Lived It

Snack: Bennifer, Penavier, Blasinski, and all our favourite movie couples

Episode Summary

We’re chatting all things Hollywood power couples — our favourite duos, their on-screen collaborations, and how it feels to go to work with your partner. (Plus bonus points for deciphering our made-up couple names.)

Episode Notes

Episode Transcription

Gen Fricker:

Welcome to this snack episode of The Big Film Buffet. My name is Gen Fricker and Alexei Toliopoulos.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Gen Fricker:

There's one name that's on everybody's lips.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Oh, okay.

Gen Fricker:

And that one name is made up of two names smushed together.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

It's a compound name.

Gen Fricker:

It's a compound name, honey. And it's called Bennifer. They're back.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Oh, Bennifer is back. Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez. We're living in 2002, 2003 era nostalgia.

Gen Fricker:

All I care about is Jenny from the Block and Oscar winner...

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Yes.

Gen Fricker:

... Ben Affleck.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Gen Fricker:

I'm honestly loving it. Little crumbs of serotonin watching photos of them back together after so long.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

It takes you back to that Gigli era. It takes you back to that Jersey Girl era. It takes you back to that Jenny from the Block era.

Gen Fricker:

A simpler time.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

A power couple has been reborn and resurrected.

Gen Fricker:

It started me on a path of thinking about our favourite power couples on the silver screen.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Hollywood legends collaborating with each other.

Gen Fricker:

Exactly. I was trying to think who is kind of on that same level of iconicism?

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Those iconoclastic characters...

Gen Fricker:

Exactly.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

... played by iconoclastic actors, bringing them to the big screen.

Gen Fricker:

And we've talked about them before but a couple that I'm obsessed with and would love to just hang out at their house one afternoon, Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem, my two favourites. I love Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz. They have such electric chemistry together on screen. I think that's what is so exciting about them as an on-screen pair because they have such intimate and fiery chemistry. I remember they'd made a movie together back in the '90s called Jamón Jamón, which is a Spanish, very sexy thriller.

Gen Fricker:

Sexy?

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Very sexy, very sexy thriller. And then they worked together on a few other movies, but they didn't really hit it off until they did Vicky Christina Barcelona together and became an actual real-life couple.

Gen Fricker:

IRL. Yeah.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

IRL couple. There was an interview I saw for a movie that they did with Asghar Farhadi, the Iranian filmmaker who won an Oscar for A Separation, and the film that they made with him called Everybody Knows. I had this great interview where they talked about not bringing their work-life home with them, so even though they leave it all on the screen. They leave it all on the set. They come back home, they don't talk about it. I'm like, "That is pretty impressive." It makes sense how they can make it all work, right?

Gen Fricker:

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That boundary. Yeah. Because I guess it'd be nothing worse, right? Just getting in the car after a long day.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

A long day of yelling at each other in character.

Gen Fricker:

In Spanish, presumably.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Presumably.

Gen Fricker:

Perhaps some anglais as well.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Yes. "Penélope, I loved that scene that we did together today."

Gen Fricker:

But I do kind of love the idea of two movie stars getting in the car at the end of the day and be like, "What are we going to do for dinner?"

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Yeah.

Gen Fricker:

"Have you done the washing yet?"

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Exactly.

Gen Fricker:

That kind of thing. What would be their couple name?

Alexei Toliopoulos:

"No, I have not done the washing." Oh Cruz, Bardem. What about, Demcruz?

Gen Fricker:

I love it.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Demcruz.

Gen Fricker:

Demcruz. I was going to say Penavier.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Oh, I love Penavier. I got a chill saying it, Penavier.

Gen Fricker:

I'm naming my firstborn child Penavier.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

It sounds like a dessert caviar if you will. That's why I think it sounds very rich and enticing.

Gen Fricker:

Ooh la la. Much like the couple themselves.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Oh. And if we got to go back all the way to Hollywood's early greats, the big iconic couple Bogey and Bacall. Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, they kick things off with The Big Sleep. A very cool noir. And he is like, you know the Maltese Falcon, he's Casablanca. He's got that coat. He's got that fedodo on.

Gen Fricker:

Archetypal. Did you say fedodo?

Alexei Toliopoulos:

He's got a fedodo.

Gen Fricker:

Oh my gosh, he's that archetypal grizzled detective, you know what I mean? He's seen some shit, you know.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

I reckon he really meets his match when he is paired with her on-screen because she captures like that femme fatale so powerfully where they feel even-handed like they've got that push and pull of status in their movies.

Gen Fricker:

Totally. Which is definitely hard, considering. I think Lauren Bacall was pretty young when they met?

Alexei Toliopoulos:

He was an extremely old-looking man. He was a grizzled old gumshoe.

Gen Fricker:

For her on-screen to hold her own. Never feels like she's being overpowered by him. It really feels like it's two equally powerful actors going at each other, is kind of a testament to their chemistry? Yeah.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Absolutely.

Gen Fricker:

What's their couple name?

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Well, Bogey and Bacall, very old school. I don't know where we go. They got the double Bs, the double Bs.

