Me, Myself & the Void Director on Cerebral Inspirations, Cast & More

Posted in: Exclusive, Interview, Movies | Tagged: Akilah Hughes, Chris W. Smith, exclusive, interview, Jack De Sena, kelly marie tran, Me Myself & the Void, Tim Hautekiet

Writer and director Tim Hautekiet (The Yippee Show) spoke to Bleeding Cool about his latest black comedy, “Me, Myself & the Void.”

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Tim Hautekiet is a jack-of-all-trades creatively in front and behind the camera, working as an actor, director, writer, editor, and cinematographer for over 10 years. Working across several genres, from comedy, drama, shorts, and action, Hautekiet’s next challenge is the black comedy in Echobend’s Me, Myself & the Void. The film follows a struggling comedian (Jack De Sena) caught at a crossroads in his life while trapped outside the bounds of space and time. He is forced to question who, where, and what he is, reflecting on his life and those in it. The director, who co-wrote the film with Nik Oldershaw, spoke to Bleeding Cool about the film’s premise, working with Oldershaw, casting, and taking inspiration from the works of Charlie Kaufman.

Director Tim Hautekiet on  the Cerebral Journey of ‘Me, Myself & the Void’

Bleeding Cool: What’s the inspiration behind ‘Me, Myself & the Void?’

My co-writer [Nik Oldershaw] and I were going back and forth for a while on “Could we do a whole film set in a void world, and what would that look like?” The real inspiration came once we clicked together, and the hook of the film was going to be, “There was a character trapped in a void world because his earthly body is lying face flat on his bathroom floor.” That’s when we realized the hook of the film was going to be a mystery, “How did he get there?” Then he would have to unpack his life decisions that led to the situation he found himself in. Once that hit us, we thought it felt like an exciting, contained film. Once we have that hook, we should write and see if anybody we could get to make it, too.

What’s Nik like as a creative partner?

I love working with Nik Oldershaw. We’ve been friends for many years and collaborated in different capacities on various short-form projects. What I enjoy about working with Nik in ‘Me, myself & the Void’ directly, he works as a stand-up comedian. In many ways, I had to lean on him for a certain authenticity and his experiences as we integrated that into the character of Jack, above all else, we share similar values, but we approach writing and creativity, differently. We complement each other, and we pay attention to different things. In some ways, I’m good at zooming out. Are we at the right point in the broader structure of the movie? Nik’s great scene-to-scene, like, “Would that character say?” We do both. I would agree with that. I love working with Nik because he sharpens aspects of my writing that I couldn’t otherwise.

What went to the castin, and how did Jack [De Sena], Chris [W. Smith], Kelly [Marie Tran], and Akilah [Hughes] get involved?

Early in the process, Nik and I decided that we were going to name the characters “Chris” and “Jack” in the hope that would be a compliment. When I shared it with Chris and Jack, who I already knew because we created some sketch comedy together. I cast them in something on Funny or Die, and huge fan. We thought, “If we name the characters after them, they’ll see we genuinely wrote it for them, and they would be flattered by that.” I’m happy to report they did take an interest in it, and here we are three years later. That’s how we approached Chris and Jack.

I’ve been a fan of Akilah for many years. I knew her and admired her writing as well. She’s such a talented artist all around, and I’d been meaning to find something to work with her on. Then, ‘Me, Myself & the Void’ became the perfect opportunity to reach out. I didn’t have the pleasure of knowing Kelly beforehand, so that was much more through traditional channels. We reached out via our casting director, who went to her agency.d I wrote a letter and did the whole thing. She was genuinely my dream pick for the role because I loved her work. Like most people, I got to know her when we all went to see [Star Wars:] ‘The Last Jedi’ and I loved her in that film. I’ve also been so impressed by what she’s done since.

She did a show with Elizabeth Olsen called ‘Sorry for Your Loss’ on Facebook Watch. I saw her in that, and there was something where she shared a brief scene with Jack, and I remember thinking to myself, “She’d be amazing for this.” It was amazing to get to know her through this process.

How do you contrast Jack’s interactions and chemistry with Kelly and Akilah?

One thing I was conscious of going into making ‘Me, Myself & the Void’ was I wanted to portray the various friends and women in Jack’s life in contrast to him as their people, like meeting Anna (Hughes) was quintessential as this comedian who’s out there crushing it. They get along well, but it has caused some friction in his relationship with Mia (Tran).

Something I told Kelly when I pitched her the role of Mia, even though she exists both as Mia in the real world and inside Jack’s subconscious, was, “I love to give you the opportunity to play a scene whereas the ex-partner you get to explain to the main character all the ways he is wrong.” Most of us, whoever gets that from your ex and that moment where you get to explain and have them realize how they weren’t good to you because that’s dramatic what that scene is. I thought it would be a compelling take that elevates her above the “ex-girlfriend” role. It would be an opportunity to do something more.

Given the cerebral nature of the film, I noticed that it reminded me of Charlie Kaufman’s works like ‘Being John Malkovich’ (1999) and ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’ (2004). I was wondering what your biggest creative influences are for ‘Me Myself & the Void.’

Funny enough for this movie, it was quite apparent most of us are inspired by ‘Eternal Sunshine.’ That was absolutely in there from the jump, the surrealist character study using heightened elements to tell a deeper character story. There was also ‘A Christmas Carol’ and ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ with stories about characters who, through fantastical circumstances, learn something about themselves and hopefully change for the better. That was the inspiration that went directly into ‘Me, Myself & the Void,’ and a more contemporary example is Pixar’s ‘Soul’ (2020). I loved that film and a similar example about artists struggling, with near-death experiences going through. It’s a well-worn territory in fiction, and I was blessed to have many different inspirations for this.

What’s next for you, and is there a genre you’re looking to explore next?

I’ve had this passion project I’ve been trying to make before filming ‘Me, Myself & the Void.’ It’s both a murder mystery and a musical. That’s the genre I’m hoping to take on next. I’ve been working with my composer for many years on the songs, and that would be a dream come true because I love the theatricality of the genre and staging musical sequences. It feels like staging a fight scene, not to mention you get to have so much fun as a filmmaker. That’s the dream project I hope to take on take on next.

Me, Myself & the Void, which also stars James Babson, Sophia Esperanza, Kristin Carey, Darren Dupree Washington, Danielle Dallas Roosa, and Michelle Khare, is available on Digital and on-demand, including Apple TV and Prime Video.

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