ComingSoon Senior Movie News Editor Brandon Schreur spoke to Mason Thames, Raphael Alejandro, Ramon Reed, and Bardia Seiri about starring in the new Netflix comedy Incoming. The actors discussed filming gross-out scenes, working with Bobby Cannavale and Kaitlin Olson, and more.
“Four freshmen are faced with the greatest challenge of their young lives: their first high school party,” the logline for Incoming reads.
Incoming releases on Netflix on August 23, 2024.
Brandon Schreur: Congratulations so much on Incoming. I watched it last night and I couldn’t stop laughing. You guys are hilarious, and it’s so funny. To start, my first question is for all four of you. You are all starring in this big, R-rated, raunchy comedy directed by guys who are known for writing It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. You’re also teenagers who get to swear a lot in the movie and make a lot of crude jokes. Just, in general, what was it like to work on this? Were you guys having a ton of fun on set?
Mason Thames: Especially with these guys, yeah.
Raphael Alejandro: It was a blast. It was a blast.
I’m sure. You can tell in the movie, too. You guys seem like you are all good friends and you get along well.
Ramon Reed: Yeah, I always say — Me and Raphael have most of our scenes together. I wish we all had more scenes together just to play off one another.
Alejandro: Yeah, because we had a couple of scenes. Like that little lunch scene that we had.
Thames: Whenever we had scenes together it was a lot of fun.
Alejandro: It was so much fun. But, obviously, I think all of us did the chemistry really well and we, like, had our own moments. Together, it was really fun.
Sure. I was going to ask you about those scenes, too. Like you said, there’s not a ton of them in the movie but, when you are, it seems like you’re just goofing around and having a good time. Was there any improv in any of that or was it all scripted?
Alejandro: There was a bit of improv in that scene that I was talking about, the lunch scene. At the end of that scene, I throw the chip bag and then Bardia throws it back. That was improv. The directors loved it so we kept doing it for every single take. That was a moment that kind of just came naturally. My character hates Koosh, Bardia’s character, so it just kind of came to us. We were just having so much fun.
Sure, and you can tell. You can definitely tell. Raphael and Ramon, I have to ask you about the big, gross-out scene that happens in this movie in the back of a car involving Loren Gray. I was watching it here, at home, and I was almost gagging. What was it like filming that? Was it as gross as it was watching it?
Alejandro: Yeah. So, yeah. Obviously, I think as actors, we always try to get into things. So even if it wasn’t actual goop, just imaging the stuff like when Ramon had to push her over, and all of it was right there. Those visuals don’t get out of your head. I’m still traumatized. I had nightmares last night about it!
No, I’m sure. I felt scarred just watching it. It’s a lot.
Alejandro: It was really fun.
Reed: I think it’s that as well. Like, when you just get into the physical world of it, that just makes it not acting anymore. Like, we’re living it. Whatever concoction they made…
Bardia Seiri: What was that?
Alejandro: It was like peanut butter and stuff like that. Oils.
Reed: It didn’t smell good.
Alejandro: It smelled terrible. Literally, we’ve never experienced that smell before.
That makes it all the more challenging, I’m sure. But you guys did it!
Reed: We did, we did.
Alejandro: Or easier because we really weren’t acting, at that point.
Mason, I’m dying to talk to you about your big scene at the end of the movie. I don’t want to say too much while we’re on camera for the sake of spoilers, but it involves you singing. As soon it as it started, I was like, ‘They’re going for it, they’re doing it!’ I thought was so cool.
Thames: Just the whole idea of it, it’s very 10 Things I Hate About You with Heath Ledger on the steps. I was super excited yet terrified. I have bad stage fright, so doing that in front of everybody wasn’t the most fun I had filming. When I was doing my coverage, there weren’t any extras or actors behind, so it was a lot easier for me to perform and I wasn’t as embarrassed. I got all that done with. Then Isabella [Ferreira] came in and it was her coverage. She goes, ‘You know, I don’t really know if I can act without Mason singing.’ I go, ‘Ha, funny.’ She goes, ‘No, really.’ And I was like, ‘Oh. Okay.’ They took the track out so I sang live. Again.
Alejandro: Private performance!
Thames: It wasn’t even on camera.
How many times did you have to rehearse the song? Do you still know it by heart?
Thames: Too many times. It’s in my head all the time, I don’t want it to be. I try to escape it and it won’t leave me.
I’m sure, but it’s great! Like I said, I got so excited and then you totally commit to it and it totally sticks the landing, I loved it. Bardia, one thing I really liked about your character is how he so badly wants to be accepted by his brother. He does some things throughout the movie that are maybe a little morally unethical.
Alejandro: A little?
Okay, a lot. But I thought it was really well-written because you can tell it comes from a place of him just wanting to be accepted and get along with his brother. What was it like putting that into your performance, was that challenging?
I mean, it was really challenging because he came on as a super, super nice guy. So I definitely had to kind of make it seem like he was a bad guy but he wasn’t. The dynamic between me and my brother is so complicated because Koosh doesn’t know if it’s tough love or if he actually hates him. That’s what I had to find out. It was hard.
I’m sure, it’s a fine line. You do some things but you understand where the character is coming from. It was really good.
Seiri: Definitely, yeah.
I got to ask you guys about Bobby Cannavale because, man, he made me laugh so much. I didn’t even know he was in the movie before I watched it and his performance was so funny. What was it like working with him?
Thames: Bobby was so funny. Luckily, he’s good friends with another actor I’ve worked with, Ethan Hawke, so that was a good little icebreaker. We just kind of talked about that. But he’s so funny and he’s such a great actor. Getting to work with him, even just with the small amount [of scenes] I had with him, it was a lot of fun.
In the movie, he’s the one adult who is hanging out around a bunch of teenagers but he’s the party dude. Was that what he was like on set, too, or was he more calm than that?
Thames: He was way more calm [than his character]. The shoots we had with him were mostly at nighttime, so everybody was kind of tired. In the giant mansion, there was a little movie room so we all just kind of sat in the giant recliners and basically just slept. It was chill.
Mason, also, Kaitlin Olson. You have a lot of scenes with her. What was working with her like?
Thames: It’s so hard to keep a straight face with her. She’s so incredible, so funny, and so talented. I wish I had some more scenes with her but, no, she’s so funny. Her as my mom — my brother loves Always Sunny and I do, too. I called him and told him that she was playing my mom and he was freaking out. It was great.
