The story behind writer, director, and star James Morosini’s dramatic comedy I Love My Dad is so unbelievably insane and twisted that it can only be true, and it happened to the filmmaker himself.
After becoming estranged from his father, Morosini ended up being catfished by his old man, who was posing as an attractive woman on social media in an effort to try and reconnect by the most bizarre means possible. Under most circumstances, you’d think that’s a scenario you wouldn’t be willing to share with the world, but I Love My Dad is a heartwarming, hilarious, and often incredibly uncomfortable experience that’s won widespread acclaim.
It even nabbed the Jury and Audience Awards in the Narrative Feature Competition at this year’s South by Southwest Film Festival, so the highly specific tale of familial estrangement has clearly proven to be a universal story for those who sympathize with the distance that grows between children and their parents as the years go by.
Starring Morosini, Patton Oswalt, Claudia Sulewski, Rachel Dratch, Lil Rel Howery, and Amy Landecker, I Love My Dad is now available on Blu-ray, DVD and on-demand. To celebrate its arrival, We Got This Covered had the chance to speak to Morosini about his breakthrough feature. During our deep dive we cover cringe comedy, the catharsis of retelling a painful personal event as entertainment for the masses, what comes next, and much more besides, which you can check out below.
Congratulations on the movie, if they gave out awards for sheer cringe, then I Love My Dad would be sweeping the board.
Well, thank you very much.
As far as real awards go, the Jury and Audience Awards at SXSW isn’t a bad way to do it, so the film’s obviously taken off in a huge way with a lot of people.
Yeah, it’s been really exciting to see audiences kind of getting down with its weirdness. It was definitely my intent.
I could feel myself physically cringing and getting seriously uncomfortable throughout, but I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen. Presumably, that was exactly the sort of reaction you were aiming for?
It was, yeah! It’s funny, cringe is… I think it comes about when we are invested in an outcome. And then everything is happening to kind of subvert that outcome. And I think it especially happens when we’re, in my own life, it happens when I feel like I’ve tried to be something, and then everyone is realizing that I’m not that thing.
Like when I look at old Facebook photos of myself, I get physically very uncomfortable, because I see all the ways that I was maybe trying to get people to like me, and I think every character in this film is doing that in one way or another. But we’re also very invested in them. And so, you know, it’s engaging, and you have to kind of laugh to to ease the discomfort.
Did you peek in at any screenings to see how audiences were reacting to the film, because it would be quite a sight to see a theater full of people acting the way I was when I was watching it on my own.
It’s been really satisfying to experience this movie in theaters. And I mean, there are certain moments in the film that reliably get a pretty loud reaction. And, I think that’s the fun of seeing movies in the theaters – that you’re able to – it’s a communal experience, and you’re able to collectively have reactions with one another, and share an emotional experience with a bunch of people. And it’s been so satisfying to have that experience. It’s been pretty remarkable.
Catfishing is obviously a very serious thing that’s affected a lot of people, was it difficult to strike the right balance between the drama and comedy during writing and production so as not to veer off too far in either direction, especially given the inspirations? Because it could have quite easily become something dark and bleak without changing much about the story at all.
Yeah, man, I mean, I’m a big believer that laughing at things that have happened to us, even the darkest things that have happened to us, is a way for us to kind of create some daylight between yourself and that experience. And it allows you to kind of put it in a new context, and it allows you to kind of have some triumph over whatever that experience may be.
And so I definitely wanted to make a film that felt like family sometimes makes us feel. Which is, family makes us laugh, they frustrate us. They see us almost too much. And it was important to me that it was both very sincere, but also very sarcastic in a way.
And I wanted to make sure that I was handling issues like mental health in a delicate way and familial dishonesty or whatever, but I felt like we’ve all been through a version of these things. And so I felt like I had a good grasp on what these things were to me.
A comedy doesn’t immediately come across as the ideal method of processing something so raw and vulnerable as entertainment people are encouraged to see and enjoy as a communal experience, so was it a cathartic “ripping off the band-aid” experience when you first sat down and started writing the script?
I think the things that really connect us are usually the things that we hide. And those feelings of “nobody will ever understand this” when we share those things with one another. Because we’ve all kept those things so hidden. It’s such a relief, when I hear someone share something like that to me.
And we realized that we’re all, underneath the ways that we present ourselves, a lot more similar and connected in these experiences than we realized. And so, I wanted to have as much skin in the game in the telling of the story. Kind of from that perspective of, “the more I can open my heart in this story, the more people will be able to find a point of connection within it”.
The dangers of social media misinformation and impersonating others online are of course all over the headlines as we speak, so it’s already become a timely film in that it deals with what’s suddenly become a global problem, except I Love My Dad addresses it on a uniquely smaller scale.
Yeah, I mean, I guess I feel like I can only make movies about things that I have a strong perspective on, or that I have some sort of emotional point of view on. And so I don’t really have much to say about what’s happening with social misinformation at a global level.
