Will Arnett And Laura Dern Discuss Their ‘Is This Thing On?’ Chemistry

Will Arnett and Laura Dern in “Is This Thing On?”

Searchlight Pictures

Each of these gifted artists have already built celebrated, individual acting careers for themselves over the years, but together in their new Is This Thing On? Searchlight Pictures film, Laura Dern and Will Arnett combine their creative forces to bring a truly memorable story to the big screen about love, marriage and finding one’s purpose later in life in the most unlikely of places.

In Is This Thing On?, which premieres December 19 in theaters, Arnett plays Alex, a longtime husband and dad to two young boys, who finds his connection with his wife Tess (played by Dern) seemingly at its end. By chance during his grief, Alex comes across an open mic night for standup comedy. What starts as him just venting on-stage about his life’s recent downfalls, ultimately becomes an exciting, new passion for him, which helps improve the many relationships around him.

Dern’s character Tess also has her fair share of personal struggles and frustrations, from the dwindling communication of her husband to her uncertainty on what to do next in her career, following her major sports fame in years past. Together, these two Hollywood stars deliver outstanding performances that will leave you smiling from ear-to-ear as you exit the theater this holiday season.

Sitting down with this on-screen duo, I wondered how Arnett and Dern were able to connect in such a deep and comfortable way as actors, during both the verbal fight scenes and the romantic moments throughout this charming dramedy.

Arnett started by joking, “Laura and I have been married for seven and a half, almost eight years, that a lot of people don’t know.”

Dern playfully interjected, “That helped a lot!”

Arnett continued, “Yeah, that had to have helped. I think that we genuinely like each other. Even in talking about this in the script form was a story that we both kind of understood a lot of the elements of it. We’re both parents who love our kids deeply and are a really important part of our lives, and who have had a lot of experience in this life. I think that we are open to and interested in exploring that kind of stuff, and that’s where we kind of meet.”

With Arnett also being one of the writers behind the Is This Thing On? story and the screenplay, alongside the film’s director Bradley Cooper, I was curious what it was like working with Hollywood leading man Cooper, as the main guide on this production and a scene partner within a few acting scenes.

“Oh, amazing,” Dern said of Cooper. “And adding to the list, our primary camera operator for a majority of the movie. So, he was with us at every moment. He’s in the fabric and the cells of the movie, the story – but also capturing this connection and our instincts and our chemistry, because he was right there to grab it. The camera wasn’t at a distance. He knew just how to capture things that might have been missed otherwise, and in real time. Through the scene, through the take – he would be there with us exploring ideas.”

Arnett added of Cooper’s directing approach: “He didn’t need to yell cut or have something told through two other people to get to us. He’s right there – and as it’s happening, if he had an idea, he could speak it to us in the moment. So, it lends again to more of that immediacy.”

While concluding my discussion with Dern and Arnett, I asked them my signature and original interview question, wondering what they would say to their Is This Thing On? characters Tess and Alex, after understanding and embodying the highs and lows that they endure throughout this new film.

“Speak up,” Arnett said with Alex in mind.

Dern quickly continued with, “Because you’re madly in love with each other.”