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Jan 30, 2015 By Zach Hollwedel Web Exclusive

Martin Starr, best known for his work in such television comedies as Freaks and Geeks, Party Down, and Silicon Valley, stars in writer-director Sean Mullin’s feature film debut, Amira & Sam. A slightly different sort of role in Starr’s filmography, Amira & Sam is a romantic comedy that deals with some heavy subject matter.

In the film, Starr plays Sam, a recently-returned war veteran with hopes of becoming a standup comedian, who enters into a potentially lucrative business partnership with his cousin. Along the way, meets Amira, an Iraqi immigrant whose family has suffered devastating losses in the ongoing war. Despite their differences and the threat of Amira’s impending deportation, the two discover they might be perfectly matched for one another.

We recently chatted with Starr about what attracted him to the script, as well as side projects his fans might be less familiar with.

Zach Hollwedel [Under The Radar]: Thank you for speaking with me today. Congratulations on Amira & Sam. You did a wonderful job. The role isn’t necessarily one your fans might immediately expect from you. How did you first become involved in the project?

Martin Starr: I sat down with [writer-director] Sean [Mullins]. I’d read the script and was uncertain off the bat whether I was the best person to fill these shoes. And there was another movie that I had also read around the same time that didn’t end up working out, but they would have shot at the same time. So I ended up sitting down with Sean and talking a lot about Amira & Sam, and seeing it through his eyes really allowed me to fall in love with the character and the story and feel the need for me to push my self to try to bring that character to life. And I feel thankful that that did happen, because I’m really proud of the way the movie turned out.

It’s great. And what might be surprising to fans of yours who haven’t seen it yet, is it’s a lot more dramatic than the roles they might associate you with. Were you looking to do a more dramatic project, or was it your connection with Sean and affinity for the character of Sam that pushed you to do it?

It wasn’t about it being a dramatic movie, because I never really saw it that way, anyway. I think part of what Sean really wanted from me was to make it less of a drama, because it does feel heavy. I suppose if you cast differently, then the entire movie would have shifted, and it could have been a drama—like, and actual drama—just as easily as what we made, which hopefully comes across as a romantic comedy.

Despite all of the themes and subjects tackled in the film, it definitely comes across as more lighthearted and as a comedy. There are those couple scenes where Sam attempts standup, and I know Sean himself has done some improve and standup. Did you collaborate on those jokes? Can you talk a little bit about the development of those scenes and the material Sam performs for the crowds?

Oh, yeah, you know the initial scene where he fails at standup—it was really important for me to make sure that those were funny for the audience, but still understandable that he fails within the reality of the movie. It’s a tight rope to walk, balancing between keeping the actual audience hopefully laughing, and the reality of the audience in the movie not enjoying what’s happening. So that was fun to play with, and I played a little bit with the dialogue and how awkward that is. We tried it a few different ways, but are really happy with the way that it ended up. The series of jokes that we did in the second—at the end of the movie—we had done…what I think ended up being fifteen minutes of material, ten to fifteen of jokes. It ended up needing to be wrapped up a lot quicker, so we went back and did reshoots on that scene, so we tied it up quicker, so it wasn’t as choppy. But those jokes, I definitely made my own, so that I felt comfortable up on stage. Because Sean is a standup comedian and had written the jokes to his own voice, so I found them in my own way for that character.

And they were funny and, especially in that first scene, laughable without being cringe worthy where you have to look away from the screen. So you definitely succeeded as you’d hoped. I know you’ve done a lot of improve. Is standup something you are entertaining doing yourself?

At the moment, I don’t have twenty minutes of material to go up on stage and try out, nor at the moment do I really have the desire to do it. But, I know at some point I will get up there when I do feel inspired to. It’s easy to want to do it, and also it scares me a bit more than it would under other circumstances, because all of the guys I’m working with are so good at it. Everyone on Silicon Valley is; they’re all standup comedians, except for Zach Woods, who is one of the most incredible improvisers you’ll ever meet. So it’s definitely…it’s unnerving to try to go up and compete with the talent that those guys have. I couldn’t hope to be as good at standup comedy as they are. But I’m sure one day I’ll try—perhaps when I’m not surrounded by some of the most talented standup comedians.

The other side of Sam’s character is that he’s a recently returned war veteran, as is Sean Mullin, who served, as well. I imagine he was able to lend a lot of insight, as you were developing your character. Is there anything in your own life—any friends or family members or experiences—that you were able to tap into while developing Sam?

I talked to a few of his friends—one here in L.A. and a few in New York. And I got to make a trip to West Point and meet some of the cadets there, and got to experience a lot of it. And of course, dig into Sean and all of his experiences, both inside the army and also as a standup comedian. So there was a plethora of resources at my disposal, which was very fortunate. That’s a big part of why I fell in love with the script and the character, because I was able to see it through Sean’s eyes. This was such a personal story for him. If it hadn’t been so connected to his life, I don’t know that I would have had the same desire to help tell it.

