Mike Crowley
From the Clerks trilogy to Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Kevin Smith has a pulse on pop culture and mumblecore antics. The 4:30 Movie is a return to what Smith knows best. It’s Smith’s homage to John Hughes films, focusing on ’80s nostalgia. The story is about Brian David (Austin Zajur), who’s trying to win over his crush, Melody Barnegat (Siena Agudong), by taking her to a 4:30 showtime of Astro Blaster. While trying to make the showtime, Brian reaches revelations with his friends Burny (Nicholas Cirillo) and Belly (Reed Northrup) that will either change or strengthen the trajectory of their bond.
Zajur, Agudong, Cirillo, and Northrup recently spoke with Film Obsessive’s Mike Crowley about their experience working on the set and with Kevin Smith as a writer and director. The interview below the video has been edited for clarity and space.
Film Obsessive: Hey everybody, thanks for coming on today. I’m Mike Crowley with Film Obsessive, and today I’m with the cast of The 4:30 Movie. I’ll just jump straight into the questions. So this movie is about the theater-going experience. I was just wondering from everyone, what was your most memorable experience going to the theater?
Austin Zajur: For me, I would say me and my friends in sixth grade, we bought a ticket to, I think, like a PG movie, and then we snuck in to see Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and it was, it’s, it’s still in my top three favorite movies. I don’t know if it was because that was one of the first rated R movies I ever saw, but that was probably one of my favorite experiences because the theater was packed, and everyone was kind of, there’s one of those showings where everyone is kind of involved in the whole theater, and people were just yelling, and having a good time.
Does anybody else have any experiences going theater that they remember?
Reed Northrup: For me, I have two. The first, the first would be when I was a teenager. I must have just turned 13, I went to see Blades of Glory, and I just remember, like never laughing harder with a group of friends. And then the second, as an adult, would have been seeing Get Out because I felt like, like I was seeing the whole audience was just riding the story the whole time. And it was the most; it almost felt like theater. It felt like the most interactive movie-going experience I’ve ever had.
So I can just jump straight into the next question with the rise of streaming: what do you think we’re losing when comes to going to the theater?
Siena Agudong: I think it’s easy to say community like you just lay us an experience. And it’s not just you can watch a movie in your room all day long, and that’s great, but you lose the, I don’t know, the whole joy of what it means to be like watching, to watch a movie with like those who are also watching at the same time. I think that just piggybacks off of the answers before.
The 4:30 Movie takes place in the eighties, which follows a really popular trend, if you watch Stranger Things or Ghostbusters Afterlife. I was just thinking of that because it has Finn Wolfhard in it, and I’m like, “he was in Stranger Things.” But why do you think it’s such a popular trend where a lot of movies these days are taking place, in the eighties and nineties, in the era I grew up in?
Nicholas Cirillo: It’s aged long enough where it’s finally been long enough for it to have nostalgia. The people that have grown up in those decades are primary adults and audience members. So I think there’s a lot of demand for a return to the eighties and nineties, and probably a lot of nostalgia, the idyllic memories and dissatisfaction a little bit with contemporary stuff. So I think that’s, that’s a big reason why.
So what’s Kevin Smith’s process like when he makes a movie like The 4:30 Movie? I know when he made Clerks, he kind of would just place the camera and film everyone, and then just kind of be like, “Okay, go.” And at other times he’d stick very strictly to the script. So, I don’t know if he allowed any room for improv on your set. What was his process like? Was he just kind of like a film and then, let you go and do whatever you want kind of guy? Or was he kind of like, “We’re going to do this advanced camera placement, and this is the script, and don’t break it because it’s like the Bible.”
Nicholas Cirillo: I would say he’s like tyrannical and fear-mongering. [Everyone laughs.] Just kidding!
Austin Zajur: I feel like he definitely, on this movie, he was pretty freeing, at least for me; it felt like the only improv that, besides maybe a couple lines here or there, that I tried to throw in secretly, without him noticing, acting as if it was like a spur of the moment thing was Justin Long’s scene, which was entirely improvised because some of the other scenes he was in got cut, so he just cut together a totally improvised scene which was pretty, I never, I’d never seen that happen in a film, for me, at least that I’ve been a part of.
I have a question for Austin and Sienna. Where do you see Brian and Melody 10 years after the The 4:30 Movie ends? Do they go to film school together? Or do you think they drift apart and meet other people? Have you ever considered what happens to them far after the credits roll?
Siena Agudong: If all goes to plan, Melody’s a Dean. (laughs) I feel like, Film Festival, Brian David, and a little long distance. [Laughs.]
