John Brotherton is a father in the middle of a divorce whose desire to date someone new is hampered by his attached daughter inChosen Family. Having first broken out with his work in the soap operaOne Life to Live, Brotherton steadily began making a name for himself with his roles in both James Wan’sThe Conjuring, starring as local police officer Brad Hamilton roped into the Warrens' investigation of the Perron home, andFurious 7, not only playing Mr. Nobody’s right-hand man, Sheppard, but also beingPaul Walker’s stand-in for some scenes as Brian.
InChosen Family, Brotherton stars as Steve, a charming contractor hired by chef and restauranteur Max for help with fixing up his new business, all while raising his daughter and going through a divorce. Through his interactions with Max, Steve meets Ann, a yoga instructor looking to forge a better path for herself in the world of dating after a string of bad relationships. Despite their instant connection, and the hopes of building something together, Steve’s daughter proves to be a speedbump for the couple as she refuses to loosen her grip on her father.
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Alongside Brotherton, the ensembleChosen Familycast includes Heather Graham, who also wrote and directed the film, as Ann,RENO 911!’s Thomas Lennon as Max, Oscar winner Odessa Rae,Bournefranchise alum Julia Stiles,Tremorsvet Michael Gross,Tulsa King’s Andrea Savageand Ella Grace Helton. Carried by its breezy performances and a relaxed script and direction from Graham, the movie continues her charming winning streak behind the camera.
Ahead of the movie’s release,Screen Rantinterviewed John Brotherton to discussChosen Family, his thrill at getting offered the chance to audition for Graham, the surprising similarities Graham has to James Wan in the way she directs her cast and crew, and how he went about improving with the rest of the ensemble cast for the rom-com.
Getting The Call He Landed His Role Was “One Of Those Awesome Moments” For Brotherton
“As actors, we’re trained to deal with rejection, because generally we’re venture capitalists, right?”
Screen Rant: It’s great to get to chat with you, John,Chosen Familyis such a cozy, heartwarming little movie. What about it really drew you to want to be a part of it?
John Brotherton: Well, listen, you get these auditions every once in a while that come. Any audition is a great opportunity, but sometimes they come through, and you’re like, “Oh, this would be awesome.” I saw who was attached to it at the time, it was Heather and Julia Stiles, but it was also one of those auditions where I’m like, “Yeah, right. I’m sure Heather is going to handpick some friend of hers from wherever.” I frankly didn’t, in the beginning, think I had a chance, which maybe helped with my audition. Sometimes, there’s something to be said when you don’t hold something so tight.
I had a lot of fun with it, and then I forgot about it, because that’s usually the best thing to do when you audition for something is not try to think about it at every waking hour. So, I was just immediately like, “God, what an incredible thing it would be to play Heather Graham’s love interest.” But I just didn’t, frankly, take it seriously until they called. As actors, we’re trained to deal with rejection, because generally we’re venture capitalists, right? You try out for 20 things, maybe you get one, and then, “Yay.” So, I was very trained to put something behind me.
A few weeks had passed, and I got that call. I was like, “Are you serious? Heather Graham, are you kidding me? It’s Heather f—-ng Graham!” [Chuckles] So, it was just one of those awesome moments, and then frankly, once I met her, anything that I thought of her was surpassed. She’s such a sweetheart, she’s so amazing, and her gift is the way that she treats the people around her. She surrounds herself with good people, people that she trusts, and she just makes everyone around her feel good. Whenever she introduces anybody, that name is attached to a compliment. It’s like, “Hey, Grant, meet John. Grant’s really good at X, Y, and Z, and John is really good at this and that.”
That’s how she introduces everyone, everyone’s PR agent. It’s an amazing quality. Even at the premiere, we were at the premiere and I brought my manager along, and it’s her night, it’s her show, she’s sitting there and when I came up to her and I introduced Natalie, the first thing she’s doing is talking about other people. And I’m like, “There’s something to be said about someone like Heather Graham that doesn’t necessarily need to talk about other people, and that’s all she does. You’ll only hear her talk about the wonderful people that she’s surrounded with,” which I think is just a testament about what a special human she is.
No s–t, zero diva moments, not one. And there were plenty of opportunities. We were working on all kinds of circumstances where you could have a moment and everyone’s like, “Yeah, you’re tired, and you’re whatever, and that’s okay.” Never once did I ever see her do anything except just love, it was pretty impressive.
Graham & Wan Have “Very Different Styles” (But Do Have 1 Thing In Common)
“And sure enough, everyone at that point wants to work for ‘em.”
So, in talking about working with her, you’ve worked with everybody from indie directors toJames Wan a few times. I’d love to hear what it was about Heather that surprised you as a person and as a director when going into this film?
John Brotherton: Well, it’s funny you bring up James Wan, because very different styles. Clearly very different styles as directors, but they do one thing very similar, and that’s they surround themselves with people they trust, and then they let those people do their jobs. I found that with James back in the day. It kind of blew me away. I’m like, “Here’s someone with all the power in the world. He had taken everyone that he could take along his journey that worked on Saw, then worked on Insidious, and then was on Conjuring and then was on Furious 7.”
Everyone from hair and makeup to his second AD to anyone he could bring along on the ride that he trusted, that did for him as he brought along, and then just let him do their job. I was so impressed, like, “Wow.” He just surrounds himself with people that he trusts, and then he doesn’t micromanage, he doesn’t overdo it. He was focused on composition and making cool shots. Clearly, he’s the genius at that. I noticed Heather do the same thing. She doesn’t micromanage, she just manages by putting the people around her that she loves and trusts. And casting, everyone in the movie did it because of Heather.
