In Confess, Fletch, Jon Hamm stars as the roguishly charming and endlessly troublesome Fletch, who becomes the prime suspect in a murder case while searching for a stolen art collection. The only way to prove his innocence? Find out which of the long list of suspects is the culprit - from the eccentric art dealer and a missing playboy to a crazy neighbour and Fletch’s Italian girlfriend. Crime, it's fair to say, has never been this disorganized.
Earlier this month, we spoke to stars Roy Wood Jr. and Ayden Mayeri about their roles as Inspector Morris Monroe and Griz in this riotously funny reboot of the classic franchise.
They discuss having to hate the ever-likeable Jon Hamm as their respective characters, scenes they struggled to get through (including a couple of memorable moments involving a baby and a milkshake), and whether they could return for a future instalment or even a spinoff.
We also hear from Roy and Ayden on the pressures that come with being part of a reboot like this (while the movie is based on Gregory McDonald's novels, Chevy Chase played Fletch in a couple of hit movies during the 1980s).
Check out our interview with the Confess, Fletch stars below:
Jon Hamm seems like a likeable guy, so what was it like for both of you to have to portray this real disdain for Fletch throughout the movie?
Ayden: [Laughs]
Roy: That’s a tough thing because he is likeable. Ayden and myself, we’re police officers, so it’s our job to follow the facts. As the facts evolve [Laughs], we can decide whether or not we like him. If you see us hating him on camera, that’s definitely acting. He is irresistibly charming that Jon Hamm.
Ayden: He is a charmer. I also think just constantly asking the questions and being suspicious as a detective saying, ‘Why are you so likeable? What are you up to?’ was helpful. I didn’t trust why he was so charming [Laughs].
I know there’s that cliche about never working with children or animals, but having to look after a baby while trying to get through your scenes must have presented its fair share of challenges, Roy?
Roy: That baby was so hot! It was literally like holding on to hot coal. I can’t even explain to you what the hell it was…it was just too too much [Laughs].
Ayden: He was so good with the baby. The baby immediately went to sleep in Roy’s arms and was like, ‘Never let me go. I love you.’ [Laughs]
Roy: [Laughs]
Ayden, you have to basically throw a milkshake on yourself at one point in the movie, but was that a one-and-done scene for you or something you had to keep repeating over multiple takes?
Ayden: We did a lot of milkshake takes [Laughs]. They had to paint milkshake on me over and over again because it was drying. That was some real stunt work I did there.
How familiar were you both with this Fletch franchise before joining this project and given how much love there is for the originals, does it feel special to be part of this revival and was there any pressure knowing fans have been waiting decades for it to happen?
Roy: Yeah.
Ayden: I definitely knew about it and was excited to be part of it, especially because they took a lot of the source material from the original Gregory McDonald books which was exciting. There’s a lot of books so we’ll see a lot of Fletch.
Roy: I think when you look at what Chevy Chase was able to do with that in the 80s, it was an iconic comedy. When you’re taking something, putting a different spin to it, and still respecting the source material which also predates the Chevy-era Fletch, you want to make sure you’re doing something that honours the books as well as what people thought Fletch should be in the 80s. That’s definitely not what it should be now in 2022.
This is a very funny movie, of course, but were there any scenes you both struggled to get through while making the movie?
Ayden: There was a lot of driving around, I’ll tell you that. There was a lot of late night driving.
Roy: For you!
Ayden: You’d be chilling out [Laughs].
Roy: I thought the baby was going to be a pain, but the baby was very chill. It was a very nice baby and it warmed up to me. We spoke for an hour before and I told that baby straight up, ‘I don’t want any trash out of you when we get on set’ and the baby was very respectful. No, I would say the only thing…I cannot say what I want to say because it would give away a part of the film. Let’s just say…outdoors and mosquitos.
Ayden: Hmm-mm.
I can’t help but think we’ll see more of Fletch down the line, but should he cross paths with Monroe and Griz again, how do you guys see that going for him?
Roy: What do you think, Ayden? Do we still want to be in the Fletch Universe or do we want our own spinoff? A Boston murder police thing [Laughs]. Boston Confidential.
Ayden: A Monroe and Griz spinoff [Laughs] would be pretty cool.
Roy: I feel like we should have a relationship like John McClane and the Black cop from Die Hard.
Ayden: Yes! A buddy cop comedy.
Roy: Just us doing our own thing back at the bar.
Confess, Fletch arrives in theatres, on Digital and on demand on September 16, 2022.