Jemaine Clement and Regina Hall star in writer/director Jim Strouse’s thoughtful People Places Things. After his relationship ends, Will Henry (Clement), a graphic novelist and professor at the School of Visual Arts, finds himself reeling from a broken heart and single fatherhood. When a student introduces him to her attractive, but uptight mother (Hall), Will is faced with a new set of challenges that force him to come to terms with his life. Both actors primarily known for their outlandish comedic chops, Clement as one half of the New Zealand comedy band Flight of the Conchords and Hall from the Scary Movie franchise, get to show a different, heartfelt side to their talent, resulting in palpable onscreen chemistry. Clement, Hall and Strouse sat down for a roundtable discussion to talk about the film and how art imitates life.

While People Places Things is a comedy, it’s also nuanced and deals with deep issues such as single fatherhood, identity and heartache. You’re both known for comedy, but of a more outrageous nature. Do you feel like you have to fight for these types of roles?

Jemaine Clement: No, no.

Regina Hall: I only feel like that a little bit because whatever you do well first, they want you to do it constantly.

Jemaine Clement: That’s true, and then you have to think about it differently.

Regina Hall: I know doing Scary Movie, people remembered it the most [because] it’s so fun. It’s such a broad comedy. Trying to stretch through the years, they say, “Oh, she does grounded stuff, or dramatic stuff.” It’s probably been harder for my agents than me. (Laughs) I probably miss all the insults they get on the phone, “We don’t want her!”

Are these characters close to your real life personae?

Jemaine Clement: I think it’s the closest to an actual human. (Laughs) I play pretty crazy characters, I guess. So, yes.

What were your initial reactions to the script?

Regina Hall: I thought it was sweet, and it had a lot of heart. I just thought the characters were all very developed. I liked seeing a story that was a man suffering with what happens after a breakup. I feel like we always see it from a female point of view, and what happens to her. But it was nice to see a man have to--

Jemaine Clement: To see a man hurt.

Regina Hall: To see a man in pain. (Jemaine Laughs) No. To see a man have to go through the healing process, and how he handles it. I thought Jemaine was so excellent because you know he felt it.

Jemaine Clement: You knew I’d been through it.

Regina Hall: I knew you’d been through it. I knew he had been through it, and it’s nice to see a man have to struggle with single parenting. It’s usually the female point of view. I loved that about it.

Jemaine Clement: For me, it stood out as being nice, realistic and sweet. A lot of comedies aren’t.

Regina Hall: I love that Jim [Strouse] really didn’t think about race when he cast. It wasn’t written in the story and it’s never discussed or talked about.

You have great chemistry with each other. What was the rehearsal process like?

Regina Hall: Unfortunately for this particular movie, I was doing something else. So, I came in that day. We met in the van, and we shot.

Jemaine Clement: Yeah, we met in the van and we shot the scene where [our characters] meet. We just remembered what that was like.

The audience gets to practically see you meet for the first time in real life, as well as in the movie.

Jemaine Clement: Almost, yes. Regina [played] a prank on me where she pretended to be a very serious actress. She said, “No improvising.” She just pretended that she was a completely different personality than what she really is. I didn’t realize until probably halfway through the day that she was kidding me.

Did that initial meeting set the tone for the rest of the shoot?

Jemaine Clement: Well, fortunately our first day was an awkward meeting [like Will and Diane’s first meeting in the film]. So, um yeah. (Laughs) Everyone was so excited that Regina was on the film. That preceded her, and then she turns up and does that. I was nervous then.

Regina Hall: But [Jemaine’s] so talented and so great. I was probably more nervous.

Jemaine Clement: I know now! (Laughs)

Regina Hall: I was joking because it was my first day. You know when you start shooting a movie, everyone is kind of like a family. So, when you walk in and their almost done, you kind of feel like, I hope they like me. I was disappointed that I missed things. I didn’t want to come in and ruin the magic. They had a lot of magic. You could tell.

The actors are wonderfully cast. Can you talk about casting the movie?

Jim Strouse: I knew I wanted comedic actors for the story. I knew I wanted Regina before anyone else. Regina and Jessica Williams (who plays Regina’s daughter in the film). But I wanted to wait until we casted Jemaine’s part because chemistry is so important in a romance.

In the back of my mind, I was always thinking about Regina and Jessica, but then when I cast Jemaine, it was a no-brainer. I thought, those two are going to be fun to see together. I think they have really distinct energies. Their comedy is very different, yet complementary. I think it translates on screen. They are fun to be in a room with. I watched those two, their characters, and I want them to be together, which I think is part of what you want in this story. These damaged, flawed people to help each other.

Is Jemaine’s character, Will, based on you?

Jim Strouse:To some degree, I guess. At one point, we were on set, and he had maroon New Balance [sneakers], and I had maroon New Balance. He was wearing brown pants, and I was wearing brown pants. It was strange, even the costume designer picked a shirt for him that I had.

The whole story was inspired by the breakup with my kids’ mom. The movie is dedicated to [my children], Magnolia and Grover. So, it definitely came out of some personal experiences. The School of Visual Arts worked out in that, I teach in the film department, but before I even started writing this script, I was always interested in the history of the graphic novel. They had an exhibit at SVA about the history. They have a really long illustrious history. A lot of the biggest names in cartooning have past through at one point or another. That just fit with the ambitions of the story.

You could probably talk to people in my classes who would say there’s a little bit of my teaching style in the movie. I hope I don’t give too much information in class. But if we’re talking about writing and we’re talking about stories, I’m always relating it back to, what would you do in this situation that you’ve written? How do you judge that? As a way of judging or critiquing writing and truthfulness. Let’s really put ourselves in this moment that you’ve conceived.

Peoples Places Things is now available on DVD, VOD and Early EST.