Marisa Tomei: 'A Lot of People are Scared of Actors!'

What has brought your character Molly to this point where she's so focused on nurturing and encouraging the men in her life? Did you come up with a backstory for her?

I think that's her nature. Also, they made her a massage therapist, where you're nurturing people and tuned into how they're feeling and open to alternative ideas, maybe. I think that's what she's interested in life.

They like cringe-inducing humor. Was there ever anything that was too awkward, even for you as an actor?

Some of the stuff in that dinner scene [where the centerpiece line is "Please don't f**k my mother"]. I was kind of like, "Um, wow. Yeah." [Laughs] Some of the break-up stuff was uncomfortable, some of the harder emotional stuff was uncomfortable, but you got used to it. That's what's so amazing about [the Duplasses] -- sometimes they'd be like, "This is too awkward for us even as filmmakers." They can just be there, not knowing what to do with it, and figuring it out until it comes to them. They're not backing off, and that's amazing.

Jonah is such a quick improviser and John is so good at making things seem organic. When you're sitting there between them, how do you contribute?

Well, I was a little bummed because they have this rivalry to play, and I have to not see certain characteristics of that.

How do you make those blinders feel real?

It was hard! It was really hard. It's just what you were talking about before, that she sees things positively all the time, that's in her nature. It's not as strong a point-of-view, it's not as funny a point-of-view, so that kind of bummed me out. But you have to accept it.

You've had the good fortune to play a lot of funny female characters, but you seem to be getting at a recurring problem in Hollywood -- sometimes, they just don't let women be the funny ones.

Yeah, yeah.

What do you do when your offered those types of things?

I mean, I don't know what I'm going to do. I've been thinking about it. [Laughs] Actually, on this movie, I did say to them, "You have to let her be funny, too."

Do you think it's just rooted in filmmakers who aren't quite sure how to write for a woman?

Yeah, I do. It's also just like, "What are you interested in?" And the story that they're interested in is this rivalry. Still, I think they really protected my character and they didn't make her look like a fool, so that was a plus.

What are you working on next?

Another comedy, the untitled one with Steve Carell and Ryan Gosling.

Who are you playing in that?

I'm a crazy love interest of Carell's.

Crazy how?

I don't want to say. [Laughs]

They're weirdly secretive about that movie! They released so little about the plot, you won't tell me about the character, there's no title...

There's no mandate, believe me. I think they're frustrated that there's no title, too!

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