Dave and John Chernin are taking audiences back to the time of R-rated teen comedies withIncoming. The sibling creative duo first kicked off their career as both writers and executive story editors on thelong-running comedyIt’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, having worked on 30 episodes of the hit show, ranging from “The Gang Goes to the Jersey Shore” and “Mac and Dennis Buy a Timeshare”, among others. They also went on to create the Fox sitcom,The Mick, which was led bySunnystar Kaitlin Olson and ran for two seasons.
WithIncoming, the Chernins are making their feature directorial debut and telling the story of Benj, a high school freshman who, with his friends Eddie, Connor and Koosh, anxiously kick off their high school experience by going to a party thrown by Koosh’s older brother. While there, Benj looks to make a move on his crush, his sister’s best friend and sophomore Bailey, while Koosh looks to live up to his brother’s elite party status. Eddie and Connor, on the other hand, take the Tesla owned by the former’s mom’s annoying boyfriend for a joyride, resulting in a series of misadventures.
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Incomingfeatures a castof young up-and-coming actors, withThe Black Phonebreakout Mason Thames starring as Benj, withGrey’s Anatomyalum Bardia Seiri starring as Koosh and Disney Channel alums Ramon Reed (Just Roll With It) and Raphael Alejandro (Bunk’d) playing Eddie and Connor. Keeping the pace fast and breezy and being reminiscent of classic teen comedies likeSuperbadorAmerican Pie, the movie is a laidback time for fans of the genre.
In honor of the movie’s release,Screen Rantinterviewed writers/directors Dave and John Chernin to discussIncoming, getting to make their feature directorial debut, how their time onIt’s Always Sunny in Philadelphiainformed their experience making the movie, and how they went about directing teenagers on an R-rated comedy.
The Chernins Have Been Toying WithIncomingFor 15 Years
Screen Rant: This movie is such a fun ride from start to finish, and feels like a great throwback to old teenage comedies of yore. How did this first come about for you guys, the story and getting to make this your feature directorial debut?
John Chernin: I think we just grew up loving those movies, so we’ve always been talking about ideas that could fit in one of those. I think whenever we hang out, we’re just talking about bits, like, “Oh, that could be a funny scene for a high school movie.” It’s been something we’ve been kicking around for 15 years, and when the pandemic hit, we just decided, “We’re getting further and further away from high school, if we were ever going to write it, now feels like the time.”
Dave Chernin: Yeah. I would also add, in 2020, when we sat down to write it, the world was somewhat bleak, and we just wanted to write the silliest idea we had in the chamber. And it was this one.
So, given your guys' experience as TV writers and creators, did you ever have an idea of maybe having this be a TV show, or did you always sort of envision this as a film?
Dave Chernin: I think we always wanted to do a high school comedy, and for a while, we were trying to figure out what the throughline was. So, there was a moment where we were picturing it as a TV show, but I think when we started landing on what the characters and the story were, it just felt like we could wrap it all up in 100 pages. So we went with the movie.
The Chernins Wanted To Avoid Aging Up The Teenage Characters
So, you talk about a throughline, and obviously, Mason Thames' character is one of the biggest throughlines of this film. He’sfresh off ofThe Black Phone, being incredible on that. But what was it like, you know, searching for the perfect person to play this lead character?
John Chernin: Well, casting is everything, so I think we put a lot of effort into that. It was really important to us to find kids that age, because we think it makes the stakes seem pretty big. I think once you start sliding in adults to play teenage roles, it just has a compounding effect of like, “Well, if 20-year-olds are playing the freshmen, then we need 25-year-olds playing the seniors and so on.” Mason was just someone who came in and read, and we really liked him, obviously, as an actor, but also as a person. He’s such a good guy with a good heart, so we feel very lucky that we got him onboard early on.
Koosh Was One Of The Movie’s Trickiest Characters To Write & Cast
So, I also wanted to talk about Koosh in this movie, because much likeAmerican Pie’s Stifler, he is someone where there is goodness there, even if he’s maybe not going about it the right way. I’d love to hear, not only from the writing, but also from directing Bardia, what it was like walking that fine line of making sure he’s still a character audiences can like, while still letting him have a little oddness to him?
Dave Chernin: I think all the credit there goes to Bardia. That was the last character that we cast in this movie. That was a really tricky one, and I think the key with him was you needed to feel, underneath it all, that there was a good guy beneath there, albeit a little bit misguided. So, it was important to us that the audience never felt like Bardia’s victim, let’s call her, was ever in any real danger. So, I think Bardia just being the sweet guy that he is, despite some of the words and ideas that come out of his mouth, there’s just a undertone of innocence to him.
John Chernin: I would also add that Victoria, who’s his scene partner in that whole story, she’s a pretty formidable opponent, and you never think, “Oh, this is gonna end badly for her.” She’s just unfortunately stuck with this kid. But I also think that wasn’t a challenging thing to edit, but it did go through a lot of iterations, where we’d do a cut, and it would be way too far into something nefarious, or into something skeezy, and then you’d pull it back and decide, “Well, now it’s not as funny, and it doesn’t seem as clever.” So, it was just a real turning of the dials to get that one to a place where you satisfied everything.
Dave Chernin: Yeah, that was interesting, too. I would add to that, we screened this movie for audiences a few times to just kind of test where it was at. There were some tests where Bardia would be the highest-testing character, there were some where he’d be the lowest character. So, I think that’s honestly where we’d like to live, like, if everybody likes someone, we probably haven’t done our job right, especially with that character. But yeah, again, Bardia did such a good job of finding the right levels and playing with the character and making the adjustments on the fly.
