The Source Magazine sat down with “About Last Night” Star Michael Ealy. The film comes out in theaters nationwide on Valentine’s Day. 

Check out what Ealy told reporters at our roundtable.

We’re starting to love seeing you in Romantic Comedies, we last caught up with you on the red carpet in NYC for “Think Like A Man” and this is another opportunity for you to work with Will Packer and to do another romantic comedy, tell us how you select your projects because on TV we see you in a completely different light, so what is it about romantic comedies that has become more attractive to you as an actor?

Good question, someone said to me in an interview the other day, “you’re like the king of romantic comedies” and I said really, I don’t know how that’s applicable, I’ve only done one that has come out. Maybe after “Think Like A Man Too” comes out, but for me this was less of a romantic comedy and more of a relationship movie. It has romantic elements, but unlike romantic comedies, we get into the minutia of what a relationship is, whether good or bad. I felt like the idea that Joy and I at one moment couldn’t keep our hands off of each other and then later in the film couldn’t stand to be in the same room, I mean that’s love, that’s real. I’d been offered romantic comedies before but it wasn’t until TLAM that I felt it was smart enough for me to do it, and I really responded to Dominic’s character. With this one, the opportunity was there to take the relationship further and explore it to the fullest. Danny is much more compelling to me to be honest with you. He’s highly flawed, and he doesn’t know how to communicate some things, but he’s real. Sometimes Danny says the wrong thing, and it’s really the wrong thing, but Leslie wrote the script in a way that’s very truthful. Danny is 28 in the film and that was me at 28, hands down. That’s just where I was in life and that made it real to me.

The film is very contemporary and there are a lot of changes that were made in this film, which is actually a remake of the original “About Last Night” from 1986. Can you talk about what it was like to recreate such an already amazing body of work? 

Well I want to put this out there, Let’s take the 1986 film away and stop using the word remake, it’s more of a contemporary adaptation of the play, then it is a remake of the ’86 movie. I think that the ’86 movie had more melodrama. And the 86 movie was more about one couple, this one is about two couples and I think this one is edgier and funnier a la the play

How familiar were you with the original movie and the play when you took on the role?

I was not familiar with either.  And part of the reason why I didn’t watch the movie before we started filming was because I really liked the script. I thought to myself, if I had never seen the movie and I really enjoyed the script; then I want to approach it from a fresh perspective instead of trying to look at what Rob Lowe did and appease these people who saw the 1986 film.

I presume you’ve now seen the original movie?

I still won’t watch the movie. What am I going to gain from it, you know what I mean? What they did was their generation in ’86. It was what contemporary looked like in 1986; but the world changed drastically after 91, the internet changed the world drastically. So to me this “About Last Night” is based on what’s happening right now in 2014. And so to compare the two, nah!

The characters are very developed and each relationship is equally important in the film. Was that part of the appeal for you with this project?

Yes. Having done “Think Like A Man” where there was something like six couples. I remember having the feeling and conversation with Taraji about wanting to do something with just our characters because we really enjoyed our portion of the script and our storyline so much that we really just wanted to do a film where it’s just us. And then this came up. And you have Debbie and Danny, and you have Joan and Bernie and they’re so different, it’s like watching two separate relationships. Of course we’re interconnected because of the friendships, but what I enjoyed about only showing two relationships is that we got to flush out both couples more. And that’s why you have the realness of a relationship relayed up on screen opposed to something glossy and highly romanticized. Just the time alone takes a lot, here we can take the time we need and just focus on these two couples. And I even like the fact that in this version instead of one relationship there are two. So you can kind of look at both and say I think I’m kind of like them on this one, and you have that option to choose. Then there will be couples that go to see this film on Valentine’s Day when it comes out and say we’re more like Danny and Debbie, but my sister, her and her husband are Joan and Bernie hands down. To me that’s fresh and fun. I haven’t seen a relationship movie where the relationships are explored to this extent, since “Love Jones.”

Do you see there being a sequel to this version of “About Last Night” and could you see this film becoming a Cult Classic?

At this point after TLAM2, I will never say never. It could be interesting to see where Danny and Debbie go after Danny’s ready. What does this relationship look like now that he’s ready. Because at the end of this movie he’s ready. And Bernie and Joan, is it more of the same or do they have a kid and settle down and become rumbustious parents? Who knows? I’m sure there are a bunch of ideas out there but cult classic, that would be great. I definitely wanted this “About last Night” to be as valuable and special to this generation as the ’86 film was to it’s generation, or my generation, but I think the audience will determine that.

With working with Kevin Hart there was an interview where you stated that he fills in for you with things you can’t do and you fill in for him the same way, can you speak a little bit about how that plays out in the film, and what the chemistry was like working with Kevin in this particular film?

I think Kevin and I took our chemistry to a whole other level.  And I feel like if we were to do another project together where we were two totally different characters the chemistry would still be there. And I think that comes from two guys that sort of know their lanes. If I try to compete with Kevin on the funny, you would notice. It would be obvious like what are you doing? It’s just not working. What I find works is, with a comedian of his caliber. And I kind of learned this on “Barbershop,” actually with Cedric is, you have to set them up. When you start improving or riffing or whatever it’s just all about setting them up to succeed and I think that’s why it’s working, I genuinely do. I think I just kind of throw the ball and he dunks it. It’s an alley-op as much as possible and every now and then when we go back and forth enough I may say something that makes him laugh. But 9 times out of 10, he’s going to be the one to crack me up. It’s just the way it is. There’s a scene in the movie where there are five girls at the end of the bar and that’s just all improv, they said to us we feel like we need this scene, here’s the setup, go!  And that’s what came out of it. I absolutely love working with Kevin because of that, because I believe that acting is a collaborative sport. So when we get a chance to collaborate, this is usually what happens. If you’ve seen Kevin and I in an interview, the same thing happens because the same energy is there.  There’s another scene that’s more serious for Kevin and I helped him out some there. For me it’s about knowing your lane and it’s what we do.

What was it like working with Director Steve Pink?

Steve’s sensibilities are why this film is what it is, plain and simple. When I finally saw it, I sent him a text saying dude, your sensibilities are all over this movie. I don’t think Steve would have come on if he didn’t enjoy the script. But to me I would ask you the same question – did you think the film was vastly different from “Think Like A Man”? If you look at the two films, they have the same producer and three of the same actors yet, they are vastly different. And the characters are vastly different. One is more raw and one is a bit more safe and romantic, it just is. And they both serve there purpose, they both serve their audience, giving them what they want and what they need.  As far as “TLAM” I know for a fact that people are still watching that film to this day and they’re still very, very happy when they watch it. And I think that when people see “About Last Night” they’ll see themselves up there in a different way. They’ll see a more realistic look at relationships. Steve brings a certain grittiness and edginess to this film that was appropriate, for this film. And it’s just that, this is what we do.

What are you working on next?

Right now I’m waiting to hear about what will happen with the second season of my show “Almost Human” and that’s kind of keeping me afloat.

-Chasity Saunders (@itsmechasity)