Dave Franco has made a career of playing likable assholes. His latest, Xavier, is an obnoxious, mega-famous pop star in the Apple TV+ comedy-mystery series The After Party. The night of his high school reunion, Xavier hosts a party at his ostentatious seaside mansion; in the first five minutes, we learn that the party ends in Xavier’s murder. The clues: a broken nose, the presence of a blond wig and a strange, brimless leather hat, an abundance of cooked shrimp scattered everywhere. Classic crime scene.
Over the course of the next seven episodes, each told in a different genre (romcom, horror, police procedural, musical, and more), we find out how a reunion ended in the murder of a guy no one liked in high school, but found themselves fawning over in adulthood.
Speaking to GQ from Los Angeles via Zoom, Franco displayed not a trace of Xavier’s arrogance. He was friendly, funny, incredibly earnest, way too good-looking, full of kinetic energy. With The After Party finale available to stream today, Franco discussed the series, his directorial aspirations, and the demise of the R-rated comedy.
GQ: So, The After Party. I watched the whole thing over the last few days.
Dave Franco: I would imagine when you’re watching it back-to-back like that, you can really see how the clues are laid out and the little bits of information that are revealed every episode. You get to appreciate how much of a puzzle it all is.
Absolutely. I do feel like I was catching things I wouldn’t have remembered if I was watching it week-to-week. Each episode is told in a different genre but your characters stays pretty consistent throughout. Can you talk about the experience of making a series where you’re playing so many different genres?
I’m essentially playing eight different shades of douche in this show, which was a lot of fun. This character was one of the most extreme parts I’ve ever played. I was taking some big swings and putting myself out on a limb. I was able to do that because I trust our director, Chris Miller, who I’ve worked with for many years on the Jump Street movies and the Lego movies. Honestly, this reinvigorated my genuine love of acting. Not that the feeling ever went away, but just I remembered how fun it can be.
In terms of different genres, I guess the episode where you see a drastically different side of my character is the flashback episode. You get to see Xavier in high school and as an audience, you at least understand why he is the way he is. In high school, he desperately wanted to be popular and his desperation ended up pushing everyone else away. When he grew up and became one of the most famous pop stars in the world, he let that go to his head and he overcompensated.
Something I associate with you as an actor is you seem to be having a really good time. Is fun important to your performances, and how do you maintain that in the very strange work environment of a film set?
I think it’s very important. I think you can see when I’m having fun as an actor. In this one, I give a lot of credit to the other actors. I was surrounded by so many incredible improvisers, literally some of the best in the world. Ben Schwartz, Ike Barinholtz, Ilana Glazer, Tiffany Haddish. At first, you go into a situation like that, and it’s a little nerve-wracking because you think that you have to keep up with these people. Then you quickly realize, okay, no one’s expecting me to keep up with Ben Schwartz. I just need to be present and stay in the scene with him.
For my performance, I really tried to stay in the moment and react off what they were doing. Again, this was a slightly bigger character for me. I’m going on a bit of a tangent here, but finding the baseline of that character was a little difficult. Once we landed on that hairstyle, and outfit, which is a flowery purple suit with no shirt underneath [laughs], it really informed who this guy is. Then you know, I did some research and watched some YouTube videos of certain famous people, who I won’t mention, to hone in some of the mannerisms of the character.
You mentioned Xavier’s backstory in high school. What were you like during your school years? In high school, I kind of fell in between the cracks. I definitely wasn’t part of the popular crowd, but I wasn’t part of the unpopular crowd. I was part of the group who played ultimate frisbee at lunch, so whatever that tells you. I had a pretty good experience in high school because our specific grade was very nice to each other. There wasn’t a major hierarchy. We all got along for the most part — I know I’m fortunate to be able to say that. Some of my best friends in the world I’ve known since I was five years old. Even though I’ve grown as a person over the years, I do think the core of who I am has not changed at all, because I have those people around me to keep me in check and they’ve known me from the beginning.
I wanted to talk about the ending without any explicit spoilers. Were you surprised by the outcome?
