Gregg Sulkin, David & Lorenzo James Henrie on Best Set Fits & Exec Producer Selena Gomez

What's up? What's up, gents? So sorry. We were in the wrong room. I I totally apologize for that. So sorry. We were in the total wrong room. Hello. Whoever's Zoom you joined, they were probably like, um. Yeah, I know. It was definitely not this Zoom. That uh that was awkward. Thank you for joining us. We're back, back again. So now that we have all you boys here, when is the I kind of talked to Greg about it before you guys joined, but how long have you actually known each other leading up to filming a movie?

Oh man, Greg Greg's one of my oldest friends. Like like Greg's like a little brother to me. Um Over 10 years. Yeah. Well, Greg came on Wizards of Waverly Place in season two, Greg, or was it season three?

Yeah, it was season two. I remember meeting David. Uh first, I thought he was uh, what's the word? Well, first we clashed a little bit. I thought he was American. No, cuz now I'm in love with this country, and I love all Americans. But I thought it was just like, you know, there's definitely a personality clash. And then uh we were shooting the show. Dave, I had no friends uh at the time, and David was kind enough to welcome me to his house after work. And then that's when I really formed my my favorite bond of the Henry family, which is Lorenzo. And uh, you know, so we all basically became uh well, I infiltrated myself into their family, and David's parents have David and Lorenzo's parents have been a massive uh light in my life and unbelievably people. And so from then, um yeah, we just became all very, very close.

Yeah, we we the same could be said for Greg. We literally like we're long-lost brothers, you know. Greg has an older brother, just like, you know, I'm Lorenzo's older brother. Greg has an older brother who became like, you know, my twin, but my British twin. So him and I hung out all the time. Like it was just it was it was, you know, um If we ever went to London, Greg's parents would take care of us.

Yeah. treat me to lunch or dinner. It was just Yeah. It it's it's been a great friendship.

It's nice that you guys have been friends for so long, too. Like you've stayed in touch, like you have been friends through it all. And now you're in a a movie together.

When we went to cast for this film, and we were thinking of the role of of Kale, Yeah. I could think of no one else but Greg, you know. It's it's the fact that Greg's an an amazing actor and has so much range and is able to do serious stuff, but also be super cheeky and funny, almost like a, you know, let his Russell Brand side out, you know. Um, I I knew that in Greg because he's my friend. I know he has that side. So it was a really fun opportunity to to get to let Greg play and explore and try things. And we always used the takes that he tried. He would he would just say the most random stuff and he would try different mannerisms. And those are the takes we use because he's got great instincts. So it was uh it was just a blast. Just a blast.

I bet. Just like a friend said. And this is your directional debut. So what was that like? Did you cast everybody? Like your brother, Greg

Yeah. Yeah, it's um, you know, I I I learned a lot about myself on this film. I I learned about the stories that I want to tell. I'm Greg will tell you, I'm an inherently optimistic individual. I like to try to make people feel good and feel like their lives are purposeful and meaningful. So um, the whole purpose of this film was to try to create a feel-good movie. We live in crazy times right now. Something that the whole family could watch. If you're a parent sitting there with your teenager or your your high schooler or your middle schooler, you're going to get the John Hughes '80s references, or if you're a kid going through it, there's a lot more relevant stuff in the film. That's one thing that Selena Gomez really picked up on was how the the female characters have arcs, and in a lot of the '80s films, the girls didn't have arcs. The quote unquote pretty girl was one note and was used and abused and saved by a guy. We don't do any of that in this film. In fact, we purposefully flipped all of those tropes on their heads and give all the females an incredibly powerful arc, uh, in the film. So So yeah, all of those were big parts of my, you know, um, directorial debut. And uh, thankfully, we I think we achieved um, uh a lot of it.

Lorenzo and Greg, how would you rate him on a scale of 1 to 10 of being a director?

Ooh. That's a good question. Well, let me let me think of all the childhood memories of David being my my brother. Um, no, David David's a 10 out of 10. I mean, Yeah. You know, Greg Greg and I have both worked on a lot of stuff with directors. And um, you know, there was a I think a special bond between a lot of us on on the set. Um, and I it was phenomenal. It was a dream come true as a brother, as a

Yeah. As a your roommate, your brother.

