(Paris) “The world needs humor”, especially the “divided” United States, according to American actress Jennifer Aniston, who plays with her sidekick Adam Sandler in Murder Mystery 2a light crime comedy with international distribution that hits Netflix on Friday.
“Comedy has evolved, movies have changed. Now, it’s a bit tricky because you have to be very careful, which makes it very difficult for actors, because the beauty of comedy is to laugh at yourself, to laugh at the life”, developed the actress during a round table with journalists in Paris, to present the film.
She then exclaimed: “The world needs humor! You shouldn’t take yourself too seriously. Especially in the United States. Everyone is far too divided.”
A television series like Friendshuge success in the 1990s that launched the career of Jennifer Aniston, would not be possible with the same scenario today, she believes.
“There is a whole new generation, children who are now watching episodes of Friends and find them offensive,” she explained, alluding to the “woke” trend.
“I don’t know…everyone always finds something offensive” these days, the actress sighs. Nevertheless, Friends also tackled themes such as homosexuality in an open and understanding way, always under the prism of humour.
“There were things that weren’t intentional and things that maybe we should have thought about more,” concedes Aniston. “But there was not the same sensitivity as today”.
Adam Sandler intervenes with a humorous touch: “You know what has also changed in comedies? The wardrobe ! “. “Do you remember when we started doing comedies? “, he asks, turning to his friend, met at the age of 14 years.
“They were giving a small budget, like ‘do what you can with it.’ And now they want us to look pretty amazing. We work harder on that,” he adds with a laugh.
Confused Americans
For Murder Mystery 2Aniston and Sandler don’t just dress like tourists, they act like confused Americans.
This is the formula of the film: “we are two fish out of water”, comments Aniston.
Murder Mysterya hit on Netflix when it was released in 2019, followed the adventures of a police detective receiving unexpected help from his hairdresser wife to solve a case.
Encouraged by this stroke of luck, in Murder Mystery 2, they founded a detective agency that goes from bad to worse. Until the kidnapping of a millionaire maharaja friend (British actor Adeel Akhtar) allows them to travel to Paris and embark on new adventures.
Aniston and Sandler may seem like two clueless “gringos” on screen, but no detail escaped them when it came to producing the film, assure French actors Dany Boon and Mélanie Laurent, also in the cast.
“There are writers who work on the script during filming. Sometimes I received text at 10 p.m. for the next day […] it’s better than hearing “we cut!” “, rejoices Dany Boon, who plays a French policeman who is also a little distraught.
“Sometimes, when we shoot with iconic American actors, we are afraid of being disappointed. But they are so nice, it’s a gift to work with them,” adds Mélanie Laurent.