'What Happens Later' Interview: Meg Ryan and David Duchovny

Moviefone speaks with Meg Ryan and David Duchovny about 'What Happens Later.' "I consider myself lucky to have Meg as a performer and as a director," he said.

Opening in theaters on November 3rd is the new romantic comedy ‘What Happens Later,’ which was co-written and directed by actress Meg Ryan (‘Ithaca’).

Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with writer, director and actress Meg Ryan, as well as actor David Duchovny about their work on ‘What Happens Later.’

They discussed their new movie, Ryan’s writing process, the themes they both wanted to explore, Duchovny’s experience sharing all his scenes with Ryan and working so closely with his director, how Ryan planned her shots with cinematographer Bartosz Nalazek, and shooting the final dance sequence.

(L to R) David Duchovny and Meg Ryan in Bleecker Street’s 'What Happens Later.' Credit: Bleecker Street.

You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews.

Moviefone: To begin with, Meg, can you talk about developing the screenplay for the film, and what were some of the themes as a director you were excited to explore with this movie?

Meg Ryan: The perspective of two people looking back on their future that they didn't have together. I thought that was just this mature perspective on two people trying to understand a life lived without one another. I thought that was just an interesting perspective to tell the story from the road not taken. Then they had this opportunity to go back and figure it out. They're significant, obviously in one another's lives because of this heartbreak and that they end up being able to be grateful about that.

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David Duchovny in Bleecker Street’s 'What Happens Later.' Credit: Bleecker Street.

MF: David, as an actor, what were some of the themes that you were excited to explore on screen with this role?

David Duchovny: What I liked is that after they split up back in the day, they split up for reasons about one another that turned out to be incorrect. So, in a way, they went, and they lived their entire lives on these false assumptions about one another or pushing against something. “Oh, I'm not going to do that. I'm going to do this.” Then you come back 25 years later and you're like, "Oh my God. I structured my whole life around a misperception in many ways."

(L to R) David Duchovny and Meg Ryan in Bleecker Street’s 'What Happens Later.' Credit: Bleecker Street.

MF: David, you share pretty much all your scenes in the movie with Meg, who is also the director. What was it like for you to be in a project where you are only acting opposite one other actor, who also happens to be the filmmaker?

DD: I don't think I've worked with an actor who was directing before. That's a good question. I don't think I have. But that aside also, I've never done as much work in a movie with just one other actor. I can't think of any other movie that is just one other actor. So, I just consider myself lucky on both counts to have Meg as a performer, just a great living, breathing, organically reacting person, actress, honest, truthful, funny, and all those things. But also, as a director, just really nurturing, confidence building, freeing, perceptive, gentle, and smart. I ran out of adjectives. I ran out of words.

(L to R) Cinematographer Bartosz Nalazek and director Meg Ryan on the set of 'What Happens Later.' Credit: Bleecker Street.

MF: Many of the scenes in the movie play out in long masters without much cutting in between, allowing the performances to really playout and resonate with the audience. Meg, can you talk about setting up those shots and working with cinematographer Bartosz Nalazek?

MR: I got there about five or six weeks before David got there, and the DP was there the entire time. We shot listed everything as best we could. We were very prepared so that we could throw it all away when the performers get there and different things take over, but you had that in your back pocket. So, a lot of the conversation was about how we're going to marry these locations and then how the magical reality would progress. That had to do with reflections and all kinds of things. The airport voice, all kinds of things that ended up contributing to that. But Bartosz Nalazek is from the Polish Avant Garde Theater School, and I think he just did a beautiful job. We didn't have a lot of money, so what we had to do is figure out how to really take things away. So, after we shot, and we were in the color part of the post-production, we took away as many monikers as we could. Many things like gate numbers, advertising and all that stuff just kept getting simplified and eliminated, changing the color of the background, keeping the palette all the same, all that stuff to contribute to the progressive stillness and enchantment of this environment.

(L to R) Meg Ryan and David Duchovny in in Bleecker Street’s 'What Happens Later.' Credit: Bleecker Street.

MF: David, as an actor, was it freeing to work in that way?

DD: For me as an actor in those shots where she's letting the scope of the place, because we were shooting in an airport, which is huge and open, and we were shooting in a museum, which is huge, open and beautiful. She allowed me as an actor to exist in these long takes, which you never get to do. Sometimes it's good that you don't get to do it, but we were on top of it and we were really playing against one another very well and organically, I thought. You see it, and it's not created by the editor, it's created by Meg and I on the day in that space.

(L to R) David Duchovny and Meg Ryan in Bleecker Street’s 'What Happens Later.' Credit: Bleecker Street.

MF: Finally, Meg, can you talk about shooting the dance sequence?

MR: Even just the dance sequence, just the two of us were alone in this giant room. The camera was across a lake in another building and there was maybe a big helium balloon that lit that place, and they would just say, "Go." Then the music would start and we would just dance. It was the last night we were shooting. So, the freedom of that, I loved that so much, and you can feel it. In fact, I have a friend who saw the movie, and that's the part where she just couldn't stop crying.

What Happens Later

"They missed their connection."

R1 hr 44 minNov 3rd, 2023

Showtimes & Tickets

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What is the plot of ‘What Happens Later’?

The film follows two exes (Meg Ryan and David Duchovny) who, after bumping into each other when their flights get delayed due to a snowstorm, spend the night at the airport reliving their past.