Written and directed by Mukunda Michael Dewil, Collide follows a group of characters who have all ended up at the same restaurant in L.A. Despite being in the same place at the same time, they are oblivious to the crises going on around them and remain laser-focused on their own predicament. As their stories slowly begin to interweave, the night takes a dark turn that no one sees coming.
The film stars Ryan Phillippe (Big Sky), Kat Graham (The Vampire Diaries), Jim Gaffigan (Most Wanted), Drea de Matteo (The Sopranos), Aisha Dee (The Bold Type), Dylan Flashner (The Card Counter), and David Cade (Big Time Rush).
Screen Rant chats with Collide actors Jim Gaffigan and Drea de Matteo about crafting their onscreen relationship.
Screen Rant: I wanted to start off, Jim, by asking you about your role. Because you're actually in a lot of scenes by yourself. And it made me curious if this was more challenging—or maybe it made things easier. But you didn't have anyone else to play off of. A lot of your scenes were reactions to these strong emotions. What was that like?
Jim Gaffigan: Well, it presented a challenge in itself because you didn't want to play the same note through the entire movie because my character's often sitting in a car. So that was a challenge and I was very mindful that I wanted to have an arc, or he was evolving in his emotional state. So that was something kind of keeping track of during the shooting, because we'd be like, "Alright, now this is the moment when you're doing this. This is the moment where you're looking there. This is the moment where—" and I'm just sitting there.
But I think Mukunda and I were always talking about building an arc, or a journey, for Peter along the way. Acting without a partner in the scene, you know, even the DJ—I don't think we had the DJ—maybe we did. I don't know, it's all a blur. But it was kind of tracking the emotional state of Peter through the entire thing. And, you know, trying to find Peter in me, because I think I personally—things that happened to Peter would have broke me a long time ago, like I would have drove away. You know what I mean? Many times. So it was interesting finding...because you want to keep it grounded, and you want to have the audience as baffled as I think they get with Peter's behavior.
Screen Rant: Peter was absolutely going through it, and I felt for him. And then we have Drea, your character. I was wondering if you were told any more of her backstory for the role, because we don't learn too much about her. Was there more information that you were given that helped you get into character?
Drea de Matteo: Yeah, there were some things in script too that actually didn't make it that I was really happy about—we didn't have to shoot it. Like, he wanted her dancing in front of the bar in this very...where you see that there's this pathetic sort of...she's just hanging on to trying to get people's attention and her youth and being tipsy and all this sort of stuff. And I was so grateful that we didn't have to shoot those things because I really didn't feel like dancing by myself in front of the bar.
Jim's job is my dream job—sitting in a car all day by myself. I can't think of a better way to make a living. But to dance in front of the bar in front of the whole camera crew? No. But I gave myself the backstory that there's, you know, she just probably was very broken. And I think that Peter put her back together again, and took really good care of her. And she might have had a lot of emotional problems, maybe drug problems, or just a terrible childhood. And it's her safe place. And now she's sort of stepping out on a limb and trying to feel again, like just to feel anything. Whether it's not feeling safe or doing something wrong, or...you know what I'm saying.
Screen Rant: Did you work together to flesh this relationship out at all? Because you didn't have too many scenes together onscreen, but obviously, that relationship is still there—still present.
Jim Gaffigan: Yeah, I mean, it's interesting because people have asked that. I always describe it as... Whenever I've seen Drea in something, there's this authenticity, and she kind of pops. And so there's a complexity there that is so immediate. Unlike other actors, I think that if I was paired up with someone, I would have had to maybe create a backstory. But with Drea, it's like, "Oh, yeah. All right." Like how Drea just described that there was this relationship created... It was almost kind of, non-verbally, we knew how this relationship would have formed in a backstory.
And some of that I think is a compliment to how authentic Drea is in all our performances. And also the fact that we're both kind of New York Italians, and—no, I'm not at all. But no, I just think that anyone would see Drea and see me, and they would say, "This guy's out of—." Even when they first started dating, I think people would be like, "This sucker is in for trouble." You know what I mean? But that's also judging on perceptions. I don't know Drea very well, but some of it is, you see Drea in things. And look, I played football in college, but people always see me as a victim.
And Drea is this dynamic mother of children, but people see her as this complex—I mean, granted, she is sitting right now in the room of a vampire—but if you're in this business for any length of time, you understand that you get placed in things based on how you come across. And it might be true to who you are, but it's also one of those things where, look, I'm a white-bread guy, you know? I wish that I wasn't but it would be too much surgery, right?
Drea de Matteo: You know why they thought it was believable to put us together? Because he's a musician in the movie, and everyone knows that I only go for musicians.
Screen Rant: Yes, he has the violin!
Jim Gaffigan: I love how you're like, "I guess that's a musician." I'm a classically trained violinist.
Screen Rant: Sorry, guys! I actually have to wrap up.
Jim Gaffigan: I'm not ending the interview. You're continuing on and hearing me talk about my violin.
Drea de Matteo: Bust it out.
Jim Gaffigan: I have it right here.
Collide Synopsis
A gripping thriller chronicling three couples over the course of one fateful night in an LA restaurant. Hunter (Ryan Phillippe) finds himself on an awkward blind date with the captivating Tamira (Kat Graham), while a busboy (Dylan Flashner) and his girlfriend (Aisha Dee) are hiding mounds of cocaine to score a big payday, and outside, Peter (Jim Gaffigan) sits in his car observing his wife's (Drea de Matteo) infidelity with the restaurant’s manager (David Cade). Though all strangers, their stories are weaved together as they hurl towards an explosive end.
Check out our other interview with Collide star Kat Graham.
Collide is currently in theaters, and will be available On Demand starting August 12.