ComingSoon Senior Movie News Editor Brandon Schreur spoke to John and Dave Chernin about the new Netflix comedy Incoming. The duo discussed how their time writing It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia influenced the movie, working with an all-star cast, filming gross-out moments, 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 is now streaming on Netflix.
Brandon Schreur: I know you guys made this movie you were obviously involved in writing a lot of episodes of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. And everyone knows Always Sunny, but, you know, it’s a show about some pretty morally bankrupt characters doing some pretty unethical things. To varying degrees, we kind of see that in this movie, too. Especially with the character of Kooch, I kept thinking, ‘This is something Dennis would cook up.’ How much did working on that show influence this movie for you guys?
John Chernin: That was our first real writing job, so I think we’ll be taking lessons from that experience to everything we ever do. I think what really appealed to us about the Koosh character in the confines of a movie is that there’s an arc, there’s a chance to learn something, and there’s a chance for redemption. Whereas I don’t think Dennis Reynolds learns very much from his actions. He just comes up with new ways to get around the obstacles standing in front of him.
Dave Chernin: We watched so many of the high school comedy genre movies when we were writing this. And there were some tropes. To be an extension of those movies that came before this, we wanted to fall in line with a lot of things that they did but subvert them in our own way. We saw a couple of movies from many, many years ago where there is a guy character who does some questionable things and it’s played off as a comedy. We wanted to kind of do a version of that where the character gets the proper comeuppance.
Oh, sure, and I was going to ask you about that, too. I saw a lot of Superbad when I was watching the movie. Bobby Cannavale reminded me a lot of Jessica Williams in Booksmart. At the same time, it’s totally its own thing, it’s got its own vibe, and its own story. I was just curious if there were any other movies you were inspired by, too, when you were working on this.
John: I think all of those. We love watching movies and if we can be even a tenth as good as any of those you just mentioned, we’d be thrilled. I think we’d look to them for inspiration and look to them to see what we can do a little differently to put our own spin on this.
Dave: Yeah, but we watched a ton of those and there are so many great ones. You mentioned Superbad and Booksmart. Dazed and Confused, Clueless, Can’t Hardly Wait, the American Pies, Fast Times. There are so many and they’re all great in their own way. We just wanted to kind of do our best to fall in line with any of those. If we can ever be mentioned in the same sentence, it’s an honor.
I think you guys pulled it off, I think it totally works as its own thing. I got so excited right at the beginning when Kaitlin Olson showed up, I didn’t expect her to be in the movie. What was it like working with her again?
John: We’ve become good friends with Kaitlin and we love her, but I think every time she comes on set, whether it was on The Mick or whether it was on this, you just pinch yourself. You can’t believe how did I ever get so lucky to be in this situation. I think she was on the first day of shooting this movie. I think that also put the cast on notice, in a sense, of, ‘Oh my god, we have an opportunity to work with one of the all-time greats.’ There was such a fun buzz and energy. We love Kaitlin, we think she’s so talented, and I think everything we write, our very first phone call is to her and just begging, ‘Is there something in this that appeals to you? Will you grace us with your presence?’
It looks like she’s having fun, too. Her character is really funny, I had a lot of fun with that. I’m curious about the main cast, too, because I talked to the four guys yesterday and they were all a hoot, they were great. I was familiar with Mason because of The Black Phone movie from a couple of years ago, but the other three, I wasn’t familiar with their work. How did you go about finding them and what was it like working with them?
Dave: We cast a wide net. It was really important to us, from the beginning, to cast actors who are the actual age of the characters they are playing. That creates some issues from a production standpoint, but we felt it was ultimately going to be worth it. Honestly, a big part of casting kids is you want to find kids that have a good heart, they understand — especially for a movie like this — what’s right and what’s wrong. And that the characters they are playing are not people they should emulate, in general. Those guys, we got lucky. It’s tough to say how we did it. We worked really hard on the casting process. The biggest surprise to us was, once we got them together in a room, the chemistry between them in real life was so undeniable that we kind of knew that if we could capture a little bit of that on-screen we’d be in good shape.
Yup. I could totally tell when talking to them yesterday, they were talking over each other, laughing, and having a great time. I think that comes across in the movie, too.
Dave: Yeah, we just had a screening with them last night and it’s honestly so fun to just watch them genuinely like each other.
John: They seem to becoming their own little group of friends while icing Dave and I out, which I’m a little less thrilled about, but I understand.
Yeah, it makes sense. I got to talk to you about the ending of this movie, too, because I think that was my favorite part. Seeing him up there singing, it made me want to see you guys direct a whole musical. And I love the very last scene you end on, too; it doesn’t play out exactly like you expect, but that little wink was a subtle little touch. That was awesome. Did you know from the beginning that’s how you wanted to end the movie, with a big musical number like that?
Dave: Yes, before we started writing, once that piece fell into place, we kind of had something to drive towards. I think that stemmed from us watching 10 Things I Hate About You, which is another great high school movie. There’s that awesome scene where Heath Ledger serenades Julia Styles. While we were watching it we were like, ‘This is so adorable and cute,’ it makes you feel good while watching it, but there’s zero chance in high school that that would work. That guy would be ridiculed. So once we landed on that, we knew we had a good direction. Also, I think, Benj is a really good guy at heart, but he does some questionable things throughout the movie. We thought it’d be a letdown to have him completely forgiven at the end. It would have felt a little inauthentic. We thought a more powerful message was that he doesn’t get exactly what he wants, but he’s going to work harder and he’s not going to give up.
