In Kenya Barris’ (Black-ish) feature directorial debut, You People, Jonah Hill, who co-wrote for the film, plays Ezra Cohen, a man desperate for love. When Ezra accidentally mistakes Amira Mohammad (played by Lauren London) for his Uber driver, the two laugh off the meet-cute and find that they really are falling for one another. In typical rom-com fashion, they have a happy, healthy relationship that Ezra is excited to take to the next level, but this means they'll have to meet each other's families. In a new take on the romantic comedy, You People addresses a number of important topics such as cultural and generational differences, and societal expectations that threaten the couple's bond.

Featuring an all-star cast, Ezra and Amira must appeal to each other’s families for their respect and blessing, and it isn’t going to be easy. In addition to Hill and London, the cast includes Eddie Murphy and Nia Long as Amira’s skeptical parents, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus and David Duchovny who portray Ezra’s well-meaning, but painfully awkward parents, Shelley and Arnold. It’s clear they’re making attempts to make Amira feel welcome, but in doing so they simply make things uncomfortable. When they meet Akbar (played by Murphy) and his wife Fatima (Long), tensions really begin to rise.

In their interview with Collider’s Steve Weintraub, ahead of You People’s Netflix premiere, Louis-Dreyfus and Duchovny discussed the film and tons more. They share what it was like delivering cringe-inducing lines, how they knew when they were hitting the comedy bullseye, and how staying true to their characters’ intentions helped capture the satire. Louis-Dreyfus also discusses joining the MCU as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, and Duchovny reveals details about his audition for Quentin Tarantino and talks about his upcoming film Bucky F*cking Dent. You can watch the interview in the video above, or read the full transcript below.

COLLIDER: For people that have actually never seen anything you've done, which is like two people on the internet, what is the first thing you'd like them watching and why?

DAVID DUCHOVNY: You People?

JULIA LOUIS-DREYFUS: [laughs] Yeah, You People.

DUCHOVNY: Gosh, no clue.

LOUIS-DREYFUS: I had a role as, essentially, an extra in Hannah and Her Sisters.

DUCHOVNY: You did?

LOUIS-DREYFUS: So they could watch that and see if they could spot me just for... It's kind of like a Where's Waldo? experience.

DUCHOVNY: What year is that?

LOUIS-DREYFUS: 1982.

I want to say '82 or '83.

DUCHOVNY: Oh, really? Wow. Well, similarly, I have an extra role in Working Girl with Harrison Ford and Sigourney Weaver, and Melanie Griffith. I'm in the posse of Melanie Griffith's Staten Island friends.

LOUIS-DREYFUS: Oh, wow.

DUCHOVNY: I jump out of a bathroom, say, "Happy birthday." Some good work.

LOUIS-DREYFUS: Okay. That's two good answers for you.

I've heard a lot of answers before. My favorite though, someone said they were in Pulp Fiction, and they're not. I think it was Julia Roberts. She's like, "Pulp Fiction's my best work," or something like that.

LOUIS-DREYFUS: Oh, good idea. Don't lie.

DUCHOVNY: Well, she was kidding, but she wasn't lying. She was kidding, right? I auditioned for Pulp Fiction and it was... No, not Pulp Fiction. I auditioned for Reservoir Dogs. That was like in the late ‘80s.

LOUIS-DREYFUS: Did you get it?

DUCHOVNY: Yeah. I'm fantastic in it.

LOUIS-DREYFUS: I'm going to watch that.

DUCHOVNY: They did this head replacement of Tim Roth on me. It really pissed me off. I didn't know. I went to the premiere and I was like, "Oh, Tim Roth's head is on mine."

LOUIS-DREYFUS: Here's a Tim Roth story–

DUCHOVNY: Wait, I want to finish my story.

LOUIS-DREYFUS: Oh, I'm sorry. I thought it was ended.

DUCHOVNY: You were hoping. So no, this is quick. So I auditioned for Quentin Tarantino, and this is not an imitation of Quentin, but he's a high-energy guy, and he goes, "I really like what you do. I just don't know if I want you to do it in my movie." It was the best rejection I ever got in my life.

LOUIS-DREYFUS: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

DUCHOVNY: Anyway.

