Real-life spouses Alison Brie and Dave Franco's new movie, Together, is out now and earning rave reviews. But as jarring (in a good way) as the psychological horror movie is to watch, it was 100 times more scarring to film, if its director is to be believed.
Speaking to Marie Claire's Halie LeSavage for her profile on Brie for our new Entertainment issue, director Michael Shanks says the cast and crew lovingly renamed the movie "Torturing Dave and Alison" while they were filming.
The film plays on the extremes of a couple's codependent and dysfunctional relationship. "What's really unique about this movie is that the thing that's trying to get us, is inside of us," Brie tells Marie Claire. "It was this unique acting challenge to be fighting your own body."
At one point, the Community actress did her own stunt, crashing violently into a glass door. Speaking to Marie Claire, Franco also shares that his wife had to straddle him pretty much for 12 hours straight.
While you might think that this experience would really test a marriage, that isn't the actors' impression. "Dave jokes that the hardest part for this press tour is going to be convincing people that we actually have a good relationship," Brie says. "I think we could not have done this movie if we didn't have a really healthy relationship. That would be its own horror movie."
But though filming Together was a tough gig, Brie is grateful for the experience—especially given that the extra-condensed time on set meant she didn't have time to second-guess herself. "Going into this job, I thought, there's no time for that bullshit. You know everything you need to know," she said. "It was actually really freeing and really fun that I was like, there's no time to overthink anything, so don't. Let it rip, and Dave did the same. That's the mentality I want to have in life now."
Together is in theaters now.
