For an inspirational comedy about the guts it takes to grind out 26.2 miles and turn a life around, “Brittany Runs A Marathon” spends much of its runtime contemplating the pitfalls of so-called “self-improvement,” including the money traps, obsessive counting, unhelpful judgments, the paranoia of backsliding.
It’s in those moments of darkness where first-time director Paul Downs Colaizzo faced his biggest challenges but also found his mandate in making the new film from Amazon Studios, out this Friday. The New York playwright says he wanted comedy film tropes and character self-perceptions to be in conversation in “Brittany Runs A Marathon.”
In turn, Jillian Bell—best known for playing disheveled sidekicks in studio comedies like “Rough Night”—stars as Brittany, a woman trying to get off the sidelines of her own story, where her toxic social circle and subterranean self-esteem are initially masked by her humor and spontaneity. Once the New York City Marathon becomes Brittany’s chosen vehicle for change, her world expands, and in pours a slew of rising comedy characters actors like Michaela Watkins, Lil Rel Howery, Utkarsh Ambudkar, and Micah Stock.
READ MORE: Jillian Bell Carries ‘Brittany Runs A Marathon’ Across The Finish Line [Sundance Review]
In the interview below, Colaizzo unpacks the genius of Watkins, when goofy voices become shields against vulnerability, and the line his movie is trying to walk when it comes to weight loss.
Let’s start with a side road: you have a great running song in this movie by Lizzo, but I have to imagine that was a decision made before she became the breakout artist of 2019.
It was. Casey Brooks, the editor on the film, used that song in his first pass on it. And I thought, “what an incredible song,” and we never touched it. That was in January 2018. I just thought it was so perfect.
And then American largely agreed that her music is perfect.
I know! Playing the flute and twerking.
I want to know about the fictionalizing of Brittany, your best friend who you watched take up running and go through all these life transformations. Brittany, the character, has to do some pretty hurtful things. I wonder at what point in the process were you thinking, “OK, this is not my friend anymore.”
From the beginning, I knew I didn’t want a biopic. I was more interested in the emotional fabric of her story and the things she and I had in common: both of us using humor as a defense mechanism. From the jump, it was never her. That gave me the creative license to really tell a story about a woman who I knew inside and out and could put in situations that felt dramatically appropriate to the journey she was on.
Jillian [Bell] said, previously, she was terrified the first time she read the character. What do you think initially intimidated her?
I’d never directed anything, and she’d never played a dramatic leading role before. That alone was something we both bonded over. It’s also an incredibly vulnerable story, especially for a woman, especially to talk about their body, and explore that, not just in a room with a camera and a crew but knowing it will be seen by strangers and the world at some point. You’d have to ask her, but I can only imagine how she felt about the idea.
There’s something that happens as the viewer, too, where you have to look the movie in the eye, even though the comedic parts are more comfortable. And that’s also what the character is going through. Where did that defense mechanism of Brittany’s accent come from?
Brittany and I met at drama school at NYU and were surrounded by actors. There’s a pattern in actors: to go into a funny voice when things get uncomfortable or vulnerable or complicated. It’s kind of an aggravating defense mechanism when you are trying to connect with somebody. That sense of always hiding behind a character and to make it somebody else who is voicing discomfort or a desire. I wanted to undress that through this instinct of hers.
Did you ever have the experience of telling a friend or peer—or maybe them to you—to drop that act?
I personally am allergic to feeling like someone is afraid of vulnerability. Not to say we all need to walk around as skinless grapes. But as Brené Brown says, “Courage and vulnerability are the same things.”
So this was the second time in two weeks I’d seen a movie with Jillian Bell and Michaela Watkins in it.
Ah, you saw “Sword of Trust!” I haven’t seen it yet.
I ask gonna ask! So who got them together first, you or Lynn Shelton?
They were not signed up for “Sword of Trust” while we were doing our film, but while I was in the edit, they were cast in and shot a version of it.
Did you get the impression they hit it off and were itching to work together again?
They’ve known each other for a long time and have such beautiful chemistry in the film. If I were them, I’d want to do everything together.
I’m really fascinated with Michaela Watkins in particular. Even in podcast interviews, she seems to be able to generate instant chemistry with people. Is that just because she’s so invested in all the human beings she encounters?
She is one of the fastest sharpest, people I’ve ever met. Her wit, her ability to make observations. And at the same time, she has this stubbornly pure heart that feels for other people’s pain. Putting those things together is probably what leads to instant chemistry. She’s not only seeing you but also feeling you.