'Our Friend' is an opportunity for a good cry — if wanted
Production on the film “Our Friend” starring Jason Segal, Casey Affleck and Dakota Johnson wrapped before the pandemic but it makes sense if the movie — about a woman dying of cancer — strikes an emotional chord with viewers
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.If his new movie, “ Our Friend, ” makes audiences cry, Jason Segal can sympathize.
He recalls being on an airplane and watching a movie that made him break down so uncontrollably that it got the attention of a woman seated next to him.
“I was weeping, full-on weeping, crying so hard, and this woman couldn’t resist trying to find out what I was crying at. And she, like, peeked over and it was ‘Dreamgirls.’ This grown man, bawling his eyes out to ‘Dreamgirls,'" the actor said, laughing, in a recent interview.
“Our Friend," premiering Friday in theaters and video on demand platforms, certainly covers emotional territory. Segal plays Dane, the best friend of married couple Matt and Nicole (played by Casey Affleck and Dakota Johnson). When Nicole is diagnosed with terminal cancer, Dane moves in with the family to help them during the time she has left.
It’s based on the true story of an experience written about by journalist Matthew Teague in 2015 for Esquire. He wanted to write about what going through a death is really like.
“I felt so unprepared to meet death, even caring for somebody who was dying and that I felt even almost betrayed by the culture. In a way, I feel like we don’t discuss this very openly or very honestly," said Teague.
Production on the film wrapped before the pandemic but Affleck understands it will strike a chord with viewers about grief and loss.
“I think a lot of movies are probably going to be seen through the lens of the experience that we’ve all shared over the last year, whether or not they were intended to be about those things,” said Affleck.
Johnson hopes the movie will remind others to “feel a bit more grateful and a bit more compassionate with themselves and others.”
From experiencing his own loss, Teague offers advice on what to say to those who know someone who is going through it.
“It’s hard to know what to say. And I think sometimes the best thing you can do is just be there and just offer yourself in some way and to not expect some emotional reaction. Even now, years have passed. I’ll still be in a restaurant and someone will come up and say, you know, ‘I’m so sorry for your loss.’ And I feel like there’s an expectation that I reciprocate emotionally in some way. And so something I learned is just let people grieve on their own terms.”
___
Follow Alicia Rancilio online at http://www.twitter.com/aliciar