Guys being guys is funny to me: Paul Feig on subverting hyper masculine tropes in his movies

New Delhi: Filmmaker Paul Feig, known for movies such as Bridesmaids, Spy and A Simple Favor, says he enjoys making fun of outdated concepts like toxic masculinity through exaggerated male characters in his stories.

Feig has often portrayed popular Hollywood stars against their image, whether it was Jason Statham's over-the-top yet idiotic spy character Rick Ford in Spy (2015) or Thor star Chris Hemsworth as the dumb yet handsome receptionist Kevin Beckman in Ghostbusters.

The filmmaker said he finds humour in flipping the script on traditional masculine tropes.

"I think guys being really guys is funny to me because it's such a old fashioned concept in a weird way, this kind of toxic masculinity that can sometimes come in and it is a funny thing to take the piss out of (it) as far as I'm concerned," Feig, whose next film is Another Simple Favor, told PTI in a virtual interview.

Historically, the filmmaker said, women have been boxed into reductive character tropes, be it the mean girl, the insufferable wife or the nagging mom.

"So it's kind of fun to flip that trope, but also in a justified way. I mean, Statham is just hyper testosterone and Chris Hemsworth, it was fun to play him like a big dummy," he added.

Another Simple Favor is a sequel to Feig's 2018 blockbuster "A Simple Favor" that featured Anna Kendrick as Stephanie, a mom blogger who investigates the disappearance of her mysterious friend Emily Nelson (Blake Lively) and uncovers a web of secrets involving Emily’s identity, her twin sister, a shady past, and insurance fraud.

Asked how he maintained the darkly comic tone of the sequel, Feig stressed that for him, it’s not just about the crazy events unfolding, but about how the characters react to those situations.

"They're already kind of extreme characters in their own way. Then you surround them with a bunch of other extreme characters in a very extreme situation, which (in this case), we're sending Stephanie, who's kind of mastered the suburbs into this world of glamour, intrigue, danger and money...

"The comedy comes from how she and the people around her are reacting to each other and to these getting crazier and crazier situations," he said.

And even though the situations are insane, the characters are playing it seriously which makes it feel more real and funny to the audiences, he added.

"We've all been in situations where crazy things happen with crazy people and you're just like, 'Alright. I don't think this is fake.' Once you're out of it, you enjoy it. When you're in it, you're like, 'oh my God.' So it's hitting all those moments," Feig said.

Besides Kendrick and Lively, Another Simple Favor also brings back Henry Golding as Sean Townsend, the charming and mild-mannered ex-husband of Lively's Emily.

However, in the sequel, not everything is going great for Sean, teased Feig.

"It was nice to take this character who was so sweet and figuring. This guy's been worn down to the nubs, so he's going to come out just ready for revenge," the filmmaker said.

Golding said Sean was more passive and accommodating in the first movie but he is more aggressive and careless with his words in the sequel, which felt strange for him as an actor.

"It was just so much fun. It was so counterintuitive for me to sort of have these horrible kinds of lines and throw them to the girls. In the first one, he kind of took all the punishment and was like, 'okay,' and 'yes ma'am'. In the second one, he's kind of found his voice weirdly at the bottom of a bottle," said the actor, also known for movies such as Crazy Rich Asians, Last Christmas, Snake Eyes, The Gentlemen and The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare.

"I think maybe it's the Dutch courage, maybe it's just not caring anymore. I think we've met Sean at a point in his life where he's lost everything. He's kind of tired of everything and he doesn't care anymore. So he is just like, 'Whatever. Let's just enjoy'," he added.

Another Simple Favor, which will start streaming on Prime Video from May 1, also stars Andrew Rannells, Bashir Salahuddin, Elizabeth Perkins, Michele Morrone, Alex Newell, Elena Sofia Ricci and Allison Janney A Lionsgate and Feigco Entertainment Production, the film is written by Jessica Sharzer and Laeta Kalogridis, based on characters created by Darcey Bell.