With Aron Gaudet and Gita Pullapilly’s Queenpins now streaming on Paramount+ for subscribers in the United States, I recently spoke to Kristen Bell and Kirby Howell-Baptiste about making their original comedy. During the interview, they talked about extreme couponing, how they made the film in the height of COVID when so much was unknown about the virus, what people would be surprised to learn about the making of Queenpins, how the film doesn’t include the usual movie trope where the best friends fall out in the second act, and more. In addition, with Howell-Baptiste playing Death on the upcoming Netflix series The Sandman, I asked her if that means Death is British.
If you haven’t seen the trailer, Queenpins is inspired by a true story and stars Bell and Howell-Baptiste as best friends that start a multi-million dollar coupon scam. As you might imagine, this kind of operation draws the interest of law enforcement and it’s up to a loss prevention officer (Paul Walter Hauser) from a local supermarket chain and a determined U.S. postal inspector (Vince Vaughn) to figure out how millions of dollars in coupons are flooding the market. Queenpins also stars Joel McHale, Bebe Rexha, and Stephen Root.
Watch what they had to say in the player above and below is exactly what we talked about followed by the official synopsis.
Kristen Bell and Kirby Howell-Baptiste
- How the movie doesn’t include the trope of the best friends falling out in the 2nd act.
- How much did they know about extreme couponing before getting involved in the film?
- With Kirby cast as Death on The Sandman series does that mean Death is British?
- What would people be surprised to learn about the making of Queenpins?
- How they shot at the height of COVID when so much was unknown about the virus.
Here’s the official synopsis for Queenpins.
Inspired by a true story, Queenpins is an outrageous comedy about a bored and frustrated suburban homemaker, Connie (Kristen Bell), and her best pal JoJo (Kirby Howell-Baptiste), a vlogger with dreams, who turn a hobby into a multi-million-dollar counterfeit coupon caper. After firing off a letter to the conglomerate behind a box of cereal gone stale, and receiving an apology along with dozens of freebies, the duo hatches an illegal coupon club scheme that scams millions from mega-corporations and delivers deals to legions of fellow coupon clippers. On the trail to total coupon dominance, a hapless loss prevention officer (Paul Walter Hauser) from the local supermarket chain joins forces with a determined U.S. postal inspector (Vince Vaughn) in hot pursuit of these newly minted “Queenpins” of pink-collar crime.