PopHorror Let's Get Scared
We at PopHorror recently had the opportunity to interview Mary Bronstein about her new dark comedy, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, starring Rose Byrne in what appears to be the role of a lifetime. The film also features Christian Slater and Conan O’Brien in standout performances. In our conversation, Bronstein opened up about the casting process—particularly how they landed Conan O’Brien—and shared insights into what audiences can expect from this bold and unconventional film.
Read the full interview below.
PopHorror: Hey, AJ Friar, Pophorror. Hey, Mary.
Mary Bronstein: Hey, how are you?
PopHorror: I’m doing wonderful. Thank you so much for joining us today.
Mary Bronstein: Of course. Thanks for having me.
PopHorror: Sorry, I usually have a much better setup, but I had to use my phone for this interview.
Mary Bronstein: Oh, it’s okay. I like your posters though.
PopHorror: Thank you so much. So Mary, how did If I Had Legs I’d Kick You all come about?
Mary Bronstein: Oh, man. It came about because I was having an existential crisis while going through a difficult situation with my daughter, and to sort of save myself from that, I started writing. And the film is really a true expression of that crisis. That crisis that I had becomes the sort of existential terror that’s at the center of the film. And then I extracted out all the way to abstraction and surrealism all the ideas from this very real emotion that I was having.
PopHorror: And the casting process, how did that all come together? Because you got Rose Byrne. Getting Conan O’Brien to do a movie. I mean, that rarely happens. So how did that all come together?
Mary Bronstein: Yeah, it never happens, right? Everybody was approached in the same way, which was through sending a script and me crossing my fingers. Rose was always at the top of my list because I needed somebody who could ride the tightrope between the very dark humor in the script and the drama, and also somebody that the viewer would have a kindness towards so that I could take them into some very dark places, even if it was a subconscious kindness, because of the other work that she’s done and how she’s beloved. And that’s a really short list of people. And she was always at the top.
For Conan, I’ve been a fan of his since I was 14 years old, since his first Late Night show came on. A rabid fan. And I had the wild idea to have him as the therapist. And I took a shot in the dark and got the script to him. And we had our first meeting. And the whole first meeting was him basically trying to talk me out of casting him. And it was really a scary thing for him because it was out of his comfort zone, and I think because it was scary for him is why he said yes. And I lucked out.
PopHorror: And what can audiences expect from If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, as well?
Mary Bronstein: What can they expect? I think they can expect, what I like to describe it as is getting on a roller coaster. It’s all going as a regular roller coaster should, until it starts getting a little wild and then you pass by the operator, he’s asleep, or maybe he’s not even there. And it starts to get crazier and crazier until you think that you might plummet off the track into the ether. That’s what they can expect.
PopHorror: Mary, thank you so much for joining me today.
Mary Bronstein: Thank you for having me.
PopHorror: Of course. Congratulations on the film.
Mary Bronstein: Thank you so much.
