ComingSoon Editor-in-Chief Tyler Treese spoke with French Girl stars Zach Braff, Vanessa Hudgens, and Évelyne Brochu about the romantic comedy movie. The trio discussed improvisation and singing in the film. The film is now playing in theaters and will be available digitally on Tuesday, March 19.
“Zach Braff, Vanessa Hudgens, and Evelyne Brochu star in this heartwarming romantic comedy,” reads the movie’s synopsis. “Gordon, a hopeless romantic, finds his proposal plans are thrown into chaos when his girlfriend is swept away to Quebec by a job offer from her ex, a sophisticated celebrity chef. Determined to keep their love alive, Gordon leaves Brooklyn for her hometown, only to find himself hilariously out of his depth in attempting to charm her hard-to-impress, French-speaking family.”
Tyler Treese: Zach, I spoke with the co-director Nicholas Wright, and he was just full of so much praise for your help and how your director’s eye really helped hone in on what this film was about. Can you speak to that collaboration and just how being a director yourself aids your acting?
Zach Braff: Oh, thank you. That’s a great question. I think these guys were first-time filmmakers, and I told them when I met them — I said, “I don’t want you to ever think I’m going to step on your toes because I’ve made a couple of movies. But if you ever want my advice or you ever want to ask me my two cents, I’d be happy to give it.” And it really was a great collaboration. Occasionally, they really allowed us to improv a lot, which I love. They would sometimes ask me my take on something. I think from a director’s point of view, what I bring to my acting is keeping track of where we are in the story. That’s such an important thing for a director to do for the actors because, as most people know, we shoot completely out of order.
Sometimes it helps me to be like, “Wait, I’ve got to figure out where we are in the story because that’s really going to inform what this scene is,” because it is a bit of a skill set to shoot it completely out of order and have some sort of cohesive arc to the thing. But these guys were great. The fact that this is their first film was really impressive. They just did a really fantastic job and, most importantly, made it such a fun environment for the three of us to crack up and really feel like we had a safety net. We could riff and be funny and not have to worry that there was any wrong answer.
Vanessa, fans will be glad that you do get to sing a little in French Girl. How was it specifically singing with humor in mind? You’re not really trying to sing to your best ability but to what’s funniest for this scene, so how was it finding that balance?
Vanessa Hudgens: I feel like, normally, coming from musical theater, I’m all about repetition and honing it in and locking it down. With this, I was like, “You know what? We’re going to be way looser with it and try to make it good but cringe — mainly cringe.” I really let go of any of my perfectionist attitudes when it comes to singing. [Laughs]. And just let it rip and just kind of come unhinged a little bit, which is always a lot of fun.
Evelyn, this is such a fun role for you here because you have such a chaotic family, and you’re very much the straight woman in this scenario. How was it reacting and having a straight face while everybody else is just being ridiculous?
Évelyne Brochu: I felt like that was my job. I knew that I had to keep the rom going while a com was happening. It was really hard, because sometimes I had to be in a super emotional zone when these guys were just improv-ing through the roof. Their rivalry was so hilarious. It was really hard to keep … not even a straight face, but a sad face. But as you said so nicely, Zach, our job is to help the story. I knew that I had to stay in that zone, but it was definitely a challenge because they were amazingly hilarious.
Zach, we haven’t seen you in a romantic comedy since 2006, and there’s just something about you where I’m always rooting for you to fall in love in these movies or in Scrubs. What about French Girl’s script really made you want to jump back into this genre?
Braff: To be honest, it just made me laugh so much. I never would’ve done one of these if I was reading it and going, “Eh, I guess if they get the right cast and everyone improvs,” and I would never … that’s too much of a roll of the dice. It all comes down to a good script. If you have a great script and they cast it well, then you’ve got a really, really good shot at something.
And when I read this, I couldn’t believe they were making … Hollywood has gotten to the point where when you read a good script, you’re like, “Wait, are they really making this? And if so, can I please be a part of it?” I mean, that’s how I felt when I read it. I was like, “Wait, this is on offer to me and it’s being made? This is great.” So I was so excited.
Vanessa, Nicholas was full of praise for your comedic acting, and you’re great in this film. What do you find most rewarding about doing comedy? How has it been honing that side of your acting?
Hudgens: I mean, it’s so much fun. I think that having an amazing cast and great directors leading you every step of the way is so key, honestly, because you can have an idea of where the scene is going, and if it’s not in tone with what they had for the scene before, it’s just not going to play. So I’m very grateful to Nick and James for holding my hand, being there with me throughout the entire thing, and guiding me into the right direction. But it’s always so much fun. It’s just also a great character and, as broad as it is at times, I think that there is a groundedness as well, which I’m really proud of.
