and motivation, and nobody is a vehicle for anybody else’s punchline.
When I was going through the Second City Conservatory, I had the pleasure of watching Nate Varrone, who was in the film, perform on the main stage. I’m just curious with all of your backgrounds in improv, how did that contribute to collaboration on set? Did you get to riff with each other? What was that like making a film with so many talented people?
[Gary Richardson] I think that that mostly showed up behind the scenes. I feel like, on camera, I think because it is such a goofy movie, people will think that there’s a lot more improv, but they were trying to make something good, and there’s a lot of different moving pieces. So we couldn’t stray too far. You could like, get a joke in or something, but it wasn’t like you could be as wild as I think you would think having watched.
[Carmen Christopher] There were a lot of constraints with time and budget. It wasn’t as much improv, unfortunately, but there were moments. There’s always moments, you know.
[Jo Firestone] I think that having just a bunch of funny people in the same area, I think it kinda puts you in a good mood, and it puts you in a place that you want to do the best you can do. And so I think that in that way, it did show up on screen where you’re like, “Oh, everybody here is, like, with friends and feels comfortable and like, wants to make it the best it can be”.
[Carmen Christopher] And if I’m gonna be quite frank, we were all paid handsomely, like, everybody in the cast, a million dollars across the board.
[Jo starts laughing]
[Gary Richardson] If they pay good, I play good. End of the day that’s just how it goes down. You know?
[Nicole Stawiarski] With the playfulness, with the fun off-screen, were there any scenes in particular where you were struggling? Obviously, everybody is a professional here, but was it hard to not break during some of these, like, very absurd, very fun moments?
[Carmen Christopher] Not me. Not me. No. I’m always locked in. So if I’m in character, it’s like, you could be Chris Farley falling through a fricking table and, yeah. You could jump off a diving board, and you’re not getting me to break. I’m locked in…
[Gary Richardson] Yeah. I wasn’t breaking too much only because I know how disruptive that can be to be like, “Oh, no. We’re actually… I’m actually f*cking up real bad, and I’m the reason why we’re not making the day”, and I’m not gonna be that guy.
[Jo Firestone] I did break. But luckily, these were in group scenes where I didn’t have lines, and I just decided my character was breaking. Like, there’s a Sex Ed scene, where there’s like, a banana being forced in somebody’s mouth with a condom, and then there’s, like, a licking situation, and I laughed a lot, but I thought, “You know what? My character is laughing. And the camera’s not even on me”.
[Gary Richardson] Yeah. People laugh in real life.
[Jo Firestone] People laugh in real life all the time.
[Gary Richardson] And that’s okay to do on screen.
[Carmen Christopher] There’s a stat. I think it just came out. Every single person will at least laugh once a day…
[Gary Richardson] Oh, and who did this study?
[Carmen Christopher] Instagram. There’s an Instagram study. That came on my feed. Yeah. Instagram does all these studies now. And they’re really accurate.
[Nicole Stawiarski] My favorite source for news too. Carmen, your character, Tedi Mayo, is sort of a hometown hero. Being from Chicago, I’m a Chicago girl myself, you’re on, arguably, the most Chicago show on TV right now [The Bear]. Has that changed what it’s like for you to go home or run into people from high school? Do you feel like a bit of a Tedi Mayo yourself?
[Carmen Christopher] Honestly, it’s kinda tough. Like, I can’t even go get a coffee, like, without being bothered.
[Jo and Gary start laughing]
[Carmen Christopher] You know, it’s…your whole life kinda changes. It’s funny because it happens so quickly, and, you know, I’m back in my hometown. I’m with my family and sh*t and just like, you’re just getting swarmed. And you’re appreciative because it’s like, oh, I affect you, and that’s like awesome. Like, I make your day better and that’s sweet. And I’m literally trying to get like, a flat white and you’re, like, taking pictures and, like, asking for an autograph. It’s not something that anybody prepares you for. But it is something that is totally worth it. And it’s, like, if you wanna put yourself out there, and, you know, do what we do, then, you know, you’re paid handsomely. It’s like, you’re gonna get approached by millions, I guess.