But I do have something, I think, to say about my own experience around it, and more importantly, what that means in the context of my relationship with people that I’ve had conflict with in my life, and the difficulties around trying to bridge a gap between myself and someone that I feel like I have difficulty communicating with. And this was really, I think, it just provided a really helpful context to explore those those feelings and ideas.
Was it always your intention to play the lead role, as well as write and direct? That’s a big burden to shoulder in more ways than one, given how invested you are on every level from the first page of the script right up until release.
I had always wanted to. I didn’t know if I would find support in in doing it. But I was lucky to have some really great partners on this film, and people that saw the excitement around that in the same way that I did.
I just kind of imagined myself going to see a movie that was inspired by something that happened to the writer/director, and I thought how exciting it would be to also watch the person whose story it is re-experience a version of that I’d never seen that before. And so I was just, I was very excited, but by being able to do that, and it gave me kind of this mischievous delight in being able to explore the story in that way.
Patton is obviously well-known for his comedic work and he’s a beloved figure, and while he’s as funny as you’d expect in the film, there’s something that feels so intangibly disconcerting about seeing him play a character that’s done something so unspeakably malicious.
Yeah, Patton is one of the funniest people I’ve ever met. And, he is somebody with tremendous heart, and he was able to bring that to this role. That’s one of the reasons I wanted him to play this role, is because I knew that he’d be able to balance the tone of this film in the way that it needed to be.
The inspiration behind the film tends to generate shock and awe when people discover it’s inspired by real events, but Chuck is never explicitly painted as the villain by Franklin, even if he is by other people. Was that important to you to always maintain that degree of sympathy, because family estrangement is something everybody can recognize and empathize with on some level?
I wanted to tell a story from the perspective of… I started writing this movie, really to try to understand my dad’s experience in my relationship with him. Again, I was doing it through this very particular context, but I was looking at my relationship with him more globally, and looking at why we’ve had conflict here and there, what struggles he’s had in this relationship.
And I’m also drawn to movies where somebody is working with a limited social toolkit, and is doing the best they can. But everything they do, just digs them further and further in. And I think we’ve all been there in one way or another where we make mistakes. And instead of admitting our fault, we double down.
And it just gets us into more and more trouble. And I really wanted to root the audience’s perspective in in that kind of a moment in someone’s life. I’m drawn to those kinds of stories. And so I wanted to have that be what this film was.
Claudia does a great job in her first major film role, She’s excellent at playing both the real, fictional, and Chuck’s versions of Becca to make a clear distinction between the two while still establishing them as the same person.
I mean, I can’t say enough good things about Claudia Sulewski. She’s a tremendous actor, but she’s also just one of the kindest and most generous people I know. And she and I worked very closely in kind of crafting that journey throughout the film, where she is playing you know, Franklin’s projection of this perfect person, but then is also playing this real person that works in a diner, and we wanted to really make a distinction between those two roles.
And she’s also playing my characters dad, in a way. So kind of figuring out who she is at what moment, I think, was really fun for both of us. And so I’m glad I’m glad that resonated with you.
Was there a lot of rehearsal involved to ensure Claudia’s real Becca matched up with Franklin and Chuck’s visions of who she was? Because it’s creepily shot-for-shot accurate.
I storyboarded the entire film before I began shooting it. And I also did a lot of rehearsals with my actors, which I found important because I was going to be acting in the film. So I needed it to be… I really needed to have a clear vision for what this was before I jumped in, because I was going to be moving back and forth from acting in the movie and then also directing everyone, and managing a crew. And so, I really needed to know exactly the movie I was trying to make before I before I embarked upon trying to make it.
Based on Threesoming, I Love My Dad, and even shorts like Blush, your work as a filmmaker tends to relish in heartwarming discomfort, as oxymoronic as that sounds. It takes the uncomfortable, and makes it into something completely different. So those are clearly the stories that you relate to and resonate with that you want to tell so other people can experience them.
Yeah, I really appreciate you recognizing that. It’s a feeling I have very strongly. This deep desire to connect with other people, and sometimes not knowing how, and sometimes feeling limited in my ability to do that, and going about it in the wrong way. A lot of the stories, a lot of the films I’ve made, involve an element of that, where in an effort to get closer to someone else, we ended up just pushing ourselves further away.
Or, in an effort to get closer to someone else, we pretend to be someone we’re not. And that inevitably always gets us into trouble. But that’s a feeling I have in many of my days, this kind of like heartwarming discomfort, as you put it. I think that’s pretty accurate.
It must be encouraging for you as a filmmaker that something so personal that you’ve invested so much into on every level has found huge support, which bodes well for the next stage of your career in terms of continuing to tell your own unfiltered stories on a bigger canvas.
Yeah, you know this movie was so personal. And I’ve thought about it so much since I’ve made it, and I really see my job – whether it be doing all three of these jobs at once, or working on someone else’s project as a writer, director as an actor – as bringing as much of my personal feeling to it as possible.
