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San Francisco Chronicle
4 hours ago
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
Dave Franco reflects on Palo Alto roots, marriage with Alison Brie and their new film ‘Together'
Dave Franco has been in the acting game for two decades, but he was once a sports-obsessed kid growing up in Palo Alto, with posters of heroes such as Giants slugger Barry Bonds and NBA star Vince Carter affixed to his walls. He's reminded of that whenever he visits his mother, author Betsy Franco, and sleeps in his old room. 'She hasn't touched my room since I left,' Franco told the Chronicle during a video interview. 'I still have a bookshelf with my old sports trophies and some of my stuff.' 'And sports cards,' chimed in actress Alison Brie, Franco's wife. 'I can confirm this, as I've spent many nights in Dave's childhood bedroom.' Franco, 40, has left childhood far behind. He and Brie, 42, have been significant others for 13 years and married for eight, and they have put that relationship to the test in ' Together,' a most unusual horror film about a couple whose decade-long relationship is disintegrating — until a spectral force physically propels them together. Michael Shanks' feature directorial debut fits in the body horror genre, but it is a sly commentary on the ups and downs of relationships, dysfunctional and otherwise. In praising the film for the Chronicle, critic Bob Strauss likened it to 'an Ingmar Bergman scenario directed by Sam Raimi.' 'The monster in this movie, if you will, is an internal force,' Brie observed. 'It's not the type of horror movie where we're running away from an axe murderer. It's a push-and-pull within our own bodies. 'So many of the scenes,' she continued, 'the physical side of it for us was creating that internal tension and that pull, and some of it was established by actually tying ropes and wires around our waists or ankles and pulling us.' 'Together,' which Brie and Franco also produced, is the pair's fifth collaboration. They acted together in the 2017 comedies 'The Little Hours' and ' The Disaster Artist,' and Franco directed Brie in the horror film ' The Return ' (2020) and the rom-com ' Somebody I Used to Know ' (2023). In a separate interview, Shanks said the couple's 'passion and enthusiasm' was crucial to keeping the low-budget shoot on track during the 21-day production schedule in Melbourne, Australia, helping him realize a lifelong dream of making feature films. (The filmmaker previously spoke up to blast a copyright infringement lawsuit surrounding the film last month.) 'It's not just what they bring to the table as actors, but also as producers and as champions of independent filmmaking,' Shanks observed. 'Every single day on set, we were torturing them, having them do this intense physical stuff throughout this film, and they just never complained. We had somebody on the crew who's been working in the film industry for 40 years lugging lights around, this crusty old Aussie guy, and he came up to me and said, 'I've never worked with better actors than these guys.' 'If we were running late, struggling to get shots in, and something needed to be moved, like a light or a prop, you'd turn around and Dave would be there lugging one of the lights around, just totally collaborative like that,' he added. Franco's passion for movies began during a stint at a video store in Palo Alto at age 14 while he was a student at Palo Alto High School. The working age in California at the time was 16, so he toiled for free. 'They essentially paid me by allowing me to take home as many movies as I wanted,' Franco recalled fondly. 'It was the year 1999, which is now regarded as one of the best movie years ever. So I was taking home classic films, as well as very seminal films like 'The Matrix,' 'Fight Club,' ' American Beauty,' ' American Pie,' ' Being John Malkovich,' ' The Blair Witch Project.' It was my initial film school.' Around that time, his older brother James Franco was knocking on doors in Hollywood. A few years later, Dave Franco decided to become an actor while at USC. (Another older brother, Tom Franco, has dabbled in acting but is mainly known as the artist founder of Berkeley's Firehouse Art Collective.) Dave Franco had small roles in films such as ' Superbad ' (2007) and 'Milk' (2008) before breaking through with key supporting roles in ' 21 Jump Street ' (2013) and 'Now You See Me' (2013), which launched a pair of sequels (the third film, 'Now You See Me: Now You Don't,' is due in theaters on Nov. 14.). He met Brie at a Mardi Gras party in New Orleans in 2011 when the actor was in the middle of her run as part of the cast of ' Mad Men ' (2007-15), and they have been inseparable ever since — well, not as inseparable as their characters in 'Together.' 'We're very happy to say that our relationship is nothing like the relationship in the movie,' Brie said with a laugh. 'But just having been together over 13 years, having that shared history, being in love, we knew that would naturally find its way into the script. 'I realized afterward that this shoot made us possibly more codependent than we had been going into it.' Franco agreed. 'Yeah, the whole experience has made us analyze our own levels of codependency, which are probably pretty high,' Franco said. 'I think this movie has a way of really holding a mirror up to the audience and reflecting back to them their feelings about relationships,' Brie added. 'It's already been exciting to see audience reactions. They're all walking out with something different depending on how they feel about monogamy.'
