According to an old Hollywood cliché, chemistry can’t be faked. For proof, just spend five minutes with Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti, stars of the new romantic comedy Palm Springs.
“Sorry, I just Donny-ed. I wandered into the conversation like Donny in The Big Lebowski,” Milioti said during a recent Zoom interview with Vanity Fair, referencing Steve Buscemi’s obtuse character. She had been running late and inadvertently interrupted Samberg, who was explaining why Andy Siara’s Palm Springs script stood out to him.
“You’re going to love hearing about this,” Samberg replied sarcastically—an acknowledgment of the many interviews the pair has done together since the film’s debut at the Sundance Film Festival in January. (Palm Springs, which was snatched up by the distribution companies Neon and Hulu for a record sum, is available to stream now on Hulu.)
“Can’t wait. Andy, take it away,” Milioti deadpanned, sounding a lot like her disenchanted Palm Springs character, Sarah.
Directed by Max Barbakow, Palm Springs is a time-loop comedy in the vein of Groundhog Day. Samberg plays Nyles, a man forced to go through the same destination wedding in Palm Springs over and over; Milioti’s Sarah is the bride’s sister, who inadvertently winds up stuck in the same loop. Their relationship evolves in surprising ways throughout the film, often zigging when a typical romantic comedy might zag. The jagged edges of conflict created by some of the film’s twists are brought to exhilarating life by the two actors. But despite their intense onscreen connection, Samberg and Milioti were not friends in real life before shooting the film.
“It’s a trick. You’re being tricked,” Milioti joked of their chemistry, which first became apparent when she met with producer Becky Sloviter and Samberg. What was supposed to be a 30-minute conversation turned into a three-hour discussion about music and pop culture. “I left there just having had a truly fantastic afternoon, never knowing about this movie,” Milioti said. Later, she was sent the script and fell in love. “They asked if I’d be interested, and I said yes. And then I never heard anything. And I was like, ‘Well, congrats to Dakota Johnson.’”
“Oh, my gosh,” interrupted Samberg.
“She’s going to be great,” added Milioti without missing a beat. “I was just like, ‘Oh, they went to someone fancy and that’s fine.’ And then I got a call that they wanted me to do it. And it was truly like kismet or something.”
“I think there’s a rare nice thing that happens sometimes in our business where you end up working with people, and you both wanted to be friends based on what you know of each other,” Samberg added. “And just sort of assuming you have common reference points. And when two people both want to be friends, that makes it a lot easier.”
For the record, while Samberg thinks Johnson is a great actress, he said she was not offered the part. “We wanted Cristin Milioti, and that was who we cast,” he said.
“We wanted Cristin Milioti’s dear friend Scarlett Johansson,” joked Milioti in response. “No, I’m just kidding. I was thrilled. I have nothing against her, but we don’t know each other.”
“I am friendly with Scarlett and I love her,” replied Samberg.
Their characters have a similar sort of banter, engendering enough goodwill that the audience doesn’t stop rooting for them to make it out of Palm Springs—even after both Nyles and Sarah engage in some truly stunning acts of betrayal.