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Jason Ritter & Alia Shawkat on the Mysteries of 'Wild Canaries'

Jason Ritter & Alia Shawkat on the Mysteries of 'Wild Canaries'

5:24·By Gemma G
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YH sits down with actors Jason Ritter and Alia Shawkat at SXSW to find out more about their intriguing murder mystery comedy 'Wild Canaries'! They also dish on their favorite Austin hot spots to find some good grub, including one place that finds inspiration from 'Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory'! Hosted by Tracy Behr (@tracybehr). Check out the Young Hollywood Store Here: http://shopyounghollywood.com/

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Young Hollywood

Hey guys, it's Tracy Bear with Young Hollywood and we are at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, which is my all-time favorite city in the world. And I'm with Jason Ritter and Leah Shaw Kat, so how are you guys?

Jason Ritter

Pretty good.

Alia Shawkat

We're pretty good.

Young Hollywood

You I mean, you're in Austin. You have to be feeling pretty amazing.

Alia Shawkat

We are feeling pretty amazing. Yeah, we got here yesterday or I did. Did you get here yesterday?

Jason Ritter

I got here two years ago.

Young Hollywood

What? Two years. Do you live two years ago?

Jason Ritter

No, I don't. I was here two years ago, but I've gone to other places since.

Alia Shawkat

Pathological liar.

Jason Ritter

Um We uh, yeah, we're uh we're enjoying our movie today and so we're super excited and uh

Young Hollywood

Have you guys been to South by? Is this your first time? Have you been in Austin?

Alia Shawkat

Both been a couple of times. Yeah. Love it here. It's so great.

Jason Ritter

This is my second time.

Young Hollywood

What are some of your favorite spots that you like to go to here? Cuz you've been here before. So are you guys like barbecue fans? Mexican food fans?

Alia Shawkat

Yeah, I like I love all the food. Uh I went to Las Parras last last night that like seafood place. Oh yeah. Um it's very good. Um Schmidty's, I think it's called. That's one's a little out of town. That's a fun spot. Congress has some cool vintage stores I like to go to. Congress is awesome. Yeah. Just breathing in the air. And you're like really, you know, artsy and you're into music a lot. So Obviously. I mean. Look at the colors. You you fit right in to Austin. This is like your time. People are super rad here. I have some friends that I haven't hit up yet, but I will. I'll text in a bit. Um but yeah, I just really like the vibe out here. I use the word vibe a lot. Also being an artist. keep Austin weird. I got that vibe. Yeah, it's got that rad vibe.

Young Hollywood

What about you?

Jason Ritter

Uh I basically go where people tell me to go. So I haven't

Alia Shawkat

She's going to tell him a lot of places.

Jason Ritter

Uh yeah. You listen to everything she says. But you she knows. She clearly knows what's up. So far I've sampled the uh Sheraton Hotel uh coffee uh in the rooms. You have to go there you guys. If you go to Austin. Come to my room at the Sheraton. I will make you a delicious cup of coffee. But only only one or two because the pods are are yeah yeah. I can ask for more probably. They're free. Um but yeah, I haven't been I went to a place called Buffalo Billiards last night. That was pretty fun. Tonight our party is at cheer up Charlie's, which is a.

Alia Shawkat

Oh I drove by. It looks really cool.

Jason Ritter

Yeah. And it's uh, you know, any place that's named after a uh you know, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory reference, you know, It's like cheer up, Charlie. Of course. Don't feel so blue. I think.

Young Hollywood

Can you say that again? I like those. Look at this little romance. And your movie Wild Canaries, it's it's awesome cuz it's like this murder mystery, but it's but it's funny and you guys were like really quick on your feet to do like a lot of improv and Was that like a big thing like coming into the movie that you had to like sort of just do it do a lot of it on the fly?

Jason Ritter

Sure.

Alia Shawkat

You're like, I do that all the time anyway.

Jason Ritter

Yeah, there was a lot of improv. I mean, a lot of it was in the was just written in. But um uh but every once in a while, you know, Larry would say uh who directed it and wrote it. Uh he would say like, okay, now you guys are just having a fight, you can do whatever you want. And so it was fun. We had that freedom and and also the structure. You don't want only freedom.

Alia Shawkat

No, it's too much. What are we Americans?

Young Hollywood

The filmmaker, Lawrence. It was actually him and his his real wife, right? So Sophia.

Alia Shawkat

Yeah, Sophia. Mhm.

Young Hollywood

So what was it like sort of working with them? Were they like just like being a real couple? Did you see them fight a lot? Like how how was that on set? How do we that had to be some interesting stories.

Alia Shawkat

They were actually one of the best couples I've ever worked with. They they communicated pretty well with each other. Um uh You never know when like, you know.

Jason Ritter

No, no, it's true. People are working together.

Alia Shawkat

No, a lot of times. A lot of times couples are like the worst. I mean. Well, they don't know they they haven't figured out like the difference between how they can talk to each other like when it's just the two of them like the shorthand where they're like sort of being rude to each other and how that can be not such a big deal when it's just the two of them, but when there's other people around, you're just like, So like, they don't fight. Yeah. I know. They're not like that. Lawrence and Fira are not like that at all. Yeah. Neither of them are. They have the professional. Thank god. Not passive aggressive people, which is nice. They're very honest.

Young Hollywood

Yeah. What is sort of like, you know, the premise of the movie? Like what could people expect when they see it?

Jason Ritter

Um basically, uh uh I can't give it away. I guess that's the whole thing.

Young Hollywood

No, that that is a tough thing. You can't give it away. But basically an old woman dies, um, across the hall.

Alia Shawkat

You just gave it away, Jason.

Jason Ritter

I gave it away. Yeah. Uh, she dies across the hall. There you go. That's it. There you go. Very, very convincing. Spoiler alert. Um, and uh, she dies and Barry and and the main character and Noah, yeah. They're their roommate. Yeah. They uh, they they think that maybe something went wrong and there was some foul play. So, uh, Jean and Barry decided to do some reconnaissance and they start to uncover that there are some secrets in the building, uh, that they weren't aware of.

Alia Shawkat

We did that at the same time.

Young Hollywood

You guys, I'm so excited to see the movie and I'm sure everyone out there is really if you love murder mysteries and comedy, cuz you wouldn't necessarily put those two things together, but comedy. Wild Canaries. Check it out. Check it out.

Timestamps are approximate — click one to jump the player.

PEOPLE MENTIONED

  • Jason Ritter

    Actor in 'Wild Canaries'

  • Alia Shawkat

    Actor in 'Wild Canaries'

  • Tracy Behr

    Host of the interview

  • Lawrence Michael Levine

    Director and writer of 'Wild Canaries'

  • Sophia Takal

    Lawrence Michael Levine's wife and actress in 'Wild Canaries'

  • Willy Wonka

    Reference for a bar name

FAQ

What movie are Jason Ritter and Alia Shawkat promoting?+
Jason Ritter and Alia Shawkat are promoting their murder mystery comedy film 'Wild Canaries'.
Where is the interview taking place?+
The interview is taking place at South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, Texas.
Who directed 'Wild Canaries'?+
Lawrence Michael Levine directed and wrote 'Wild Canaries'.
What is the premise of 'Wild Canaries'?+
The movie is about an old woman dying across the hall, and the main characters, Jean and Barry, suspect foul play and uncover secrets in the building.
Do Jason Ritter and Alia Shawkat enjoy Austin?+
Yes, both Jason Ritter and Alia Shawkat express their enjoyment of Austin, having visited multiple times.

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