Photo: Courtesy of Entertainment WeeklyWe've seen the story a thousand times: When a family patriarch dies, his damaged children return home for the funeral, and learn some life-changing lessons about themselves along the way. But, when those children are played by Tina Fey, Adam Driver, Jason Bateman, and Corey Stoll, we can't help but get excited.
In This Is Where I Leave You, the upcoming dramedy based on Jonathan Tropper's eponymous best-selling novel, Fey plays the pushy sister of the three aforementioned men. She's joined by Jane Fonda, who plays their nosy psychologist mother, and an impressive roster of leading ladies that also includes Connie Britton, Rose Byrne, and Kathryn Hahn. In its upcoming issue, Entertainment Weekly spoke to Fey and director Shawn Levy (Date Night, Night At The Museum), whose not usually known for his dramatic work.
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In fact, none of the cast is.
"Jason, Tina, me, we’ve done a lot of comedies, but we’re playing this a lot more naturalistically,” Levy told the magazine. “Almost every day, someone from the crew says, ‘Jesus, that scene freaked me out. It’s exactly like me and my brother.’ Or ‘That’s what I went through when my dad died’ or ‘…when my wife and I got separated.’”
It sounds pretty heavy, but with a cast made up of some of Hollywood's funniest people, there will no doubt be laughs, too. "We need a new term for the tone," said Fey. "It’s not a dark comedy — because it’s not that dark. But it’s an emotional comedy.”
This Is Where I Leave You hits theaters on September 12. (Entertainment Weekly)