Will Arnett is one of the most notable names in comedy today. After breaking out in the early 2000s as Gob Bluth in the now-iconic sitcom, Arrested Development, the Canadian-born actor has gone on to front some huge projects like the Emmy Award-winning series Bojack Horseman, Batman in the fan-favourite Lego Movie spinoff, and is also one-third of one of the biggest podcasts in the world right now, SmartLess.
But at 55, Arnett is taking on his most ambitious and challenging role to date: the lead in a drama about a man fresh out of a separation, attempting to enter the world of comedy.
But to be fair, that wasn’t always the plan. Loosely based on the real-life story of English stand-up John Bishop, Arnett and writer Mark Chappell intended Is This Thing On? to be a comedy. That was until he showed the script they had written to close friend and Oscar winner Bradley Cooper, who insisted this film should not only not be a comedy but that he wanted to direct it, and Arnett had to be the lead.
Will Arnett and Laura Dern in ‘Is This Thing On?’
“I think that the whole reason I gave [the script] to Bradley is because Mark Chappell and I were struggling,” Arnett tells Rolling Stone AU/NZ. “There were a lot of different voices and forces that, truthfully, wanted it to be more of a rom-com, and Mark and I were struggling with delivering that.
“Bradley read it and said, ‘No, it should not be a rom-com… I think the path for us is to get into really what’s going on, not just with this guy and how he’s affected with this new thing he’s done, but how he and his wife can kind of reconnect, find themselves and find a way to rebuild this relationship.'”
In Is This Thing On?, Arnett plays Alex Novak. One night, after Alex and his Olympic volleyball athlete wife, Tess (Laura Dern), have agreed to a separation, he heads to a bar in New York, just looking for a nightcap. To score a free drink, Alex signs up for an open mic night, which is where his journey into stand-up comedy begins.
From L to R: Bradley Cooper, Will Arnett, and Andra Day in ‘Is This Thing On?’
“What’s beautiful about Bradley as a filmmaker is that he is asking all of us to let go of the noise of an idea of a thing and just go deep into the truth of it,” Dern adds. “And the truth is hilarious and broken and vulnerable and painful and all those things. But what’s beautiful is [Dern turns to Arnett], it was your instinct from the beginning. It’s just the other voices that go, ‘You know what would make it more popular?’ It’s so easy for any of us, the actor, the writer, all of it, to get into that noise. I think when that gets stripped away, which is a daily process on set, and certainly in your writing process, it’s just such a gorgeous reminder that it frankly gets so much funnier and so much more beautiful when it’s true.”
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For Dern, exploring the beauty in truth was what made joining Is This Thing On? an easy decision. From the outset, Cooper knew he wanted to offer the role of Tess to the Oscar and Golden Globe-winning star, but he also wanted to challenge her.
“It’s always a challenge stepping into this new human being you don’t know yet, and I think originally I thought that the challenge would be being my truest self in ways I’ve never been with a man about partnership,” Dern explains. “In a way, it was the greatest challenge and the most easy thing to do with Will. It was like you really have to surrender ego completely, and hat in hand, be like, ‘This is who I am actually, all the spaces that I’ve been shy to reveal to a person.’ I can’t do that without doing that authentically as Laura to Will, to discover those places that exist in tests.
“And then the seemingly easy challenge was, who is at the top of their game, an Olympic athlete? And as a female, who is that? That was an incredible learning process, and I discovered parts of myself I had never known.”
Arnett adds: “It was fun to see the killer come out from Laura through Tess. That competitor of the highest level who’s just got that kind of drive, that was fun to watch.”
Just like Cooper had to advocate with studio executives for him to lead Is This Thing On?, Arnett admits there was pressure to live up to the part — and with good reason. Not only did he co-write the film, but he is also being directed by an Oscar-winning director, starring opposite an Oscar-winning actor in a drama about a man failing to be funny, something that Arnett in real life has not had any problem with for well over two decades.
To prepare, Arnett frequented New York comedy clubs and was even introduced on stages as Alex Novak to avoid attention. That alone kept Arnett distracted, but he admits that the more dramatic scenes and having to become incredibly vulnerable on stage and screen was an intimidating task, especially with the elite company.
“If I allowed myself to think about it too much, it did feel daunting… to be this guy and be vulnerable, as Laura said, in a way that I hadn’t experienced yet,” he says. “I would have these moments where I’d veer towards thinking about it and thinking like, ‘Wow, I’m gonna do it with Laura and Laura’s won an Oscar. How am I gonna?’ I couldn’t let myself go there. I was smart enough to just be in the moment, try as much as you can to be in the moment, and also be scared.
“I told Laura when we were doing it. I said, ‘If I’m being honest, I’m intimidated. You’ve done some incredible work.’ I’m such a fan of hers and what she does, and it’s scary. It was necessary for me to say that to her. And you were so kind and gentle about it, and you said, ‘Shut up’ [laughs].
Is This Thing On? is in cinemas from today.
