EXCLUSIVE: Ellie Kemper, Katherine Center, & Vicky Wight Talk Bringing to Life ‘Happiness for Beginners’
Happiness For Beginners is not out on Netflix and we got a chance to hear from the Director of the movie, Vicky Wight, star of the movie, Ellie Kemper, and the author behind the story, Katherine Center.
During the chat, the ladies talked if the film converted any of them to outdoor lovers, Wight and Center reuniting for the pic, trying to find happiness, and so much more. Check out what they had to say below.
On whether the film converted any of them into outdoor lovers:
Wight: “I am not a person who likes to camp necessarily because I like to sleep, and I like it quiet and no noise, all that good stuff. Many of us were considered indoorsy people. I’m not sure we’re completely converted, but we’re definitely open now to the adventure. We had a wonderful hiking guide help us learn how to build tents, build a bear hang, and do multiple things in the woods should we need it in the future, and there’s some tiny piece of me at least that would like to put some of those skills into practice one day. Obviously, I’ll be bringing somebody who’s adept, more so than myself, with me on that day. But yeah, I think we converted a couple of people, myself just a tiny bit as well.”
On if they learned any survival skills while shooting this film:
Center: “I don’t know that I explicitly learned any survival skills. I did learn the importance of hydration, but I do think that was brought home to me. It’s just important to hydrate and that’s arguably a survival skill. But in terms of CPR, or I don’t know, I don’t know a term for, what is it called, making a tourniquet? No,iIf I were dumped in the woods, I don’t think I’d be equipped to survive.”
On Katherine & Vicky reuniting on this project:
Center: “Vicky and I coincidentally have a mutual friend. Vicky tells this story better than I do, but our friend Maria had read my book, The Lost Husband, years ago, and she just went over to Vicky’s house and handed Vicky the book and said, ‘You have to make a movie out of this book.’ And Vicky was like, ‘Yeah, yeah, I’m sure that’s right.’ And then she went and read it, I guess. You tell it better than I do. You stayed up all night reading it? Is that right?”
Wight: No. Well, I stayed up all night. Well, if you guys know Katherine’s books, you just stay up all night reading her books because they’re so good, you can’t put them down. And I read that book in 24 hours. And then everywhere I walked, from just to go to the grocery store at Whole Foods or wherever I was going, I kept seeing the characters, and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I have to get in touch with this woman and tell her I have to make this movie.’ And then right after that, Katherine, you don’t know this, but I read Happiness for Beginners right after I read The Lost Husband. So if it wasn’t going to be Lost Husband, it was going to be Happiness for Beginners because those are my two favorite books by Katherine. So I got lucky.”
On any advice they would give to anyone currently pursing their own happiness:
Kemper: “Katherine talked about this earlier, the very, very simple exercise of identifying and writing down three things a day that you’re grateful for, or that make you happy, is so powerful because it’s so easy to get distracted by just annoyances of everyday life. And I often fall prey to that and get into a rut. And this is such a simple way of reminding yourself that the world is a big place and that small things can bring joy. And it might sound like even a corny exercise, but it’s not. It’s really helpful. So I think some starting with something small like that, something that’s doable, is really, really powerful.”
On whether they would consider themselves hikers and whether the project pushed them to be more outdoorsy:
Kemper: “I wouldn’t call myself a hiker. I had been on hiking and backpacking trips in high school. I went on quite a few actually, but I hadn’t for many years. And I love the outdoors. I think it’s really powerful. It’s really restorative. So this did not push me in the other direct… I enjoyed my time very thoroughly outside. I didn’t sign up for a backpacking trip after completing the film, but I also would not be opposed to it. I felt lucky that we had a job where we could work outside. It was just like really… And we shot at the most beautiful time of year, early fall in the Northeast. It was really, really nice.”
On if there was a particular scene from the book that had to come out as perfect as possible on screen:
Center: In The Lost Husband, which was a book of mine that Vicky also directed, she created the most epic, gorgeous Oscar-worthy movie kiss in the history of time, where Josh Duhamel grabs Leslie Bibb by the overalls and yanks her in and plants one on her. And so I really loved that kiss. It wasn’t even that good in the book. I was like, this is a massive improvement. When we were collaborating again this time around, I was like, ‘Can you please just create another really fantastic kiss? Just make it a rewindable kiss.’ And I think she totally made that happen. So thank you for that because I get really excited about beautiful, perfect movie kisses. So I was hoping that one would be great, and it is gorgeous.”
Wight: “All the credit to that kiss to Luke [Grimes] and to Ellie because they killed that kiss. But I will say one thing that was so hard about this novel adapting is that in the novel, which I hope everybody has read, there’s a great road trip at the head of the novel that I tried so hard to keep in the movie, but I just couldn’t figure out how to not have a three-hour movie and also have the road trip. So if I could go back in time and have the three-hour movie, I would have that road trip. And there’s a great kiss in the book that happens early that isn’t in the movie, but these are things that you have to lose sometimes when you’re adapting. But I think, yeah, I think Katherine’s right. I think we nailed it with the kiss.”
Center: “Yeah, it’s worth the wait for sure, this one.”
