The world of television is an unpredictable one, but for writer, director, actor, and producerMatthew Shear(The Alienist), that uncertainty offered an opportunity. Shear took the time between seasons to focus his energy on something positive, drawing from his own experiences as an artist, as well as mental health, to pen his comedy,Fantasy Life.
The movie stars Shear as Sam Stein, a 30-something paralegal coming to terms with life after being laid off. At this particular crossroads, Sam stumbles into nannying his therapist’s (Judd Hisch) grandchildren, the daughters of stalled actress, Dianne, played byAmanda Peet(Brockmire), and her rockstar husband, David (The Brutalist’sAlessandro Nivola). In the perfect setup for a comedy of errors, Sam joins Dianne’s family at Martha’s Vineyard as he’s begins to develop feelings for her.
While in Austin forSXSW, Shear, Peet, and Nivola stopped by the Collider Media Studio at the Cinema Center, where the trio were celebrating the World Premiere ofFantasy Life. The team sat down withPerri Nemiroffto chat about Shear’s inspiration for the film, what Peet brought to the set as a producer thanks to her experience showrunningNetflix’sThe Chair, how the movie highlights mental health with dimension, and more.
Matthew Shear Wrote ‘Fantasy Life’ During a Lull in His Acting Career
Fantasy Lifeis Shear’s debut feature as a director.
PERRI NEMIROFF: Because we’re celebratingFantasy Lifeas a festival debut, our audience will likely first learn about it here at SXSW. Matthew, would you mind doing the honors and giving a brief synopsis?
MATTHEW SHEAR: It is a modern romantic comedy about a young law school dropout who has some mental health issues, played by me, a middle-aged actress played by Amanda Peet, and her husband, who is sort of a douchey rock bassist, but also extremely lovable.
ALESSANDRO NIVOLA: That’s youropinion.
SHEAR: That’s, like, your opinion, man.
AMANDA PEET: Stick to your own character.
SHEAR: You can haveyouropinion of that when you see the film. It’s about their relationship and what it’s like to meet someone who makes you feel less alone.
I have many questions about this being your first feature as a director. Why this story? Why did you want to share it with the world? And also, why did you think this story best suited the directing skill set you already had?
SHEAR: I wrote this script during a lull in my acting career. I was between two seasons of a TV show, and I didn’t know if it was coming back, and I just kind of needed to throw myself into something. One of the themes in the film iswhat it’s like to languish as an actor and an artist, and I found a lot of energy in that, just kvetching about it. I think it ultimately suited me because it sort of opened up this world that surrounds me in my life with my Jewish family and my mental health issues, and I just suddenly found this dimension and these characters that I really started to care about.
Even with all your experience as an actor, what is something about what it takes to direct a film that surprised you?
SHEAR: The directors that I’ve loved working with most are gentle, and they give …
PEET: You don’t like the screamers?
SHEAR: No. [Laughs] They give actors space to create something personal, and then they collaborate and tune in. I’ve had a lot of different experiences, some really bad, and I just knew that that was sort of a central piece of what I wanted to bring to this. I was pleasantly surprised that the actors I was working with responded to that and seemed to be having fun.
Amanda Peet Brought Her Showrunning Experience to the Film
Peet created, showran and executive produced Netflix’sThe Chair.
Amanda, I believe this is your first time producing a feature film. You EP’d and showranThe Chair. Is there anything about your experience doing that that contributed to your skill set as a producer here and how you could best see Matthew’s vision to fruition?
PEET: I try to treat it, even if I’m not producing, like you’re part of a company. You try to work with really smart people and get their notes and their takes on things. It was a very collaborative atmosphere. When I ran my show, I tried to have that kind of openness, and Matt has that, too. I’ve known Sandra [Oh] for a long time, and I feel like we all like to work that way—work with friends, work with people who are really smart and don’t waste time and make really smart contributions, either to the script or how to get shots faster, or all of us are used to working with baby, baby, baby budgets, sadly, for better or worse.
I like that approach quite a bit, and it pays off big time in this movie.
Back to this being Matthew’s feature directorial debut! Amanda and Alessandro, I’ll hit this from two angles. First, what was something about him when you first met that signaled to you, “I am going to be in good hands with him?”
NIVOLA: I got a call from Noah Baumbach, who had worked with Matt on a few films and had read the script, and he said, “Do this movie.” That was a pretty good endorsement for Matt. He really loved Matt and believed in him.
PEET: For me, it was just the writing. I feel like you can tell within a couple of pages, and I just felt like the script talks about some heavy issues but with a lot of humor. So, my guess was that Matt was going to be really smart and astute, and that’s really what you need as a director.
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So that was goingintothe production. Now, I’m curious about leaving it. Matthew, I have full faith you’ll direct many more movies if that’s what you want to do going forward. Amanda and Alessandro, what is something about him as an actor’s director and a leader on set that you appreciated and would be really excited for even more actors to experience on his future films?
PEET: He is gentle, as he said, but also feels like he has a strong vision and a really strong and beautiful visual sense, and a great sense of comedy. Is this making you uncomfortable? [Laughs] He’s the best.
SHEAR:Go on.