Austin Zajur: Yeah, I feel like they maybe do long distance for a little bit while Brian tried to be like a page at NBC or something, trying to work for SNL, but it probably wouldn’t work out. And then he’d go to whatever town Melody was in and then kind of stay with her for a little bit, but then she might get fed up. Because he’s just kind of home all day, and he needs to do something, but he’s like, “I’m writing,” and then they have a falling out again.
Siena Agudong: You have the script written, right? [Everyone laughs.]
Austin Zajur: So it’s a will day, won’t they kind of thing.
Why do you think Austin and Melody are so in love with each other, outside of having that sort of romantic fling in the swimming pool in the previous summer and both being cinephiles. Other than that, what do you think draws them to each other?
Austin Zajur: I think Brian, I think he can kind of be himself around Melody, and he doesn’t; she doesn’t really judge him as maybe intensely as some of the other people in his life, so even though he’s nervous to talk to her, because he does like her a lot. I think he’s able to kind of almost be this future version of himself that eventually becomes Kevin. And I think she, I guess, lifts that up in a sense and is affirming to that.
So, Sienna, would you know why Melody would be so attracted to Brian outside of loving movies? Because I’ve had a lot of partners who loved movies, but then there’s always something else we needed in order to, you know, really connect.
Siena Agudong: I think that Melody is something that’s special. She’s so sure of herself and what she wants to do and who she wants to be. When she meets someone like Brian David, he is the funniest guy she’s ever met. But I think what she really means is that he’s so himself. Like Austin was saying, she doesn’t want to waste your time, and it’s like someone who’s so transparent with their feelings. And I think it’s refreshing for her, and it makes, I don’t know, it just brings out that confidence in the both of them.
Mike Crowley: Did you guys do any research when it came to studying nineteen-eighty six and if so, what research did you do?
Reed Northrup: I listened to a lot of eighties music. [Everyone laughs.]
Which music? Which bands?
Reed Northrup: Well, I mean, maybe this is very contrary to, perhaps what Kevin would have preferred I listened to. But I love Cher, and so does my mom. And I grew up on Cher, so I listened to a lot of Cher to kind of get me in the swing of things. And also, I think this movie, and Kevin will speak about it too, I’m sure, has like this sort of John Hughesian feel. So I feel like movies like The Breakfast Club or Pretty in Pink, like they sort of have a similar sort of tone would be the right word for this movie. So I watched some of those movies as well.
Did anyone else binge-watch any eighties movies or stuff like that? I gotta be honest; although I was born in ’85, I didn’t watch a lot of ’80s movies growing up, and now I’m sort of kind of backtracking, going on the wagon. I just saw Goonies for the first time, and everyone’s like, “That movie’s so great.” And I’m like, Well, I saw it as an adult, and I just saw a bunch of kids screaming at each other for two hours. [Everyone laughs.]
Nicholas Cirillo: It’s not eighties, but I thought it was really cool that one of the first nights that we had all got into Jersey, we went and watched American Graffiti, kind of because it was not ’80s, but an iconic teeny-bopper movie and it was really funny, like one of the first days we were filming, Kevin told Reed and Austin, and to just, I think he quoted, or he specifically mentioned American Graffiti. And what was the other movie he mentioned? But to be iconic,
Austin Zajur: Animal House? Or something. I don’t know. Something like that.
Nicholas Cirillo: Yeah, he was just like, “Hey, listen. This is like American Graffiti. It’s that. So, just be iconic. Have fun. See you guys later.” So it’s quite a daunting direction note to just leave to spring on us, but luckily enough, American Graffiti happened to have been re-showing in theaters like that weekend, just by happen chance, and we all went and watched it. And I thought that was kind of a cool experience for us, to kind of get our heads into the idea of what we were doing. Not ’80s, though.
No, but that was pre Star Wars when that came out. But it’s very much like a sort of nostalgic period piece about someone reflecting on their own childhood, kind of similar to what 4:30 Movie does where it’s about Kevin, kind of reflecting on his childhood, and, you know, I could see how that’s an influence. So, I just want to thank everyone for coming on. The 4:30 Movie comes out, I think, next week.
Austin Zajur: It’s September 13th.
Yup, September 13th. So, So, yeah next Friday, there’s a lot of movies coming out then. But it’s fun.
Nicholas Cirillo: A lot of competition. [Everyone laughs.] A lot of stuff riding on this weekend.
Thanks so much, guys, for coming on.
Nicholas Cirillo: Thank you. It was fun.
Everyone: Thank you so much.
The 4:30 Movie releases in theaters on September 13.
