Annette Kellerman: Can you talk about some of the casting choices. You have, obviously, some high profile actors in this. But then also you always- well at least in Greasy Strangler, and now in this- you also employed this cast of incredible character actors that are relatively unknown.
Hosking: Well, we wrote Luff Linn just before I made The Greasy Strangler. When we had written Luff Linn, my first thought with it was maybe we could make this like, super cheap. I just really wanted to make an uncompromising film. So we did the little casting for Luff Linn. That's where I found Micheal St. Michaels who plays The Greasy Strangler, where I found Gil Gex who plays the blind car washer in The Greasy Strangler. The first thought had been to, probably cast it like I cast the Strangler. I showed the script to a few producers on the film who got excited about it, and I think we just sorta thought, actually you know what, I think we could... this could have more established actors. Which to me was really exciting. We got some well-known actors in there, and then I just pulled a few other people in too. Like the guy who plays Barry, he had come in for the Greasy Strangler. I almost cast him as Brayden, the son. It just seemed a little too sad or something. I didn't want the film to be too sad. Well then he seemed perfect for this film. It's just really interesting, but quite nerve racking too. The first scene that I shot with Jemaine was with Sam, who plays Adjay. It was kinda nerve racking scene to shoot, because he was absolutely bricking it. Sam was shitting it?
Wike: But also Jemaine was laughing, he probably doesn't laugh a lot...
Hosking: He does laugh! He laughed more than anyone on this film.
Wike: Yeah I know but in this film, I don't know if that's his MO, he was crack...
Hosking: He was cracking up
Wike: With Sam [Dissanayake]. Who wouldn't laugh at that?
Hosking: I think that he was probably also thinking like, wow, is this going to be like this throughout the whole film?
Kellerman: I like that mix. Also, I don't know how intentional this was, but there seems to be a bit of gender swapping going on throughout the film. Just with names sometimes, or males playing traditional female characters.
Hosking: We're just trying to get into the whole, 2018 thing.
Wike: We started out five years, we were way...
Kellerman: Trailblazers! You're trailblazers! Is it just to be different or weird, or just a choice that you made and you didn't really think about it too much? Like for instance, Beverly is kind of like a traditional females name, do you know any dudes named Beverly?
Wike: Beverly is a males name in...
Kellerman: Is it? See I didn't know that.
Hosking: There's a really well-known wrestler in the UK, who's professional name is Big Daddy, but his real name is Beverly.
Kellerman: I had no idea!
Hosking: I think when we were thinking of his name we wanted to get a name that could be a man or a woman's name. There are a couple of guys in the film- one of them definitely dresses like a woman- and the other one kinda dresses like a woman.
Wike: Who is the one that kinda dresses...
Hosking: Carl Solomon.
Kellerman: I was trying to remember. Valerie, DJ Valerie?
Hosking: Yeah, Valerie and Tyrone's mom.
Kellerman: Yeah, that's the other one, I was trying to remember. Yes, Tyrone's mom.
Hosking: It's not trying to be weird. It's so easy to be weird. It's more about just, really just thinking, oh what's the thing I want to show people the most? That's all it is. It's like, what's going to be, you know, what fucking tickles me when I'm making it? That's just what we find funny.
Wike: Also just the world- creating this world of super-self important pop culture references...
Kellerman: Totally!I saw that DJ Valerie grills posters in the background.
Wike: What do people do in those worlds, and its like...
Hosking: His parents are so like, tense and serious, he doesn't comment on the fact that Tyrone's mom seems to be a man...
Wike: No. But this is the thing is, we're in a town, we're in a world where everyone's doing whatever they can to make themselves feel good and in some cases people are in between gender ideas of themselves or some cases people have names. But everyone is very... this is the world that this film exists in. Where everyone is very, very confident that their world is very important. You have people just wearing things that are just, this character is just how they come to life.
Kellerman: I like that answer, that's exactly what it is in 2018 too. Now we are just doing whatever the hell we want to do so...
Hosking: I think that that's the truth.
Kellerman: [to the publicist] One more, can I have one more? Really quick since they are kicking me out. Can you talk about Beverly's songs? Were there more songs, or any chance to see more songs, or was it just the one set that you got shot?
Hosking: That was it.
Kellerman: And who wrote the songs? Your composer?
Hosking: Old folk songs.
Kellerman: So they are legit Old Folk Songs?
Hosking: Yes.
Wike: They were recorded by musicians.
Hosking: And Matt Berry and Craig [Robinson] sing them.
Wike: And we went to a recording studio.
Hosking: That was run by an old hippie.
Wike: It was in the middle of nowhere- which is in that area as you know- and we were climbing dirt roads, and there was this quiet nice studio with this guy who was probably, been smoking all day, old hippie, and we recorded and they sang all of that stuff. And we finished recording and he turns to Matt and Barry and says, "So do you got my check?" For some reason that was one of the funniest moments because, what an interesting film we are recording out in the woods with this guy. They did a great a job because they are both really good musicians. Matt and Craig both, super good musicians. In fact Matt considered himself more of a musician I think than a...
Kellerman: And isn't Craig like a former music teacher or something like that?
Wike: He has a band that he tours with.
Hosking: Matt's like released two records.
Wike: And he has a whole proper, Spotify.
Kellerman: So they are legit. You have some excellent musicians as well as actors! All right, our time is up. Thank you so much for chatting with me about your film.
Hosking: Thank you.
Wike: Yeah, thanks.
