One of the many films to premiere at this year's Sundance Film Festival was writer-director Jill Soloway's Afternoon Delight. Starring Kathryn Hahn, Juno Temple, Josh Radnor and Jane Lynch, the film's about a L.A. housewife that "puts her idyllic hipster life in jeopardy when she tries to rescue a stripper by taking her in as a live-in nanny." Featuring great performances from the entire cast, the film was well received by audiences and critics and Soloway won the U.S. Dramatic Directing Award during the closing night festivities.
The day after the premiere, I landed an extended interview with Josh Radnor. We talked about how he got involved with Afternoon Delight, trying to make the movie while also filming How I Met Your Mother, how things changed on set, and more. In addition, he talked about if he knows who is the mother on HIMYM, getting financing for future movies after the success of Happythankyoumoreplease and Liberal Arts, deleted scenes, future projects (says he's writing two films right now. One is a bigger movie that he put aside because he couldn't get it ready by this summer. One is a lean picture where the goal is to pare things down), and a lot more. Hit the jump to watch.
- 0:20 – He does not know and "likes not knowing" who the mother is on How I Met Your Mother.
- 0:50 – Pitches Afternoon Delight for people who haven't seen it.
- 2:30 – Radnor is friends with the writer/director Jill Soloway. She asked him to do a table reading, then worked around his How I Met Your Mother schedule to cast him.
- 3:50 – Says Soloway's process is kind of like jazz: "She has the melody line, and then she lets everyone have their solo and riff on the melody." They will rework or improvise on set if something's not working.
- 6:00 – Talks about getting financing for movies. His first two movies as a director, Happythankyoumoreplease and Liberal Arts were cheap and made back their money.
- 8:20 – He believes he can appeal to actors he wants to cast by showing in his previous two movies that he wants to take care of the characters.
- 9:10 – He has been writing a lot. He has two right now. One is a bigger movie that he put aside because he couldn't get it ready by this summer. One is a lean picture where the goal is to pare things down.
- 10:00 – He cut an entire plotline (12-13 minutes of material) out of Liberal Arts. There is about 20 minutes of deleted scenes that are on the Blu-ray.
- 12:20 – How I Met Your Mother is returning for one final season next year. The show has been a blessing, but Radnor acknowledges the restlessness of playing the same character for nine seasons.
- 14:20 – Points out that the fans shouldn't want to meet the mother because that means the show is ending soon.
- 15:30 – Breaks down the schedule of writing, rehearsing, and shooting a HIMYM episode.
- 16:50 – He's never shot on film. Shooting digital works for him.
- 18:30 – More talk about digital and 48fps.