NIVOLA: In general, I’ve worked with a few actors-turned-directors, and it usually works out, and I think it’s because they prioritize performance over everything else. To be a good director requires a whole range of skill sets; there’s directing performance, there’s framing shots, and there’s understanding the rhythms of storytelling, and a million other things. If you don’t have them all, chances are you won’t make a good film. But sometimes, directors who don’t have experience with performance skip that step and start with imagining the scene visually before understanding how it’s going to play out emotionally and organically, as opposed to starting that way and then building the shots around that once you’ve kind of found the scene with the other actors. The actors-turned-directors that I’ve worked with have all just innately and instinctively started from that point of view, and Matt was no exception, and it really makes a big difference.
PEET: I think it takes a certain amount of confidence and definitely a sense of relaxation to be able to kind of pivot and improvise based on how your actors find the scene that morning, and the skill of being able to compartmentalize. So, you could have a producer yelling in your ear, being like, “We gotta shoot,” and it takes a lot of balls to be like, “Wait a minute, I need to take my time with this,” or whatever the case may be, pivoting.
Matthew, I’ve got a broader story question for you because there’s something you said in your director’s statement that I wrote down because it’s key to the movie. You said, “A goal with the film was to challenge the mental health narratives that always get on my nerves.” Can you run us through certain things that get on your nerves and how you wanted to change those with your own movie?
SHEAR: I often think to myself when I’m watching a movie or TV show that’s dealing with mental health that I just wish there was more specificity to it and a little more dimension.There is humor, and there is pain, but it’s just not one-dimensional.I also find it very frustrating when—I hope this isn’t too revealing—medications are just glossed over. These medications have names, and I just feel like that’s such an important detail. I just feel like, to me, that was a discovery when I was writing it. I was like, “Oh, I can actually talk about this.”
Just Let ‘Battlestar Galactica’ Draw You Into Its Orbit
“This is likePaddington.”
I love the scene when he sharesBattlestar Galacticawith her, because I feel like we all have that movie or show that helped us through a tough time. Do each of you have that in your life, a movie or show you turn to when you need a little boost?
PEET:The New Adventures of Old Christine. I mean, anything, really, with Julia Louis-Dreyfus is a mood enhancer for me. I hope that doesn’t sound sexual.
SHEAR: It’s not a bad thing.
NIVOLA:Raging Bullover and over and over again. Just the scene where he’s banging his head against the wall in the prison. It makes you feel like everything’s going to be alright.
SHEAR: I’m going to go withBattlestar. I’ve watched it through like, three times. The first time was just, in the scene, this incredible, detailed world that I just fell in love with. It’s a sci-fi world, which is notexactlymy taste, so it was special.
NIVOLA: Isn’t there a scene inPortlandiawhere they watch that, and they can’t stop watching it? They’re supposed to be going to a party, and they’re like, “Let’s just watch one more episode.” Then the party happens and comes and goes, and they’re like, “Well, we missed that,” and then they’re like, “We should just watch one more,” and then weeks go by.
SHEAR: Yeah. Your life goes by as you watchBattlestar. Then, later, I watched it through, and I convinced my wife to watch it with me. Shelovedit. It took some convincing.
NIVOLA: This is likePaddington, too. I haven’t seen this movie either, but people just keep crying when they talk about it. What’s the story here? What am I missing?
SHEAR: Okay. There are these cyborgs that annihilate humanity, except for a small fleet of spaceships…
PEET: I was going to say, “Jews?”
SHEAR: Yeah, they’re all Jews.
NIVOLA: Apart from the whole Jews thing, this does not sound like a story that I’ve never heard before.
SHEAR: I have to do more work on you.
The show definitely has a really special spark. I think everybody has that kind of movie or show in their life, but in particular, I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of people out there saidBattlestar.
SHEAR: It’s a real expression of that golden age of television withThe SopranosandThe Wire. It was amazing writing.
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Amanda, I wanted to make sure to hit this one scene, and I don’t want to spoil the details of the scene, but the one you share with Holland Taylor towards the tail end of the film might be one of my absolute favorite performance beats of this entire festival. You have other emotional scenes in the movie, but that one is just on another level. How does your prep process change for a moment like that when you have to tap into that emotion and also essentially express points that reflect the entire weight of her journey in this movie?
PEET: The dialogue was so moving to me from the beginning and was, strangely, very personal to me. Then, I know Holland personally. She was in my show that I did, and I admire her so much and also have such affection for her, and so there’s just something about her face and being with her that was very emotional for me. To get a chance to act with her was sort of dovetailing with how moved I was by the writing, so it was kind of a twofer.
Jon Hamm Might Be a Major Draw for Apple’s ‘Your Friends and Neighbors’
“There is a lot of sex, and Jon Hamm is having a lot of it.”
Amanda, we always like to highlight some future projects and that I was looking at for you wasYour Friends and Neighborsbecause it’s the coolest thing when we haven’t even seen Season 1 of a show, but it already gets a renewal for Season 2. I was wondering if you could tell us what is so special about that show, and what you think it was that gave Apple the confidence to go two rounds?
PEET: Jon Hamm. There’s a lot of sex, and Jon Hamm is having a lot of it. But really, I don’t know because I haven’t seen it. It was certainly really fun, and Jonathan Tropper is amazing. It’s a really fun concept. He’s a hedge fund guy who loses everything and then is robbing all of his rich neighbors in secret, so it’s pretty exciting.
Special thanks to our 2025 partners at SXSW, including presenting partner Rendezvous Capital and supporting partners Bloom, Peroni, Hendrick’s, and Roxstar Entertainment.