Elle
15 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Elle
'Together' Made Alison Brie and Dave Franco ‘More Codependent Than Ever'
When co-leads and producers Alison Brie and Dave Franco signed on for Together, Michael Shanks's wickedly fun body-horror flick about codependency in relationships, an immediate thought crossed the real-life couple's minds: 'This is either going to end in divorce, or we will be more codependent than ever,' Franco says. Joining ELLE on Zoom before the film's theatrical release, the duo—who've been together for over 13 years and married since 2017—look back at that moment with a laugh and a sigh of relief. 'Luckily, it was the latter.' Following Millie and Tim (played by Brie and Franco), a long-time couple who moves from the city to the country to pursue a new life and perhaps marriage, Together is about the myriad ways (sometimes, destructive ones) partners come to excessively rely on each other. In navigating these tricky avenues, filmmaker Shanks smartly employs the body-horror genre, especially when Tim, a struggling musician who still hasn't had his big break, and Millie, a dependable schoolteacher, sail through some treacherous waters. Ever feel like you're stuck with your significant other for the good and the bad? Well, let's just say that Together visualizes that visceral, sometimes frightening idea ingeniously. You'd think it'd be at least a little intimidating for an actual couple to dissect a story of such brutal honesty. But not for Brie and Franco. 'I don't think we would have even been interested in being in this film if we didn't feel like we had a strong, healthy relationship,' Brie explains. Mostly, the horror-loving duo (who've worked on The Rental, Horse Girl, and more) was excited to dive into something that felt unique and risky, a creatively satisfying experience that aligned with their taste in film. In the end, Together was educational, too. 'It made us evaluate our own codependency, which I think is generally pretty high, but [also], healthy,' Franco remarks. 'We still really value our alone time. And hard as it is to be away from each other for long periods [when we're on separate projects], it's actually good to get to a point where you miss each other and are excited to reunite again.' From the start, the couple was well aware that their bond was an advantage when it came to portraying the intricacies and intimacy of Tim and Millie, who have also been a pair for over a decade. On one hand, the easy chemistry Brie and Franco bring to the screen is undeniable. And on a more practical end, the emotionally and physically demanding roles felt safer to tackle together. 'We know each other so well, and that made our performances inherently truthful,' says Brie. 'We can't bullshit each other, you know? And at the same time, we trust each other. So implicitly, it made the set a really safe space for us to take big swings in our performances.' Especially within the tight production schedule (the movie was shot over 21 days), that trust was an asset to the actors. 'There was no chance for us to overthink things,' continues Brie. 'We could just seep into the movie, and it was really satisfying leaving it all on screen. We could go home at the end of every day feeling like we couldn't have done anything more.' The two also supported each other when it came to using extreme practical effects. For a particular scene, they spent an entire day physically attached to each other via prosthetics, an experience that made them go, 'We couldn't have done this movie with anyone else.' Franco recalls, 'We literally could not leave each other's side all day, including visits to the bathroom. We would have to drag each other there.' That level of physicality was surely taxing, especially when it came with a side of injuries. 'From the very first take early in the morning, our energy had to be at 100 and it had to stay there,' Franco says. 'And we actually documented all of my injuries throughout the filming process. So we have a nice collage that we will maybe frame one day.' Franco especially recalls a shower scene that comes earlier in the film, when Tim undergoes a seizure-like attack. 'I'm fully nude, my character is unconscious, and I am fully throwing myself against porcelain walls and not bracing myself in any way,' he laughs. 'That really hurt.' But on the whole, their excitement and passion for the project superseded the pain—and so, the duo ended up using minimal stunt doubles. Brie and Franco's deep, real-life connection also paid off during countless wordless exchanges. They brought their understanding of each other to moments of emotional heft, with no dialogue needed. 'There are scenes where our characters are at odds, but you can still feel the love underneath it all,' Franco explains. 'And that's something that comes from being with someone 13 and a half years.' Brie says, 'The love underneath was our main focus. You want the audience to be rooting for them to overcome their issues. And you can't do that without trusting that there is a base level of love and respect between them.' Though it all, first-time feature director Shanks was the ideal leader and partner, collaborating with Brie and Franco from pre- to post-production. With a background in effects, he did about 150 of the VFX shots himself, and at times, the couple used their established sway as stars and producers to advocate for his creative vision. 