Peter Billingsley Couples Retreat Interview

MoviesOnline sat down with longtime producer Peter Billingsley to talk about his new film, “Couples Retreat,” which marks his directorial debut and is written by Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn & Dana Fox.

Vince Vaughn, Jason Bateman, Jon Favreau, Malin Ackerman, Kristin Davis, Kristen Bell, Faizon Love and Kali Hawk star in the comedy. Based on an original idea of Vaughn's, “Couples Retreat” follows four Midwestern couples who embark on a trip of a lifetime to a luxurious tropical island resort. While one of the couples is there to work on their marriage, the other three set out to jet ski, spa and enjoy some fun in the sun.

However, they soon discover that participation in the resort’s couples therapy is anything but optional and that their group-rate vacation comes at a price -- all of the couples must partake in the unorthodox counseling techniques of Eden Resort’s renowned “Couples Whisperer” – Monsieur Marcel (Jean Reno). It’s all or none. And if it’s none, they will all be sent home. What follows is a hilarious and heartfelt look at real-world problems faced by all couples.

Vince Vaughn’s search for a director began and ended with Peter Billingsley, who had an accomplished body of work as a producer, including production partnerships with Vaughn on “Made,” “The Break-Up” and “Four Christmases,” and with Favreau on “Made,” “Zathura,” “Iron Man” and the television project “Dinner for Five.” His desire to direct, however, began as a young actor when he was cast to play the BB gun-loving Ralphie in the holiday classic “A Christmas Story.”

“When we were shooting ‘A Christmas Story,’ I spent a lot of time on set with director Bob Clark,” says Billingsley. “Over the years, I have been curious about his process, and he gave me the best piece of advice when I told him I wanted to be a filmmaker. He said ‘Get in the edit room, because that’s where you’ll learn how to make a movie.’ So I started spending as much time in postproduction as I could. I felt if directing was something that was meant to be, the right project would materialize.”

As a partner for the past several years in Vaughn’s Wild West Picture Show Productions, Billingsley had a relationship with Vaughn that made the choice a simple one. “Vince and I have a great shorthand, which comes from being collaborators and friends for such a long time,” notes the filmmaker. “Couples Retreat is our fourth movie together. Our earlier projects helped me prepare to direct this film. I understand how Vince likes to develop story and characters, and we both knew what we wanted to achieve with this film.”

Peter Billingsley is a fabulous guy and we really appreciated his time. Here’s more of what he had to tell us about his new film:

Q: Can you talk about your feature debut and what that experience was like?

PB: Yeah, it was a terrific experience for me. I’ve really been fortunate to have collaborated with Vince for a long time and with John as well. I’ve known Vince as a friend for about 20 years. We met as actors on an After School special when he was first starting and I was sort of finishing up my acting career. Then, the first thing we did together was a movie called “Made,” which was Jon Favreau’s first directing and we’ve done a lot of movies since and have had a nice partnership and have had a great collaboration creatively and have worked really on all the pictures we’ve done together from script through post. So, the transition for me was a lot easier than I think maybe for most making that leap because I was never the guy that did five movies a year. As a producer, I would really work for a long time on each film. And so, I was very fortunate as a first timer to really inherit that type of a partnership and have – you know, there’s really no one smarter and funnier that I’ve ever met than Vince.

Q: There’ve been a few movies since Guitar Hero came out to use that as a device of some sort. This is the first and only one I know where it looked like they’re actually playing the game so you or someone must have understood the game and captured that?

PB: Yeah. We’re all big fans of Guitar Hero and we play and we’ve created bands and a rock band. We’ve role played and played out of our minds when we’re on the road and we got the jet, so there’s an appreciation for the game, I think, and it was fun. There is a scene in the movie where we play it and they play it in a pretty big format in the movie and so we made sure that they actually had playback and were literally playing to that song. We gave it to the actors and let them rehearse. Vince is a big fan of it. He’s actually a pretty good guitar player. I’m more of a bassist myself.

Q: You can always tell when they’re just mimicking something that’s not what’s on screen.

PB: No. This was the song, you know. It’s like when you plan and I think a lot of how we work is a lot of preparation so that on the day you can just kind of release and have fun. And, we work really hard on developing and thinking about it and planning and preparing and having everything there. As a first timer, for me, a lot of people say “Well what’s it like to direct your friends in something?” You prepare, you understand it. The best thing I can do is step back and just... We set up a lot of multiple cameras, let them improve, let them have fun and kind of step back and let them do what they do best. The thing I had to learn in the first couple days was not to yell “Cut” too soon, because just because the last scripted line has been spoken doesn’t mean that the actors are done, and especially in the case of Vince. You could see the wheels turning a little bit and he’d either go back to the beginning or start something new.