Yeah, I’m trying to remember when I was first reading through the scripts, if I knew who the killer was from the very beginning. Regardless, I do think the reveal will be very surprising for a lot of people. I think it’ll be very satisfying. What I can say is that, even though while we were shooting, we all knew who the killer was, it was a situation where we spent months and months together and we really bonded and fell in love with each other. By the time we got to shooting the scene where this person kills me, it was pretty emotional.
You’ve started to direct, with The Rental in 2020 and Somebody I Used to Know, which you shot recently. As a director, when you’re in it, do you have a sense of how it’s going? or do you find out later [in the editing room]?
I can only speak for myself, but I have a sense of how it’s going throughout. I’ve directed two films now. The smartest thing I did on both movies was surround myself with really talented people who are also very nice and very hardworking. It took a long time to put those teams together, but when you do your due diligence, and make sure everyone is there for the right reasons, it makes your job as a director so much easier. I don’t have to micromanage anyone. It’s more of a case where I’m a cheerleader. I get to encourage these people to do what they’re great at. In terms of whether I know it’s going to be good or not – you never know how audiences are going to react to something. What I can say about both of these movies I directed is that we made the movie that we set out to make and I have to be happy with that.
What about as an actor? Are there times when you’ve gotten a sense that, ‘oh, this is a shit show,’ and then it comes out badly?
There are absolutely. Then there are other times where I thought we were making something brilliant, and it ended up being the worst thing I’ve ever been in. So yes, it is very difficult sometimes to know how it’s going while you’re in it. You try to remain optimistic and hopeful. But sometimes, you’re just going so far off the rails that you know it’s going to be very hard to save.
Some of your breakout roles were in comedies in the 2010s like 21 Jump Street and Neighbors. You don’t really see R-rated comedies like that so much anymore. Do you have thoughts on why they disappeared?
I’ve talked to friends about this. I don’t have an answer for you. Some of my friends think it’s because of YouTube and Instagram. People can get their hits of comedy in these thirty second bursts, where they can see real people having real pratfalls, where they’re getting hit in the nuts with random objects. They can get their comedy really quickly and easily now. I don’t know if that has anything to do with it. I wish I had the answer for you. I really miss the times when there were a lot of R-rated comedies.
Do you ever see yourself directing a project like that?
The latest project I directed [Somebody I Used to Know] definitely has some comedic elements. It’s not a full-on comedy, but it is very R-rated and the comedy goes hard. At the same time, it’s balanced with some romance and drama. But I do get very excited when there is a movie these days that goes really hard on the comedy. One of the last ones that comes to mind is Pop Star. It’s just an unapologetic comedy. It knows what it is. It’s joke, joke, joke. It never stops. I love that and it’s sad that’s a rare type of film now.
Whose work do you admire as a director?
The number one person who I’m inspired by is Spike Jonze. I remember when I was 14, I was working in a mom-and-pop video store, and Being John Malkovich came out, and I watched it and it changed everything I thought about movies and what you can do and what limits you can push and how weird you can get. I’ve been in love with everything he’s done since. He makes wholly original films that keep you guessing and have such a specific tone and they’re so beautifully shot. He’s the best. He goes from making something as beautiful and poignant as Her to working with the Jackass guys on those films. I love the swings he takes and that he doesn’t seem to take himself too seriously.
What about as an actor?
I really love Christian Bale and Joaquin Phoenix, who are the type of actors where you never know what they’re gonna do. They’re like feral animals and it’s so exciting. It keeps you on the edge of your seat. Who else? This is very cheesy, but my wife [Alison Brie] stars in my most recent film, and so I’ve been watching her for the past six months during the edit. She’s unbelievable. I’ve always known how great she was, but since I’ve been in this position where I’ve been watching her so intently for so long, I am realizing she’s one of the best. We’re now trying to do everything together. It’s a dream. The two of us took our cats up to Portland to shoot this latest movie. It’s like this weird little traveling family, and to be able to come home at the end of the day to my family is invaluable. It’s like, again, I just want to keep doing this.
Big wife guy.
I’m a wife guy. One thing I can say confidently about myself.