I REMEMBER WHEN WE SPOKE LAST YEAR ABOUT YOUR MOVIE FROZEN, YOU SAID THAT YOU LIKED TO TRY AND WORK A LOT OF MASSACHUSETTS AND NEW ENGLAND REFERENCES INTO YOUR MOVIES. I ASSUME YOU’RE DOING THAT JUST AS MUCH WITH THIS SHOW?
Yes. I mean, just the fact that the show is set in Holliston, and we talk about so many local places, and the scenes we do. There’s this joke we do about Market Basket that’s killing everywhere even if you don’t know what Market Basket is. But if you do know what it is, it’s even funnier. For locals, I think, there’s a lot of this in it where they’re going to feel like it’s a wink to them, and they really get it. The staff, when I told them we were going to Boston, were all like, “Can we go to Market Basket?” And I’m just like, “That’s what you want to see?” So, actually, in a few minutes I’m taking them to a Market Basket. Hopefully it lives up to everything they thought it was going to be.
WHAT EXACTLY DO THEY THINK IT’S GOING TO BE?
I don’t know! I’m like, “It’s a supermarket, it’s like Stop & Shop.” And they go, “What’s that?” So I say, “It’s like Ralphs.” And they go, “Ohhh.” So I don’t know what they think it’s going to be. We don’t have Stop & Shop in California either, so they don’t know what that is. But yeah, it’s just a grocery store, but they’re excited to say they went to Market Basket. And when you see the episode, you’ll get it. It’s basically Laura [Ortiz] because she’s Colombian, she pronounces things weird. So she asks what time does Market Basket close? And Corey says, no, it’s Market Basket. And they keep going back and forth. It’s very Abbot and Costello in a way. But every screening we’ve done, people are just on the floor, and if you know what Market Basket is, it’s even funnier, because, why are they talking about it? [Laughs.]
HAVE YOU GOTTEN ANY BACKLASH ABOUT HOW HOLLISTON IS PORTRAYED?
No, I think the town was thrilled with how it was represented. I mean, I tried to actually paint the town pretty well. I mean, I’m painting Joe and I in a pretty bad state, that we’re broke and we’re trying to get out of there. In my speech last night, that’s what I started with. How, you know, I spent so many years trying to get out and chase after my dreams and get out of there. I hadn’t been back there in 13 years, and you come home . . . the way the town embraced me, the way so much hasn’t changed. All day long, at first, I felt sort of like an outsider, and it was awful. I was just walking around with a pit in my stomach, like, “This isn’t home anymore, this isn’t home anymore. . . . ” But then to see how many people showed up, and to get a standing ovation, and the hugging and kissing . . . I am home. And I love Holliston, which is why I always put it in everything. It’s also a way to remember where you’re from, and who you really are, in this business. Because the bigger things get . . . and the money, and all the other stuff that comes with this. . . . I mean, it’s great, I’m not complaining, but you have to remember who you really are.
