“I like films that have a moment early on that grabs you, and shifts the experience into something like, ‘Oh, I’m going to watch this, whether I like it or not.’”
Like Woody Allen’s “Manhattan,” writer/director Matthew Shear’s stunning debut “Fantasy Life” captures both the city and its exotic species, New Yorkers, perfectly. Doing triple-duty, Shear stars as Sam, a law school dropout who scores a gig being a ‘manny’ for the three daughters of a fading movie star (Amanda Peet) and her alpha-rocker husband (Alejandro Nivola). – PETER DAVIS
I grew up in the city and so many movies get New York wrong, but you truly captured the real NYC, which isn’t easy to do.
I wanted to tell a story about New York right now, about what it’s like for a guy like Sam to be living in New York and what it’s like for Dianne, Amanda Peet’s character, to be living in New York. There were a lot of things that went into making it feel like New York, but I think that one of the main things was, okay, I want to capture it as it is.
“Fantasy Life” is a perfect title. Its Sam’s fantasy life but also all the other characters too.
The title didn’t come right away. And then I was just walking down the street, and it came to me. As a writer, you hammer something for so long and then out of nowhere something occurs to you.
“There were a few stages in which I considered not playing the part. Initially, I wasn’t sure I wanted to do it.”
Like Sam, you were a ‘manny’ in the city.
Sam is not me exactly, but he is certainly reflective of me as a younger person. When I was auditioning, I worked as a nanny for families on the Upper East Side. I threw myself into the screenplay as a way of having a place to put work, totally separate from acting. I started to bring different elements of my personal life into it.
Sam has a massive, scary, but hilarious panic attack in the opening scene.
I have suffered from panic attacks before. My issues are less panic related than you might think given the storyline. I’ve dealt more with depression, but I know what they’re like, so I could draw on that.
The scene when Sam tells his therapist (played by Judd Hirsch) that he worries he’s an antisemitic Jew, made me cringe and laugh at the same time.
I like films that have a moment early on that grabs you, and shifts the experience into something like, ‘Oh, I’m going to watch this, whether I like it or not.’”
I can’t imagine anyone else playing Sam but you.
There were a few stages in which I considered not playing the part. Initially, I wasn’t sure I wanted to do it. I wasn’t sure how it would go as an actor and director. Then people around me, including my wife and agent were like, ‘Are you crazy? You made this part for yourself. You wrote this for yourself. You have to take this seriously.’ And so, I owned it.
STREAM “FANTASY LIFE” HERE