LOUIS-DREYFUS: Tim Roth, we were at the Golden Globes back in the ‘80s, and… oh, no. It wasn't the ‘80s, sorry, in the ‘90s, because this was for Seinfeld. We were constantly losing at the Golden Globes, and one particular year, they announced who's the winners. Probably Frasier, I can't really remember. And Tim Roth was at the table. At the Globes–

DUCHOVNY: People are drunk.

LOUIS-DREYFUS: Mm-hmm. And so, all of a sudden, Tim Roth stands up and he goes, "You were fucking robbed. You were fucking robbed," like that. And I was just looking around. It was just fantastic.

David Duchovny in You People — Image via Netflix

Jumping into why I get to talk to you. What is it like playing someone who's delivering dialogue that the audience is going to cringe [at] as they're watching it? Because there's stuff that both of your characters do and say in the movie. So is it fun?

DUCHOVNY: I think it is fun. I think you have to be careful that you don't comment on it that way, because you're going to ruin the fun if you're having fun. If you're obviously having fun, or aware of why it's funny. So, you got to stay away from that area of meta or commenting on it.

To go back, there was another thing that, through (comedian) [Garry] Shandling, he did this whole show when he was young, and [Don] Rickles came back to see him, and he asked him if he was funny. And Rickles said, "Did you feel funny?" And I still take that as my thing.

LOUIS-DREYFUS: Oh, interesting.

DUCHOVNY: It's not even about the take. It's like my feeling during the take. If I felt funny, I'm pretty sure it's going to be funny. And I don't even know what I mean by funny, but we all know what we mean. You know what I mean?

LOUIS-DREYFUS: I do.

DUCHOVNY: Yeah.

LOUIS-DREYFUS: Yeah. It's when you feel like you got the bullseye up.

DUCHOVNY: Yeah. Yeah.

David Duchovny, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jonah Hill, Lauren London, Eddie Murphy, and Nia Long sitting in a living room — Image via Netflix

What is it like for you delivering lines that you'd never say yourself?

LOUIS-DREYFUS: Well, I mean, to David's point, it's about intention. So, if you can find a way to stay true to the intention of the character, which, in the case of the character that I played, was a truly earnest desire to embrace this wonderful woman in front of her, and everything about her, and to make sure she knows that I'm on her side. And that's how I came at this. And I think, as long as you were in that lane and had that sort of… I felt there was an intensely positive energy, that it would have a satire that would work.

It 100% does. Individual questions for each of you. I am looking forward, you just wrote and directed Bucky F*cking Dent. Could you tell people what it's about, and why you wanted to tell this story? [To Julia Dreyfus] And I wanted to ask you, what does it mean to you being part of the MCU, because you're now a big part of it, and are you surprised you got the call? And what has it been like interacting with friends and family, being in the MCU?

DUCHOVNY: I want to hear that.

LOUIS-DREYFUS: You go first.

DUCHOVNY: Well, Bucky F*cking Dent is adapted from my novel.

LOUIS-DREYFUS: His novel. He's a novelist, which is very cool.

DUCHOVNY: Thank you. And I've always wanted to tell that story. I wrote it originally as a screenplay, and then turned it into a novel, and then turned that novel back into a screenplay. Originally I wanted to play the son, and then I aged myself out of it, and now I'm playing the dad. So, there's a lot of stuff going on in terms of my personal… just my history with the story itself. And I couldn't be happier with the way it turned out, though. I'm really, really excited about it.

LOUIS-DREYFUS: To answer your question, I would say I'm delighted to be a part of the MCU. I'm really excited to shoot Thunderbolts, which we're going to do this year. It's going to be absolutely wild. I'm particularly delighted about it because it's really the only thing my kids are interested in that I've done. That's not true. I'm exaggerating.

DUCHOVNY: They're interested in this, I think?

LOUIS-DREYFUS: They're interested in this, of course. But the point is that, for years, both of my boys have been saying, "Mom, why don't you do a Marvel movie? Do a Marvel movie. Do a Marvel movie." And I'm like, "Oh, they’re not going to pick me for a Marvel movie." And then they did. And I was like, "Oh yeah. Now my boys are going to be psyched."

DUCHOVNY: What movie did you do? I'm sorry. I don't know.

LOUIS-DREYFUS: It's fine. I was in the [Black Panther: Wakanda Forever] film that just came out.

DUCHOVNY: Okay.

LOUIS-DREYFUS: And a few and...