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Spoilers follow for the filmEverything Everywhere All at Once.
No one inEverything Everywhere All at Onceis only who they seem to be.
The films leads embody that idea.
Michelle Yeohs Evelyn Wang realizes the myriad other paths her life could have taken.
Her husband,Ke Huy Quans seemingly passive Waymond, steps easily into action-hero mode to protect her.
(You have to just go with it.)
I want to know everything about it.Its nothing compared to Michelle Yeohs binder.
It almost sounds like a seismic map.Totally.
Did you color-code it?
How in-depth are we talking?I dont remember if I color-coded it.
Its somewhere in a storage unit right now.
And the physicality and the permission that we gave Jobu was that she can do anything.
That was the vocabulary.
They were on two polar extremes.
And when we introduced Joybu, I dont know how to say it other than, its a wave.
It was kind of this melting pot of information.
And they sent me a playlist, and that was very helpful for me.
That is how I like to build.
So Im grateful that the Daniels gave me that and shared that with me.
Was there one song on the playlist that you could share?Absolutely.
Its my fucking favorite.
Let me just pull it up right now.
[Opens phone.]
The song still makes me cry, I cant listen to it right now.
You mentioned throwing the pencil.
Can you talk about the decision-making that went into improvised moments?
I watched the movie in IMAX recently and I just noticed this for the first time.
And Id be talking to you, and then Id [looks overhead and points upward], Falcon.
It sounds like someone is screaming upstairs, and theres also the sound of a falcon.
I heard that recently.
With Jobu, more times than not, we would follow it.
We started riffing on that musical line.
That could have been a Joybu moment, but she suddenly starts crying.
I had little secrets that I planted for myself:What is a date that Becky and Joy had?
That image disappears, and we switch back to our current reality.
Can you talk about filming that scene?
You three look so bonded already.That opening scene is so beautiful.
It is really funny.
There used to be a scene at the end, after the parking-lot scene.
Im a Barbie girl, in a Barbie world / Life is plastic, so fantastic.
It was something, Imagination …
Life is your creation.Exactly.
Do you see the meaning there?
So its just this family-portrait moment of us singing and being a family together.
Thats a fun nugget.
This family really loves each other, but theyre just going through some shit.
That felt like a family moment too, where theyre able to laugh together.
Its not that they are so broken that they hate each other and dont talk to one another.
There is love there, and that feels so important in terms of the thread of the film.
Im the child of immigrants, and I thought, Oh yeah, thats my dad.
Youve talked about how your mom came to the Los Angeles premiere and saw herself in the movie.
Youre making the supreme effort to give a shot to cross the generational divide, and you just cant.
There are so many moments that really resonate, but that one in particular.
The way were talking about this is not even on the same page.
Youve described Michelle as a generous scene partner.
A24 threw all their weight behind it and we hosted this screening and had a talkback after.
[Mimics tears.]
And I was like, Yeah, I guess I am proud of myself.
Your question reminded me of that.
I think that parking-lot scene, Im really proud of that scene.
I remember we started with my coverage, and then went to hers.
Sometimes when you turn the camera around, people will give less.
I think thats what I mean by generous scene partner.
Its not something that you could carve out in an edit, right?
Theyre on completely different wavelengths, and its really not until the end where they get to really connect.
Its really hard to be kind of mean to your scene partner.
There seems to be this guiding ideology in your work about living with darkness but finding joy.
Youve said the point of theater is an act of service.
What do you think the point of cinema is?I think the point of cinema is the same.
I think art is service.
Its why Picasso paintedGuernica.
Were living in crazy times.
Art is constantly teetering on the cliff of selling out.
Its the same in theater, film, TV, music.
It is an industry, and its sometimes really hard to get things made.
And he was like, I want to save the world.
And I was like, Yeah, me too.
Gong Gongs noodles, Spaghetti Baby Noodle Boy I think I would then say almond cookie.
And then my last one would be Gong Gongs pudding.
Im throwing curveballs to be fun.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
