CraveOnline: We have seen a lot of ‘90s nostalgia pop up in the last few years. Why do you think now is the right time to be looking back on that decade?
Maggie Carey: It’s funny because we shot the movie two years ago and gosh, you really see it in fashion. Two years ago, you were starting to see a little bit of the ‘90s fashion come back. Everything’s cyclical but now it’s everywhere, like the floral denim and denim shirts. Hypercolor has not come back but so many things are back. I think musically too, and the music I feel is a big part of the movie too.
Was “Growing Pains” really that central to pop culture in 1993?
I love that reference of Tracey Gold because I feel like Brandy Clark’s character is a little bit Tracey Gold. She’s also a little bit Tracy Flick from Election. Yeah, I definitely watched that show. Kirk Cameron was not an intentional one and that was something in editing, my editor was like, “Oh, did you intend to do that?” Oh no, the goal was him to just never know the guy’s name.
Going on a date to see Hard Target sets this in August 1993 if you’re really getting specific.
Yeah, that’s true. We took some leeway with that and with some of the music too.
They might have had an early sneak preview of Hard Target in that town that they went to see.
Probably not. Boise didn’t get sneak previews.
Should we put a spoiler warning for Beaches since they watch the last scene in this movie?
You know what? If people don’t know it, they won’t know we’ve spoiled it. I actually kind of love that. This I think also speaks to some of the things you’ve been asking, but Beaches is in the movie unironically. Earnestly, it’s there because I earnestly love that movie and it was so important to my friends and me. That was something Aubrey and I in the rehearsal process, she was also a huge Beaches fan and Bette Midler, and that was just a happy coincidence. Also how I use some images of Hillary Clinton, First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, now former Secretary of State, totally because I’m such a fan of hers and hope she’s our next president for real, not being ironic.
Was there more of the Oak Crest pool rivalry that got cut?
Sure, that was a storyline that was cut. It was just more hazing and stuff, and that was cut for time. There are so many scenes, probably like 25 scenes that were cut for time.
Will all of those be on the DVD?
A lot of them will be.
What other funny stuff happened?
There’s a really funny Bill Hader/Rachel Bilson moment where he goes for the kiss but ends up just sniffing her hair. They’re actually in the process. I pitched them a bunch of suggested scenes. There’s also Clark Gregg and Johnny Simmons end up going on a date to the movies and the same couple in the movie theater thinks that he’s giving another hand job.
Is The Way, Way Back your Oak Crest because they have a summer movie with a water park?
I haven’t seen that? Is it good? Have you seen it?
Yes, it’s really good too. I was just joking.
Oh, awesome. I was a lifeguard all through high school. That’s why it’s set in a pool.
You have daughters, right? So they will see this movie one day.
Never. They will never see this movie. This movie does not exist.
Have you already decided that?
Oh yeah, and they’ll go to high school at a convent so that won’t be a problem. Yeah, they will never see this movie.
Directing your first feature film, what surprised you on the set?
I didn’t realize what an ambitious script I wrote for the budget that we had, because usually for an indie film, you really only have a few locations and two main characters. This was truly an ensemble and it had a lot of locations and that was a real challenge. Also, obviously the cast was a huge part of why we got our financing for the movie, because of the great comedic cast.
We were not in first position with any of the cast because they are all on TV shows and they were all working for scale and doing favors so we really had to juggle our production schedule in order to get the cast to come. We shot at the house, we had no sets. It was all shot on location so even though we were shooting at one location, because of actor schedules, we had to go back and forth three times so we had to go back to this house three different times which means an entire company move which eats up quite a bit of time. So I think I didn’t realize how ambitious the script was in terms of that, in terms of the money side of it.
Whose house was it that you shot at?
I don’t know the homeowners. The location scout found it but we shot in the valley, Woodland Hills area.
They were cleared out by the time you got there?
Yeah.
Are you working on another feature script?
Yeah, I have another feature that I’m writing that I definitely want to direct. I don’t have anything to say yet.
Another comedy?
Yeah. No, it’s a historical drama. No, definitely a comedy.
I wouldn’t typecast you. You could want to do other things.
I love that, thank you. Yeah, and I actually have a background in documentary too.
William Bibbiani is the editor of CraveOnline’s Film Channel and co-host of The B-Movies Podcast. Follow him on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.
