Family Switch: Director McG on His Body Swap Movie and Casting Weezer
0Netflix's new holiday movie, Family Switch, is making a unique play on the tried-and-true body swap trope. From director McG (The Babysitter), the story is based on Amy Krouse's bestselling children's book, Bedtime for Mommy, and stars Jennifer Garner, Ed Helms, Emma Myers, and Brady Noon in a heartfelt comedy that Collider's Tania Hussain says is "a stocking full of laughs."
It was that comedy that McG tells editor-in-chief Steve Weintraub was the most challenging element to pin down in the editing room. Bringing a "twist of originality" to the trope was easy by doing "a six-way switch – baby/dog, mom/daughter, dad/son," but nailing all the right jokes came down to choosing the right frames and the right material from his ensemble cast. In Family Switch, just days before Christmas, Jess (Garner) and Bill (Helms) Walker want to bring their family together before they grow apart. Their teens, CC (Myers) and Wyatt (Noon) are busy with extracurriculars and preparing for a Yale interview, but when Jess tries to force a happy memory on them, the planets align and a mysterious astrology reader, played by Rita Moreno, snaps a photo, leading to one of the most bizarre days of their lives. No one, including the family dog Pickles and their toddler Miles, is safe!
During their conversation, McG discusses his career from directing music videos like Smash Mouth's "All Star," to working with Netflix, and why he tries to bring something colorful and magical to all his projects. In the movie, Helms' character gets to rock out with Weezer, and the director shares how he got the band on board, why we don't get any new songs from them, and why body swap movies resonate so much with audiences.
#FamilySwitch #Weezer #Mcg
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