Jon S. Baird On How He Cast The Perfect Comedy Duo for Stan & Ollie

They are a beloved team, perfectly balanced in their contrary imbalance. Inspiration for decades of comedy duos that followed. Now director Jon S. Baird gives us a backstage pass with the iconic partnership and — for those in our 40’s — on a nostalgic trip down memory lane with his latest film, Stan & Ollie.

I caught up with Baird to talk about how he had always imagined John C. Reilly as Oliver Hardy and Steve Coogan as Stan Laurel to play the duo.

What’s your first memory of Laurel and Hardy?

My first memory of Laurel and Hardy is like most people of my generation, is watching them on TV after school. You know in the early 80s or late 70s. My mother recently sent me a photo where I’m dressed as Stan Laurel at a school fancy dress party with a friend of mine as an 8-year-old boy. My friend was dressed as Oliver Hardy. There was a genuine interest in them from way back.

When did the idea for the movie come about?

I got an e-mail from an agent with a script and it said, “I don’t think this will be for you but you know it’s being submitted specifically for you.” It was an agent that I just newly signed with. I read it and I emailed and I said, This is exactly for me.” I actually cried when I read the script. It had been sent by Jeff Pope, the writer. Jeff had seen my previous film. We had bumped into each other a couple of times at award ceremonies and both of our films were doing the awards circuit at the same moment. We knew each other on a semi-social level. He sent me the script and I read it and we had our meeting. I said, “Jeff, I don’t think this is a comedy, I think this is more of a love story.” And he said, “You don’t have to say anymore because I I totally agree. I want you to do it.” That was really how it came around.

The script evolved a lot from where it was at the beginning. There were a lot more peripheral characters in that first draft. As the script developed and evolved, we made it a lot more about Stan and Ollie and the wives.

That was a great story with the wives. Let’s talk about casting. Because these are such beloved characters, we’ve grown up with them, and they’re so deeply ingrained into our childhood.

We took a long time to think about it and discussed it. We sat back and we watched a load of films and just tried to imagine different actors in the roles. We were very fortunate that the two on the top of our list were Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly. We were very fortunate that the two that when we approached them, were keen to engage. They were nervous and apprehensive, but keen to talk about the potential.

We met them individually, and this was four years ago — back in 2014. We talked about the responsibility — I think that was the key. John said to me, “it’s a frightening prospect taking on the challenge of Oliver Hardy, but it’s even more frightening to sit back and let someone else take on that role.”

I think it would have been a dream role for a lot of actors because a lot of comedic actors are influenced by Laurel and Hardy, so they were playing their heroes. That’s all it needed, just one meeting each and then we got the ball rolling. But they were our first choices.

You mentioned that you first spoke to them four years ago. What was that journey to get the film made?

Funnily enough, the problem wasn’t the financing because we as soon as we went to financiers we had a lot of interest. We were so taken with E1 because the head, Alex Hamilton is a huge Laurel and Hardy fan. They had really gone above and beyond, they had mocked up these Laurel and Hardy posters in the front window, so when we turned the corner and we saw that office building it was full of these Laurel and Hardy posters. I walked in and the reception area had all the TVs that were playing Laurel and Hardy movies. We went to the conference room and they had bowler hats full of popcorn. It was like a first date, the person who you’re meeting did that, you would have married them on the spot. They were just incredible I have to say in terms of the support, without interfering. And that doesn’t really happen these days. It used to happen in the glory days of the 70s and maybe part of the 80s. I found that we had that kind of support from a studio and it was great, so the financing was there.

The thing that took a while was the script and the availability of the cast. The script took a long time to get to the place that we eventually got it to. It went through different variations. We bounced it off the actors and got their input. I worked with the writer, but it was mainly the script and the availability of the actors because they were busy guys. I was also working in TV at the time. It was really about getting everybody’s schedule to collide.

Talk about shooting that opening scene.