On how faithful the film is to the novel:
Center: “One of the most amazing things to me about watching the movie is that Helen in the book and in the movie cuts her knee at the beginning. And I did that when I went on an actual trip that this movie is based on. So for me, it’s so trippy to see… going from my actual life in the ’90s to the book in the 2015s to the movie right now. So I mean, it’s amazing how much it actually stayed in the story. I think anytime you make a movie out of a book, you’re taking something that’s 300 pages, the book is over 300 pages, and you’re kind of making a shrinky-dink out of it because a movie script is like 90 pages with a lot of white space. And so you really do have to cut a lot out just to preserve the essence of it. I think the movie feels very much like the book, and I think that’s all you can really ever hope for with an adaptation.”
Wight: “I would agree. I’m glad that’s how you said it. I think it maintains the integrity of the book. It just isn’t the book, sadly. It just can’t be the book. And we have to blame Katherine for writing these great characters who all wanted lives in the movie, and they all have lives in the movie. Each of these characters gets a moment, and that’s Katherine’s fault because she writes great characters. So I hope that everyone who loved the book will love the movie for the same and different reasons.”
On the summer camp vibe on set:
Kemper: “That is exactly what it was like. And that’s all due to Vicky, our fearless leader who set the tone immediately. We’ve been doing some interviews through the day, and it’s like the minute I met Vicky, I was over a Zoom. I was like, ‘Take me with you, whatever you’re doing,’ because she is just phenomenal. And you can glean this from talking with her. I hadn’t met Katherine yet, but when I did, I felt the same way. It’s like we started off with rehearsals, I don’t know, a week, a couple weeks or so, and we all got to know each other. Then Vicky drew together this cast of really good people who also are fantastic actors. So there was just this sense of comradery and community among, and it was Katherine and Vicky had provided us with such great content that the material was just there, and then Vicky was there on the ground, leading our every day. There was more work than summer camp, but that was the vibe. That was the general, I would say, feeling in the air, which was like… I think what was also really nice is that we all felt very lucky to be there. No one was too cool. Everyone was just really, really happy and understood how lucky we were to all be there together. So thank you, Vicky, for setting the tone.”
On allowing the cast to improvise:
Wight: “I’m a fan of actors because they do something that I find to be so brave and I can’t do myself at all in any capacity. And so when you’re working with people who are creative and collaborative person, I find it betters the work when you allow them to put their own mark on things because I can’t write some of the jokes that are going to be as funny as someone will say them or come up with themselves. And so Ellie is a master of improv in a scene. Everybody on that set had some incredible talent or trick that they knew that they brought to set. And so we were able to do a lot of off-the-cuff fun stuff at any given time. So there’s actually a line that Gus Birney says, it’s a circle of the three favorite things, where Wendy is talking about writing this down and every day coming up with those three favorite things. And Gus says, the line has just gone out of my head because I’m 100 years old now, but there’s something Gus says about crying into her pillow, and that’s something that I’ve said to my kids for since the beginning of time. They’ll be like, ‘Oh, Mom, we can’t do this, and we wanted this, or can we have this?’ And I’ll say, ‘Hey, don’t complain to me. Tell your pillow about it. Okay, go tell your pillow or go cry into your pillow.’ And I had said that to somebody on set, and Gus heard it, and then all of a sudden Gus was like, ‘I’ve got an idea. I’m going to yell out something.’ And I was like, ‘great’. And she yelled that out and everybody died. And so there was a lot of that, lots of electricity and energy and playing off each other happened. It happened a lot. I think it happened every scene we did something a little bit different, a little bit new, just to make it feel funnier and make it feel like it was a real family of friends growing in the story. So yeah. So the short answer is yes.”
On what drew Ellie to the role of Helen:
Kemper: “Vicky and I were on a Zoom, and I met her on the Zoom. And so immediately I thought, ‘Well, I want to work with this woman, this director, this writer on something.’ And when I read the script after meeting with her, I think, was that the sequence or have as if I invented that? Whatever it is, they happened very close together. The script was phenomenal. Because I haven’t done a lot of drama, most of the characters I’ve played are sunny and optimistic, but also I’ve done mostly comedy. You tell me how to categorize it. I think that it is a very funny movie, but I also think it’s dramatic. So I sort of think in my head of it as a drama. And I was so excited to do that and to take on that challenge because I haven’t had a lot of experience with that. So I think what drew me to that character was the people I would be working with, and was also the idea of getting to tap into that side of a person who isn’t always sunny, who isn’t always optimistic, who’s a little bit grumpy. And I was really excited to have a chance to do that.”
