In Is This Thing On?, intimacy isn’t played for grand gestures or easy resolutions. It’s found in the quiet, uncomfortable spaces where love begins to shift shape. Directed by Bradley Cooper, the film observes Alex and Tess Novak as their marriage gently fractures, following two people forced to confront who they are beyond the roles they’ve played for each other and their family.
When our Peter Gray spoke with stars Will Arnett and Laura Dern, their conversation naturally turned toward the film’s closeness – how Cooper’s camera becomes a silent third presence in the relationship, how love can mean learning to see someone anew, and why stories about middle age, compromise, and emotional recalibration feel both radical and necessary right now.
Congratulations on the film. It was so beautiful. I really loved that Bradley’s lens feels so intimate, almost like a third presence in the marriage. I was wondering, did that affect the way you both navigated the emotional space of your characters? Did it change how you revealed or concealed moments from the camera at all?
Will Arnett: Well, I felt like it really lent, really added to the intimacy, in the sense that it felt less performative. I have, in my experience, felt sometimes that it can tend to feel quite performative. It’s kind of like, you know, “Roll cameras,” and let’s see the performance. This was much more “right here” (gestures close to his face) and it forces you into a much more intimate place.
Laura Dern: Oddly, you completely forget the camera. As you said, it’s like a third person in the relationship. It became a throuple really quickly (laughs).
Will Arnett: There are those moments where Laura and I are like this (moves close) and the camera is going between us, and Bradley’s going, “Not too close. Yeah, that’s close enough. Don’t kiss!”
Laura Dern: “Okay, but stare. But stop staring.”
Will Arnett: Yeah, there’s something about that, weirdly for me, I found really got me out of my head.
Laura Dern: Yeah, I agree.
It felt almost voyeuristic as an audience member, but it was so fascinating to be right there with the both of you. One of the things I really loved about the film is that it suggests that love isn’t always about holding on. It’s about re-meeting each other. For the both of you, was there a time that you felt you re-met someone in your own life?
Laura Dern: Will (laughs).
Will Arnett: Yeah, I was saying this the other day, there’s that notion that when we first meet somebody that we’re on our best behaviour. You hear that all the time. Everybody’s got all the theories that they think and throw around. You’ll be in a relationship, and then your friend will say, “When you first meet them, you’re on your best behaviour.” And you’re like, “Thanks, Dave,” (laughs). But the truth is when you’re first with somebody, you’re look at all the stuff that you like about them, I think what happens is you stop looking for that, and you focus on telling them what you like. I think that we take people and relationships, romantic or otherwise, for granted. And this extends to family. To everything. You’ve got to keep looking for those things. And these are two people who stopped looking for the things that they love about each other, and they had to go a long way to kind of refine it.
As I watching this and watching your characters come back to each other, I needed this to work out. Your characters felt so lived in. It felt so very real. It was so incredible, so beautiful, really took me by surprise. I hope everybody goes out to see it. We need adult-themed comedy/dramas. So, thank you both so much.
Laura Dern: Thank you. Agreed. So grateful, thank you so much.
Is This Thing On? is screening in Australian theatres from February 5th, 2026.