'We united with him to protect the authenticity of the movie. And we became this beautiful trio,' Brie remarks. 'Michael Shanks is the most confident first-time director ever,' Franco adds. 'He brings such a joyous, almost kid-like energy to set, and that's infectious.' That kind of enthusiasm was all over Shanks's directing style, with frequent references to the genre movies that inspired Together. Brie says, 'Michael is an avid lover of horror films, and his encyclopedic knowledge of them was really fun, too. He would [refer to] X-Men 2 for a specific scene. And The Village [for another scene]. And Japanese horror films.' Franco adds, 'And [they were] just for single moments. That specificity enhances the whole movie.' The duo also held onto their own share of horror references throughout production. For Franco, one was Alien, whose visual influence on Together is apparent during a scene that's set in a cave. (Franco excitedly notes that Together production designer Nicholas Dare had worked on Alien: Covenant.) He also thought of David Cronenberg's The Fly, his favorite body-horror in cinema. For Brie, a big reference point was The Shining, one of her all-time favorites that she re-watched during pre-production with an eye towards Shelley Duvall. 'She is so beautifully vulnerable in it. And there is no vanity in that performance. She is almost cloying in way that feels so real,' Brie explains. 'I was hoping to channel that level of lack of vanity. When a person finds themself in such an extreme and scary situation, they're not going to react in the perfect, most glamorous actor way. It's going to be human and messy.' From Don't Look Now to Midsommar, why do longtime lovers and clingy couples lend themselves so well to horror? Well, these co-stars have theories. 'It's really relatable fears that these movies are playing on,' Brie says. 'Everybody has a different relationship to relationships, whether it's with lovers, or even friends or family. How much do you want to let someone in [and] lose yourself in that equation? The topic is evergreen and the possibilities are endless within the genre.' According to Franco, we all have relationships like these in our lives—and not just romantic ones—whether we'd like to admit it or not. 'The concepts that Michael Shanks created for this film have the potential to reach a wider audience [because of that],' he remarks. So, is Together the perfect date-night movie that cheers for completing one another, or is it the greatest advertisement to stay single forever? 'We don't necessarily say that codependency is good or bad,' Franco reflects. 'We have had friends of ours who are single, who reached out to us after seeing the film and said, 'I am so happy I am single,'' he laughs. 'And on the flip side, we heard from a couple who was actually in a fight all week leading up to the screening of the film, and then they watched the film and said it actually helped them solve their issues.' Brie concurs that the message will be in the eye of the beholder. 'This movie is an examination of fears of monogamy and codependency, and the horror set pieces fuel these themes. Truly, it will reflect back to people their own opinions about relationships.'
Elle
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Elle
‘Together' Stars Alison Brie and Dave Franco in a Darkly Twisted Love Story—Here's How to Watch
Every item on this page was chosen by an ELLE editor. We may earn commission on some of the items you choose to buy. Real-life couple Alison Brie and Dave Franco co-star in Together, an audacious body‑horror romance from Australian director Michael Shanks. The film, out in theaters today, follows longtime partners Millie and Tim after they move to the countryside—and a supernatural begins to take over. Shanks has said the movie's high‑concept hook came from a deeply personal place. 'I've only ever wanted to make stuff that has a high concept premise to it. Something where you can kind of sum up in a couple of sentences and go, 'Oh, I haven't seen that movie before,'' he told The AU Review. 'I thought it could be a body horror film, which is a genre I love,' Shanks added. 'I thought it would be a lot of fun to explore and really satisfy the genre freak filmmaker in me.' But the story also includes 'my own kind of personal, emotional truth and specificity of what it feels like to fall in love and share a life with somebody,' he said. 'And not just from my own relationship, but from relationships of people that I've observed.' Casting Brie and Franco wasn't just a stunt, but integral to bringing the film to life. 'Physically, there was stuff we were doing every day that we truly finished every day of filming, going, 'We couldn't do this with anyone else,'' Brie said told Moviefone. In the same interview, Franco recalled meeting Shanks and reading the Together script for the first time. 'I read it, and I was just like, 'This is one of the most innovative scripts I've ever read,' he said. 'These set pieces are unbelievable.' I turned to Alison, and I was like, 'I think we should do this together, because our real relationship could help inform these characters in the movie, who have been together for over a decade, and hopefully we could add some real kind of history and weight to that relationship.'' Although Neon has yet to announce an official streaming date for Together, the film is expected to eventually hit Hulu, given Neon's partnership with the streaming platform. Past Neon films, like Anora, have also landed on the platform. Until then, you can catch the movie on the big screen. GET TICKETS
