Everyone found their own ways to keep busy during the toughest days of COVID. Judd Apatow got together some friends and made a movie about it. The Bubble, coming to Netflix Friday, features an ensemble cast, including Karen Gillan, Fred Armisen, Maria Bakalova, David Duchovny, Keegan-Michael Key, Leslie Mann, Kate McKinnon, Pedro Pascal, Peter Serafinowicz, and Guz Khan, playing the cast and crew filming the newest installment in the Cliff Beasts action film franchise during lockdown in England.
Between the odd personalities literally trapped together in quarantine and the rigors of making a CGI-heavy action movie, the potential for comedy was enough to get folks like Armisen excited. The SNL alum and always-working comedian and musician plays Darren Eigan, the film’s relatively inexperienced director, who got the job of directing Cliff Beasts 6 after his first indie feature won at Sundance.
Consequence spoke with Armisen via Zoom two weeks ago, with him beaming in from London, where Documentary Now! Season 4 is currently in production. In this one-on-one interview, which you can watch above or read below, transcribed and edited for clarity, Armisen explains why he didn’t want to ask for the part he really wanted and what it was like tackling the most meta aspects of playing a director on a film set.
He did not say whether or not there’s any truth to the rumors that The Bubble was directly inspired by the production of Jurassic World Dominion. But as you’ll see, he has a very good reason.
To start off, how did you initially get involved with this?
Judd just asked me. I know it sounds really name-droppy just to say Judd just asked me, but he did. I see him in LA and we’re sort of in the same circles of comedians and he told me this idea, and as soon as he pitched it, even though I would do anything for him, I would be in whatever he wrote, but he pitched it and oh, I thought it was so brilliant.
So I was like, oh, that sounds great. And then he didn’t tell me what role — he’s like, I don’t know what you could be in it. Maybe you could do something fun. He went through all the roles and he said, the director, you know, like there’s a role for a director. I didn’t say anything, but in my head I was like, oh man, I hope he picks me for that.
And then he did, and then all the news just got better and better — you know, we’re shooting in England. I love England so much. Everything he said, I was like, absolutely. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
That’s wonderful. I’m glad that I’m glad that he somehow sensed your psychic energy about what role you really wanted.
I’m so glad too, because I didn’t wanna push it. Because when you push stuff, it’s kind of like, who wants that? You know, like, “Hey, let me be that guy.” I remember really holding my tongue and just being like, Hey, great, whatever works, whatever you need me for. I’ll be there.
As you mentioned, the character’s backstory does bear some resemblance to Colin Trevorrow. Were you thinking much about that as an inspiration point?
Mm, no. I tried to like keep it a little blank because then if I’m like, I don’t know if I’m being too much of like one person who really exists, then I’m kind of doing…. I don’t know. It’s almost like I start doing like an impression, and I wanted it to be a mix of different people, and then just like my version of what I think a director would be.
It’s such a fun performance for you too, just because I feel like, like most comedy fans, I’m always expecting you to show up in a role where it’s like a small, smaller goofier part. And this was much more central and you have a really clear focus. So it was really exciting to see you get to play something like that.
Well, thanks. I feel like I’m at my best when I do like little appearances, and this felt like a bunch of little appearances cause the cast is so big. So it was a good mix of central, but also it’s just little bursts of what I like to do. It’s really weird — over the years I’ve just sort of figured out that I just feel better when it’s just three scenes or something. I’m always like, “I’m good.”
What is it about that for you?
I don’t know, like some sort of chemistry or something where that’s where I’m most comfortable, and I don’t know what it is. Maybe it’s like the way I talk or something. But for some reason that’s what sits. That’s what I like best.
Well, I mean, you do have a little experience with sketch — you’ve put a little time into that area. So that could just be a natural extension of that?
Definitely. Because with sketches, you know, with so many other people in the sketch — the sketch is bigger than just the performer, like it’s the premise and stuff. So some something in there. But yeah, I don’t know. That’s just how I like to do it. Sometimes will think back to people I admire, you know, I’ll think like, “Well, I like how Jane Lynch is in stuff. I like her appearance in things.” And then also like Michael Palin, I like when he appears in stuff. Somewhere in there, I feel like, is a good zone.
Talk to me about what it was like coming together for this — I guess the question is, really, how meta did this all end up feeling?
Incredibly, because this is 2021 pre-vaccinations. I think people in England were getting them, but I didn’t, I wasn’t vaccinated yet. So it was still scary. And then we had all these rules in place for this movie about having rules. Every day, everyone was masked in a very intense way. And there was a lot of protocol without the safety zone of, “Well, I’m vaxxed.” There was none of it. It was very, “I hope this works out.” So every day was exactly like the movie.
And the other thing also was it’s a comedy and it’s about these CGI dinosaurs at the same time. It had to be explained to me over and over that, okay, this is where the CGI dinosaur is coming down to eat somebody. So it’s a joke. But then on top of that, I still had to picture, you know, whatever creature was flying down or whatever. So yeah, every day was pretty meta.
All the joys of making a Jurassic Park movie without actually making a Jurassic Park movie.
Yes. It was so many different layers, you know? And then I had to remember also, it’s weird to have a director on set and then I play the director. We would laugh about it, but it was really weird to hear action, and then my scene would start with me saying action — which you’d think I’d be prepared for it. You would think that this is easy. But it actually is… I’ve heard action so much in my life that to hear it actually does put me in a different place. So to hear it, I don’t wanna be saying action, you know?
Did you find yourself like mimicking or echoing Judd at any point?
Yes. Just because. I tried to interview him, you know, and ask him real questions. I wonder if he thought I was doing a bit, but I kind of was really asking him, like, “What do you do? What do you do with actors when an actor doesn’t wanna do something? Like if an actor’s kind of like… How do you manage that?” And I don’t think he realized I was really asking him what he really does, but yeah, I did.
Except, you know, he’s really laid back. He’s very, very casual with scenes. He doesn’t think in terms of, I’m looking for this one thing and we gotta get it. There’s a lot of “Um I think we got it. That’s the, the gist of what the, this joke is. So I think we’re good.” He’s very laid back and I tried to not be as laid back.
Yeah, laid back doesn’t necessarily fit with the vibe that the character is meant to embody.
No, no. He pretends to be cool, but he is uptight.
The Bubble (Netflix)