I’m acting in a film right now. And I feel like it’s as personal to me as this movie was, where I’m saying just as much about my experience and my feeling through the context of this movie I’m acting in now, as I was in a movie that was generated from my own literal experience.
Has the reception to the film emboldened you to continue carving out your own path on both sides of the camera? You’ve been working solidly as an actor in various projects for the last decade, but now you’ve shown the world you can bring your own brand of creativity to a difficult topic and turn it into a critically acclaimed, award-winning movie that’s completely yours.
Thank you for saying that. I’ve always wanted to be a filmmaker. And I see my desire to be a filmmaker, to be pretty all encompassing. And it doesn’t necessarily matter to me, whether I’m writing, directing, acting, doing all of them, I see them all kind of as the same thing.
And acting with an emotional truth, and then trying to express it as fully as I possibly can, while also entertaining an audience. And I intend to continue doing that. And this movie has certainly encouraged me to go further and further into that, and to see how much further I can take it. I’m excited. I’m excited to keep doing it.
How did you go about pitching the film in an effort to get it made? Because a brief logline or synopsis would no doubt raise an eyebrow or two.
I think the mischievousness of this setup was part of its appeal to me. Not always to the people that I brought it to! Many people said that it was very execution-dependent. I think there’s a version of the film… The movie working hinges upon us really understanding that Chuck is doing what he’s doing because he loves his son, and he cares about his son, and he wants to make sure his son is okay.
I think that’s such a tightrope to walk, to always keep that front and center throughout the story. And I think there were many people that were gun-shy in telling such a delicate story. But I was lucky to find this great group of people that saw what I saw in it, and were willing to dive in with as much enthusiasm as I had for the for the story, and really make it their own in their own way, which is, I really think every filmmaker’s dream.
It’s not exactly the sort of script that you can have, hypothetically, somebody say “Oh, we’ll make this, but somebody else has to direct it, somebody else has to star”, because it’s just not that story.
I was insistent upon having as much creative freedom on this particular project as possible. I had partners that really trusted me, in the making of this film, I had final cut on this film, which is unusual for someone’s first bigger movie. And with that came a lot of responsibility, I wanted to really make sure that this thing worked. And I, while I was making it, I put every single minute of every single day into trying to tell the story is as comprehensively as I possibly could.
What comes next? Are there any projects you’re working on that you can talk about, or are you sworn to certain degrees of secrecy?
I’m sworn to certain degrees of certain secrecy, I can say, though, that there will be I will be having stuff come out in the next year or two. And that I’m excited, I’m very excited about some of these projects I’m working on now. And I have some pretty incredible opportunities coming my way that are giving me a bigger and bigger platform, and more and more resources and support to tell the kinds of stories that I want to tell. And for that I’m just very, very grateful.
Are you planning to narrow your focus in a way so to speak, to focus more on your own projects that you’re creating from the ground up. Or, obviously as an actor, you’re still going to jump at opportunities that come to you if the script and the story speaks to you.
It’s so case by case, man. I mean, I’m such a fan of movies. And so the opportunity to collaborate with directors I’m a fan of, or writers whose work I love, or other actors, it’s tough for me to pass up. Because I just, making movies is my favorite thing in the world. And it just makes me it just brings me so much joy.
And so, you know, I’m always working on my own projects. That’s really what I see as my life’s work, is showing up to that every single day. But at the same time, I’m acting in a movie right now in Portland, Oregon, and I’m working just with the best cast and an incredible director and I’m having the best time. And I learn from doing other people’s projects, too. And it just helps me get better and better at what I’m trying to do.
So the best of both worlds, then?
That’s the idea, I guess. But, first and foremost, I feel a strong commitment to making sure that I’m putting the stories that I want to tell first, and then I’m doing everything I can to bring them to audiences.
If you could make any project of your choosing without restrictions, as in somebody calls you up tomorrow and says “whatever you want, you start right away”, what would it be and why?
Oh, gosh. I mean, it would be like, I have this like, huge, crazy movie about a Neanderthal that falls in love with a human. Like, it almost feels like Quest for Fire. But with this, like Romeo and Juliet tilt, and it takes place like on the savanna, and it’s this crazy love story.
Between these basically two tribes that are caveman-esque. But I would want to do that at a very, very large scale with it would have a similar tone… I think total sincerity with tone. But also I think, it would be funny, but not in a super overt way. I generally don’t talk about projects that I’m working on, but I haven’t had anyone ask me that question before.
And this one, the movie I’m talking about right now, probably won’t… I probably won’t make it for the next five to 10 years, but I intend to at some point in my life.
It’s a “no restrictions” question, so technically you could have $200 million to play with.
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
I look forward to seeing when the Neanderthal epic gets the green light and I can tell everyone I heard about it first.
Deal!
I Love My Dad is now available to rent or buy on Blu-ray, DVD, and on-demand.