On what they hope audiences take away from this film:
Wight: “I hope that audiences see Helen’s journey as sort of a choosing yourself kind of message. In the story, we find her at a time, her life is really changing, and she finally has to make the decision to kind of move on from her past. And I think that’s a really hard thing to do when you’re familiar with everything you’ve been familiar with for so long. And so I think when you choose yourself, you open yourself up to so much love and joy and opportunity through other people and through new connections. And that’s honestly what I hope people take away from the movie, is that when you choose yourself and you reward yourself, not necessarily in a selfish way, but in a way that has to do with self-care and loving yourself, I think you’re going to be able to love other people better, love your next partner better. I think that’s a real gift if we can give it to ourselves. My mom has always said, my whole life, ‘Please yourself and everyone else will be pleased.’ For years, I thought that was, ‘Oh, my mom is so selfish. She says this terrible thing.’ And then I said it to someone and they were like, ‘Oh, it’s just putting your mask on before somebody else puts their…’ And I was like, ‘Oh my God, you’re right.’ You’re saving yourself so you can love someone else. So I hope that’s what people take from it. It’s okay to choose yourself. It’s okay to go on your journey to find love and give love.”
On whether they would consider doing a sequel for the film:
Center: “I actually have another book that I wrote that’s called What You Wish For, came out in 2020, right in the middle of the pandemic. And it is kind of a continuation of this story, except that the main character is not Helen. It’s Helen’s little brother, Duncan, who’s in the movie, played by Alex Koch. He’s fantastic. He’s hilariously funny, and he’s such a dream. So I’m not sure I get a vote, but if I had a vote, it would be to make that book into a movie. It’s set in the sleepy little beach town of Galveston, Texas. And it’s just very swoony and charming, and it’s all about kind of choosing joy on purpose. So I would love to see that happen. I got my fingers crossed for that someday.”
Wight: “It’s a great book. Everybody should buy it. It’s great. And it’s a great sequel to this movie, to be honest.”
On taking the leap to adapt the novel:
Center: “When Vicky White calls me, I’m like, ‘We’re good. Let’s do it.’ She’s so good at what she does. She makes the most beautiful, luscious sort of heart-rending visuals. And she finds the most amazing people to work with. And I think she does. I mean, it’s very clear. I got to be on the set for one day of each of the two movies that she’s done. And you can just tell there’s such a good vibe amongst everybody, that she’s just kind of pulling the best out of everything. So for me, that’s a given. And it’s true that neither one of the movies that she’s made of my books have been exact carbon copies of the books. The book is its thing, and then the movie is a different thing. I’d love a whole multiverse full of different versions of the stories out there. So yeah, Vicky is a no-brainer. Vicky’s always a yes. I’m a big fan of movies, so it’s a great thrill to see books that started out in my head, in the bubble bath, turning into real things on a screen with real people out there. It’s amazingly thrilling.”
On whether completing a project affects how they approach life:
Center: “For me, putting that three good things part into the book, which then made it also into the movie, has been a really kind of amazing thing to put out into the world. Because I’ve heard from so many people that they do this now at dinner with their kids. They’ll just sit down for dinner and they’ll have everybody run through three good things that happened to them that day. And I think it’s such a wonderful habit to create for yourself because it’s not hard. You’re not trying to write some encyclopedia of happiness. All you have to do is find three good things, and three’s kind of a magic number anyway. I don’t find it all that easy to be happy. I’m kind of naturally a little melancholy, so I’m always working on it. And so to be able to tell a story about people who are able to dig deep and find ways to be more grateful for their lives, and then have that story go out there and prosper and meet the people who also need to hear that story is pretty inspiring, and I feel very grateful for it. It’s amazing to hear how it’s kind of taken off on its own. I don’t know if y’all have things you want to jump in with.”
Wight: “I would just say that I guess I’m just a very simple person because I’m usually very happy. Obviously there are things that get me down, but I never stay down. And then when I read something like Happiness for Beginners or something makes me laugh, and I’m always seeking a laugh, I’m always seeking something to laugh about, all day, every day, all day, which is also very annoying, I think, for everyone in my life, but too bad. When I read Happiness, when I read that novel, I was like, this validates why I’m okay feeling good all the time. Everybody needs to feel better, and this is making me feel even better than I already feel. So it validates that feeling. I’m always trying to make things a little lighter because there’s so much darkness, and I just feel like it’s the most important thing. The value we have as human beings is to lift each other up, make each other laugh, and make it a little easier for everybody else. That’s what I’ve always believed. And when you create something that makes people smile and laugh and happy, or you see a performance that lifts you up, you have a duty to tell somebody else to go see it because it’s going to lift them up. So I’m all about brightening things up. That’s why I’m always wearing yellow. Oh, no, that’s not true.”
On the real life moments that inspired the novel:
Center: “The book is actually based on a real hiking trip that I took in the ’90s, and all those little moments. All the people in the story are fictional, but the guy who falls and breaks his hip, that was real. That was a real thing. We had to carry him out of the wilderness for three miles. There was a freak blizzard there. I got many, many injuries. The blisters were real, too. I did not have someone as handsome as Luke Grimes helping me with the blisters. And when I went to go write the book, I went back and found my trail notebook, where I’d kept all my notes, and I used it as the structure for the story, for the hike. And it’s funny because when the book came out, there was a review on Goodreads where some woman said, ‘My whole book club agrees we loved this book, but this woman has never been hiking in her life.’ And I was like, ‘No. I really did.’ All that stuff feels authentic because yeah, it’s all based on real things that really did happen.”
*Interview was completed in June 2023, prior to the SAG Strike. It has been edited for length and clarity*