Actor Josh Radnor stars in “happythankyoumoreplease,” a new comedy about twenty-something New Yorkers that he also wrote and directed. Radnor said that while the decision to step behind the camera for the first time was difficult--calling it "a leap of faith”--he knew it was one that he had to make.
“I found that I could talk to people about the tone of the script, and I started to not quite trust that someone else would be able to do that,” he said Tuesday night during an Apple Store Q&A.
“I thought that I would be an incredibly annoying on-set presence if I wasn’t the director. I’d be like, ‘Could I just say one more thing to the actors?’ And they’d be like, ‘Oh my God.’”
Malin Akerman, who co-stars in the film and participated in the Q&A with Radnor, had nothing but praise for his directorial debut.
“He was an amazing director,” she said. “And watching him act and direct simultaneously was incredible.
The film’s cast of young actors also includes Kate Mara, Zoe Kazan, and Pablo Schreiber. Tony Hale, best known for playing the hapless Buster Bluth on “Arrested Development,” also appears as a man who pursues Akerman’s character.
Radnor said he jumped at the chance to cast Hale against type.
“Part of the thing about his role is that you watch someone go from character actor to leading man in the course of the movie,” he said. “So what’s really interesting about this is when Tony Hale shows up, you go, ‘Oh, there’s Buster.’ But throughout the movie he reveals himself to be this romantic hero. Most women who see this movie are like, ‘I never thought I’d say this, but I’m in love with Tony Hale.’”
While Radnor loves acting, he said he hopes to direct another film soon.
“I fell in love with directing, so yeah, I plan to. We’ll see,” he said.
Toward the end of the discussion, Niteside asked Radnor to share his thoughts on fellow CBS star Charlie Sheen’s recent antics.
“How I Met Your Mother” and “Two And A Half Men” are two of the most popular shows on the network, and Radnor’s TV co-star, Neil Patrick Harris, recently weighed in on Sheen, tweeting, “Charlie Sheen’s done lost his crackers…#teamcbs.”
“I don’t know, we don’t really follow that show,” Radnor said. “But I just feel like, ‘Oof.’”
