“Comedy ensues. And romance ensues. And the rest leads to a pretty great movie, I think,” Day told Parade.com ahead of the film’s premiere, with Slate noting, “It’s true.” Like their characters, Slate and Day experienced their share of heartbreak prior to finding love with their respective spouses, Mary Elizabeth Ellis and Ben Shattuck. And while they claim they never went to extreme lengths to try to win an ex back, Slate does admit that she once threw a box of Kleenex at a high school boyfriend who broke up with her. “There have just been so many repeated moments in my history as a young adult of just like crying so hard and being like, ‘Please don’t do this,’” the actress explained. “And then when the person is like, ‘Look, I really want to. I got to move on’ being like [mimicking crying], ‘Okay, alright, okay, okay, okay, fine.’ You got to hit bottom though, which, you know, I’ve explored many times.” Nowadays, the Obvious Child star feels at her “best” since welcoming her first child, Ida (Slate revealed her daughter’s arrival in February 2021). She shared, “I don’t think I’ve ever been so consistently happy.”
I loved watching you two in these roles as Emma and Peter. Charlie, what do you think viewers will see in Jenny as a leading lady that maybe they haven’t seen before?
Day: If they know Jenny’s work, they know what an incredible actress she is and how funny she is. But I’m hoping that people really just get to know her better watching this movie, and just see how effortlessly and amazingly she can carry a film, and how we can just ride on her emotions as she goes through these ups and downs in the story and really see that she’s as good as it gets when it comes to being able to act and be funny and be dramatic.
Jenny, what was it like working with him as your leading man?
Slate: Coming into this film, I had seen a lot of Charlie’s work, and I would describe him like when I attached to the film and I was telling my parents I’m working with Charlie Day, and I was saying that he’s a person that you’re like, ‘Oh, he has it. He was like born to do this.’ Like how you see Will Ferrell and you’re like, ‘Oh, that guy is just like born to do this.’ I think Charlie is the same. Just like born to be super-duper funny, but I have not seen him also just be like a dreamboat that is gonna be like a general crush for the public. That’s something that he is and it’s so nice to see it and he is very romantic in this film, and I don’t know that that’s kind of a note you’ve been able to play in that way. Day: That’s true. Slate: And it’s really nice to see it and it was super lovely to act in those scenes because I think for someone to be so good at comedy, it also means that their well of emotion probably runs pretty deep. And I think it was nice to see Charlie be so confident in that way. Day: Thank you, Jenny. Thank you. Means a lot to me.
Switching gears, the last couple of years have been very difficult, but Jenny, for you, it’s been filled with some really happy, milestone moments. You had a baby, got married. Congratulations! Do you feel like motherhood has changed you in any way?
Slate: I think it’s just made me, gotten me closer to who I really want to be. My husband says sometimes that like there’s the version of ourselves that we want to be and there’s a version of ourselves that we’re actually capable of being right now. And that sort of like you want to live your life on the road to the version of yourself that you hope to be, just getting closer and closer, and I do feel like becoming a mother has gotten me closer to me more consistently being at what I enjoy… feeling at my best. I don’t think I’ve ever been so consistently happy.
Was I Want You Back your first movie after having [daughter] Ida?
Slate: It was! Yeah, I was 10 weeks postpartum. And it was really nice. Charlie’s a parent, he understood what it was—it’s hard to go to work when you have a child let alone like a tiny baby. Day: Especially in the beginning phase. Slate: Yeah, and I was breastfeeding. I was like on the breast pump on set. Every three hours, everybody had to stop so I could go and do that. It was an experience that was really positive because the amount of support I received from Charlie and the rest of the cast and our crew was just huge. I don’t think I’ll ever forget it.
I love that! Supportive co-stars. You’re both used to making people laugh, but I have to imagine making your own kids laugh hits differently as a parent.
Slate: Yeah, that is the best. But it’s like you don’t have to do that much to make a baby laugh. Day: Wait till your kid makes you laugh and they know how to make you laugh. Slate: Oh, I can’t wait for that. Day: That’s a really fun phase. When they start to develop their own sense of humor.
Charlie, was your son [Russell] excited about you joining the Super Mario movie?
Day: He was! Yeah, because like all kids, he loves cartoons. He loves cartoon movies. And he’s excited that I was in the Lego movies… I think he played “Luigi’s Mansion,” the video game, a few times and so he was aware of the characters. So yeah, he was very excited.
Does he think that his dad has the coolest job ever?
Day: It’s hard to know how much it makes sense to him because I think when you’re growing up in it, he probably thinks that’s just what dads do. Like they go and they’re in the movies, but I feel like, he’s 10 now, and I feel like this is the first year where I see him starting to kind of realize ‘Hey dad, it’s pretty cool like you’re in that movie.’ There’s something to it.
Last year was the 15th season of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. There are still three more seasons to go, right?
Day: Well, there’s definitely one more season to go contractually, and then we have an option of another two, but I think at this point we’re just taking it one year at a time.
Have you guys ever discussed doing a movie?
Day: We’ve talked about it, but we get away with so much on our television show and it used to be that, you know, you did the movie so that you could do the explicit stuff you couldn’t do on television, and we’re doing all that stuff anyway, that, you know, it feels like every season we go and in a sense we make like four little movies or something, but I don’t know. Maybe one day.
Never say never. Now, before I let you go, are there plans for you two to reunite for another project?
Slate: I hope so. Day: There’s nothing on the books yet. But that’s crazy! We gotta do it! Slate: We have to. I would love to work with Charlie a million more times. Day: Same. We’re really hoping for that Meg Ryan-Tom Hanks, you know, every couple years…rom-com re-up. Or it doesn’t have to be a rom-com. We could do a psychological thriller? Slate: Sure. Let’s get crazy! This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity Next, 20 Romantic Comedies From the Golden Age of Hollywood That Still Make Us Swoon Today
