EXCLUSIVE: Writers Isaac Aptaker & Elizabeth Berger Talk Their New Movie, “I Want You Back”
This Friday, February 11, Amazon Studios’ will release its brand new rom-com, I Want You Back. Starring Jenny Slate and Charlie Day, writers Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger sat down with BB to talk about their brand new rom-com, what inspired the movie, filming a rom-com, and so much more. Check out what they had to say below.
Aptaker on what inspired I Want You Back: We love romantic comedies and we especially love the classic ones like When Harry Met Sally, the old James L. Brooks movies, and romantic comedies about real people that feel like they’re humans you could be friends with. The inkling for this one started with, what if you took a movie like Cruel Intentions, but the people doing the manipulation and the sexual trickery were just normal people. They weren’t these super elite teenagers, but they were just kind of regular people you could be friends with. That seems like it’s a recipe for fun and disaster, so we kind of went from there.”
Berger on the importance of the film being a romantic comedy: “I think it was really important to us that it be a rom com, but it be one that both men and women would enjoy together. So we wanted it to be so romantic and we wanted it to make you feel, but funny here was so important to us. Funny had to be kind of the guiding light here. So it was just a lot of time being like, ‘What feels silly to us and what makes us laugh? And then how do we assemble the funniest group of people in the world to tell this story?’ We just sort of went from there and then we lucked out with the greatest group in the world. So it started with sort of making ourselves laugh thinking about these people in these situations, and then just kind of grew from that.”
You can check out the rest of our chat below the jump. Are you planning on seeing the movie this weekend?
Photo credit: Amazon Studios
Aptaker on using the music from Little Shop Of Horrors: “To use Little Shop of Horrors in a movie you have to write a letter to Alan Menken, who is the god of Disney. And he was so gracious and generous and let us not only use the song, but there’s a line in the movie where Jenny misremembers a lyric and sings, ‘Suddenly Seymour is going inside me.’ And so Alan was also kind enough to let us tweak his genius.”
Berger on watching the “Suddenly Seymour” scene come to life: “Talk about surpassing your wildest dreams and expectations in terms of the way it came out. I mean, Jenny [Slate] and Manny’s [Magnus] performance in that scene, it just, we’ve been lucky enough to see this with a few test audiences. There is never not applause at the end of it because they are just so breathtaking and so brilliant. We can’t wait for more people to see them and what they do.”
Berger on whether or not she would attend an ex’s wedding: “That is a really great question. Well, it’s one that we talked about a lot where we were like, ‘Would she go? What do you think?’ But I think it depends on the place you’re at in your life. And I think, yeah, I would go. I see it.”
Aptaker on whether or not he would attend an ex’s wedding: “You need closure. It’s an important thing. And what better way to end something than see them go off with someone else? And get very drunk. As long as there’s an open bar, that’s my answer.”
Aptaker on any tips on love he learned from I Want You Back: “I think nowadays with Instagram and everything, it’s so easy to compare yourself to other people and feel like you’re getting left behind. And that’s a big theme of the movie, these two people who are staring the idea of starting over and wondering is it too late, but you can’t force it. It has to be your person and if not, then love will come, but you have to wait for the right fit.”
Berger on any tips on love she learned from I Want You Back: “I think the grief from a breakup can feel so all-consuming and it really can feel like, ‘This is it. The rest of my life now is I’m miserable and sad.’ But time does go on and you will shower again and fix your makeup again and change your clothes. Yeah. Time heals. And there’s light, I think even after the worst of breakups.”
Aptaker on his go-to karaoke song: “Definitely ‘Semi-Charmed Life’ by Third Eye Blind. Hands down.”
Berger on her go-to karaoke song: “I’m not brave enough to do karaoke, but when I practice it alone, it would be ‘Valerie’ by Amy Winehouse. There’s a brilliant rendition that I do all by myself that no one will ever hear, but it’s pretty good.”
*This interview has been edited for length and clarity