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Focker-In-Law is, of course, the latest addition to the over-25-year-old Meet the Parents franchise, but it’s also a reunion for stars Skyler Gisondo, Beanie Feldstein, and Eduardo Franco after they shared the screen in Olivia Wilde‘s 2019 comedy Booksmart.
“I think Booksmart was such a formative experience for all of us, and so to get to do it again eight years later was truly a really magical time,” Gisondo tells Seen on the Screen host Jacqueline Coley.
Formative, indeed. Since Booksmart, the trio of Gisondo, Feldstein, and Franco have racked up a truly impressive body of work, including Stranger Things, Primetime, and even a Broadway stint leading the revival of Funny Girl. But Fockers is a franchise none of them could turn down. Feldstein and Gisondo respectively play Samantha and Henry Focker, replacing Daisy Tahan and Colin Baiocchi, who played the characters in 2010’s Little Fockers. Franco plays Eduardo Villalobos, Samantha’s long-term boyfriend.
Speaking on the popularity of the franchise, Franco admits, “This was the first project I ever booked where I told my parents and they were like, ‘Oh, we know what that is.'”
“It was like stepping into a superhero movie,” says Gisondo, who has in fact been in a superhero movie before. “These movies meant so much to me growing up, and they were always in the rotation every year.”
The trio also discuss the experience of working with comedy veteran Ben Stiller, who plays Samantha and Henry’s father Greg Focker. Specifically, they mention a “dinner table” scene from the upcoming film, a classic from the franchise that gets a new twist when Greg chokes on his food and is helped by Henry’s girlfriend and potential fiancée Olivia Jones (Ariana Grande).
“I have never had to act less in my whole life than watching Ben choke because we were right next to him and he actually, I think, lost consciousness,” says Feldstein. “This is why he’s Ben Stiller. There’s just like a level of commitment that is otherworldly. It’s incredible.”
Feldstein even reveals she improvised a line between her and Stiller, who she calls by his real name “Gaylord,” which made the final cut. “The whole dynamic was like, Greg and Samantha are too close. They’re too comfortable. And so, I was like, ‘John [Hamburg, the director], I think we should do Gaylord.’ And he was like, ‘We’re going to find the perfect place to put it.’ And it did make it in. So, I was proud of that.”
Watch the full Seen on the Screen interview above to hear Gisondo, Feldstein, and Franco get tested on their Meet the Fockers franchise knowledge and reveal who in the ensemble cast made everyone break the most on set.
Focker-In-Law opens in theaters November 25. Buy tickets right now on Fandango.
Seen on the Screen is a Universal Entertainment and Fandango podcast series hosted by Jacqueline Coley, Awards Editor at Rotten Tomatoes.
Claim your ticket to witness the personal narratives happening behind the scenes of film and entertainment! Each episodes invites you into intimate conversations with filmmakers, actors, and industry insiders. Blending sharp cinematic trivia with thoughtfully crafted interview questions, Jacqueline leads each guest through a rich, reflective journey into their lifelong relationship with entertainment. From the formative movie-going experiences that shaped their artistic worldview to their career-defining moves — asking them to reflect on the films that have rocked their world, scared the daylights out of them, and changed them forever.
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