Self-professed film buff Patton Oswalt recently moderated a 30-minute Q&A with brothers Ron and Russell Mael – better known as the band Sparks – about their new film “Annette,” and TheWrap is now able to present the conversation in its entirety.
“It was a project that we started about nine years ago wanting to do something in a narrative form that would help us grow as a musical force,” Russell Mael says at the beginning of the conversation. “Something different from the 25 albums that we’ve done as Sparks the band. So we wanted to try something in a narrative form, so we came up with this idea for ‘Annette’ and it was a musical [with] wall-to-wall music conveying the dialogue in the story.”
Ron adds that they originally thought maybe “Annette” might be a theatrical production, but also noted that they’re such big film fans they always hoped it might be a film. But the process to actually getting “Annette” made wasn’t so simple, and it took French director Leos Carax and a lot of luck to get to the point of the film actually entering production.
In the film, Adam Driver plays a stand-up comedian and Marion Cotillard plays his opera singer wife, and the story follows how their lives are changed when they have their first child. The cast also includes Simon Helberg, Devyn McDowell and Angèle.
Watch the full conversation in the video player above. “Annette” opened in theaters this summer and is currently streaming on Prime Video and is available on VOD, Blu-ray and DVD. You can also learn all about Sparks in Edgar Wright’s excellent documentary “The Sparks Brothers,” also available on VOD, Blu-ray and DVD and streaming on Netflix.
