Yeah.

And then I moved out to, I, I, I went to college for a year in Arizona.

And I got into the scene there, and I was doing it even more, and I was, like, really, you know- Wait, wait, wait.

Yeah.

When you know you wanna do this, what do you go to college for then? I went to college only because I had to go to college.

My parents made me.

I'm Jewish.

This is what I'm talking about

He's so sweet.

Always wanted a son, and that's the, that's the kind of fictional element of the movie, but everything else ... uh, that isn't revolved around my character is really his life.

And we put, you know, so we, we outlined the movie, we had every scene figured out, but we basically left the dialogue to be w- I wanted their real voices.

And we, you know, Joe is an amazing editor, so there was a lot of, you know, a lot of it was put together in the editing room.

Um, but those guys are also the type of, there's certain people, and I've worked with a lot of non-actors on especially the stuff that I made.

I'm, I'm fascinated by that kind of style.

Do you love acting?

I do.

And in real life.

Yeah, uh, in, in real life as well.

But even before he got diagnosed with Parkinson's, he had this beautiful, optimistic spirit about him that was s- it's really contagious to be around, and just such a character, and I love characters, and Joe and I love characters.

So it was like, let's make a movie about this guy.

And then for me, what really pushed it over the edge was meeting his roommate, Steve, who was also in the film, and seeing their dynamic.

And I know you're laughing 'cause you probably s- 'cause you've seen the movie, and it's, their dynamic is so intoxicating.

And I think it's not just that Steve is this kinda like military-esque, kind of like no-nonsense character, but he also happens to love Bert.

[laughs]

How did he become involved with the picture? What did his experience making heartwarming American stories offer you both?

Well, so David and I worked on another show, Red Oaks, for the guy who didn't see me since California.

Three seasons of Red Oaks.

You know, maybe go check that show.

It's a good one.

Uh, but, uh, yeah, so, uh, red Oaks, David Gordon green was the director producer on it.

We became really good friends.

I mean, come on.

And Steve is such a good, natural actor.

To answer your question a little bit, that's the story of how that thing kind of happened with those guys.

But to answer your question about working with non-actors is Joe creates a really good environment that, you know, first off, we had a three-person crew.

You know, it's Joe in the second camera, B camera, and we have our Kenji, our DP, and our sound guy, Rob, and that's it.

So it almost feels like, for them, we kind of create an environment for them where they feel like they're not on a set.

It's not like action and cut.

It's really creating an environment where they can be themselves.

I'm curious how she got involved and what working with her was like.