'Friendship' director talks 'brilliant' Tim Robinson, that Subway hallucination scene

USA Today

23-05-2025

'Friendship' director talks 'brilliant' Tim Robinson, that Subway hallucination scene
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Paul Rudd, Tim Robinson break up in buddy comedy 'Friendship'
"I Think You Should Leave" star Tim Robinson brings his awkward comedy to "Friendship," co-starring Paul Rudd, Kate Mara and Jack Dylan Grazer.
Paul Rudd is caught in a bad bromance.
In director Andrew DeYoung's squirmy, silly 'Friendship' (now in theaters nationwide), the Marvel star plays a small-town weatherman named Austin, who extends a hand to his painfully awkward neighbor Craig (Tim Robinson). But after a smattering of deeply uncomfortable and boundary-crossing hangs, Austin decides to sever ties with Craig, who slowly loses his mind trying to win back his erstwhile buddy.
Thanks in part to Robinson's 'I Think You Should Leave' Netflix following, 'Friendship' has already become an unlikely box-office hit, scoring 2025's top opening in limited release earlier this month. DeYoung attributes the movie's success to 'Tim's work thus far and the fandom he's created.' But also, 'most of us are really dying for something original and not touched by 1,000 corporate fingerprints.'
DeYoung recently spoke with USA TODAY about the inspiration behind his insanely quotable comedy, as well as the origins of some of its most uproarious bits.
Question: You wrote this film after a blossoming friendship went south. Were you taken aback by any of the emotions that experience brought up?
Andrew DeYoung: There wasn't anything surprising for me. Friendship is this primal, essential need for all of us, but (in this particular case), there were no deep roots there. The rejection was quite shallow and pathetic, especially as an adult. And that's what spurred the movie. I was like, 'Oh, this is kind of funny, feeling rejected in this way.' There are so many adults like myself walking around with these adolescent feelings of rejection. It's just so human, and I thought it'd be funny to see a breakup story between two straight men.
The movie is so in line with Tim's sensibilities and humor. Did you ever call on him to tweak any jokes?
All the time. I wrote this and sent it to him, and as we shot, he basically went scene by scene like, 'Can I change this?" or 'What do you think about that?' He was always really respectful of the material, but wanted to make sure it felt honest to him. I love Tim to death and think he's so brilliant, so I was always down to hear whatever he had to say.
In one of the film's most memorable scenes, Craig has a wholly unremarkable hallucination set inside a Subway store. Was it always Subway from the get-go?
Yeah, I got extremely lucky that they agreed to it. The fun is playing on expectations and building it up. We've seen the crazy version (of a drug trip) so many times in other movies and done so brilliantly. I was like, 'I can't beat that,' so what's more interesting here is that nothing happens.
Craig exclusively wears the fictional Ocean View Dining clothing line. How did you land on that particular brand?
(Laughs.) That's really funny. I was driving up the coast by Big Sur and one of the hotels along the beach was advertising 'ocean-view dining.' That just got lodged in my brain, so when I was writing the script, I was like, 'I need a brand name!' and that popped into my head.
He's also infatuated with the artery-clogging SEAL Team Six Meal, which he claims they ordered after killing Osama Bin Laden. Does that actually exist in some fashion?
(Laughs.) Not to my knowledge. I was just thinking that Craig has this fascination with hypermasculinity, and the celebration of war and the military in a light way. It just felt like something he would be stoked on.
At one of their earliest hangouts, Austin leads a group singalong of Ghost Town DJ's' "My Boo" in his garage. Did you ever consider any other songs for that moment?
In the script, it was Whitney Houston's 'I Wanna Dance with Somebody,' but that's a very expensive song so we had to look at other versions. My music supervisor, Rob Lowry, pitched this and I thought it was incredible – maybe even better – because it's such a banger, but it's not as widely known as Whitney Houston. The lyrics are also pretty perfect, so we lucked out with that one.
In the last few years especially, there's been so much written about the so-called male loneliness epidemic. How does it feel to join that discussion in your own weird, twisted way?
I never set out to engage with it, although I know that's something people talk about. For decades, we've seen the decline of community – even just in my own life living in Los Angeles, you feel that lack of community. I want people to have a good time and laugh with this movie, but still, at the heart of it are these deep-rooted social issues that are affecting all of us. I want to make sure I honor those in the reality of the world I'm building, although I wouldn't consider myself an expert at all!