Opening in theaters on Memorial Day weekend, About My Father is a new comedy starring stand-up comedy sensation Sebastian Maniscalco and Hollywood legend Robert de Niro. The film follows Maniscalco playing a fictionalized version of himself as he takes his Italian immigrant father Salvo (de Niro) to meet the wealthy family of his girlfriend. Leslie Bibb plays Maniscalco's girlfriend Ellie while Kim Cattrall plays Ellie's mother Tigger, a politician who is constantly creating chaos on the cable news circuit. The new film harkens back to the comedies of the early 2000s such as My Big Fat Greek Wedding and Meet the Parents, and it gives both Bibb and Cattrall time to shine and flex their comedic muscles.
I was fortunate enough to sit down with the film's leading ladies as we talked about Cattrall's show-stopping haircut in the film, and whether they were intimidated by working with de Niro on set.
COLLIDER: First off, I love this movie, it's such a great movie. It's refreshing to have something I could finally watch again with my parents and not have to panic about anything.
LESLIE BIBB: Oh, it's gonna get weird, or awkward.
I don't know, my parents have that kind of sense of humor, though. The one thing I have to ask, with the haircut, did they actually shave your hair?
KIM CATTRALL: It was a wig. We didn't shoot in sequence, so we would have to go from long hair to short hair, so they felt that the short wig would be the best way to go, which I totally agree.
BIBB: Would you cut your hair for real, for real?
I was going to ask that!
BIBB: Oh, sorry, I'm taking over your job.
Oh, no! I love that.
BIBB: Inquiring minds want to know.
CATTRALL: Gosh… yeah, I think I would have, I think I would have.
BIBB: That haircut did look good on you.
Go method with it!
CATTRALL: [Laughs] Go method with it, yes, me and Marlon.
BIBB: If there's a sequel where we go to Sicily [mimes cutting hair]. Wouldn't that be fun to go to Italy? Oh my God.
CATTRALL: It would. First of all, the food.
BIBB: We’d have to have elastic waistbands, a lot of elastic waistbands.
So I loved your movie, Tag. Whenever you show up in a comedy, it's always great seeing you in those roles.
BIBB: She’s a little cuckoo. I always play, like, a wackadoo, which is kind of fun in this because she's not insane. I usually get these characters who are like– there's something insane that we have to pull off, something that’s weird or something, especially in Tag, with Sebastian! So I love that she's kind of the everygirl, and it's a sweet love story, and I love Sebastian so much and I like being his partner in crime in this.
Had you met him before filming?
BIBB: Yeah, he married us in Tag, so I met him that day. He was very quiet on that day of filming and then I met him at [Jeremy] Renner’s house because we had a party there, and Renner is a very good friend of mine, and Sebastian said I was very sweet to he and his wife, and like, “Oh, come back, we're going to go here!” I remember meeting them and being struck with how you could tell how much they loved each other, and so that was a very cool thing to sort of bring in, to have, to see that, this connection they had because I knew I had to find that. That had to be an intrinsic thread between Ellie and Sebastian in this because I knew what he and Lana were like in real life.
I know you've both worked with big names, but was it ever intimidating on set working with De Niro?
BIBB: It’s Bob De Niro. The Deer Hunter, Raging Bull, uh yes. [To Cattrall] Tell him, why did you do this movie?
CATTRALL: [Laughs] Because first of all, the storyline was, “Robert De Niro plays a hairdresser,” but I just wanted the experience of working with him, watching him work, being in the same room. It's fascinating. He's so open, he's so available. He's funny, and he doesn't take it seriously. He has no ego about it. He's the first one to say, “Well, I fucked that up,” – excuse me! “I screwed that up!” He's the first one to say it, you know? I think when other actors see an actor of that stature making mistakes, there's no place to fail in that kind of situation. And he's always been a favorite of mine, it was a real thrill.
BIBB: And he's a seeker of the story.
CATTRALL: Curious, yeah.
BIBB: And he’s all about the work. You said curious earlier and that's really a good word for him. And it's just a reminder that, you know, I feel like young kids don't go to acting school as much anymore and they don't watch old movies and the craft of acting, and he's such a person about the craft of acting. It was really fun to be around that.
CATTRALL: The subtlety in the way he would just change a word in a different take. You’d think, “Why does that sound–? Ah, okay!” And he opens these little doors, almost, for you if you're listening.
BIBB: I remember watching, one of those first days, and he called somebody the wrong name. He called the waitress your name.
CATTRALL: Tigger, yeah.
BIBB: And he did it – whereas, sometimes I'd be like, “Oh I fucked up the line” — and he went, “Tigger... what's wrong with me? I'm calling you her name!” And he just played through and never stopped. It was just a reminder, like, he's always searching and seeking and trusting whatever is happening.
CATTRALL: And encouraging himself. It really is a positive experience.
Obviously you play her mother in the movie, but if you guys could pick any actress or actor, living or dead, to play one of your parents in a movie, who would it be?
CATTRALL: Barbara Stanwyck.
BIBB: Good answer.
CATTRALL: I’ve always loved Barbara Stanwyck, such an amazing actress, spunky and tough and smart and passionate and emotional, and oh, she was great. I don't know if she'd be a very warm and cuddly mom, but she would be great to play with [laughs].
BIBB: I was really grateful that I got to have this experience, so I don't even want to dance on there being anybody better than Kim because I love this, and you know, she's iconic. Then you meet her and she's everything and a bag of nuts. She's warm and generous and funny and kind, and so easy to work with, so you're just like, “Oh, this is heaven,” because you never know.
CATTRALL: I’m blushing!
BIBB: No, but it's true.
CATTRALL: No, because I'm wearing pink.
BIBB: [Laughs] “My colors are blush and bashful!” But maybe Jessica Lange. I love Jessica Lange, so maybe that, we'll see, but it doesn't get better than this one.
About My Father hits theaters May 26. Check out my interview with Robert de Niro and Sebastian Maniscalco below.