It’s Always Sunny in PhiladelphiaWas A Big Influence OnIncoming
So, I’d also love to ask, because I said Stifler, but then I immediately thought, “Well, I guess he could beDennis, in a sense,” fromIt’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. You guys talk about cuts and finding out the right rhythm, and going too far. How much of your time on that show influenced figuring out that versus for the movie versus just your own experience working together?
Dave Chernin: A ton, Always Sunny was a masterclass for us in likability, amongst other things. But one thing we learned from that show is that there needs to be this unspoken agreement between the audience and the writers that, despite some of the trickier situations you put these characters in, us, the creators, are coming from a good place, and our hearts are in the right place. We’re poking fun of the ignorance of that character, and I think audiences are savvy enough to pick up on that.
John Chernin: I also think you try things out with testing and feedback, because the last thing we want to do is turn people off. We want as many people as possible to enjoy the stuff we make. So, we’re not going to do a joke that alienates everyone, just because it makes us laugh. We’ll attempt to toe the line as best we can, but at the end of the day, you want people to enjoy this ride.
Alejandro & Reed’s Chemistry Left The Chernins Thrilled
I’d also love to look at Ramon and Raphael. I love their dynamic in this. I was talking with them before, and they were talking about coming from their Disney Channel days. Those two characters, unlike Koosh or Benj, are very intertwined. What was it like finding two people that could really exemplify that chemistry with one another?
John Chernin: It was funny, because we had our finalists for those two roles, and then we did some chemistry readings on Zoom, and when they both came into the Zoom room together, they both lit up, like, “Ramon!” “Rafa!” They knew each other, and that was very appealing to us. Also, I think Ramon in real life is so cool, and Rafa in real life is so sweet. They’re so far from those characters. So, I think the fact that they got to share so many scenes and play against who their personalities are in real life, I think that just made things very fun, and that shows up on the screen.
Dave Chernin: Yeah, but I would say their chemistry on that Zoom, before they even started reading the scene, we were pretty sure, “Oh, I think these are two guys just watching them interact for a few minutes before we started.”
The Movie’s R-Rated Humor Made Some Awkward Moments On Set
One thing that some of the guys brought up yesterday that made me laugh was that sometimes, they would go too far with the R-rating, as far as their dialogue. What is it like making an R-rated project with teenagers involved?
John Chernin: You know, at the end of every day, we would march them all to the bathroom and wash their mouths out with soap just to remind them that this is acting, and it’s not supposed to be this way. [Chuckles] No, I think that just felt real to us, like, when we were growing up, our friends swore. So, I think if you attempt to make like a PG high school movie, it just feels inauthentic. I do think it’s tricky, because everyone’s parents were on set, so sometimes, you’d finish a take, and these kids are being so funny, saying the filthiest things, and you look over at their parents, and you’re like, “Oh God.”
Dave Chernin: We did a lot of apologizing to the parents, who were so cool and on set every day, they were great sports. I think a lot of it came down to if you’ve spent any time with these kids, they’re such good kids, and that made it easier for us to push them into bad places, because we knew that their hearts were in the right place.
John Chernin: Yeah, none of these kids were walking off set and lighting up cigarettes and cursing up a storm. You’d say, “Cut,” and they go back into being these very, very sweet teenagers. So, I think it’s fun for them to misbehave, and they know what’s right, and what isn’t. So, I think that just made it easy for everyone.
Dave Chernin: But we were often telling them that these are not characters to emulate in life. [Laughs] So, hopefully, the characters who are a little bit more inappropriate, misbehaved in this movie get their comeuppance, as they should.
The Chernins Were Thrilled To Bring TheirMickActors Onboard
I see I’m almost out of time, so I did want to ask really quickly.I mentionedThe Mickearlier, and I love that we get to see so many returning faces. You’ve got Thomas, you’ve got Scott, you got Kaitlin. Did you write those characters with those actors in mind?
Dave Chernin: Absolutely. Tommy Barbusca, we knew before we even put pen to paper, “He’s the guy for that role.” He just makes us laugh so hard, we were actually pretty amazed how far he’d come as an actor. When we first hooked up with him on The Mick, I think he was 12 years old, and he was unbelievably funny and talented, but the professionalism he brought to this set was really cool to watch, because he was usually the guy that struggled to keep a straight face and around Caitlin or Scott or whoever he was sharing a scene with in this movie.
Mason really struggled not to break whenever he was acting opposite Tommy, and Tommy was the consummate professional who always brought it back, and was giving him tips, so it was a joy. Kaitlin Olson is our comedic hero. We love her. We’ll write for her forever. She’s the greatest hang. I think this was a bit part for her, so we look forward to writing bigger roles for her, but we begged her to do this. And then, as for Scotty, he’s just one of our best friends in the world, he’s so funny. And again, all those guys brought an energy to the set, and we have a shorthand with them. So, I think it really showed the other actors how we like to work, and how true comedic professionals get the job done.
AboutIncoming
Four freshmen are faced with the greatest challenge of their young lives: their first high school party.
Check out our otherIncominginterview with starsMason Thames, Raphael Alejandro, Ramon Reed & Bardia Seiri!
Incoming
Cast
Four freshmen navigate the chaos of adolescence at their first high school party. Facing social pressures and personal insecurities, they encounter hilarious and heartfelt moments that define their teenage years.
