Last fall at the Austin Film Festival, writer/director Ned Crowley showed his debut film Middle Man, about an aspiring comic named Lenny, played by Jim O’Heir, who hits the road to make it big in Vegas after the death of his mother. On his way through the desert, Lenny picks up a hitchhiker, appropriately named Hitch (Andrew J. West), who convinces him to flex his funny bone at an open mic night.
Lenny, having never done standup in his life, bombs miserably, leaving him to question his life’s dream. Then, things take a rather unexpected turn, and Lenny finds himself overwhelmed by a situation of his own making, which ends up making the best of by using it in his standup act.
With the film a success on the film festival circuit, and now in limited release, we caught up with Jim O’Heir on how the film came to be, as well as what the last year has been like as the film grows in popularity.
What brought this project about initially?
Ned Crowley who wrote Middle Man, we have been friends since we met in ’85 in Second City taking classes in Chicago, so we became part of a comedy group. So we have been friends forever. And Ned who works in film, [wrote] Middle Man with me in mind. He sent me the script easily 10 years ago and it was, you know, great, loved it, blah blah blah, and then we’re both like “Well now what? We have no power, we don’t know how to make a movie, we don’t-what are we going to do?”
So, it basically goes into a drawer. And then, you know, because of Parks and Recreation, I start getting some notoriety, people know who I am, you know, when you’re in someone’s home every week for a bunch of years, that happened, and so then Ned put the film back out there again and then he got a bite with these producers who said if you could attach Jen to it, we’ll do it. So he called me and said “I think we’re going to make Middle Man,” I’m like, what the ef are you talking about? So, because now I’m thinking I’m too damn old because this was, again, 10 years earlier. So he goes “No, no, no, a couple of quick rewrites you know, as far as situations and stuff.”
So, I had loved the script from the first time I read it many years ago. So, he sent me the cleaned up version. At the beginning of the old script, it was my grandmother who died. Well, now it’s my mother. We aged it a little because one thing when Ned wrote it was mid 30s and you know, that hadn’t been in my cage for 20 years, so we put some color in my hair. So, I loved the script from day one, so when he said I think we could get this made, even then I was skeptical. And then we met with these producers at some place in Santa Monica and we left the meeting and I said “Holy shit, I think we’re going to make a movie.” And here we are.
With an independent, low-budget project like this, did that grant you guys some autonomy when making it?
Yes, autonomy was granted, as [it] should have been, [besides] people wanting the money and stuff had their input as they have to.
But this is Ned’s baby and you know, Ned’s been in the ad business for a lot of years and he’s been in the business where you know you work for big clients, Disney and the theater companies, and all that stuff, so when they need more money, they just say we need more money. So I think it was an eye opener for Ned, because you cannot just say, light up the desert. That has to be planned and all this kind of stuff.
But other than financial restrictions, somethings that just could not happen, I think Ned had total free reign and it was the best thing they could have done because Ned knows how to work with actors. He’s worked with actors for a lot of years. [What] was blowing me away by this movie from day one when the word went out that we were casting it is we couldn’t believe the people who wanted to audition for it because we put the word out there. This is an ultra low-budet, this is not a big film. This is an actor’s going to make 125 dollars a day. So, it’s tough to get a well-known actor or a working actor to do that. If you have a TV show, that’s credible money.
But what happened was the script was so strong that managers and agents were saying to their clients, “You got to read this. And I know it’s not a payday you would want, but look at this material.” Because actors want to act and yeah we have bills to pay and all that stuff. It’s not ultimately about that. You know, you’ll do the jobs that pay the money, I’ll do the TV show, I’ll do the guest spot, I’ll do the, you know, I did the Soderbergh film this year, but there [are] ways to make money. This was because of the script and this was that script and I think the producers were smart to say let’s not run with this, work with the actors, all of his life says he knows how crazy we are, you know, and my input was I said, “Here’s the thing. We have these amazing actors who are willing to do this.”
You don’t necessarily have what are considered big names, but you’ve got a lot of reputable actors lending their talents here.
These are actors who would not normally do this at this point in their careers. You know, Josh McDermitt is on The Walking Dead. You can go to those signings on a weekend and make incredible money just from that and he gave up weekends, so he could’ve been doing that for this film.
It reminds me of Cassavetes, who would make his big, Hollywood movies just to fund his passion projects.
That’s exactly what it is. Exactly. I am sure that it will make me a nickel by the time you pay for this, you pay for that, but oh was it a good script. Was that fun? Was that funny? We’re at a point in our careers when jobs come along to pay the bills. I just recurred on the, oh god what show am I going to do, Brooklyn Nine Nine. All sorts of things and, but, sometimes you read the script and you go “Damn.”
