Exclusive: Go Behind the Scenes of “The People We Hate at the Wedding” with Kristen Bell & Allison Janney

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Exclusive: Go Behind the Scenes of “The People We Hate at the Wedding” with Kristen Bell & Allison Janney

“I hope [the movie makes] people have a deeper appreciation for how wonderful and annoying family can be,” says Kristen Bell in our exclusive featurette for “The People We Hate at the Wedding.” Directed by Emmy winner Claire Scanlon, the comedy sees American siblings Alice (Bell, “The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window”) and Paul (Ben Platt, “Dear Evan Hansen”) begrudgingly head to the English countryside to attend the wedding of their estranged, wealthy half-sister, Eloise (Cynthia Addai-Robinson, “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power”) with their mother, Donna (Allison Janney, “Mom”).

In our look behind the scenes, Bell tells us, “The characters of Alice, Donna, and Paul packed all of their dirty laundry for this trip.” This is an unfortunate reality for Eloise. As Addai-Robinson explains, Eloise sees her wedding as “an opportunity for her to have that … picture of family that she’s always wanted to have.” Cue a drunken Alice puking on the street. Suffice to say, this isn’t quite the picture of a family Eloise had in mind.

But there’s hope for the family yet. “I can’t think of one family that hasn’t been affected by this pandemic, and I can’t think of a more perfect movie to accentuate that coming together is really a wonderful way to heal,” Scanlon observes. “Nobody is flawless, everyone makes mistakes, and when you hide your mistakes and pretend they’re not there, that’s when comedy flourishes.”

Scanlon won an Emmy for directing “The Office.” Her other small screen credits include “Never Have I Ever,” “GLOW,” and Bell-starrer “The Good Place.” She made her feature debut with 2018 rom-com “Set It Up.”

“The People We Hate at the Wedding” starts streaming on Prime Video November 18. Check out the clip to see Janney discussing her role in the film.