Leslie Mann Talks Working With Husband, Judd Apatow, Roller Skating and Living in The Bubble for New Netflix Movie

Knocked Up and The 40-Year-Old Virgin star Leslie Mann, 50, collaborates once again with her husband, writer-director JuddApatow, in the comedy The Bubble (April 1 on Netflix). She plays a movie star, Lauren Van Chance, in the pandemic-based story about a group of actors and production crew stuck inside a hotel trying to complete a major studio film.

What was the origin of The Bubble?

It was during lockdown. Judd and I were totally depressed, just miserable, and trying to come up with some way to make ourselves—and potentially other people—feel better. Hopefully to bring some laughter during a time that was very dark, we were, like, “What can we do to do our part?”

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Are the characters based on real actors you know?

No, we sat around and did a lot of improvisation with all the actors, and we came up with things that we found funny, and that’s where everything came from.

Is it too soon for viewers to want to see a movie set in the pandemic?

I hope not. Hopefully, it’ll just be fun, and people can have a laugh. It doesn’t really focus too much on the pandemic. The majority of it is just the relationships between the people. It’s a fun world to live in for an hour and a half.

What was it about Lauren Van Chance that made you want to play her?

It’s always fun to play actresses being an actress, and to have fun with all of the actress quirks.

Did you need to learn how to roller-skate for The Bubble, or did you already know how?

I became obsessed with roller-skating during the lockdown, actually during the election. The stress was so much. I roller-skated when I was younger, and then probably 20 years went by and I put them on again.

I became obsessed with this video of this girl Kels [McGriff] roller-skating in Beverly Hills. It’s to that FleetwoodMac song [“Dreams”] before the guy on the skateboard did the Fleetwood Mac song. It was so dreamy and felt so happy, I must have watched it 50 times. I just felt like I could escape into that world, this dreamy, happy world of the past.

So I bought roller skates and then just obsessively started roller-skating. It was one of the only things that made me feel better. I was just trying to learn how to do something with my brain and my body connected, and it’s really hard. It’s harder now that I’m much, much older.

I just became obsessed with it, and then that became part of what my character would do in the movie. So we did a lot of rehearsals. Once we started getting ready to start shooting the movie with the roller-skating, I worked really hard to learn how to do those things. And then I fell and wasn’t on roller skates again until [recently]. So I fell and cracked my chin open and had to get seven stitches.

Did that take you out of the movie?

It took me out for a little bit. It took me out of a couple of scenes. And I was shooting a TV show at the same time for Amazon [The Power] and so I was basically working seven days a week. So we had to take an insurance day for that, and my neck was all messed up. It was really awful. But up until that point, it was great.

Do you think the movie is actually a reflection of what it’s like on a set during COVID pandemic protocols?

Yes, 100 percent because we had to follow all of the same protocols off-camera. And then on my TV show, it was all the same protocol. Yeah, so it was like behind the scenes and on camera what we were doing.

With less drama than the movie?

Not necessarily. There’s a lot of drama. Always.

The film has these great cameos, which we will keep a surprise, but let me ask, are those people friends of you and Judd or the cast?

Judd’s friends with those people, yeah.

Tell us about your role as Margot Cleary-Lopez in the upcoming Amazon thriller series The Power.

She is the mayor of Seattle and a mother of three. She’s married, trying to juggle having children and a marriage and a career. It’s something that almost every woman can relate to.

The Power sounds a little bit different than what you normally do; it’s a thriller and a drama, not a comedy. Had you read the book? Is there a story as to how you got involved?

No, they asked me to do it and then I read the book, and it’s incredible. I was very excited to join. It’s all female producers and directors, so that was appealing to me as well.

Do you want to do more drama?

Not necessarily. I actually want to do more comedy. It’s fun and I want to have fun. Not that the dramatic stuff isn’t fun; it is also. But it’s also heavier and harder sometimes. But comedy can be that way too, but I’ve been thinking lately that I want to do some comedy.

You initially met Judd working on The Cable Guy. So you have collaborated before. How is it now as compared to when you first met?

He was a writer on The Cable Guy, so probably we collaborated for the first time on The 40-Year-Old Virgin. He’s kind of the same; I feel like I’m in safe hands with him. I feel like he’s got it covered and he’s not going to make me or anyone else uncomfortable with his choices at the end of the day. And that’s a really nice feeling to have as an actor, because you don’t want to work with the people who are corny and make you look bad. But yeah, he’s bossy and he’s sometimes insufferable, but for the most part I think he’s very talented and I feel very lucky to be able to work with him.

You’ve worked with your daughters, Maude, 24, and Iris, 19. What’s it like having them follow you into the business?

Maude [Euphoria] seems to be having fun; she’s working really hard, enjoying herself and doing great. They both prepare, they show up on time. We’re very proud of what Iris did in The Bubble. She worked harder than anyone. All those dances [in The Bubble] were hard to learn. I was very proud to see how she handled herself in that situation. I felt like, “OK, we did something right.”

What do people stop you on the street and want to talk about?

Sometimes people say to me, “Thank you. Watching your movies got me through a hard time.” Or “Thank you for helping me feel better,” or something like that. More that than any specific movie. That’s the biggest compliment. That makes me feel so happy.

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