Talking to Andrea Savage, talking to Tom Lennon, before they even got the script, it was like, “This is for Heather? I’m in.” And I think, again, very different styles of directing, Heather and James, but both have that quality of, “Surround myself with people that I trust, delegate those responsibilities, so I don’t have to stress about it, and then let them do their jobs.” And sure enough, everyone at that point wants to work for ‘em. Everyone wants to do great for James, everyone wanted to do great for Heather, not because they were coming down on you so hard, but because they created an environment where you felt free and safe to do your work.
Brotherton Loved Finding Everyone’s Improv Rhythms While Shooting
“Improv actors aren’t selfish, they realize that great improv comes off the other person.”
Tom said something similar in that it also really allowed him to sort of improvise in some scenes. Obviously, he’sthe king of that withRENO 911!and whatnot, but I’d love to hear if you also took the opportunity to really let your improv flag fly for some of this film?
John Brotherton: I did. I have a lot of comedy background with the sitcom thing, and I feel very comfortable in that environment. So, you kind of have to work it out with actors. You don’t ever want throw someone, because some people love to be just word-perfect, and I respect that. I did Shakespeare growing up, you have to be word-perfect. There’s a beauty in that, too, but Heather was always up for whatever. In fact, sometimes, she’d be like, “Let’s try the scene the way it’s written, and then let’s do it your way.” And it was like, “Great.”
She was just open at all times and if you tried something, and it didn’t work, she never came at it as a negative. It was like, “We got that, let’s try it this way.” She was just always open to it, and again, surrounding herself with geniuses, Tom’s a genius. He’s literally a genius. Whether the camera’s rolling or not, he’s on, it’s a thing. You just want the camera always to be rolling, you don’t want to miss anything, there is no down. He’s the jester, man, he’s just constantly picking up the apples and juggling and telling jokes and keep making people laugh, or over at crafty, holding it down. If you hear laughter coming from somewhere, you’re like, “Oh, where’s Tom? He’s making somebody laugh somewhere.”
I really admired his chops, his wit. You just realize when you work with these people, you’re like, “Oh, that’s why you’re Tom Lenon. That’s why you created RENO 911!. That’s why you’re a genius, you really are that dude.” And also super, super loving and super giving too. Improv actors aren’t selfish, they realize that great improv comes off the other person. So, he wasn’t just a scene stealer, he was like the ultimate improv actor where, if he gave you something, he would take what you give him, as well. So, I was just super impressed, feel very blessed to work with him at all. Andrea Savage, the same way. What a bada–. She is a fricking powerhouse, and equally as funny, and equally as brilliant.
So, you get a few group scenes with all of them. I think the game night one’s my favorite, but do you have a favorite one that you really got to work with them all in this film?
John Brotherton: The kitchen scene was a lot of fun for us, because we really started improving. There’s a lot that didn’t make it in the movie, because that’s what happens when you just improv the crap out of a scene. But really what you get from it when you do all that is even what is captured is a result of all that kind of chemistry and energy. So, the few moments that they do end up choosing are built on the backs of all the takes that you never see, because of our timing. And we had just done the dinner scene, so we were all feeling each other. We were very comfortable with stepping on each other’s lines, just enough to make it realistic, but not be overbearing or offensive.
Not making an actor feel like, “Don’t jump my line.” But when you get into a flow, there’s a comfort level when you’re allowed to sort of jump in on something, and then they give it back to you, and instead of ever being thrown, you kind of just have to take it and throw it back. And that’s where the greatest moments come from. Him juggling in the movie is literally a result of him literally grabbing the apples in the middle of a scene and starting to juggle. That was not in the script, it was just Tom being Tom, using what was in front of him, and we all just rolled with it.
So to me, that scene was pretty awesome. I didn’t have big group scenes with Julia, except when we ran in the house and things like that, but working with Julia, it was sort of like, “Okay, why is Julia’s style Julia’s style?” I love that when I go into a movie, “What makes this person who they are?” And then I work with her, and I’m like, “Holy s–t, you’re just so present and grounded.” I just tried to take in that from her.
You always try to take something from everybody, whether you admire Tom’s wit, or Andrea’s bada– bossiness, and Heather’s sweetheart. Julia was so present and so grounded, looking in her eyes, there was no bulls–t. She was so there. Frankly, the scenes with any of ‘em, they were all just fantastic people to work with, so I just tried to take notes and hang on for the ride.
AboutChosen Family
Ann (Heather Graham) is a yoga teacher struggling to achieve inner peace despite the fact her family is driving her crazy and her dating life is miserable. She doesn’t know how to say no and wants to fix everyone’s problems. In the meantime, Ann struggles to save her sister Clio (Julia Stiles) from addiction, with disastrous results. With so many expectations on her, Ann leans on her good friends Max, Frances, Roz, and Ella for support. They in turn set her up with a cute divorced dad, Steve, who has an adorable 7-year-old daughter. When Ann meets Steve’s daughter Lily, she is immediately smitten. But Lily does not feel the same, and as Steve and Ann get closer, Lily grows increasingly jealous and competitive. When Lily starts to misbehave, Ann sees that Lily can do no wrong in Steve’s eyes – she’s in the battle of her life with a 7-year-old.
Chosen Familyhits theaters and VOD on October 11.
Chosen Family
Cast
Ann, a yoga teacher struggling with family chaos and a miserable dating life, falls for Steve, a divorced dad. However, his 7-year-old daughter, Lily, grows jealous and competitive, leading to a tense battle between Ann and Lily, with Steve unaware of his daughter’s misbehavior.
