Adam Scott & Clark Duke Talk ‘A.C.O.D.’

"Yeah, it was really fun to just hate each other’s guts. And it’s not like we have some sort of redemptive ending… we just still hate each other at the end of the movie."

By Morgan Rojas|October 4, 2013

Adam Scott and Clark Duke walk into the interview room smiling, two of Hollywood’s funniest comedians have been doing interviews nonstop for their film A.C.O.D. and if they were tired, they certainly fooled us. Adam (Parks & Rec) and Clark (The Office) play brothers Carter and Trey who are both A.C.O.D.s, or Adult Children of Divorce. The chemistry these two actors have in the film is spot on, and that same dynamic is seen here at the press day, cracking jokes and having us laughing the entire time. We begin:

 

THE CHARACTER THAT YOU PLAYED WENT THROUGH HELL, WHAT WAS IN YOUR MIND WHEN YOU READ THE SCRIPT?
ADAM SCOTT:
  I think a lot of the movie is very painful, but I think that’s where a lot of really good comedy comes from… I thought it looked like a lot of fun and luckily it was.

CARTER HAS SUCH A MESSED UP RELATIONSHIP WITH HIS PARENTS, HOW DO YOU ENSURE THAT YOU DO A GOOD JOB AS A DAD?
AS:
I had a great example from my parents who split up when I was very young, but did it in a way where it didn’t really affect [me].

CLARK DUKE: They just put you up for adoption, right?

AS: Yeah they put me up for adoption, left me out on the front doorstep, which was really positive!

[LAUGHTER]

CLARK, DID YOUR ROLE FEEL LIKE THE COMIC RELIEF OF THE FILM?
CD:
A little bit, I hate to say that though because everybody in the movie is so much funnier than me, when you have Catherine O’Hara and Richard Jenkins… but yeah, just because [my character, Trey] is naïve and a loveable simpleton.

AS: I think one of my favorite parts in the movie is when I say to Clark, ‘You guys are getting married? You just met, like, three months ago’ and, it wasn’t necessarily written this way, but he said the line like, ‘yeah… it has been three months!’

[LAUGHTER]


AMY [POEHLER] IS YOUR WIFE ON PARKS AND REC, DID YOU GUYS HAVE ANY LAUGHS ABOUT THE FACT THAT SHE’S YOUR STEPMOM IN THIS MOVIE?
AS:
Yeah, it was really fun to just hate each other’s guts. And it’s not like we have some sort of redemptive ending… we just still hate each other at the end of the movie.


ADAM, I ACTUALLY SAW YOU AT THE UPRIGHT CITIZEN’S BRIGADE A COUPLE OF MONTHS AGO AND YOU HAVE A GREAT IMPROV STYLE…
CD:
[To Adam] Hey dude, do you wanna borrow some money? Is everything OK?

[LAUGHTER]

AS: Yeah, that would be great.

CD: OK, we will talk after.


WERE THERE ANY SCENES IN THE FILM THAT WERE IMPROVISED? ANY ONE-LINERS?
AS:
You know, there are little, tiny things here and there but not really…

CD: Just small bits like the thing he said about my line.

AS: Yeah, but with a script that’s as good as this one you don’t necessarily need to [improvise].


I LOVED THE CASTING- YOU GUYS WERE BRILLIANT AS BROTHERS. WHEN YOU CAME TOGETHER FOR THE TABLE READ, DID YOU FEEL THAT [CHEMISTRY]?
AS:
We had worked together before and were friends and had briefly dated…

[LAUGHTER]

AS: I think once the cast was assembled it was like, you can’t really go wrong with all these people. They were so good.

 

Morgan Rojas

Certified fresh. For disclosure purposes, Morgan currently runs PR at PRETTYBIRD and Ventureland.