Sometimes actors don’t have a lot of time to prepare for their roles and that was especially the case for Rose Byrne on the set of Irresistible, the political comedy written and directed by Jon Stewart. This became an even harder reality for Rose Byrne as her first day required her to do something gross and would be impossible in this post-COVID world.
Recently, Rose Byrne spoke with CinemaBlend about her role as Faith Brewster in Irresistible, a villainous character out to stop Steve Carell’s Gary Zimmer from winning a local mayoral election. When she signed on, she flew in and within a matter of hours had to come in very close contact with Steve Carell. Check out what she said below,
Yikes. Baptism by fire, indeed. I can’t imagine having to do that much less within hours of coming on set. But it sounds like they all hopped right into the production and did what they needed to do to make the story work. Besides, that's one way to break the ice between co-stars.
This cringe-worthy scripted scene of Rose Byrne licking Steve Carell’s face was surprising, to say the least, when it appeared in the Irresistible trailer. It comes so fast and sudden after Rose Byrne’s character calls Steve Carell’s character fat, it takes you off guard a little.
But this is the type of extreme and hyperbolic comedy that you might come to expect from Jon Stewart, who played with satire and extremes for years on his hit comedy show The Daily Show. It’s also the kind of comedy Steve Carell is familiar with since he worked with Jon Stewart on The Daily Show in the past. So, all things considered, Steve Carell is the perfect fit for the role.
Of course, none of that would be possible if Jon Stewart were filming Irresistible today. Many movie productions are currently shut down due to COVID-19. Films that are starting back up again, like Jurassic World: Dominion, The Matrix 4, and Avatar 2, will have to follow safety and health protocols which includes some form of social distancing, among other things.
Irresistible is a political comedy about Gary Zimmer (Steve Carell), a Democratic political strategist who wants to score a win for the party after the 2016 presidential loss. After witnessing a video of a man giving a passionate speech in a small town, Gary Zimmer believes this man could help the party by winning in a small town mayoral election.
Unfortunately, Irresistible has received mostly poor critical reviews. Cinema Blend’s own Eric Eisenberg said it struggles to find its comedic voice and that its smart, surprising ending fixes some of the movies issues, but not enough of them. But, if you’re like me, and you’re super curious about this mysterious and unexpected ending, you can watch Irresistible on VOD right now.