Gen Fricker:

The double Bs.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Double Bs.

Gen Fricker:

I mean, they're pretty similar sounding Bocall?

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Yeah.

Gen Fricker:

Bagart.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

What about Humpcall?

Gen Fricker:

Love that.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Humpcall.

Gen Fricker:

I love Humpcall. I simply adore Humpcall.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Give me a Humpcall, dude.

Gen Fricker:

Bro. Give me a Humpcall.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

It's the old 1940s edition where booty call and it's the name of the two most gorgeous creatures to ever walk that silver screen.

Gen Fricker:

Shang that Humpcall movie on.

Gen Fricker:

One that's kind of top of mind for me at the moment is Emily Blunt and John Krasinski. Because he wrote, directed, and starred in Quiet Place. Cast his wife, which wise or not wise, you reckon?

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Oh yeah. It's a tough one to say because I really cannot imagine working with my partner that close like that. I've kept my lives very separate. I'm a man of many worlds and they never intersect.

Gen Fricker:

Right.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

My worlds have never collided if you will.

Gen Fricker:

You contain multitudes.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Absolutely. As do you.

Gen Fricker:

Thank you, honey.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Can you imagine that creating an apocalyptic world and then going like, "Yes, my wife, the strongest woman in the world is going to be?" That's so cool.

Gen Fricker:

I've listened to him. He recently did an interview with Conan O'Brien, where he was talking about how Quiet Place was an ode to his family. And it makes sense to me that he casts his wife as well as her being, Emily Blunt, being an incredible actress. Giving that kind of family feel to that movie just kind of makes it hit a lot deeper as well.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Truly. I think there's like that metatextual quality of that movie that makes it really hit home. Like why people have embraced A Quiet Place as a modern horror classic. But I got to tell you it broke my heart because I remember I had this deep feeling, this memory of Emily Blunt being with one of my guys, Michael Bublé.

Gen Fricker:

He's your guy?

Alexei Toliopoulos:

He was one of my guys. Because he was a modern-day crooner. I look at him and go, Dean Martin has been reborn as Michael Bublé. And I remember that they met at a Logie Awards ceremony.

Gen Fricker:

No.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Yeah. And I remember I was just like, it's trapped in my head. Her and Michael Bublé, I'm like, that is a Hollywood couple to really embrace and to really look up to because they met at the Logies. It felt like a bit of us was making it to the big world.

Gen Fricker:

Why were either of them there?

Alexei Toliopoulos:

My Blublé was popped on that day when John Krasinski made A Quiet Place.

Gen Fricker:

Your Blublé?

Alexei Toliopoulos:

My Blublé. My Blublé, yeah. Blublé that was their [crosstalk 00:07:30]. That was their couple name, Blublé.

Gen Fricker:

And now they're Blusinski?

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Blusinski. Shit, that was...

Gen Fricker:

Do you reckon?

Alexei Toliopoulos:

... I'm terrified to say yes because that was the name of my primary school principal, Ms. Blasinski. Quite a stern person. I never got in trouble because I was quite a sweetie pie, but I was scared of her nonetheless.

Gen Fricker:

Blasinski ruled with an iron fist.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Absolutely. And a bob cut to match.

Gen Fricker:

Ooh.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Yeah, she rocked the bob. It was after all the early 2000s.

Gen Fricker:

Shout out to Blasinski.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Yeah, Caroline Blasinski, is what I guess her name is. So shout out to her.

Gen Fricker:

Wherever you and your bob are right now. We salute you.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

We love the bob. Keep the bob.

Gen Fricker:

Bring back the bob.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

One of the big ones that has kind of captured the popular conscience, is Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell, right? They meet working Overboard. Then they form this beautiful family. They've got Wyatt Russell as a son, the star Black Mirror, the star of Everybody Wants Some.

Gen Fricker:

Woman in the Window.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

He's in Woman in the Window, and he's spectacular in it.

Gen Fricker:

What I love about Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell, right? They're so hot.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Exactly. She's one of the biggest comedic stars of all time. He's one of the biggest action stars of all time.

Gen Fricker:

And when they meet they're two of the hottest, right?

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Yes, absolutely.

Gen Fricker:

And I think when we see hot couples, movie stars get together. We're like, "Well that's not going to last."

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Yeah.

Gen Fricker:

And it's said they're one of the like longest-lasting relationships in Hollywood.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Exactly.

Gen Fricker:

And thank goodness because otherwise we wouldn't see them team up on screen as Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Huh?

Gen Fricker:

You might know Alexei, that I am a fan of specifically Netflix-produced Christmas movies?

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Yes. It's not new information in our friendship either that this is something you hold dear, but they play Santa and Mrs. Claus?

Gen Fricker:

In The Christmas Chronicles, yes. It's hot.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

That would melt my screen to go oh, Santa's married to Goldie Hawn, it's his real-life wife.

Gen Fricker:

Exactly. Santa's home and Goldie haunts there.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Wow.

