Available to buy on digital beginning June 28th is the new comedy mystery ‘Reunion’, which was directed by Chris Nelson (‘The Perfect Date’).
The movie stars an all-star cast that includes Lil Rel Howery (‘Get Out’), Billy Magnussen (‘Road House’), Jillian Bell (‘Candy Cane Lane’), Jamie Chung (‘Sucker Punch’), Nina Dobrev (‘XXX: Return of Xander Cage’), Chace Crawford (‘The Boys’), and Michael Hitchcock (‘Best in Show’).
Related Article: Writer and Director Minhal Baig and Lil Rel Howery Talk ‘We Grown Now’
Lil Rel Howery talks ‘Reunion’.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Lil Rel Howery about his work on ‘Reunion’, his first reaction to the screenplay, his favorite mystery comedies, working with the cast, his character, playing detective, and his characters’ favorite outfit.
You can read our full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Howery, Nina Dobrev, Michael Hitchcock and director Chris Nelson.
(L to R) Lil Rel Howery, Jillian Bell, Nina Dobrev, and Michael Hitchcock in ‘Reunion’. Photo: Republic Pictures.
Moviefone: To begin with, can you talk about your first reaction to the screenplay and what did you think about the idea of being part of a mystery comedy?
Lil Rel Howery: I’m a big fan of murder mysteries, and to make it hysterical was a goal of mine. It’s like, okay, if we’re going to do this, this must be funny. So, to be a part of this, where it’s a true whodunit, and you’re not going to really figure this out till the end and making it funny. I think this is one of my favorite movies I’ve done so far in my career because of that.
MF: What are some of your favorite mystery comedies and did you draw influence from any of them for your performance?
LRH: Yeah, I mean, ‘Clue’ is so good. Even with ‘Knives Out’, I was always watching ‘Knives Out’ and sometimes thinking like, “Man, if this was hysterical though.” I think that about a lot of stuff. I think that with horror films. Anything that’s so dramatic, I tend to think like that. I try to see if you could do the opposite thing with it. This is so random but it’s one of the reasons why I love the show ‘Bel-Air’ so much, because its ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’ as a drama. I think if you remake sitcoms, you should make them dramas.
(L to R) Lil Rel Howery, Jillian Bell, Billy Magnussen, Nina Dobrev, Chace Crawford, Jamie Chung and Michael Hitchcock in ‘Reunion’. Photo: Republic Pictures.
MF: Can you talk about working with the ensemble cast of actors?
LRH: I mean, look, you got Nina (Dobrev), you got everyone. It’s just so many great people, and Michael (Hitchcock) is amazing. It was just everybody was funny. I think, that translated well because we all enjoyed each other off-screen too, and so it translated well on-screen. But honestly, it was a lot of laughs and a lot of fun. I liked how every character had its own arc, which is why I think this is going to be a tough movie to figure out who did what, because the writers, and Chris, and everybody, did a great job of making sure that everybody could look guilty. The performances were great.
MF: Can you talk about Ray and Evan’s friendship, how that is tested in the movie and working with Billy Magnussen?
LRH: First, Billy was a great collaborator to work with. I mean, we ended up becoming friends. That’s always cool too, when you’re scripted as friends and then you, really, become cool. A couple of the discussions me and Billy had earlier was about that. Who are these guys? How did they hang out in high school? What did they listen to? What did they bond with? When we were having those conversations, we were bonding with each other in general, you know what I mean? Without giving anything away, it’s interesting watching how their friendship transforms throughout trying to figure out who did what. It is one of those things you’re trying to see what your friend really thinks about you too. Ray really wanted to know from Evan, his true thoughts about him. Evan will say certain things and check him and let him know it is what it is. So, I’m trying to do this without saying anything. But their friendship is a very cool, unique one, that I think other people can relate to.
(L to R) Michael Hitchcock, Jillian Bell, Nina Dobrev, Jamie Chung and Lil Rel Howery in ‘Reunion’. Photo: Republic Pictures.
MF: Ray ends up acting like a detective and trying to solve the mystery himself. Can you talk about that and how excited he is to fill that role?
LRH: Well, I was trying to make sure Ray did that too, right? So, it was what would make him excited about doing this, and it would be because of the things he’s watched on television, right? The movies he’s seen and things like that. So, for me, it was channeling, what would get Ray excited about it? Which is why when you start seeing him looking for things in the beginning, he’s like, “Ooh, this is going to be like this.” He’s excited about the possibility of also doing something different than what his real life is. You know what I mean? So, it’s Ray trying to create another identity for himself, and he finds it in this moment of trying to figure out why one of their classmates is murdered.
MF: Finally, Ray wears his favorite outfit from high school to his reunion. If you had to choose your favorite outfit from your whole life to wear to an event, what would that be?
LRH: Wow. Well, for the last Oscars I went to, I hosted the pre-show. So, for me, I decided to dress like I was going to a 1970s Oscars. I had on bell-bottoms, and I bought the big bow tie. Literally we went and looked at what Richard Pryor wore, and other random people wore to the Oscars. That’s what I did. I literally created a suit based off going to the Oscars in the ‘70s.
What is the plot of ‘Reunion’?
‘Reunion’ features a wild ride of twists and turns when a high school reunion gets cut short by murder. Trapped in a snowbound mansion, they race to uncover which one of their old classmates is the killer before they’re all iced out for good.
Who is in the cast of ‘Reunion’?
- Lil Rel Howery as Ray Hammond
- Billy Magnussen as Evan West
- Jillian Bell as Vivian Chase
- Jamie Chung as Jasmine Park
- Michael Hitchcock as Mr. Theodore Buckley
- Dianne Doan as Lisa Danbury
- Cassandra Blair as Meagan Cooper
- Nina Dobrev as Amanda Tanner
- Chace Crawford as Mathew Danbury
Lil Rel Howery in ‘Reunion’. Photo: Republic Pictures.
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