In the film People Places Things, Jemaine Clement plays a graphic novelist who's struggling to bounce back after a split while trying to juggle being a father. Regina Hall plays the straitlaced Columbia professor whose daughter sets the two up. What starts out as a rocky relationship ends up being something more. It's a tale as old as time, told in a very honest and real way. Regina and Jemaine came to BuzzFeed to talk about the movie, their worst date, and...a dead body?!
When was the last time you were in a fight?
Jemaine: My last fight was when I was 14...and I think I won.
Regina: My last fight was 16 and I definitely got a good punch in because I was wearing my class ring.
Worst or craziest job you've ever had?
Jemaine: I lived in a small town and I used to be the pin boy in a bowling alley. They didn't have the machines that pick up the pins, so they had kids do it.
Regina: Did anyone throw a ball while you were doing getting pins, just to be mean?
Jemaine: No, but the person replaced apparently had a broken leg from it.
Regina: I've had so many jobs. I was a dental assistant, but I wasn't really qualified. You know what, someone came in once and said they hadn't brushed their teeth in six months. I said, "When was your last cleaning?" and they said, "Six months" and said "No, not dental cleaning, but the last time you brushed?" and they said it'd been six months. But he was an alcoholic; it was a free clinic. And I guess the alcohol is um...
Jemaine: Antibacterial?
Regina: Antibacterial! See, you know I'm not qualified — he knows more than me.
Were either of you a fan of graphic novels before the movie?
Jemaine: Yeah, I was. You can tell 'cause I wear glasses.
Regina: I was not.
Jemaine: You don't have glasses.
What's the worst birthday gift you've ever received?
Jemaine: An empty box. It was wrapped up in wrapping paper — I still don't know who did it.
Regina: That was definitely an ex. Did you hurt someone?
Jemaine: No, nah, well...
Regina: I think at first this is gonna sound like a weird answer, but my dog. Because I was like, Who gives someone a dog? That's a lot of responsibility. And I love him so much now I could scream, my insides are screaming. Do you hear them?
Jemaine: Yep.
Most memorable moment on set?
Jemaine: I don't recall.
Regina: All I know is it wasn't with Jemaine.
Jemaine: All of your scenes were with me.
If you were a professor, what would you teach?
Jemaine: Don't know much. You'd be in the dental field.
Regina: I was a professor! It was one of my jobs.
Jemaine: What did you profess?
Regina: I taught oral communications.
Jemaine: Talking?
Regina: Sounded awful, didn't it?
Worst date you've ever been on?
Jemaine: Uh, the woman was on morphine 'cause she had an operation earlier that day. But that wasn't the worst part: I was still more awkward than she was.
Regina: Wow, what did she have surgery on?
Jemaine: Didn't ask.
Regina: Um, I think I got into an argument with a guy on the first date about how many kids he wanted. I was like, Well, I don't want three.
Jemaine: Wow, that's really early to start talking about that.
Regina: Well, that was a sign.
Favorite thing about filming in New York?
Jemaine: What was your favorite thing about filming in New York? Remember, this is rapid-fire by the way.
Regina: Oh! This is rapid-fire?! Can we start all over?! OK, my favorite part was being able to walk around the city and in Williamsburg.
Jemaine: Yeah, I love it here. So, just having the city around me.
Regina: Being enveloped.
Jemaine: Yes, being enveloped. Good oral communication.
What kind of students were you in school?
Dream vacation?
Jemaine: Do we have buzzers? Do you want to try a buzzer?
Regina: Tahiti!
Jemaine: Your buzzers not working.
Regina: Bora Bora!
Jemaine: Wrong, try again. Say it again?
Dream vacation?
Regina: Bora Bora! Tahiti!
Do you still consider Pluto a major planet?
Jemaine: Yeah.
Regina: What's a planet? No, of course, it's a planet.
Jemaine: I can't call a dwarf planet a dwarf.
Regina: You can't go backwards, you already claimed it a planet.
Jemaine: I've said this before, if you call it a dwarf planet but it's not a planet, that's insulting to dwarfs.
Regina: I've never though of that.
Jemaine: A dwarf's human.
Do you remember your first apartment? What was it like?
Regina: I remember my first apartment and...why am I going so fast?
Jemaine: Rapid-fire.
Regina: I know, OK. I remember my first apartment and I only lived in it for four days because the police came because there was a dead body that was found there. It was in New York too, 103rd Street. The dead body wasn't left in there, it had already been there and we watched detectives coming in and they told us.
Jemaine: Mine was in Wellington. It was next to a fish factory that would deliver fish in the morning, like, 6 in the morning, and then there was a metal-bending factory behind us. So there would be the smell of fish, which you get used to...
Regina: That explains a lot of relationships, where I'm like, What is happening?! But I guess he's gotten used to it.
Jemaine: You get used to that and the noise you don't get used to.
Regina: I like noise.
Bacon or Nutella?
Jemaine: Bang! Just testing you.
Regina: Bacon.
Jemaine: OK, Nutella. Are we having crepes?
Best piece of advice anyone has ever given you?
Jemaine: Professionally it'd be: If someone asked you if you can ride a horse, just say yes.
Regina: The brevity of life is quick.
Finally, dogs or cats?
Jemaine: I like cats, but I'm allergic to cats.
Regina: I've got a dog, so I've got to claim him. He's gonna see this.