Gen Fricker:

And they're going to snuggle up with some cocoa on the couch.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Oh my god. I hope it's not too steamy because the cocoa is steamy.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

The one that actually means the most to me as a young man growing up, a Greek guy who admired cinema, like it meant the world to me, was the godfather of independent film, John Cassavetes, my personal hero. And my other personal hero, Gena Rowlands. They basically together invented independent cinema. They're a married couple, they're both actors, they're both very big creative types. Huge energy coming off them. They started making films independently because they didn't really fit in the studio system with stuff like A Woman Under The Influence and Opening Night. And both of these films and many other films that they made together feature big Titanic performances by Gena Rowlands, where she embodies a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Really kind of surpassing a nervous breakdown and going into something quite fascinating and quite surreal.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

And they have this really strong relationship where they are very deep creative collaborators who kind of inspire each other to push their craft further. She talked so lovingly about him in some interviews over the last few years. Because he passed away a long, long time ago, like the end of the '80s. And she's still being around making movies since. She's the old lady in The Notebook and her son directed that movie, Nick Cassavetes.

Gen Fricker:

It's a family affair.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

It's a family of filmmakers. They inspire me so much, the Cassavetes, Rowlands. They would refinance their house, like remortgage their house, every time they would make a movie. And she said, "The great thing about John was, he'd always get us the house back at the end."

Gen Fricker:

Ah, that's sweet.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

So cool. They're so inspiring. It's very stressful. And their movies are quite stressful as well.

Gen Fricker:

Oh really?

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Yeah.

Gen Fricker:

What's their couple name then?

Alexei Toliopoulos:

I would say Cassrow.

Gen Fricker:

Cassrow?

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Cassrow.

Gen Fricker:

Okay.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Sounds like the name of a dog or something.

Gen Fricker:

Cassrow. There's a couple that had their first kiss as co-stars, and then they fell in love after.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Really? Who is it?

Gen Fricker:

Andrew Rannells and Tuc Watkins.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Oh, from The Boys in the Band.

Gen Fricker:

Yeah, so they were both in the play. They share a little smooch. They fall in love. The film is then made. We watched it on Netflix.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

I love that film. We talked about it on the first season of this series and I have watched it I think, three times since.

Gen Fricker:

Really?

Alexei Toliopoulos:

I really loved that movie. And they're both fricking great in it.

Gen Fricker:

Do you get that sense of them bringing something from off-screen?

Alexei Toliopoulos:

I actually didn't even know that they were a couple because they're different in the film. So whoa. I'm kind of a bit mindblown by this right now.

Gen Fricker:

You got to go back for a fifth watch?

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Yeah. I'm going back in. The boy's getting back into the band.

Gen Fricker:

The boys in the back of the band, kissing.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Oh, man. That's really exciting, actually. Another like big, superpower couple. They have only really done one shared performance together, Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith. They are obviously so famous. They're two megastars, extreme power wattage, volts coming out of the bloody wazoo with them as far as their movie stardom goes. But they've only shared one role together, which is in the biopic Ali about Muhammad Ali. I think it's Will Smith's best performance. And Jada Pinkett Smith plays one of his wives. She's an ex-Playboy model, but who doesn't conform to his Islamic views. And I think they are freaking amazing in it together. I would love to see more from them as a couple on screen. But I think that's kind of fascinating, right? What do you think it is about these couples on screen? Do you think there's that metatextuality that makes it exciting or do you think it is just like, you're seeing real chemistry?

Gen Fricker:

Interesting to watch a couple perform as a couple. In the same way, it's interesting to watch people perform sex scenes.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Oh wow.

Gen Fricker:

In that, it's like there's something so intimate but also like subliminal about it. Does that make sense?

Alexei Toliopoulos:

I think it's that voyeuristic quality, right? Like you're getting a glimpse into what their real lives are like.

Gen Fricker:

Yeah. Or what their ideas about what they're doing should look like to other people.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

The expression of it.

Gen Fricker:

Totally, right? My fear, if I ever had to do one, I would be doing it wrong.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

You would make a weird move.

Gen Fricker:

Yeah, I'd be like honking or something and people would be like, "Is this what you do?" And I'd be like, "Nah, nah."

Alexei Toliopoulos:

No, no. That's my character.

Gen Fricker:

I thought everyone did this.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

It's my character, I promise you.

Gen Fricker:

Exactly. I don't do this every day. And I feel like on the flip side of that, like with couples and stuff, the idea of having to create an image of a couple from the outside when you're already in the couple, it's just another layer of performance. It feels a lot more intimate.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Yeah. Man, this has been cool, dude.

Gen Fricker:

Ola, Javier. I am back from the shops. I got some dishwashing tablets like you asked for.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Yes Penélope, I can not wait to put them in.

Gen Fricker:

I hate that you do this every time, Javier.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

I flip coin every day.

Gen Fricker:

Please just put the dishwasher on, I don't have time. We have children that we have to look after, and I do not have time for you to flip a coin every time I ask you to put the dishwasher on.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

I must flip my coin. I must flip my coin.