Sunita Mani and John Reynolds play a couple who try to escape their daily, technology-obsessed life in Save Yourselves!, only to find the world has been invaded by aliens while they were away. Their roles in the film, which is out in theaters now, relies heavily on their comedic timing and chemistry with each other.
The actors spoke to Screen Rant about developing that connection and what their own personal tech phobias are.
Sunita, how did you develop such a convincing rapport with each other? Because a lot of things you say are real life things that me and my partner say to each other.
Sunita Mani: That’s great. That’s really funny. You said it, the premise is so funny and so clear. Then knowing that I was going to get to do this movie with John, once he was on board, I was just so excited to build these characters and build this world out. Because I’m such a huge fan of John… I was so looking forward to working with him. And knowing that we have a lot of shared sensibility and trust; it was great. That eased a lot of my anxiety. I had just the fun version of it in my mind going into it.
John, what element of the science fiction found in the movie rang most true to you?
John Reynolds: The obvious one is just the natural parallels that are happening now, where it’s like, in a sense, because of the pandemic that’s going on, we’re all isolated right now. We’re spending a ton of time with our partners, and it does feel apocalyptic. So, I suppose the sci fi element being the end of the world, because it just… Not to get too bogged down in it, but with the wildfires and the pandemic and the election, it feels like there’s like a bunch of Apocalypses happening once. And we’re all sort of inside with our partners trying to make a plan. So, that rings true.
Sunita Mani: All the moments that the camera catches, that Su and Jack don’t have any idea and they don’t know what’s happening – I feel like that is what’s happening all the time. We’re just tapping away on our computers, and in the periphery, there is definitely ominous things happening. Just because, of course they are – I don’t know, we’re so limited in our knowledge and our being. So, it’s really fun to witness their bliss and their ignorance in the movie.
John Reynolds: I mean, the full unknown at the beginning of the pandemic in New York, it really was like, “Oh, maybe this unassuming thing, like this packet of Oreos, is gonna kill me.”
Sunita, your role was largely written with you in mind. How close to Su are you in real life.
Sunita Mani: I am close to Su. I don’t have as much faith in my logic as Su does; I tend have more nonsense ideas or laugh things off a little bit more. But I can relate to the amount of control she can put into certain things, because she thinks she’s helping. And just being frustrated with technology is so real; I can relate to that. The stupid, gross moments of relying on technology and it not working, and you hate that you have to rely on it so much – but it is your job, and you want to do a good job. Just the fury of standards she has, I can relate to that a little bit.
- Save Yourselves! (2020)Release date: Oct 02, 2020