THE MOVIE THEATER — The romantic comedy genre isn’t one that generally garners critical acclaim.
Sure, you have your exceptions like “Annie Hall,” but even classic favorites like “When Harry Met Sally” failed to break a 90 percent score on the movie rating site RottenTomatoes.com.
That’s why, when director Catalina Aguilar Mastretta’s “Everybody Loves Somebody” earned a Rotten Tomatoes score of 92 percent, we at the KSL Indie Report took notice. Then, when local actor and star of the Utah favorite “The Best Two Years,” K.C. Clyde, showed up on the trailer, well, we started making some phone calls. We wanted to chat with Clyde about the bicultural comedy, its success, and of course, what he’s been up to since 2004.
Luckily for us, Clyde was happy to take some time out of his busy schedule to catch up, and we’ve included our favorites bits from that conversation below:
Where has K.C. Clyde been since “The First Two Years?”
Clyde: “Sure. I think it’s a great question. I have been doing this, meaning acting and pursuing film.
“I think a lot of people probably didn’t know I didn’t live in Utah when I took that film. I think that there’s some cross communication in the sense that I am from Utah, originally born and raised, but I had already moved and auditioned for ‘The Best Two Years’ in Los Angeles, which then consequently brought me back to Utah. I always kind of joked that I think I got the job because I was probably the person that understood the material the best when I auditioned for it in LA.
“But it’s easier to pursue work more frequently out here in Los Angeles. I have come back to Utah for two projects, both of which were through Michael Flynn, who did ‘The Best Two Years,’ and he called me up and because it was him, I said yes and very much enjoyed those projects.
“Since then, I have been doing a TV series for Netflix, that I am currently on. We’ve just finished six episodes, it will come out sometime this year, 2017? That is a giant question mark — they have no release dates on their stuff until they decide they do. But I’ve constantly been doing independent films, and ‘Everybody Loves Somebody’ I think was my 50th project. I think the difference is unless you’re in that $100 million Spiderman movie, it’s hard for people to realize that you’re kind of making a living doing this.”
On the critical success of “Everybody Loves Somebody”
Clyde: “Yes. I’m stoked, man. I think everyone was very proud of this film so the fact that people are feeling that way and enjoyed it is — it feels great, it really does, regardless. I mean we obviously want it to financially do well. That would be a positive obviously for everyone, but if not, just the fact that people that are seeing it are really, really enjoying it and critics are really enjoying it — like, there’s some satisfaction in that which I think is great, and so much of that comes directly back to Catalina.
“This is her first directorial job and the professional nature, the fun, the presence and calm she brought to the set mixed with her ability to collaborate and give the actors freedom to make the choice but still having foresight to get her vision across, I would work for her anytime she asked. It’s been an amazing experience for me.”
On approaching a bilingual, bicultural comedy
Clyde: “Yes, it is a bilingual film, absolutely, because it’s supposed to be. Ultimately, it’s about this bicultural family, right? This Mexican-American family, and everything that they are as a family unit. Obviously, their heritage, their culture and being bilingual is a huge part of that, so to not depict both languages in the movie, that would be, well ridiculous. Right?
“And all of that’s the director because she is bilingual and she’s bicultural. She is born, raised in Mexico and has spent the majority of her adult life in Los Angeles, as well as our lead Karla Souza, who carries our movie effortlessly. I would watch the dedication she put on set and, she’s so much of why this movie works, I was humbled to have the ability to act opposite her.”
Getting ready for the part?
Clyde: “I had to get really fat for the movie. When I auditioned for the movie, I had to go back and audition four times and do two screen tests for it. We were hearing back, ‘We really love him, but we don’t know if he really has that look that we’re looking for.” They were looking for someone who had become slovenly complacent, been sitting around since they got married, if that makes sense, not really doing anything for the last 10 years.
“They actually made an offer to a different actor, and when that didn’t work out, they called me and they were saying, ‘Look the other thing didn’t work out and we’re actually kind of glad. The director’s still talking about you and so are the producers. We would love to offer you the job.’
“My first time talking with the director, she had already left to Mexico City to start prepping for the movie once I got the job, and on the phone conversation she had explained some of this: why it took so long and what the issue was and why she had felt this way. But she said she thought it could still work with some wardrobe that would kind of make me look like a dad close up. She kept saying, ‘We’ll put you in dad jeans.’ And all that sort of stuff.
“I presented to her that I should try and get really fat, and she’s like, ‘Yes, well we’ll see.’ That’s what I did, I stopped going to the gym and I literally just ate constantly for three weeks and I put on about 20 pounds of fat for the movie.”
Was there a favorite moment on set
Clyde: “Well, my favorite scene involves my lovely and amazing movie wife, Tiaré Scanda. She made my job so, so, so easy, and there is this one moment when her character asks if I can breathe without her.
“This was the first day of shooting, and we had just met, but the ability for us to lock into one another and make that scene work having never met at that point — well she is an amazing actress and I was a lucky guy.”
Conclusion
If you’re planning to see “Everybody Loves Somebody” during its theatrical release, you can currently find it playing in select theaters in Utah and Salt Lake counties. “Everybody Loves Somebody” is rated PG-13 for some sexual content and language.
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