Yeah. Yeah, and as a producing partner. We we formed our company about five years ago, and this was our first independent film that we uh produced. So it was a uh just a great experience for all of us.

Speak for yourself, Lorenzo. Zero out of 10. No. So, you know what? I will say, yeah, it's it's a 10 or 11, just because um aside from David being uh a very, very close friend of mine, I felt really comfortable even before heading to set because one, having known David since I was, you know, 17 years old, he was always paying attention, he was always shadowing directors, he was always writing notes. Um, he's always been interested on the writing side, uh, and obviously the directing side. Um, and so I felt like he had sort of his boots on the ground in a way from a very young age. And so that made me feel very, very comfortable as an actor. Um, and David has, you know, I David's a leader at the end of the day. And I feel like some people are born to lead. And as a director, I think it's really important that you get not just your actors on on your side, but the entire crew. And we were working really late really late nights. really tough conditions at times. And, you know, when your director's smiling through the pain and, you know, keeping everybody in good spirits, it really helps and it translates on screen. So I think that's why you feel I think that's why when you watch the movie, there is a real like feel-good factor uh this movie portrays. And I think that comes from off set behind the scenes that translates into the actual uh actual, you know, actual movie.

And and getting Greg on the producing team was incredible, too, because Greg was reading early versions of the script. You were seeing it from a very, um, nascent uh stage. So you were giving input all along and and all all the help you've been throughout the whole process has been absolutely, you know, wonderful to get to work with Greg in that capacity, too, behind behind the camera.

Yeah, I think when you see something develop and get better and better and better over the years, I think that's, you know, and then you see the final product, and that's why the movie turned out the way it did, because it wasn't just like, let's write a script, let's put it out. It's like, no, David and Lorenzo and the whole production team really, really cared about this this project. Care about the arcs, like David said. Make making sure that all ages could watch the movie. It was a it was a family-friendly movie, um, but but not cheesy, you know, it was it was grounded, but also family-friendly. And so yeah, I think uh I think people are going to be excited to uh to see it.

It was kind of fun, Greg, to get to like get in the edit room, too, huh, and see like the I cuz that, you know, for me, my being an actor my whole life, getting to actually edit, that was kind of fun, and to get to see how it all comes together and also some of the notes that you gave on the edits really helped. And it's kind of exciting to get back there, right, and be like, oh, we can change it, you know, we can tweak it.

Well, you made me funnier, so that's good. When you can make yourself look funnier, it's like

It's right.

But I will say, I will say, David, how was that editing experience for you? Because I do remember, you know, obviously as a director, you're your um, you know, your your your dates have to be met, right? You have to make sure you stay on schedule. David has a role in a role in the film. I think David enjoyed it so much that that portion of the schedule was just a little bit, you know, there was still some extra for David's take. So, you know, we all had, you know, a nice healthy amount of uh of takes to choose from. David had 4,065. It's like it's like his audition takes, when I helped him get an audition, it's like a three-hour day for me. You're like, I'll adjust my day. It's no big deal. No big deal. the schedule.

All right, we're going to play a little game, okay? Let's do it. So, who's most likely on set, so you can't say your other castmates, your co-stars. Who's sorry. Say it again.

Who's most likely to on set? So there's scenarios, but you can say other people in the movie. Okay. And yourselves. Okay, so who's most likely to always be eating on set?

Oh.

Lorenzo's always eating.

Greg. Oh, no. Greg. Greg Greg Greg. Greg eats something healthy and snacks, too.

I would say Greg.

I would I honestly would say Lorenzo, to be honest. But yeah, Lorenzo.

I'm with Greg. It's Lorenzo. Lorenzo's always eating something.

Yeah. Lorenzo's got a big part. He's got to fuel up.

Yeah, exactly.

I like it. I like it. Okay, who's most likely to come to set best-dressed?

Greg.

Greg.

I like to I like to make sure the attire's appropriate, you know.

Good job, Greg.

I mean, Greg, yeah. Greg always has a way of looking put together. Even even even Yeah. By the way, your your clothing line is a is a great example of that, right?

