In his directorial debut, Somewhere in Queens, Ray Romano brings to life the story of Leo Russo, a loving father and hardworking Italian-American living a simple life in Queens with his wife and son, played by Laurie Metcalf, Jacob Ward, and Sadie Stanley, respectively. Leo's world revolves around his son's basketball games, and he's overjoyed when "Sticks" gets a chance to play in college. However, unexpected heartbreak threatens to derail Sticks' future, and Leo must go to great lengths to help his son stay on track.
In an exclusive interview with MovieWeb, Sadie Stanley and Jacob Ward shared their experience and insight working with Ray Romano on this heartwarming and emotional film, their characters, and more.
Sadie Stanley and Jacob Ward on Working with Ray Romano
MovieWeb: This is the directorial debut for Ray Romano. I have to ask, first of all, what was it like being directed by Ray? Sadie — I can start with you.
Sadie Stanley: Yeah, of course. Being directed by Ray was such an honor. I was so excited to meet him and to work with him. Obviously it's his directorial debut. This is his baby, this project, this script that he's been writing for years — and it's very loosely based off of his own life experiences. So it's very important to him, and you could see that throughout the process. He cared so much about everything, about the way that it looked, about the way that it felt and about us as actors. So I really appreciated his style of directing, because he is an actor himself. So he really understood the way my brain works. And so all of his notes really like, made sense to me, which I really appreciate. But yeah, he's a lovely, lovely man.
MW: Awesome. How about you Jacob? And you also got to play his son. How was that experience for you?
Jacob Ward: Yeah, I'd say all the same things that Sadie said. You know, from the second that I met Ray, I felt kind of safe with him and comfortable with him, and I think that we were able to establish a really awesome relationship offscreen that translated to our closeness onscreen. And, it was an absolute pleasure to work with him.
Character Development and Breakout Performances
MW: Sadie, for Dani's character — although you were breaking Stick's heart for a lot of the movie, you aren't the villain. I found you very lovable, relatable, and warm. And you've balanced this intricacy with ease. So can you break down the process in developing your character?
Stanley: Yeah, I think it is easy to look at Dani as a little bit of a villain throughout the movie. Of course, she's hurting poor Sticks, and she's breaking his heart, and she's kind of making a crazy decision. She kind of feels maybe a little bit self-absorbed, but truly — she is just a young girl trying to figure it out. And I wanted her to stay likable and relatable and for the audience to care about her. So it came down to the good moments that Sticks and Dani have together, and just making her relatable to young people. She's so carefree, and she doesn't care what people think about her, and she has these big plans for her life. And I think that people love to see that. So I'm glad you thought she was still likable.
MW: Jacob, this was quite the breakout performance for you. What is the one thing you're most proud of in bringing your character Sticks to life?
Ward: That's a good question. Um, Thank you. Uh, I think I just, I feel so much pride in having been able to work with the people that I was able to work with, to work with Ray, and Laurie, and Sadie and then the people on the crew as well. Everybody was just so good. Not only at what they do, but just as people and I think that's what I'm most proud of when I watch it.
Heartbreak and Chemistry in Somewhere in Queens
MW: Now, particularly with both your characters Sticks and Dani, you had to both tackle the weight of first love and also heartbreak. What personal experiences, if any, hopefully not, did you draw from? And how did you both build chemistry on set?
Ward: So I married my middle school sweetheart, uh, so I —
MW: Oh, wow.
Stanley: He's never been heartbroken.
Ward: Well, but she did break up with me a few times through high school, so I could pull from that, because it still felt like the world was ending even though we ended up together now.
Stanley: And then we were able to build chemistry just offscreen. We were hanging out, we were both in New York alone together while we were filming this. And, you know, obviously we're in our little bubble of filming, and we're meeting all these incredible people, and we're a little intimidated, so we kind of leaned on each other a lot throughout the process. It was really nice to have kind of like a partner in crime in all of it.
Stanley and Ward on Personal Family Traditions and Filial Themes
MW: Somewhere in Queens centers largely around family, particularly a multi-generational Italian-American family, full of traditions. Are there any fun traditions in your family you both could share with us?
Stanley: My family does a Christmas Olympics every year. That's kind what comes to mind. We like to do a whole leaderboard with all of these different games and stuff, and you have to see who wins. It's really fun. But we do that every year.
Ward: My family — so my dad has six siblings, and they all have four or five kids a piece. And so we had a massive, massive family. Funny enough, when we'd all get together for holidays, we'd all make little movies. So really that's, I guess, a little thing that we did. They're horrible and they will never be seen. But yeah, that's something we did.
From Roadside Attractions and Lionsgate, Somewhere in Queens is in theaters everywhere April 21st.