Q: The kids are great in this, especially the younger little boy. I wondered if your own past as a child actor really made it easy dealing with these kids or not?

PB: I think so. It certainly helps being a child actor. I felt a little pressure to make sure that they were good, (laughs) because if I can’t direct good young kids, then really I shouldn’t be doing this. But we got very, very lucky in Colin (Baiocchi) and Gattlin (Griffith) and they’re just adorable. And, it was fun for me. I definitely had some flashbacks to growing up on sets and remembering what the experience and the perspective was like for them.

Q: Do you ever have a need to do a cameo in some of the movies that you directed and/or produced? Or are you done with that?

PB: No. I mean, I did and probably you don’t recognize [me] in a lot of them. I did a cameo in “Iron Man.” I had a couple scenes but I shaved my head sort of bald and had glasses and a mustache. I was the scientist in that movie. When Jeff Bridges gets really angry and says, “Tony Stark built that in a cave with a box of scraps.” And I’m like, “I’m not Tony Stark.” So, that was me. I was the scientist in that. So, it’s fun to do that stuff and, for me, it’s fun to sort of be a little hidden with it. And then, I played Joey Loren Adams’ husband in “The Break-Up,” the sort of castrated guy who she’s always picking on (laughs) who votes Vince off the bowling team. It’s fun to do that stuff. Acting, for me, especially growing up as a child, was a really positive experience and I think for some it wasn’t. But, I had a great family and a lot of perspective behind it and was fortunate to work with great people. I don’t look back on it with any resentment. It was really fun and I enjoyed it. But it was a part of my life so it’s fun now to continue to act and to do parts, particularly with friends in the projects that we’re doing, but I don’t necessarily pursue it outside of anything that I’m either producing or making.

Q: Do you start with the couples and the drama of what’s going to be bothering them and how they’re going to get back together or do you start with the premises and find out where can we put moments of heart in this thing?

PB: The film is an original concept and idea of Vince’s and you start with that concept and that concept was – you know, there’s been I think some fun movies like even “Wild Hogs” or “City Slickers” which were movies where you had a group of friends go off on a journey and rediscover a part of themselves through that process – whether it be through going to a dude ranch or through riding motorcycles. And I remember when “Wild Hogs” came out, a lot of people in Hollywood said, “Oh, that thing’s not going to do well.” And I talked to Vince and said, “That thing’s gonna kill.” And it even traveled overseas and made a ton of money and there was a wish fulfillment aspect and he said, “You know, I’ve never seen it done for couples.” I said, “My God, you’re right. It really hasn’t ever been.” And, it started with that notion of a wish fulfillment journey for couples and he really mapped it out in his mind very quickly. He’s always been very gifted with story. “Break-Up” was his original concept as well. And even back when I knew him and he was 19 or 20, he had tons of ideas for stories and still does and for films and sort of mapped out that concept. And then, for us, it’s always story though. It’s not -- somebody might work with set pieces – you get seven set pieces and string story. We’re the opposite – you have a story and then you think what’s the funniest way of expressing that. So, he had really the archetypical couples in his mind and really the casting of the guys who we’ve all been friends with and known for a long time. And so, it’s really written for the four boys.

Q: Are there set boundaries that you guys have in your business/personal relationships because it seems like everyone has such a defined role but do they overlap in a sense? Do you have this Feng Shui type thing where you know where you work the best in this area or is it always collaborative?

PB: It’s always pretty collaborative. I think everybody brings different sets of strengths, but the one thing we share is a sensibility and that’s important. I think we complement each other by bringing small elements, but you can’t really collaborate if someone thinks that’s funny and someone thinks that’s funny. And inherently, I think, situational and slice-of-life stuff to us is more funny than broad and extreme comedy, and others find that to be more funny. For us, it’s if you have very relatable people and relatable situations and then you can have fun with the comedy. I think good comedy is the overcommitment to the absurd, so the scenario is absurd, but if you turn down the volume on a good comedy, it should look like a drama. That actor is very committed to trying to be whatever he is, but what’s funny is that the concept of what he’s doing is funny. And so, taking off clothes and standing naked in front of someone and being forced to tell them the truth, is funny. But, to Vince and the others, there’s real shock and panic. “Is this what our trip’s going to be now? We want to go jet skiing.” So, it’s very real to them. It’s very grounded. I think there’s a sensibility that we share and yeah, look, you’re blessed to work with friends and we’re able to keep the friendship separate from the work. There’s a lot of intensity at work and you can have good healthy arguments and debates about how something should be done and then you can let that go and then continue your friendship. And, there’s rare people I think in life that can do that and I’m fortunate to have that.

