Dave Franco and Alison Brie are set to rock the Sundance Film Festival with their horror movie “Together,” and the duo joined the Variety Studio presented by Audible at Sundance to discuss their latest onscreen collaboration. Franco and Brie have been married since 2017.
“We love it and we want to keep going,” Franco said about acting together. “As long as people let us keep doing it, we feel like we’re getting away with something. For whatever reason, we work really well together. When we’re acting together, we’re so comfortable with each other and we can take more risks with the material. If one of us has an inauthentic moment the other sees it right away, so we have to do our best work.”
One thing Franco and Brie never do on film sets is give each other acting notes, and it’s because they don’t want to offend the other. As Brie explained: “We’re never giving each other notes because…it’s just like ew, I can tell that was false and I know Dave knows.”
“Together” hails from writer-director Michael Shanks and is world-premiering in the Midnight section of Sundance’s lineup. Franco and Brie play a strained couple who experience a supernatural force after trading city life for rural isolation. The duo said they look forward to solo projects after working together on such an intense movie.
“We don’t want to burn people out on us,” Franco said. “It’s nice to go off and then get excited again about working together.”
Brie added, “It’s helpful in maintaining our own independence. Plus, I love watching Dave’s work. So it’s fun when you go off and do your own work because it’s a treat for me to watch it. Also, it’s good to work with other people who you are not married to and have new experiences. These are good things for one’s life.”
Both actors agreed that it’s rewarding to star in horror movies because it requires the most full-bodied acting imaginable, which prompted Franco to shout out “The Substance” and Demi Moore’s Oscar-nominated performance. It’s rare for the Academy to nominate horror movies and acting roles.
“It’s cool Demi Moore is being recognized,” Franco said. “Actors in horror movies are doing so much!”
“The stakes have never been higher,” Brie added. “She’s incredible. It’s awesome.”