I did a film recently called Heavens to Betsy, but when they called me I said there’s no way. There’s just timelines, which can’t happen because they told me when they were looking to shoot it and I said it can’t happen and so I’m not even going to read the script. They left me a message and said “Please, just read the script,” and I was so mad at myself because the minute I was done I was like “Ah damn it.” I have to do this film because this script was sweet and loving and that film was a great, great film.
And with Middle Man, it’s very much Ned’s film. The color saturation, or the lack there of, and this sort of technological ambiguity, with the exception of a couple cell phones here and there, there’s a 60 year time frame where this could take place in and you would believe it.
Absolutely. Yeah, because people would say “And when does this take place?” You know, you’d have to say modern day just because of, like you said, a cell phone is there or this or that, but there’s very few of those elements that will tie this.
Was it fun to break out of the kind of characters you’ve become known for?
I had just done Parks for seven years and I was the lovable, goofy, sad, fat, Gerry Gergich, which was a gift that I will be forever grateful for, but you know, we’re in a business where they label you, and, so the timing, I thought was perfect when Ned called to say I think we can do Middle Man. Once I realized this was true and I think we can it was like okay now I have to put up or shut up, kind of thing, because I’ve been saying for years I hope I don’t get stuck in this little niche of oh he’s just this guy.
We’re actors, we do a bunch of different things. So, I felt the pressure. I felt the pressure of this being Ned’s big film debut. I don’t want to screw that up for him, and I wanted to prove my acting chops. So, the tough part about going into it was the film starts, he could be Jerry from Parks.
He’s still very much the office pariah when things start out.
Oh yeah, absolutely. Yeah, it’s very much this is just Jerry again. Which I kind of loved because I knew where it was going. But when people watch it my guess is that first they’re like “Oh okay, so he’s doing this Jerry thing.” [But] it’s not Jerry at all. That was my job to make sure that that happened.
There’s also the gag that Lenny’s an aspiring comedian who ends up playing the straight man in the film.
Oh, well, that’s the joke. Ned would always say ‘I always had to remind you that you are not the funny man. You have no laugh lines in this film. The comedy that you bring is just from Lenny being Lenny.’
How’s it been the past year that the film’s made the festival round and is now coming out for limited release?
That has been really exciting. I’ve never been involved in a film that had this much heat around it at the festival because I was just a Tribeca. I have a small part in the film. So, I went there and nothing has had the reaction like Middle Man, and I didn’t expect it. Ned and I will tell you with all honesty we never discussed winning anything.
So, I was shooting in Chicago until Thursday. Flew to Seattle on Friday. Flew back to Chicago Saturday morning. Flew back to Seattle on Sunday for the awards, and I get off the plane and I have a text from Ned and he goes, “We won,” and my response was, “Won what?” There was never discussion of winning a damn thing, and he said, “I’m not 100% sure, but people seem very excited for us.” So, I get to the hotel and he’s standing outside waiting for me and I go “Dude what did he win?” and he goes “I think the whole thing, and he goes the grand jury prize!”
And Ned spent months in the editing room with this. So, he’s made his decisions. He thinks it’s good, but it could be bad. Who the hell knows? So to have our first festival … To win it was shocking, exciting and then from there we just kept getting accolades [including the festival] in Edmonton, Canada we won best comedy and best drama.
Oh, wow. That’s fantastic.
And it was crazy. Like just crazy. So, it’s been quite the ride. I’ve had mixed feelings about it wrapping up because it is wrapping up. We’re going to do the next week and a half, actually next two weeks, I’m kind of all over the place. I’m going to be doing to be doing New York, Boston, of course, LA, doing Seth Meyers, you know all the stuff they have you do and then it’s just out there. It’s just another film out there and it’s kind of like “Okay, the baby’s grown up. Now, let the baby go off on her own.” It’s a little sad too, and, yet incredibly exciting.
We’ve all had other projects since, but this one was special. Number one, it was special because I got to work with Ned and as we would both say, our friendship was stronger than when it began and it was strong to begin with, but our fear of it getting screwed over by this film never happened. We are tighter than we’ve ever been.
So, it’s been a hell of a ride. For me, as an actor, it’s been great because it shows he’s not just the wacky, sad neighbor who can come in with a punchline and leave. So, it’s been, overall, an incredible experience.
Middle Man is currently playing in limited release. Check the film’s website to find out if it’s playing in a city near you.
