You’d think two prolific actors like John Lithgow and Alfred Molina would have worked together before.  The guys are good friends, but, it turns out, Love Is Strange is their very first movie together.  They play Ben and George, respectively.  They’ve been together for 39 years, but are only first making it official now.  But, as soon as they get married, the Catholic school where George works fires him leaving them no choice, but to sell their apartment and find a less expensive one.  However, until they find that new place, they need somewhere to stay and no one they know can accommodate them both, so Ben heads off to live with his nephew (Charlie Tahan) and his family in Brooklyn while George settles in with their former neighbors.

With Love Is Strange due for a limited release this weekend, we got the opportunity to sit down with Lithgow and Molina to talk about their experience making the film.  Hit the jump to hear about how they finally found a film to work on together, how they prepped for the movie without rehearsals, favorite props they’ve kept from previous films, Lithgow’s character in Interstellar and much more.

John Lithgow & Alfred Molina:

• 00:00 – How they finally wound up getting to work together after being good friends for years.
• 01:21 – What made this project “easy.”
• 02:03 – Molina on what happened when the actor who was originally set to play Ben dropped out and Lithgow stepped in.
• 02:29 – What surprised them about working with writer-director Ira Sachs; how their processes as actors are similar.
• 03:19 – Sachs’ decision not to rehearse; flying to visit Lithgow and Molina prior to filming.
• 04:04 – On talking to Sachs about their fathers in preparation for the film.
• 05:12 – Ben and George as the patriarchs of their family.
• 05:39 – On Charlie Tahan as Joey and his promising career.
• 07:05 – On Eric Tabach as Vlad.
• 07:26 – The excellent casting including Tony Award-winning actors.
• 07:50 – On shooting in New York City; the very close quarters.
• 08:47 – Lithgow’s habit of examining the books in the apartments where they were working.
• 09:11 – Taking a picture with an owner of one of those apartments in her bed.
• 10:14 – Working in a variety of neighborhoods in New York and seeing them change.
• 11:22 – Did Lithgow paint Ben’s artwork himself?
• 12:04 – The props and wardrobe that they’ve kept from previous films, like The Sorcerer’s Apprentice and Raising Cain.
• 12:58 – Lithgow on working with Christopher Nolan and Matthew McConaughey on Interstellar.