WAMG Interview: Sean Anders – Director of INSTANT FAMILY

Sean Anders made a name for himself in Hollywood as a writer of rowdy raunchy comedies for the last dozen or so years. For the past decade, he’s become a double threat by directing several of his screenplays, such as THAT’S MY BOY, the two DADDY’S HOME flicks, and the second HORRIBLE BOSSES movie. With this Friday’s new release INSTANT FAMILY, Anders goes for the hat trick as co-writer, director, and producer. Plus he’s gotten a PG-13 rating rather than his usual R. As you’ll read here, this is in service of a story that’s close to his heart. Recently Mr. Anders visited St. Louis to promote the film. I was able to ask him a few questions, along with 590 the Fan and KSDK.com’s Dan Buffa, on October 30.

Jim Batts: This is one of the few comedies that could also be called a “message” movie. I believe Sam Goldwyn is credited as saying, “If you want to send a message, use Western Union” (if anyone remembers telegrams). But this film works. Was your original idea to do a comedy promoting foster parenting, or did this occur to you as you made your own “instant family”, thinking “Hey, this is funny. It should be in a movie.”?

Sean Anders: A little bit of both, really. After hearing several of the hilarious and sometimes heartbreaking stories, my writing partner John Morris pushed the idea of turning this into a film. I jumped at the chance to put the word out about the experience of taking these kids in, and how that can change your life because most people just don’t know about this. Fortunately, I’ve kept in contact with my old social worker who in turn put me in contact with several other families who shared their stories and situations, many of these found their way into the film.

JB: Much of the film cuts back and forth between Pete and Ellie’s (Mark Wahlberg and Rose Byrne) homelife and the parenting classes they attend with several hopeful parents. Was there ever a thought of doing an initial film just about the classes and saving the introduction of the kids for a sequel?

SA: Not really, because we wanted to show the entire scope of the fostering experience. Bringing the kids in was important because a lot of folks that might be thinking about getting involved were sometimes afraid of the kids who have sent so much time in the system. We want to show that many of these fears are unfounded. That’s why we cast several foster families in the big crowd sequences.

JB: The film has autobiographical elements, though Pete and Ellie are not in the entertainment business, but rather are “house flippers”. Did you go through several possible occupations, or was the thought that the couple was “flipping” their lives?

SA: The house flipping has been a hobby for my wife and I. Just like the movie couple, we like to relax at night and watch the cable “house renovation” shows that we’ve DVR’d. But yes, that part of the story lends itself to that metaphor! They’re having a great life together, but something seems to be missing.

JB: Wahlberg and Byrne have such terrific chemistry, you’d think they had played a couple onscreen before. Was the process of pairing them a long one, or was she in mind when you and John wrote the screenplay?

SA: Well, John and I had a long list of ideas for possible Ellies for Pete (Mark was on board from the onset). We needed someone who could handle the comedy and drama, plus an actress who would ask all the right questions about the story and the character. Rose fit the bill, and then some. I recall the first scene she shot with Mark was the one in which they look at the foster child website. After we cut, a couple of crew members remarked about their chemistry. They seemed like a couple who’ve been married several years.

JB: Isabela Moner (as the elder of the trio, Lizzy) delivers a powerful performance. Were you thinking of making the oldest child a male before meeting her, or was the dynamic always older girl, middle boy, and youngest girl?

SA: No, we always wanted that dynamic as it was very close to our own reality. Lizzy is a powerful force, trying to keep the kids together for the birth mother. She reflects many of the conflicts, showing that everything doesn’t “fall into place”. We were turned down by the teen foster child in own first attempt at adoption.

JB: Pete and Ellie aren’t the only terrific comedy team in the film. Karen (Octavia Spencer) and Sharon (Tig Notaro) are an inspired Oscar/ Felix pairing. And then there’s the casting of Ellie’s parents. Were you intending to reunite two of the stars of two comedy classics from 1980 as a gift to film fans of that era?

SA: That’s one of the great happy coincidences in movie making. Growing up, I was a big fan of both AIRPLANE! and CADDYSHACK, so I, and the rest of the cast and crew, were delighted to pair Julie Hagerty and Michael O’Keefe for the first time in a film. It’s not just nostalgia, as they are great together.

JB: Hagerty’s Jan is flighty and soft-spoken. Did you cast her to specifically as the opposite of Margo Martindale’s “steamroller”, Grandma’ Sandy?

SA: No, Jan and Sandy were always written that way. Julie saw and played Jan with almost a child-like quality, while we and Margo saw Pete’s mother as this bombastic “force of nature”.

JB: The Christmas “box” sequence is somehow both funny and tragic, something you’d usually associate with toddlers. Was this culled from a holiday at home, or did it come from interviews and research?

the interviewee earns a prize from the interviewer!

SA: This happened with my own son, Not only at the holidays but as we began to order more and more items from Amazon. He had to go grab those grinning boxes. And this came up in several stories from the families we talked to.

JB: Another remarkable scene that is unexpectantly moving is when Ellie brushes Lizzy’s tangled hair. The teen feels as though she’s about to bond with her foster parent, then fights the feelings, that she must remain loyal to her birth parent.

SA: Yes, this was a real human moment, where we wanted to go for the emotion rather than the “gag”. I was lucky to have a friendship with the late, much missed, filmmaker John Hughes. He gave me some great advice about screenwriting, “It’s not the size of the laugh, it’s how it feels”. Does it ring true? That’s more important. That’s one reason the message in the movie means more than getting laughs. I want people to come away from this movie with a better understanding of foster families and to erase the stigma around these kids. They aren’t weird misfits or monsters, they’re just good kids that deserve a chance. My hope is that more people will do the research and get involved. It’ll not only change their lives, but it’ll also bring joy to yours.

JB: Thank you for your time, Mr. Anders. And best of luck.

INSTANT FAMILY opens everywhere on November 16