The most challenging scene was the opening. It’s that one long Steadicam shot and I think it lasts for quite a few minutes. There are 150 extras and you’re moving through the bar crawl, and that was, without a doubt, the biggest challenge.

It was probably the most fun to do as well. We only had one day to do it now. We were shooting in Pinewood Studios in London and Star Wars had booked all the stages and their only day off was on a Sunday, so we could only get in on one particular Sunday. We were praying for good weather because it was the UK and it was Spring time which is often volatile. You often get a lot of rain showers and we were praying for California sunshine to make it look like Culver City.

The day before there was torrential rain and the day after, it was torrential rain and we were just very lucky that on the day that we shot, we were blessed with beautiful sunshine. The elements were a challenge.

Also the logistics of having these two guys, it was nine pages of dialogue and that’s a huge amount for actors to remember. So that coupled with the technicality where the equipment and sending signals back to monitors is you’re on a huge move and getting extras, vehicles and even animals — I mean there’s a mule in there, and visual effects. That was a huge challenge. We built a miniature replica of that opening shot in the production office. We worked on it for weeks, almost like a war room. We moved these figures around, with things like Roman centurions playing baseball in the background. There’s going to be an Egyptian walking past and smoking a cigarette. That was really good fun to produce, but that was a challenge.

I loved the story of the wives which you talked about earlier. It was a beautiful story where they provided comedy too. Talk about adding their storyline in and balancing in their story and casting.

I’d worked with Shirley before. We were originally looking for an American actress to play that part. When John came on board he said, “I really love Shirley Henderson.” and I said I had too. We had Shirley read a few times. She auditioned, she came down and did it and then stole the part.

For Nina, for the character of Ida. I was absolutely adamant that we had to get someone who understood the Slavic mentality. The tough love that comes from that part of the world. They’ve got this steeliness on the outside, but they’ve got huge hearts and a lot of humanity, and a lot of humor dark humor. It just so happens that you know Nina kept on coming on the on the radar for different things and people had been recommending her. When I met her, she totally understands this whole Eastern European thing and that’s how he got them.

In terms of the film, the wives weren’t really much of a big part in the first draft. They were very much buried and the more that we brought them into the script, the better the ship became. The more we brought them forward in the story – originally they just appeared quickly at the end – the more we involved them the more we realized this was coming to life just come to life. It happens in the film, it really comes to life at the start the second night from that when they arrive you. A lot of humor came from the girls, they improvised. They basically shared an apartment and lived together like sisters. A lot of the stuff that we get the laughs from in the film came from their socializing off the set you know.you’re right. They’ve got their own narrative and they are as important in the film as the guys.

I remember watching them after school. What is it like to introduce them to a new generation?

It’s interesting more than anything else and to see it plays to a younger audience. This film will have its natural home with the 40+ market but I think there’s definitely a way to introduce a younger audience.

You see this with nostalgia. This is why we get Batman and Superman and remakes of Wonder Woman because the studios aim the marketing at the parents. They say, “I remember Wonder Woman. I used to watch that as a kid.” So, the parents get excited about it and the kids get excited about it. I think there’s an element of that with this as well. There’s definitely that kind of thing when it gets into the zeitgeist because people will be talking about it with so much interest and so much reflection and nostalgia that there will be a sort of trickle down as you work through the generation. Hopefully, it works on its own as a story.

I have to ask you what’s your favorite Laurel and Hardy movie?

I think the funniest Laurel and Hardy movie is a movie called Block Heads. I say that because I think, of all the comedy, that one plays best to a modern audience. If you were if you were showing a group of 50 people who’d never seen a Laurel and Hardy movie, I would show them Block Heads because I think that’s the one that is where the comedy works across the years. With Way Out West, it’s got the iconic dancing and we used that in the film a couple of times. The Music Box, obviously because they won the Oscar for that. I love Sons Of The Desert. The Laurel and Hardy fan club named themselves after that film. For me, in terms of just being brutal and not being nostalgic is Block Heads.