Owen Wilson makes fun of the legendary Bob Ross paint. He plays Carl Nargle, a PBS Vermont bush painter who enters nursing homes and bars with his many interpretations of majestic Mount Mansfield. Carl takes the fans to a “special place”. For the local ladies and likable station employees, this is the sofa bed at the back of the fan; Sparkling with Portuguese vanilla and a dash of radiator fluid. A whispering Yansari is ousted from his lofty seat when ratings plummet and a new artist, Ambrosia (Ciara Renee), is hired for a competing show.
Michaela Watkins And Wendy McClendon Covey Co-star as Carl to empower co-workers and former love interests. Jealousy arises when Katherine (Watkins) is romantically targeted by Ambrosia. Bed jumps in high gear with broken hearts and hilarious envy. Carl must prove his self-worth and win back his true love interest.
paint Filmed during the pandemic over the course of 20 days in Saratoga Springs, New York. The actresses discuss the excitement of the sleepy town host Owen Wilson. She fills them with questions, baked goods, and requests to meet him. It was all good fun except when the locals kept walking through the scenes. Watkins and McClendon-Covey had a “fun experience” at the short photo shoot. They had a lot of laughs on set and cherished their time with such a talented ensemble.
Carl Nargel Passion
MW: How do you get to that special place with Carl Nargle?
Michaela Watkins: It depends on the particular place you’re talking about. If we’re referring to paintings, you can only tune in to PBS, Burlington, Vermont. You can also go to a private place where Mount Mansfield paints and other scenic experiences. But I’d say the other special place I have to go with Karl Nargel is his van. And for that, you just need to express your affinity towards Karl Nargli and your affection.
MW: I never thought of Bob Ross as a sex symbol. He’s hilariously portrayed here as a free-spirited womanizer. Is he attractive in that sense?
Wendi McLendon-Covey: I promise you, Bob Ross had collections. There is no way he didn’t. When someone is really good at something and has a bit of a notoriety, people come out of the woodwork and want to enjoy that brilliance.
Michaela Watkins: You could be a serial killer, and you get them.
Wendy McClendon-Covey: I mean, of course, serial killers get a lot of ladies.
Michaela Watkins: Yeah, look at Charles Manson, didn’t he get married while he was in prison?
having fun with friends
MW: The illustrator filmed for 20 days during the pandemic. Talk about the experience of shooting an independent film in such a short period of time.
Wendi McLendon-Covey: I thought 20 days was kind of generous. I’ve been in indie films where they rush you through 10 days of absolute hell, just shoot gang warfare, and sometimes you don’t even get to get more than one take. So I thought 20 days of hell yeah, that can happen. This is basically a cake. But it was very interesting for us because it was kind of right after closing. I mean a lot of things are still closed. It was so much fun to go and do this for a month in Saratoga Springs, it was so cool. It felt like we were at a summer camp having fun with our friends.
Michaela Watkins: The city was so funny. They were so excited to have Owen Wilson shoot a movie in their town. I remember I was going to breakfast. Someone asked me what I was doing there, and I said I was making this movie. They wanted to bring these pancakes to Owen. It’s Saturday. I won’t see him for a few days. A woman said to me, Thank you so much for taking care of him. I don’t actually take care of him. I work with him. I don’t change his diapers.
Wendi McLendon-Covey: I read him a bedtime story every night.
Michaela Watkins: I did. Yes, and gave him his bottle.
MW: What was the best and worst day in the Paint group?
Michaela Watkins: The best day is when everything is fine. We’re getting our shots. We get the scenes, we make a blast, and it’s basically every time you open your mouth. I was laughing. Luckily, not when the camera was on me so I could get out of my system. And by the time they turn to me, I’ll be fine.
Michaela Watkins: And then a tough day… It wasn’t snowing in Saratoga that time of year like it used to. We had to bring snow and find out. There are a lot of logistics, and in 20 days, the pressure goes up a bit. But you know, maybe you’re cold, maybe you’re tired, maybe you’re hungry. This is a bad day in this movie. I’ve had other movies where I have a bad day [actually] Bad day. But this, everyone, the crew, the director, the producer, was so friendly and wonderful. We like to make interesting things. That’s what we were all there to do. It was like family.
Paint: a fun experiment
Wendi McLendon-Covey: I would say the worst thing that happened was probably a little rain. And there were some locals who kept going for a shot and had to be told repeatedly, “Please back up.” The best days were when we were all working. I would say what we had the most fun with was during the Telethon fundraising scene, because we were all there, fighting with each other. It was an interesting experience. I think that translates to the final product. One more thing I wanted to say about Owen being in Saratoga Springs – Michaela, there wasn’t a store owner who put a sticker in the window saying, “Owen, come say hi to us.”
Michaela Watkins: Yeah, there was a sandwich bar outside their bakery, or maybe it was an ice cream parlor, and I got DMs in my Instagram like, “Would you like to invite Owen to my baseball game, or football game?” some games? I just thought it would be so funny if I showed up to this guy’s high school sporting event, and then I was like clapping the loudest and saying, “Go, Evan! You got this.” Everyone would be like, “Who is this lady? Who invited a random lady to this sporting event?”
paint Currently in theatrical release from IFC Films.
