"When in doubt, get drunk and be honest."
Emily Blunt (The Five-Year Engagement, The Devil Wears Prada) and Rosemarie DeWitt (Mad Men, Rachel Getting Married) star in Your Sister's Sister, a new comic drama about a sibling love triangle, out this week from Lynn Shelton, director of the delightful Humpday. (You can check out a trailer for Your Sister's Sister here.) We spoke with all three of these charmers about love, sex, and the relative attractiveness of Jon Hamm and Ewan McGregor.
Rosemarie, you've starred opposite some pretty different male leads. There's Don Draper, who's dashing but unavailable. Then there's Jack in this movie, who's a little lost, but more open. Which type do you prefer?
RD: I watch a lot of women date unavailable men, and it doesn't make any sense. I mean, it makes for good television. You'll get a lot of seasons out of Don Draper. But it doesn't make sense for your personal life.
LS: I think when you're rebounding, it's always good to date an unavailable guy, because you don't want to get right back into a relationship. But otherwise, dating unavailable guys —
EB: It's just useless.
Emily, you're married to one of TV's most famous "nice guys," John Krasinski of The Office. We assume he's not that "nice" in real life, because nobody could be that "nice" in real life. Are nice guys attractive? Discuss.
EB: I'm just going to say that he's even better in real life. He's Jim Halpert, and then some. And he's the funniest man alive. Jim Halpert is a very subdued version of John.
LS: That's what's always killed me, throughout my life. Whether they're nice or mean, they can get away with murder if they're funny.
EB: John was that guy at school who, girls would write to him in the yearbook, "Thanks for being such a great friend, and a shoulder to cry on. You've always been there for me, like when I broke up with Derek."
RD: The younger you are, the less you like nice guys. You kind of grow into liking nice. You go after guys who aren't as nice at the beginning.
EB: My mother always said, "I don't care what he does. Just make sure you marry a kind man."
Between the three of you, you've worked with some very attractive actors, including Jon Hamm, Ewan McGregor, and Tunde Adebimpe. Let's imagine a scenario where they're all single and out at a bar. Who does the best with the women?
RD: Tunde's so cool, but he's very unassuming. In a bar situation…
EB: I think Ewan is Captain Charmpants. He might take it. And he also has fantastic hair.
RD: Jon Hamm's pretty gorgeous.
LS: He's totally gorgeous, but it's in that boy-next-door way.
RD: You know what might happen? A lot of the girls might flock over to Jon Hamm, but he wouldn't get the cool girls, the girls who have some self-respect who hang back. Ewan would go talk to them.
LS: They'd each get a good quadrant. Their own demographic.
RD: Yeah.
EB: Ewan's incredibly warm and interested, and he loves chicks. He loves what they're about.
RD: Jon is pretty charming himself, and hilarious.
So Tunde's striking out here?
RD: No. Here's the thing: he's the mild-mannered guy who's like a maniac on stage. You've got to love that, when someone's inner lion comes out. That's so sexy.
EB: I adore that.
In Rachel Getting Married, he sings a Neil Young song to you at the altar. For all of you, if you could do it again, what song would you make your husband sing you at your wedding?
EB: I'm so secretive about that stuff. My songs with John are ours. Even my friends don't know them. But for karaoke, I really love a bit of "Me & Bobby McGee." If I'm at Sing Sing in the East Village, I'll do a bit of "Bobby McGee."
RD: How do you sound?
EB: Not awesome. I recently did a duet with Matt Damon on "Twist and Shout," and we got crushed.
That must have been adorable.
EB: We raunched it up. I had no voice the next day, but it was worth it.
RD: I had a boyfriend get up at a wedding one time and do "I Want You Back" by the Jackson 5. But he was screaming, so it sounded like Nirvana.
This movie is about a sibling-entangled love triangle. Have any of you ever had a crush on the sibling of someone you were dating?
EB: I had a best friend when I was young, and she had five older brothers. And I remember just desperately wanting an older brother. I remember having childhood crushes on all of them.
RD: I kissed some of my friends' older brothers.
That's, like, the Holy Grail.
RD: Is it? That's how you date!
LS: It's your sister's boyfriend you don't want to have a crush on. I think I had a crush on my sister's girlfriend once, but nothing too serious.
Lynn, you've set several films in the Northwest. Do people approach dating differently there?
LS: The problem is I don't have anything to compare it with.
RD: Well, they dress differently out there, to lure you in.
LS: With Humpday, I wanted to give a glimpse into the polyamorous, sex-positive subculture in the city. There's a lot of openness.
EB: You guys are still in the '60s out there; it's fantastic. It's interesting though — I have a really good friend who lived in L.A. for five years. She didn't get asked out on one date. She was a gorgeous girl, like Rita Hayworth, and she had a great career. She was probably intimidating to guys.
RD: You have to come to New York. Guys in L.A. have frosted tips in their hair. Don't date in L.A.
EB: Well, this friend moved to Austin, and within two weeks, she had two dates. She called me like, "What the fuck? I thought it was me!"
Your Sister's Sister is all about taking it to another level with old friends. I've had a secret thing for my good friend for years. I want to confess my feelings, but I'm afraid of ruining the friendship. What do you think I should do?
EB: That's the big debacle in our movie. Tricky, tricky.
RD: I'm a fan of telling. Because otherwise the relationship isn't real anyway. You're not being authentic.
How should you tell them?
[All three]: Drunk.
RD: Then you can blame it on the booze if it doesn't go well. My line used to be, when I had a crush on someone, "I'm sorry, but I might just have to kiss you before the end of the summer."
EB: Nice.
Lynn, you write and direct movies about unconventional love. What's the strangest romantic situation you've ever been in in real life?
LS: I did a little do-si-do in my twenties.
EB: What's a do-si-do?
LS: When you switch partners. So my best friend ended up with my ex-boyfriend. And his best friend is the one I got married to. We all ended up with the right people.
Was it awkward?
LS: Yeah, there was some messiness at first. But we're all friends now.
My girlfriend is wonderful in a dozen ways, but she's completely unresponsive in bed. I feel weird and self-conscious having sex with her. How can I get her to loosen up without hurting her feelings?
EB: Rose is going to say get drunk again.
RD: When in doubt, get drunk and be honest.
