The following interview was conducted before the SAG-AFTRA strike.
Hot off of critical acclaim from its premieres at Sundance and Tribeca, Shortcomings is finally making its way to theaters and boasts a brilliant ensemble cast. The film follows Ben (Justin H. Min), a young and apathetic cinephile living in Berkeley who begins to grow distant form his long-term girlfriend Miko (Ally Maki). After an unofficial breakup, Ben begins to spiral into a quarter life crisis – including his attempts to woo a young movie theater co-worker, Autumn (Tavi Gevinson). Other cast members include Sherry Cola, Debby Ryan, and Jacob Batalon.
Min, Maki, and Gevinson sat down with GVN Senior Critic Larry Fried to discuss working together on the film and collaborating with director Randall Park. You can watch the full interview above or read a transcription below.
Shortcomings is now playing in theaters nationwide, courtesy of Sony Pictures Classic.
It’s such a pleasure to get to speak with all three of you. I saw this film at the Tribeca Film Festival just a matter of days ago and it was a packed house and everyone was loving it. Justin and Ally, I know you guys were there and it must have felt electric getting to see this film with a crowd that I think had been waiting for something like this for a, for a long time. Justin and Ally, could you speak to that a little bit?
Justin H. Min: Yeah, it’s really interesting because we were actually talking about it right before we [did the Q&A]. We had an incredible reception at Sundance, but it felt like the Tribeca New York audience just really get the film. They get Ben, they get the characters because they sort of remind New York of fellow New Yorkers. I think there was a level of visceral connection that that audience had and you could feel it in the room and it was so great to be there and to share this movie with the city that we filmed it in just a year ago.
Ally Maki: Yeah, even after [the movie] there were a couple of girls who came up and they were like, “we just graduated from Berkeley and we just moved to New York like two months ago.” So I was like, “you’re the real life Miko, hopefully making better choices than she did.” It was really cool, I agree with Justin. It did feel like they were resonating on a completely different level than Sundance did and you could definitely feel that. And yes, exactly. We filmed here last summer. So, it was a really cool reunion for all of us as well.
Tavi, I want to get you in on the conversation and Ali as well. Justin’s character in this film has these unlikable moments, these opinionated moments, but Justin himself has a much more calm demeanor, I feel, in just hearing a few interviews. There seems like there’s a disparity there, but I’d love to hear from both of you about getting to act with someone who feels like they’re channeling a different energy in real life and, being on set, what that felt like.
Tavi Gevinson: It felt so counter-intuitive to be anything less than like friendly and equally generous to Justin. But in our scenes, Autumn doesn’t really have to deal with the bad side of Ben. I feel like it was a lot of being like, “I’m so sorry” in between takes. Didn’t feel good to not meet you there. [laughs]
Maki: I think this is a testament to what an amazing actor Justin is. When he has his movie theater look on, with the white shirt and the tie, he just is Ben. I think we just fall into those characters and he’s so believable, but Justin always brings the heart and the humanity to every scene. Watching him work, I learned so much from him and he’s such an incredibly giving scene partner from day one. He pulls Ben off beautifully.
Justin, I want to hear from you about working with Randall on this character. First of all, what were your conversations like about finding the truth in him? And then what was it like to be on set putting that on film?
Min: Yeah, Randall and I had so many conversations before we started filming about who Ben was, about his history. You know, obviously in the course of a movie, you’re not going to see a full person’s life. You’re seeing moments and so we wanted to fill in those gaps. We wanted to fill in how a person becomes like that, you know, and as cliche as the phrase is, I think hurt people hurt people, you know? Ben, at the end of the day, is a very wounded, insecure individual, and I think that manifests itself in being hypercritical and cynical in many ways that I myself could relate to, at times. We talked a lot about that, and when we got to set, it was such a collaboration. I mean, Randall, as I’m sure you can already imagine, is one of the kindest, most collaborative people. Every day before we started the scene, we had a full discussion about what we thought it could be like. We would play around, we would experiment. And then, again, getting to work alongside these wonderful, wonderful actresses…it’s easy. It becomes so easy.
Amazing. That’s my time. I love this film so much, you guys. I’m really excited for people to get to see this with a packed crowd in a theater, hopefully. Thank you guys so much. Have a good rest of your day.
Maki: Thank you, Larry. It means a lot.
Larry Fried is a filmmaker, writer, and podcaster based in New Jersey. He is the host and creator of the podcast “My Favorite Movie is…,” a podcast dedicated to helping filmmakers make somebody’s next favorite movie. He is also the Visual Content Manager for Special Olympics New Jersey, an organization dedicated to competition and training opportunities for athletes with intellectual disabilities across the Garden State.