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Im really interested in that dynamic.The gambit was,Can we make this look like the real thing?
Which is a crazy thing that most people wouldnt want to agree to do.
Its weird how often we have to play against the comedic instincts of the thing.
It is always scary not to go for the obvious joke.
You especially have to resist doing that, right?Yeah, a lot.
I think about theSanta Claus monologue inGremlins, where Phoebe Cates explains why her family never celebrated Christmas.
Then they did the first test screening and realized that the whole audience got it.
Think about how scary that mustve been to do.
You trigger the risk of looking really dumb, you know?
So theres a weird amount of restraint involved for a show that is so maximalist in so many ways.
We barely talked about the property.
You dont want to be a fan.Right.
Youre the perfect size, so thank you for your genes.
And I went, Great, first time anyones ever said that to me.
I have spent years doing stand-up for three people in basements, week after week after week for years.
I was just so obsessed with the notion of how sad I could make stand-up.
Not self-pitying sad, but, like, I love Fozzie Bear.
Hes maybe my biggest comedic influence.
I was trying to be a human version of Fozzie Bear and heckle myself.
And I was like, But this is the point!
If I can make it work like this …
I think youre finally starting to see filmmakers smuggle themes into these $200 million movies.
The problem is, the bigger those movies become, the more masters you have to serve.
I thinkMoonlightis the best movie of the last ten years, but its harder to makeWonder Womanthan it isMoonlight.
WithMoonlight, everyone goes, Look, our goal is to make the bestMoonlight.
Its fine, well release it and well sell dolls and its fine.
You were one of the first recent actors to say youregretted being in a Woody Allen movie.
Was the reaction a weird experience for you?Yeah, thoroughly.
It felt like the first time in my life I was being perceived as a personality.
People were writing stories about the things you tweeted.And trying to interpret my motives and parse my language.
So thats one thing, that stands as a fact.
And then the third thing is I felt super morally icky about it.
How do you reconcile that with the work itself?
Not because youre witnessing indiscretions, but because things are existing as realities in front of you.
But what very quickly became clear to me was,I feel uncomfortable.
I wish I had not done it because it felt hypocritical for me to do.
Most people dont know who I am, so that was not going to come up.
I just felt really dishonest.
It just gets down to, what kind of person do you want to be?
Am I supposed to pretend I liked it?
Am I supposed to go into a room and pretend I liked it?
And then, within 24 hours, I had twice as many Twitter followers.
Its very bizarre to have people give a shot to analyze your motives.
Did you see that as it was happening?
You started having to defend yourself in this way that really surprised me.
Theyre going, Oh, so Im supposed to think that this guys a hero now?
I pretty pointedly was not looking for that.
Its a weird thing, and I view it as a tax.
Its the price I pay for getting to do a job I love this much.
Its so interesting to me, because when it happened, I thought, Oh, thats admirable.
And then you were getting so much shit.
Now, its the thing that everybody does.But I also still get shit for it.
Ill say this, I feel equally uncomfortable being lauded or criticized.
You were just looking to put it in perspective in your own personal way.Yeah.
Do you think its easier for people to speak out now?I dont know.
Theres a very shitty reality of this industry.
And those people take a stab at write the rules of what that sacrifice is.
Its almost like the dialogue that shifted about people wanting less processed food.
That accountability should be in place.
It should be bad business practice to hire people who are bad people.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