Is the military, prior to this script, something you had even thought about often, or did this script open up new doors to you?

There was a period of…you mean for myself? Had I ever thought about going into the military?

Yeah, or was it ever something you had ever really thought about? The day to day of this subset of the country and what we’re engaged in right now?

Yeah, it’s all over the news, so it’s certainly something you’re thinking about. There was a period of time in my early twenties where I thought about going into the army or going into the reserves.

Oh, really?

Yeah, for the experience or…. I don’t know. I mean, I didn’t end up doing it, but I definitely thought about it as a viable option for what to do with my time and with my energy, and that seemed like an option. I have so much respect for the people who serve.

In addition to your acting, you also do some music, and you perform with a group called Common Rotation. Can you speak a little bit about the band, and their sound and aesthetic, and how you became involved with them?

I met Jordan Katz. I saw him play, and he’s an incredible musician. I saw, it was like a mash-up of a few ’90s hip-hop songs—more than a few; I feel like it was like eight or nine—and just kind of flow from one to the other. It was just him on trumpet and an MC by the name of Marc Evan Jackson, who is just got kind of…chops when it came to hip-hop. And they just did this really funny, really awesome, on-point collaboration on this mash-up of world hip-hop. I talked to Jordan afterwards just about how awesome it was, and he said that he’s been producing beats, and we recorded a couple. Then, I started playing with him and his Bluegrass Band called Common Rotation, you know, two or three years later. We started doing our own… shows, because I would just jump up on stage with them when they had a gig—it was all of them—and now we’ve done maybe ten shows. It’s just fun. It’s a whole lot of fun and not something that people expect to see when they come and see. We just have fun.

Was the comedic aspect of their work a big part of what drew you to them? The mash-up he did, you said it was a really unique, funny—in a positive way—sound. Some of the work you did, like the cover of “Paper Planes,” where you rap along, and the crowd seems really into it, seems like it has a sort of humorous bent to the music.

Yeah, that was a cover of the Bugsy version of “Paper Planes,” and that’s his verse. We’ve also recorded our own five or six original songs. Most of them are kind of derived from older songs, like “Rich Girl” by Hall and Oates…. I get inspired by older music and then write my own verses to it and find a new way into the song. So for me, it’s really fun to reimagine songs that mean something to me already and already have a kind of history. So, we’ve been playing with that, and we do have some fun with the crowd, as far as it’s lighthearted for the most part. But there’re also some songs with a rather heavy political message, as well. It’s certainly an outlet for me to express things that I want. I’ve been writing poetry since I was, I don’t know, early teens or even eight or nine. I mean, not great stuff mind you, but I was writing stuff back then. I was heavy into rap in my early double-digits, and then I started doing open mic poetry and that kind of stuff in my late teens and early twenties and found myself in that world in a really interesting way. So I’ve been playing with this as an outlet for a long time.

Do you go out and see a lot of music on your own?

I don’t go out and see as much as I’d like to. I see music every once in a while. I prefer, to be perfectly honest, I prefer small settings. And most music settings are big. It’s just a bit of an overwhelming experience for me usually. I don’t tend to enjoy live music. I like to go see bluegrass in smaller venues; those are really enjoyable shows for me.

Do you and Common Rotation have any shows coming up that our readers can check out?

I don’t think we have any set up at the moment. We’re trying to record a couple more tracks. We did a show in New York a couple months ago and came up with a new tune, actually, for that. So, we’re trying to get in and record those. Hopefully, we’ll just find ourselves in a place where we’re out on the interwebs; people like to access music that way.

Are you primarily a lyricist? Do you play, as well? Do you have a musical background?

I played drums for a short amount of time, but no. In our band, I just write. We have such talented musicians—me on any instrument next to them is like a toddler picking up a guitar for the first time.

What is next for you in film or television?

We’re almost done with the next season of Silicon Valley, and that will come out in April, early April I think. And then, I don’t know. I’ve been looking forward to the release of Amira & Sam in theaters and on VOD on the 30^th.

I hope you guys get a lot of traction. It’s a great film, really intimate and feels honest. I think you did a great job in it.

Thank you very much. I’m really proud of the movie and think everyone did such an incredible job. It was such an honor to meet David Rasche and work with him.

As we talked about, there are a lot of somber topics and subjects in the film. What was the atmosphere like on set? Were you guys able to keep it pretty lighthearted?

Oh yeah, we had a great time. It was very fun. I’m not used to an atmosphere on set that’s not fun and playful. There are certainly moments where you need to focus and do something serious. But as a whole, it’s not fun to be on a set where you can’t play and enjoy your day, you know? I wouldn’t be happy under any circumstances. We had a great time shooting the movie.

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Amira & Sam will be released in select cities and on VOD on January 30th. For more information about the film and where it is playing, check out its website.

You can read our review of the film here.