Vogue
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Vogue
I Want What They Have: Alison Brie and Dave Franco
'Creatively, I think [Brie] is one of the best actresses working today, which makes my job very easy,' said Franco, who, with his wife, is also a producer on Together. And while I hesitate to give men credit for being nice about their partners (likely thing for them to do, in an ideal world!), I do like how infatuated Franco seems to be with Brie; to paraphrase Mindy Kaling's mom, the best hetero couples are the ones in which the guy likes the girl a little bit more than the girl likes the guy. Obviously, I don't know anything about Brie and Franco's real-life dynamic, since my IRL familiarity with them as a couple is limited to once glimpsing them at a bottle shop in Highland Park and swiftly texting everyone I knew about it, but I've loved Brie an inordinate amount ever since she voiced Diane Nguyen on BoJack Horseman (not to mention her deep dive into the weird and wonderful world of '80s women's wrestling on Glow!). And while I'm not a fan of his brother James, Franco seems to be cut from a different cloth, though he's basically always cast as Douchey Frat Guy thanks to the haunting symmetry of his face. Perhaps my favorite detail of the Together rollout is the fact that distributor Neon is giving couples who see the film on opening weekend free therapy via the online service OurRitual (yes, we live in a late-capitalist hellscape). Personally, I am a huge couples' therapy stan after going into my first appointment with my partner fearing that we were already cooked if we needed a couples' therapist in the first place—we're not, FYI, and I was being extremely dumb—so I'm enjoying this little bit of mental-health-meets-movie-magic synergy. Here's hoping that Brie and Franco are, too.
Perth Now
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Alison Brie addresses serious rumours for Masters of the Universe
Alison Brie has hinted Masters of the Universe will not be serious. Recent rumours suggested the upcoming action movie would be trading its light-hearted and campy style for a more dour tone, but Brie - who portrays Evil-Lyn in the film - has emphasised people don't know 'as much as they think they know' about Masters of the Universe. When Collider asked the 42-year-old actress whether the flick would be more serious, she said: 'I don't think they know as much as they think they know. That's all I'm gonna say.' Masters of the Universe - which is based on Mattel's iconic toy line and the 1983 animated series He-Man and the Masters of the Universe - stars Nicholas Galitzine as He-Man, Jared Leto as Skeletor and Idris Elba as Man-At-Arms. Reflecting on the movie, Brie teased Masters of the Universe would appeal to both 'the nostalgic audience that loved He-Man when they were kids' and a 'new generation of He-Man fans'. She told Screen Rant: 'I did Masters of the Universe, and I really feel like I shouldn't say too much about that either. 'But I do think that is really fun, and I think it's going to serve both the nostalgic audience that loved He-Man when they were kids and a new generation of He-Man fans.' Masters of the Universe - which is being helmed by Bumblebee director Travis Knight and is slated to land in cinemas on June 6, 2026 - follows a young man on Earth who learns he is the prince of a distant planet and must reclaim a magical sword. With its power, he returns home to defend his kingdom from dark forces. The film's cast also includes Camila Mendes as Teela, Morena Baccarin as The Sorceress, Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson as Goat Man, James Purefoy as King Randor and Charlotte Riley as Queen Marlena. In January, Brie teased she had been 'getting yoked' with Björnsson - who played The Mountain in Game of Thrones - to prepare for Masters of the Universe. The Together star said: 'Filming is about to start. Everyone's in pre-production now. I was just out in London lifting some weights with Júlíus Björnsson.' Brie isn't the only Masters of the Universe star who had been training hard for the movie, as Galitzine also revealed he was 'eating around 4,000 calories a day' and had been doing a lot of weightlifting to get into shape for the film. The 30-year-old actor told W magazine: 'No pressure, I just have to embody the strongest man in the universe. 'There's been a lot of eating and weightlifting, a lot of stunts. I'm eating about 4,000 calories a day, but the amount of physical work I'm doing, you end up hungry at the end of the day, which is quite surprising. This is the fun part.' Even so, The Idea of You star admitted he was dreading 'the cutting phase' as he will be 'starved and so rude to everyone'. He said: 'I will eventually go into what's called the cutting phase, where I'm going to be starved and so rude to everyone. 'I can only apologize for the person I'm going to become in a few months' time.'
