Hell also tell you, like everyone should, that making films is hard.
Oh, and in case you were wondering, Bobby was absent after a hockey accident.
Hopefully hes feeling a lot better now.
Lets start with some of the basics.
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I let the actors find their marks.
I dont want to hold them down.
In the middle of the scene, the guy may get up and walk over to the window.
I want him to be able to go where he wants to go.
Then well light to fit that.
but I never do.
I let them go where they want to go.
Some actors, if you didnt let them do that, they wouldnt be the actors that they are.
They need to be able to move, think, walk, do whatever.
But your hope is that once you light the scene, they stick to that.
Oh, for fucks sake!
But thats my process working to help the actor feel as comfortable as possible.
If common sense prohibits it, then wed stop them.
He will, Id guess, be unpredictable even after youve fixed the lighting.
Hes professional, he knows that.
He gives you so many options.
And Jeff Daniels is like a tennis player.
Some actors dont, and afterwards theyd complain How am I supposed to respond to that?
Well, Id say, Youre supposed to respond to whatever he does.
Jeff lives for that.
So once youve got all of this material in post, how do you modulate the performances?
Is it literally just This take made me laugh more?
Yes, it is.
In the old days, when we did the firstDumb And Dumber, we were cutting on film.
It was very hard.
Sometimes you didnt even get to see everything and if you found a good take, you took it.
Now, with the Avid, I can ask for a take and see everything.
in five different ways.
I assume you have trusted individuals that you show your cut to for feedback.
What are you looking for from those people?
Do you just listen to how much they laugh, or do you have whole conversation?
Its more than just the laughter, but the laughter first and foremost.
Then, also, likeability.
you’re free to either defend that or defend it.
Then about plot points, we ask Did you see this coming?
Really, most of that happens with the script, before we shoot.
Ill send it around all of my friends who are writers and ask all of these questions.
What was the big revelation for you?
We did so many drafts.
Early on, there was a sense that Jim, the Lloyd character, was not nice to Harry.
We softened that, though they do still mess with one another constantly.
We worked on this so long.
And if you find a great twist at the end, you go back to rewrite that in.
Some people write where they have little index cards…
Do you not do that?
We do it for the first act.
And thats how we find so many fun things.
We were there working on that scene and somebody said Gotcha!
and we were like Wait a second, hold on!
so we looked back and rewrote the film to make that twist fit in.
Its a real surprise for me to hear this.
Dumb And Dumber Tos plot is actually very intricate.
Its because were open to it.
One of the great compliments Ive gotten on this movie was from Larry David.
He was at the premiere and said I have to tell you, that plot is awesome.
Hes the guy you want that particular compliment from.
He said I cant believe the twists and turns.
He asked When did you figure that out?
and I said Not until the end.
We got to the end and said Who the hell is the father?
This seems terribly risky to me.
People do that, and theyve got to live with that.
Well map out the first act but then we want to be able to go down any road.
I went to grad school for creative writing.
John Irving taught for one week, a masterclass, and it was really great.
I dont want to know the last sentence.
He said I need to know exactly where Im ending before I can set out and do my thing.
You seem to me like the guy they fire out of a cannon at the circus.
When you dont know where youre going to land.
Its not for everyone.
The hardest part about the way I do it is when youre pitching to the studio.
I dont have it all worked out.
The studio guy said But what happens?
and I said I dont know.
I dont write that way.
I have to get in there and actually write it.
The first act is Who are these characters?
Whats funny about them?
Why do we like them?
Why are we going to follow them?
I dont think anybody has ever sold a script by the third act…
M. Night Shyamalan, surely?
You know what, I bet that evenThe Sixth Sensewas sold on the first act.
It already works without the twist.
What would you say is living under the surface of Dumb And Dumber To?
Were there themes you were interested in?
Do you even write to theme?
That they have each other allows them to live a full, happy life.
They dont have the stresses that everybody else does, theyre just two dumb guys going along.
Its about love, I think.
I think so too.
So… why now?
Why is this sequel here now, and not ten years ago?
It wasnt planned this way.
After Mary came out the studio said Why dont you do a sequel?
It was a huge hit but thats just a money grab.
We said that if we were ever going to do a sequel it would beDumb And Dumber.
At that point, we did start thinking about it but Jim was busy.
Five years later they didDumb And Dumbererwhich was a shame.
Its gone into the shadows now, though, really.
And I said Okay, lets go.
Then it took five years.
Every movie is hard to make.
It doesnt matter what your last movie was, its still hard.
This one was no different.
Its like Warner Bros. execs have never scanned the listings on cable.
Dumb And Dumber never went away.
What will you fight for now?
Theres a couple of things Im sniffing around.
Theres one thing calledRicky Stanickythat Im doing.
These kids invent this character to take the blame when they get in trouble.
Who broke the window?
Then this comes back to haunt them when the wives want to meet Ricky Stanicky.
And will we get to meet some poor schmuck who has to adopt that personality?
And it will probably be Jim Carrey.
I thought it might be.
Oh, the rumour was that it was going to be Jennifer Lawrence.
We were both filming in Atlanta and shes a bigDumb And Dumberfan, but unfortunately we couldnt get her.
Theres so much going back and forth about that in the press.
So who is it?
A friend of ours.
Is she in the credits?
Ill mention her anyway.
Give her some credit.
Thank you, Peter Farrelly.