Yes, Gridlock. Casual but premium, but, you know, I mean that's a great example of that. Yeah. Comfortable. I feel like color palette's always important, right? Like if you stick to a certain color palette and it somewhat matches, you're always going to look presentable. So that's sort of There you go. That's my piece of fashion advice.

I'm not kidding you. True story. My wife only wanted to wear one thing to the hospital to deliver our baby because it was so comfortable, and that was Gridlock. So I I can't I can't make that up. Like This boy over here has got style. So for all pregnant ladies out there going to the hospital for a while, I'll send you the link.

The maternity line. So not the goal of the brand, but it's how comfortable it is. That just speaks to the comfort. Yeah.

That's so funny. Okay, who's most likely to text the most in the group chat if you have one? Or text each other, if you don't have a group chat.

I I I'd say um I'd say probably David just in the sense of like keeping everybody's spirits up, you know, making sure that everybody's on time, politely.

I'd probably say myself. Yeah. Yeah. Definitely David. Director's role.

Uh, who's most likely to watch This Is The Year the most?

That's a good question. That's a really good question. I mean, I've seen it 8 million times. I obviously I've seen every single cut and every iteration, so I think I think my mom and Greg's mom will probably watch this the most.

Yeah. Very, very true on that one.

Supportive mom. Love that.

They'll be posting it everywhere. They're they're the ones on the comment boards, you know. They've actually like set up their own account. They're hyping the movie up. They got some burner accounts to keep the conversation going, you know, like Some Finstas.

Okay, who's most likely to want to film a sequel?

All of us?

I think all of us. Yeah. That'd be awesome.

I always want to see an offshoot of Kale. Like his go in his world and see where he is. This is him. It's his movie. He's the movie.

for a minute. Let's see where he goes and what his life is like cuz that's a fun character.

And who's most likely to win prom king or queen, you think, in real life, from the cast?

Greg.

Greg.

Come on, that's not. He's Greg.

He's trying to think. He's like, hmm. No. I mean, yeah. This guy This guy would win that hands down. All day long. Yeah. Yep.

Greg. All he has to do is talk.

Well, like, it used to think was unfair. I was like, first of all, he's that good-looking, and he has a British accent. Like, you just can't compete with him. You can't I I used to when we used to like go out and you know, hang out, I used to put on a British accent just to try to compete with the guy. And then I would be the funny one. I would be the funny British guy. And and it didn't work. Everyone thought it was fake and uh it always backfired on me. So, but but there's definitely some uh some weaknesses, you know, dancing is definitely uh, you know, if if the prom king had to dance, probably I wouldn't I wouldn't be invited to that one. I was at a bar the other day, and my buddy come uh comes up to me. He goes, and he's like, I love him. He's the like such good energy. He goes, yo, Greg. Dance floor, dance off. And I was like, No. Yeah. Is that the dance floor? Yeah. Down to the bathroom. I'll see you in two minutes. And I left. So that was that was me. Prom king that can't dance. It's fine. It still works. Still gets.

A little bit of this, that's all. That's all that's all all of us right here is just a little bit of that. Yeah.

Love it. And will you guys do a special thing, like when it actually comes out to the world, will you uh celebrate together? Will you FaceTime? Will you be together?

That's a good point. We should do something like that. You need to be our publicist. That's a great point. Um, We should get a cast. We don't have any plans. I think all of us are going to be pumping it out. Uh, Selena's going to be posting a ton for us tomorrow, so you're going to see on her social media account. She's she's getting the word out there. But yeah, I think all of us will try to get the message out and uh hopefully people check it out. We're already getting some great reviews in, so uh hopefully keep it going.

It's a great movie. The trailer looks awesome. I'm sure the world will love it. But you guys did such a good job. You look like you belong together. It's a good it's a good cast.

You're very sweet. Thank you very much. Yeah, I think uh we always feel like we do, so thank you. Uh I feel like it feels like any time we're all together, it sort of feels nostalgic and and and we feel very at home with each other. And I think that hopefully, you know, this movie goes goes according to plan. But I think we will all work together again in the future, because I think that there's an actual real deep uh respect, love, admiration for one another. So, hopefully, this uh this this train doesn't stop now.

Never now. Well, congrats on everything and your directional debut. And you guys killed it in the film. You're the best.

We really appreciate it. See you later.