Grief, loss, realizing you have not control in certain situations—these are all common themes in life. What ‘I’m Totally Fine,’ the latest sci-fi comedy starring Jillian Bell examines however is how one can deal with those tougher moments—with an extraterrestrial twist.
Also starring Natalie Morales as Bell’s deceased friend returned (in a way) as an Alien, ‘I’m Totally Fine’ offers a fresh new take on how life can throw you curveballs and you can react in different ways to eventually face them head on. With the comedic touches of ‘Workaholics’ Kyle Newacheck and director Brandon Dermer, along with a stellar supporting cast and poignant moments, ‘I’m Totally Fine’ is certainly unlike any film you’ve seen before.
Star Jillian Bell delves a little deeper into the new film and what drew her to the material, along with how some of the more fantastical moments of ‘I’m Totally Fine’ act as metaphors to life.
How did you first get involved with ‘I’m Totally Fine’?
It was 2020, the pandemic was going crazy. We had no vaccines yet, we were all stuck in our houses, and my buddy Kyle (Newacheck) who I’ve known forever now through ‘Workaholics’, and even before that, called me up and we were just talking about life. He [said] I’ve been discussing this idea with Brandon Dermer—the director of this film—about being out of control. The more we talked about it, the more I just fell in love with the idea of what happens to you when you’re grieving and [going through] loss. I’ve definitely been through that in my life.
Alisha Ketry came on and she’s an amazing writer who started over at ‘American Dad,’ and then I called Natalie [Morales] up and said, “You know, I feel like you would be perfect for this movie.” Originally I was supposed to play the Alien, and she was supposed to play my role. We both were reading it at the same time, kind of saying, I feel like we should be in the other role.
Since you filmed during COVID with a small cast and crew, what was that experience like?
It was very intimate. It felt very open, no ideas were bad ideas because there were so few of us, you know? It was truly one of the few films I’ve been [in] where I could look around and every single person in the cast and crew could feel a sense of ownership because it really was who had the best idea for the moment. We didn’t have that many days to get this done, we have COVID scares, and we’re testing every day— so you really have to lean on each other and support one another.
I felt like, oh, I wish more movies were made like this because you sort of have a big lack of time on your hands. It’s really nice to be able to really trust who you’re making this thing with. Every night it was me, Natalie Morales, Kyle Newacheck, Brandon Dermer and Alicia Ketry all gathered around a table saying okay, with what we improvised and what we changed today, how does that affect tomorrow’s work? And we would work on it together, it was really such a beautiful process.
And how would you describe your character, Vanessa?
I think she’s a woman in a lot of pain. It’s interesting, I don’t know if you’ve ever had this, but when you lose a best friend—just even in the relationship, not even that someone has to pass away— a loss of a friendship is so deep. Sometimes it feels almost deeper than some romantic relationships. So, she’s struggling, and I think that she thinks this trip away will help her grieve slightly. But she’s kind of avoiding it, and then she can’t really avoid it when it’s face-to-face staring at her in the kitchen.
Can we talk a bit more about Vanessa, her grief and her journey with it throughout the film?
I think she avoids. She really does not want to feel everything she’s feeling. For her, she’s drinking away the pain [and] she’s not wanting to engage with people who care about her and who want to help her process. [But,] she comes face to face with someone who looks exactly like her friend who she’s grieving over and is there telling her she has to process this in a very different way than we’ve normally seen. She starts to lean into it more, and I think she thinks she’s owning it and controlling the whole thing.
But eventually, she realizes she’s not in control at all of anything: How her friend died, what she could have done, and ultimately what her new relationship is with this. It sounds so silly to say, but with this alien, she can’t control whether she stays on Earth or leaves. Again, it feels very silly to say that, but it’s sort of just a metaphor for we’re not really in control of anything but ourselves and we have to kind of give into that sometimes with life.
Why is comedy a good vehicle to explore big moments in life such as loss and not having control?
There’s comedy in everything. Even if you don’t wanna laugh yet, there are moments, especially when you’re grieving. I always think about Sarah Jessica Parker’s moment in ‘Sex and the City’ where she says, “Will I ever laugh again?” It’s very funny… but it’s sort of true. You kind of think, well, my life just got a little bit less vibrant, it got a little dimmer. How will I ever get through this? And when will I ever feel it’s appropriate to laugh at something again? But I truly feel that God has a sense of humor and I think when you’re feeling down, there’s always some kind of levity that comes through that you can’t ignore.
I think there’s a great balance of that in this script. And in the film, we had moments where we said okay if we’re ever dipping too much into Sadville, how can we make them laugh? That was really important to us. There’s a little balance of both—we’re hopefully making you laugh and making you cry, and sometimes at the same time.
‘I’m Totally Fine‘ will be in Theaters, On Demand and Digital on November 4, 2022.