Q: Were there ever any points where you were like, “One more take would be nice but it’s good enough and we’re here in Bora Bora and we could go hang out”?

PB: (Laughs) No! Well Del (??), let’s call (??)  I’d love to take a swim and a snorkel. No, we’re a pretty intense group. We leave nothing on the table. And generally, our days in Bora Bora were dictated by the setting sun. You know, there’s a huge mountain there and once that sun goes behind, if you’re an extra, it’s kind of a wrap. We did a little stuff -- maybe you could light a little bit but once that daylight’s down… So, everyone had to be pretty prepared. That was the one thing I didn’t realize going in. All the movies I’ve worked on there’s sort of a protagonist and antagonist and some supporting players, but there’s like four protagonists in this movie times two. So you have eight people and just from a logistical standpoint to cover in a scene, just to get coverage of and limited daylight and then you add Jean Reno and Peter Serafinowicz and these other people in. So anyone needs a close-up and you need some masters and mediums, so we would move at a clip and move quickly. And, the actors really needed to know their stuff and did.

Q: What was the biggest challenge for you as the director then? Was it the scenes or setting it up or the location?

PB: All of the above, I guess. I guess in a sense. As I said, I’ve worked on an intimate level but it’s definitely different when you sit in the chair because you’re sort of the co-pilot for awhile and then the captain goes to bed and says, “Take the wheel.” You just feel that pressure for the moment. But I liked it. It was fun. And, I couldn’t have gone into a better situation for my first time because I have such a strong partner with Vince who understands the story so well and is supportive. And on the crew side, there’s Eric Edwards who shot the movie, shot “The Break-Up.” I worked with him. Our production designer, Shepherd Frankel, had done “Four Christmases.” I had worked with everyone before so that made a big difference. It was great that, as a first timer, everybody came out for me. I can’t tell you what a difference that makes when you have a shorthand with people and you’re not doing that learning curve as the clock’s ticking. That’s a scary thing you really become aware of – kind of the day running out and the time and the clock and the sun. (Laughs)

Q: Is there lots of extra stuff for the DVD?

PB: There’s a ton of extra stuff. It’s fun. This group likes to improv, which is fun, so we set up multiple cameras and then we do what’s scripted always, because there’s a lot of work put into the script and the construction of the story, and then we do some free takes. So there’s a lot of additional elements of scenes. There’s some additional scenes and outtakes. You can’t work with this group and not have some pretty funny stuff.

Q: Can you talk a little bit about the support cast? There are some funny moments with the unorthodox counseling sessions and Jean Reno and Ken Jeong.

PB: Yeah. We’ve got a pretty amazing supporting cast in the movie. Jean Reno, who plays Marcel, is terrific. You needed someone like Marcel. He’s sort of a mystic. You don’t know. Is he good? Is he evil? Is he right? Is he wrong? And you needed someone to really ground that and to believe in the program and to take it seriously because if the audience doesn’t take it seriously, then I think you don’t take the ride and at least it means something to him. And, with The Professional and his screen history, he’s kind of a commanding presence. He’s a funny guy. We talked and I said, “Just play it real even though it’s absurd and you’re standing in a red Speedo.” The more real you play it, the funnier it is because the situations are extreme.

Peter Serafinowicz I was not familiar with. I watched some of his tapes and again he was just an unbelievably talented, funny improvisationalist. He plays characters, scenes. It’s just hysterically funny. So he came in to play the part of Stanley. Carlos Ponce I had never met and saw him. He came in and read and just blew us away. As soon as I heard the voice, I looked up at the television and said, “That’s Salvadore.” And the therapist, John Michael Higgins, we’ve worked with a lot and he did “Fred Claus” and “The Break-Up” with Vince. There’s a lot of fun extra therapy on the DVD because you can’t get those guys in a room and not have extra stuff. It’s such a perfect improvisational arena because you really have a person in a position of strength and two other people kind of in a position of weakness. So, you have inherent conflict in the scene and you have really talented actors.

Q: Was there any issue going back and forth with the rating being R vs. PG-13?

PB: Yeah. We had submitted to the MPAA and there were some discussions and then we wound up at a PG-13 but we’re very happy. And that’s really the spirit of the movie that we set out to make. It’s very much in the spirit of the movie. If you’re going to do “R,” you do a heightened situational “R.” Don’t just do it for language. You know, like “The Hangover.” We’re gonna have a bunch of guys lose their friend in Vegas, let’s go “R” and go extreme. And even “Crashers” was smart. You know, if you’re going to be crashing weddings, you are expecting that there would be certain things you would see and feel. For this movie, you didn’t have to. These are real families, real people coming out of – you know, they have kids, so we pushed the humor as far as we wanted to but wanted it to be accessible and relatable and stuff that’s in the spirit of the movie. I think it’s very relatable humor, it’s families, it’s life. It’s not a vanilla movie by any means but… Those decisions are made early and I think you can run into trouble if you’re like, “Oh well, we’ll see how it turns out.” You need to understand the tone that you are going for. And again, if you want to make “R,” there’s plenty of “R” movies to make and I’m sure we will, but then you go there and you go hard and you have fun with it.