[Nicole Stawiarski] Jo and Gary, with your backgrounds, just with amazing writing credits for Fallon and ‘After Midnight’ and ‘SNL’. I love how that played out with your characters in the play. And I’m curious, switching from being behind the scenes to being on stage the way Jo, Amelia kind of goes from, you know, working on set to being, like, “No, I’m the lead of this play. I have all the lines memorized”. Do you find that people are surprised when your energy shifts from writing mode to performing mode and what does that feel like? What do you enjoy about being in front of the camera as opposed to in the writer’s room?
[Jo Firestone] Yeah. I think that right now in comedy you kinda have to do a little bit of everything or be down to do a little bit of everything. So you know, I’m just happy whenever anybody offers me a job. And so, whenever I have a job I think, “This is what I’m doing for a couple months”. And then I’ll go to the next thing I’d be like, “Whoa, this is now what I’m doing”. And so, it was nice. You know, when you’re an actor, people just tell you what to do and where to stand, and you know, what socks to wear, and that’s kind of a refreshing thing for a little bit.
[Nicole Stawiarski] Gary, what about you?
[Gary Richardson] Oh, it’s interesting. It’s weird because people are so nice to actors, and they’re really not that nice to writers.
[Carmen Christopher] That’s actually really true.
[Gary Richardson] It’s incredibly true. So, I liked being treated nicer at work. But, yeah that’s kinda like the only real takeaway that I had when I was just, like, shocked at how nice people are. People are so down to run and grab you a thing or, like, “Oh, can you run back, I left my keys here. Can you go grab that?” And they’re like, “Yeah, Absolutely. Whatever you need”. And if you’re a writer it’s like, “Go get your f*ckin’ keys. Like, what’re you talk—?” It’s crazy.
[Carmen Christopher] Yeah. “Why’d did you forget your keys, you dumba**”? How’re you gonna get home? How are you gonna get in your f*ckin’ house, you stupid a**? Oh, you wrote the script? You can’t even get in your house?”
[Nicole Stawiarski] Final question. The three of you are playing characters who lack confidence for a variety of reasons, but in real life obviously achieved certain levels of success that most people would love to brag about at a high school reunion.
There’s a lovely speech at the end of the film about life giving us chances every day. Is there one chance that you really feel like, “if I hadn’t taken this risk or made this decision, my life might look a little bit more like my character”, or “this was a pivotal moment for me that kind of helped get me where I am today”?
[Jo Firestone] Well, I’ll say that my high school reunion was scheduled for the first day of shooting of this movie. And I was, like, “If I go to this reunion, I’m gonna feel like sh*t the entire shoot”. And so I thought, “I’m not gonna go”, and that was a really good decision.
[Gary Richardson] For me, I think if I hadn’t dropped out of college, I probably would have got a degree and then been able to get a better job earlier, and I bet that would have led me down maybe, like, a less creative path. I would’ve have been definitely like, “Oh, I’m I’m doing these things. I follow these rules, so I’m gonna just ride that out”.
[Carmen Christopher] If I didn’t go to college. The only reason I went to college is because my step dad was, like, “You should go to college” because he didn’t go, he stayed. He was a good baseball player, and he didn’t go. He stayed back for his girlfriend, and it was like the biggest regret. And I didn’t know what I was gonna do. I was either gonna go into the military, I’m not even joking, or junior college. And he was like, “You should go away to school. It’s like, my biggest regret”. If I didn’t go away to school, I would be so f*cked up right now. I’d probably be in prison. I’m not even gonna lie.
[Gary Richardson] For what?
[Carmen Christopher] Just like, freaking out at the office or something. Tackling the boss. Breaking his neck or something. I don’t know. But I’m the nice guy and I say “I love you” to my friends. Guy or girl. Don’t matter. Thank you college.
