As the 15th anniversary of Crazy, Stupid, Love approaches, directors John Requa and Glenn Ficarra are looking back on the making of the 2011 romantic comedy with fond memories.
During a recent interview, the duo revealed how actor Kevin Bacon helped ease their concerns about having too much fun on set.
While filming the movie's climactic backyard scene in Los Angeles, the production spent five days on that sequence.
Requa recalled that they had plenty of downtime between setups.
"We were shooting that backyard scene at the end of the movie, and it took us five days to shoot it.
So we spent a lot of time just sitting around waiting for the camera to get set up," Requa said.
During those moments, they chatted with Bacon, who played a supporting role. Requa admitted they were worried that the enjoyable atmosphere might hurt the film's quality.
"I was like, 'Kevin, we're worried we're having too much fun.' Because you always hear that if you have fun, the movie doesn't come out [well].
And if you have a bad time, the movie comes out great," he explained.
Bacon quickly dismissed that superstitious belief, telling them, "Nah, it's not true. Don't believe that."
That reassurance allowed the cast and crew to embrace a relaxed, collaborative environment filled with improvisation.
"It made us feel better because we were just having so much fun.
Everybody got along and it was just a lot of improv and goofing around," Requa said.
Ficarra noted that while much of the improvised dialogue didn't make the final cut, the best moments were preserved.
"We would shoot the script and then we would just have fun with the scenes with the actors.
So we had a lot of improv that just didn't make it in," he said. "But I think we kept a lot of the cream of it."
Shooting in Los Angeles gave the production access to an ensemble cast that included Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, and Julianne Moore.
Ficarra credited the location and Carell's involvement for attracting such talent.
"Steve Carell hired us. It was his movie, and he was in control.
So when you say you're going to shoot in L. A.
and you have Steve Carell as the star, it's like, 'Sure.' It's easy.
Makes it easy," he said.
The collaboration also led to a lasting friendship between the directors and screenwriter Dan Fogelman.
"Ryan wanted to work with Steve. He had worked with Steve before and was just so impressed by him," Requa said.
Requa described their ongoing relationship with Fogelman as one of the most significant outcomes of the production.
"And we became instant friends at the beginning.
Basically, the real love story of this movie is our love story with Dan because we became friends.
I mean, we're still friends and we still do TV and we're doing another Dan Fogelman movie," he said.
Carell, who also produced the film, previously told Entertainment Tonight that he was initially hesitant about the title chosen by Warner Bros.
"I never liked that title," he said. "I do now, but when [screenplay writer] Dan Fogelman wrote it, he didn't title it.
He didn't call it anything. It was 'Untitled Dan Fogelman Project.'"
The studio eventually settled on Crazy, Stupid, Love, and Carell admitted he wasn't thrilled at first.
"So finally, Warner Brothers just said, 'We're calling it Crazy, Stupid, Love,' I was like, 'Eh, alright,'" he said.
He noted that audience reception proved the title worked.
"But I'm convinced that if it's good and people like it, people will like the title. Doesn't even matter what you call it," he said.
Produced on a $50 million budget, the film grossed $145.1 million worldwide after its 2011 release.
