ComingSoon Editor-in-Chief Tyler Treese spoke to Poolman director Chris Pine and Danny DeVito, who stars alongside Pine in the actor’s directorial debut. Out in theaters on May 10, 2024, the comedy movie also stars Annette Bening, Jennifer Jason Leigh, DeWanda Wise, Stephen Tobolowsky, Clancy Brown, John Ortiz, and Ray Wise.
“Poolman tells the story of Darren Barrenman (Chris Pine), a native Los Angeleno who spends his days looking after the pool of the Tahitian Tiki apartment block and fighting to make his hometown a better place to live,” says the synopsis for the Vertical release. “When he is tasked by a femme fatale to uncover the truth behind a shady business deal, Darren enlists the help of his friends to take on a corrupt politician and a greedy land developer. His investigation reveals a hidden truth about his beloved city and himself.”
Tyler Treese: Chris, you have shown such great range lately, especially the D&D movie. You got to show every bit of you and fans love you for these blockbusters and these action movies. So what’s been most rewarding about really getting to show a different side of yourself, especially with Poolman and doing this very offbeat comedy and this like love letter to LA all wrapped up in one?
Chris Pine: I think it’s just rewarding to do something that is all mine. I co-wrote it with one of my best friends, but everything from the costumes or the colors to the sound or the music, I finally got to make a piece of art that I can say is wholly my own. There wasn’t really any conscious decision to show a different side of myself. It’s just what I was naturally inclined to do. I feel probably, I feel within myself, probably closer to Darren than I do most other characters I’ve ever played. So it was super rewarding and fun. The whole thing was about following the giggle and see where it takes you.
Danny, you’re not just a great actor, you’re also a very talented director yourself. So I was curious if during filming of Poolman, did you and Chris ever talk about directing any? How were those conversations?
Danny DeVito: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. We talked from the very beginning when I read the script. I loved it. I thought it was a great character to play from the very first rehearsal when we had to go through all the pandemic and wait for all these things to come together. We were thinking about it for a long time, and from the very first rehearsal, Annette [Bening] and I, with us in the room, all pitching things, talking about motivations and things.
Actually, what’s great about it was that he was very free as a director to allow the actors to riff off and try things. You never felt any kind of constraints in things, and [he] let us go have a lot of fun with him. I feel like that’s what also internally he was going through with the movie from running behind the camera to the front of the camera. So it felt really good. We did talk a lot, yeah.
Chris, my favorite scene in Poolman was The Golden Girls reenactment. Just such a fun idea. Are you a big Golden Girls fan? How was that born?
Pine: I like The Golden Girls, but my writing partner’s a huge Golden Girls buff and had just actually watched the entirety of the series and picked it apart. Like he was writing a PhD on comedy writing. So he was tremendously off book, and we needed a scene that reflected, and I cannot believe he found this Golden Girls episode where Blanche talks about writing Bob Hope as a pen pal to feel less alone. It was like manna from heaven. It was exactly what the film’s all about, with me writing Erin Brockovich, and I had seen Golden Girlz perform at Casita del Campo before they moved to their current location. I then ended up performing with Golden Girlz as Burt Reynolds from an episode. They’re incredible. They did a great job and came out to play, and we had a great time.
Danny, Death to Smoochy is one of my favorite movies.
DeVito: Thank you so much.
It’s become like a cult classic now. How’s it been just seeing that reputation and it find its audience over time?
DeVito: I love it. I had so much fun making that movie. We made it at a certain time where a lot of people didn’t get to see it, but now the fan base has grown so much. I love the fact that that’s happening, that it’s being rediscovered. Robin is great in it. Edward Norton, like off the charts. All the people who contributed to that movie really did a great job. That’s a wild and wacky crazy movie. It’s dear to my heart, Death to Smoochy.