John: I also think that was so fun to film, though, because that’s Mason dancing, that’s Mason singing. And he could not have possibly been more uncomfortable.
Dave: Yeah, that took years off of his young life.
He told me that, he said he was nervous.
John: He was so nervous, but he’s so good and charming. We were like, ‘What are you nervous about?’ I remember that, once we turned around to get [Isabella Ferreira’s] coverage, she was like, ‘I think I need Mason singing for me to get the proper reaction.’ He was just like, ‘Why are you doing this to me? Why are you tormenting me like this?’ I think that was just another example of the cast having so much fun with each other. We were at a point in the production, then, where Bella could just mess with him. That was a really hard shoot that day, but I also look back at it as just being so much fun capturing those moments.
I’m sure. He told me the song is still stuck in his head, too, and he can’t get it out no matter what he does.
John: Well, I’m not going to apologize for introducing Mason to Stevie Wonder. He should be thanking us.
Another scene I have to ask you about is the big, gross-out moment in the back of the car that happens about midway through. I was gagging. That was gross.
John: But were you laughing while you were gagging?
I was also laughing very hard.
John: We want to manipulate as many feelings and things as possible at once.
Dave: I think the entire crew was gagging the day they brought out that bucket on set. It was upsetting. It was mostly peanut butter, I think everyone steered clear of peanuts for a couple of months after that shoot.
That makes sense. But, yeah, that scene was really funny I thought, too. You guys commit to it totally and it works, it totally works
Dave: All the credit there goes to Loren Gray, who is such a gamer. Certainly not the most comfortable shoot she’s ever been a part of. But every night, it came that time in the evening where it was just like, ‘Okay, let’s lather Loren up with the peanut butter and get her on to set.’ We are forever in debt to her for going to that place.
John: I think that’s another one of those scenes where, once you establish her as the stereotypical hot girl, it’s funny to see her do something that’s so unexpected and so not hot. Again, it goes to Loren to look so great at the beginning of the movie and then look so terrible for a chunk of it.
She killed it, totally. That’s kind of also what I like about the movie. It has those big, raunchy, gross-out moments. Poop jokes, sex jokes, and all that. But it also has a lot of heart. Kooch wanting to be accepted by his brother, Mason kind of trying to figure out what person he’s going to be in high school. I think you balance it all really well. Was it challenging to put all of that into one movie?
Dave: It’s definitely something we talk about, the emotional core of the movie. We knew that if we were going to go to those places, we wanted to balance it out with some sweetness. We talk about that a lot during casting; kids that we’re really rooting for. Credit to them.
John: I think it’s a big credit to those actors, who have both those gears. None of them are just comedians or just dramatic actors, they can do it all. It’s funny, Ali Gallo, who plays Benj’s sister, when she was shooting that scene in the hospital where she’s crying — it was funny having her show up to set that today, and she’s just in a sad zone, listening to sad music. Doesn’t want to talk to anyone, she’s off doing her own thing. You’re just reminded, ‘Oh, yeah, we’ve been joking around most of the time, but Ali is such a talented actress and she can go to that place when she needs to.’ It inspires you to up your game in other ways, too. Like, okay, she came to play today, so I better be on it as well. We’re indebted to all those performers, I’d say.
Sure, definitely. Another great one in there is Scott MacArthur. He doesn’t have a ton of screen time, but he was killing me when he was in there, he was so funny. I know you guys worked with him on The Mick and everything, and that he was involved in writing some of that. How much did he influence his character in here?
Dave: A lot. That scene was really short and I remember when we asked him if he’d come by and play it for us, he read the scene and it was his idea to have his character — he was like, ‘What if I come in before the mom?’ Originally, they entered together, but he was like, ‘What if I have a couple of minutes with these kids before their mom comes in?’ Once he said that, the scene just kind of clicked in our head and it got so much funnier. That was another one we shot I think on the first day of filming. For those kids to see a guy who is as talented as Scott in action just really set the tone for the whole shoot. He’s so good with kids, he’s so funny, and he just elevates our material every time we work with him. He’s our guy.
John: I would also add that Scott MacArthur, the person, is such a good human being. Could not be sweeter, could not be a more decent guy to be around. But he walks in for the first time in this movie and he’s got that smile on his face, you can just feel the buzz in a theater when you watch it with people. It’s just like, ‘Okay, who is this dirtbag and what is he up to?’
You know he’s going to say something and you’re just waiting to find out what it is.
John: Yeah, he’s got that twinkle in his eyes and you know that this guy is up to no good.
Totally. So then last question for the two of you. This movie is set with these four characters during their first week of high school. Would you have any interest in revisiting these characters further down the line in a potential follow-up anything? Like during sophomore or junior year?
John: Sure. I mean, these kids are getting cooler and older every single day, at least in real-life. I think more than anything, we just like working with those people. If we ever had an opportunity to do that again, we’d jump at the chance.
Dave: Whether it’s these characters or other characters, we’re so happy to bring new faces like that into our stable. Much like we do with The Mick actors, we’d feel lucky to write for those guys again and again in the future.
Sure, no, definitely. I’d be down to see it if you guys decide to do it.
Dave: We’ll see. If there’s demand, we’ll kick it around.