Q: Why this film for your feature debut? You’ve been working with these guys for a while and you’ve been producing. Why did you pick this one or why did they pick you to direct this as your first film?

PB: Well we had developed this and really liked the idea of the story and really connected to it and we didn’t have a director on board and Vince, one day, was in the office and said, “I think you should direct this movie.” And, as the producer and as the guy who came with the concept, I said, “Well, yeah” and we talked. I said, “I think this is something that I can do.” And so, it really started there and our partnership on this really forged in that moment and I was blessed to have him ask me to be a part of this. I felt ready to do it and we had worked on a good level doing a lot of these movies in the past. And the transition, as I said, was as smooth as it could be given the situation, but it’s definitely always a leap. But one that I love and it’s really been a terrific experience for me.

Q: Have you lined something up to direct next?

PB: Not specifically. I have a company with Vince and Victoria, his sister, who’s a producer on this movie, and we’re at Universal and we have a lot of stuff in development so we’re kind of finishing and refining some of that stuff and we’ll start something early next year. But we’ll continue to produce stuff and I think as a director. I never wanted to do it just as a label, I guess. So it wasn’t a pursuit to say “Oh I need to do this.” There wasn’t anything from an ego standpoint of “I have to have this credit in my life” and it just felt like it organically made sense. It was sort of the right project at the right time with the right people that came up and I felt ready to do it. So, I think I will direct again but it will be material based.

Q: Are you excited about “Iron Man”?

PB: Very much. I was, as that, it’s funny because you see how the journey’s going on these based on the successes of them. We had done that and that was exciting and then Vince had the concept for this, hired Favreau to do the first pass of the script and then “Iron Man” explodes opening weekend and I think, by Monday of that weekend, Marvel had announced #2 so Jon really had to start efforts on that. I was not able to be a part of that as I was doing this because this really started then. So, Vince and Dana Fox took over the writing on this and then he spoke to me about it and we went. I was unfortunately not able to be a part of that but it was really fun to birth that franchise. I’m definitely excited as a fan for the second movie and just seeing it and I certainly wish them well and I hear from it that they’re doing great things.

Did you guys like the first one? It was cool. It was different. It was fun to do something different in that genre because I was not a comic book guy but I think story is story. And, as you look through the source material of that, there’s just such a wealth of … It’s a good story because it’s kind of a flawed protagonist. And, I really like it because he builds it. So, it’s not like the science fiction element of he was hit by a laser and now has these powers or was bit by something. It’s like he’s such a genius that he actually builds and creates it. So, it’s a little more accessible, I think.

Q: He invents it because he’s supposed to do something bad for these people and he turns it into something to save himself.

PB: Yeah. And then learns the lesson from living alone in a very mythic cave. But, it really had a lot of terrific – if you look at it, it has just very mythic, traditional story elements. And people sometimes genre-ize either the comic book world or others. But, when they’re at their best and they’re working, they’re just great classic storytelling and you have a very fertile ground with which to draw from. They’ve got a terrific history to draw from, not only in the character but in villains in that world.

Q: Did you ever butt heads with anybody? You’re all friends, but on set, was there ever “No, I don’t want to do it that way”? Did you have a problem like that ever?

PB: We collaborate intensely and you say, “Well maybe I don’t see it that way, but let’s do it” and I think that there’s…

Q: Let’s try it?

PB: That’s right. So, there’s trust with everybody knowing that we’re all going to take this journey together. I think when you don’t have trust with the people you’re working with is when you’re nervous to take chances and you don’t know how that will turn out, what somebody might do with that. So when, as an actor, you’re in control of your performance, you want to go down the line that your instincts tell you. And so, sometimes it’s “No, let’s not.” And then, it’s like, “Hey, what the hell, we’ll try it that way and let’s see.” And so, I think when you’re confident in what you’re doing, you can take an idea from anywhere and it’s sometimes, when people are not as confident in what they’re doing, that they tend to shut out other ideas. But, if you know what that outcome is going to be, you’re willing to try stuff and to take an idea from somewhere. And, with us, it’s really “best idea wins” and we try stuff and that’s what’s fun.

“Couples Retreat” opens on October 9th.