Jason Ritter and Jess Weixler on Peter and Vandy, Onscreen Romance, and Zooey Deschanel's Unwelcome Bombshell

There's a reason most film romances cut off after the guy finally gets the girl, and it's because after that comes all the tough stuff. Jay DiPietro's Peter and Vandy is principally concerned with studying those fraught parts of a relationship, and his time-shifting study of long-term lovers has two independent film darlings that are up to his challenge: Jason Ritter and Jess Weixler.

Ritter's finally overcome his status as "the son of John Ritter" to bloom into an indie leading man in his own right, while Weixler recently burst onto the scene with attention-getting performances in Teeth and Alexander the Last. Both actors have retained their easy chemistry long after shooting Peter and Vandy, which means their joint interview with Movieline was kind of a gigglefest.

My first quiz question to you is: Which of you has been to more Sundance Film Festivals?

JASON: I think I have.

JESS: You have. He wins. [Laughs] Give me one I can win!

Of course, Peter and Vandy came out at Sundance this past January, but another nonchronological romance -- (500) Days of Summer -- was there too. At what point were you like, "What the hell? Showdown!"

JASON: Zooey Deschanel and I went to elementary school together. Like, our parents were in Lamaze class. We went to high school and I've known her forever...I texted her at one point, and she was like, "Oh, you're going to Sundance? I'm going to Sundance? What's your movie about?" And I said, "It's sort of a love story told out of order." And she went, "That. Sounds. Like. My movie."

JESS: [Laughs]

JASON: When we got to Sundance, it was true that they were both love stories and they're both told out of order, but tonally, they're really different. In (500) Days of Summer, you're told every time exactly where you are in the relationship, whereas in Peter and Vandy, it jumps around and it's up to the audience to figure it out.

JESS: Also, I feel like (500) Days of Summer is 500 days, and Peter and Vandy is, like, eight years of a relationship. [Laughs] That's a different story to be told in that it's not about the falling in love, it's about the relationship.

Was it important for you guys to figure out the actual timeline of the relationship for your performances?

JESS: We just sort of figured out how many years had passed in between scenes and what we had been through, and then essentially shot the movie in chronological order so that we were getting to know each other as the characters were getting to know each other. We got very close, very fast and really trusted each other to share this intimate, psychological space so that by the time we got to the parts where we had to go at each other in a real way and take some big blows, we were able to trust each other to do it. It felt like we'd known each other much longer.

Neither of you had met before you got cast in this, and it always boggled my mind when two actors are cast as romantic partners before they've even met. Doesn't that freak you out?

JESS: Yeah! I was totally like, "Oh God, this movie's gonna live or die based on whether we have any chemistry." Jay just felt sooo sure of himself that he was like, "Oh, it's gonna be fine." [Laughs] And he just threw us together. We got lucky.

JASON: I was nervous as well. You're just so afraid that you're gonna show up and nobody's gonna be able to love you. [Both laugh] It was a scary thing, it wasn't like I could just trust my own sexual veracity. I was very, very, very nervous, but I was put at ease immediately at that dinner we had the night before shooting. Even the few conversations we had, I felt like a foundation could be created.

Jason, I know this film was adapted from a play by the director, but didn't Jay actually play your role on stage?

JASON: Yeah, he did, he played Peter. That made me really nervous as well, and at one point I made a joke to him: "I'm gonna do something on screen, and you're gonna say, "Oh yeah, great, but the way I did it on stage..."

JESS: "People loved when I did this part..."

JASON: [Laughs] But he really didn't do that. It was a really great thing he did by giving this character to me and letting me do what I wanted with it. It's a difficult thing. I mean, I see plays that I did in high school and I always judge the person who plays my part way more harshly. And, you know, I was in high school! It wasn't like I was Laurence Olivier or something. You become attached to these roles and if you feel like someone else is not giving to this character all that you gave to him, it's frustrating. It's like watching someone with an ex-lover of yours -- like, "Dude, be careful with her!"

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