Matt Bomer & Marisa Coughlan On ‘Space Station 76,’ SXSW

MARISA COUGHLAN: Well, yeah the movie we’re sorta all like you said in very tight quarters together looking for a suburban life out in the middle of space floating around, and the way I think about the movie its comedic and quirky the undertone are that we all have this vulnerability in these issues that are kinda bubbling upon the surface as the quarters get tighter and tighter. We have the new captain show up — kinda bends the balance that exists there kind of throws us into—

MATT BOMER: Very much keeping with the women’s movement at the time.

MC: Yes. Shia is a great threat to Wilson’s character and to my character because she has the hots for my husband. It sort of spins all of us out, by the end the truth comes out.

MB: It’s sort of reminiscing like a John Cheever short story of an ice storm or something like that where there’s all kinds of suburban duality going on with people subscribed to a certain life they can live that’s going to make all their shadows and problems go away inevitably they boil to the surface whether you like it or not.

MC: It’s a comedic ice storm!

MB: Yeah! I play Ted who was the mechanic on this space station much like a mechanic who wants to fix everything; he’s just the kind of guy who leaves no deed left unpunished he’s trying to do the right thing do the best by his wife and their child. Just not working out well for him.

MC: I’m a very disappointed wife! Things sort of checked out in many ways and it turns out to be a manipulative not terribly supportive mother or wife.

MB: Well in fairness to you, I think my character promised a lot of things to her.

MC: Absolutely, could not have been more fun in my personal opinion. I got to wear lots of fabulous outfits so i was like, ‘Okay!’ just the kind of things that I have never put on my body before, these giant onesie leotards type situations in all fairness was too tight , it was fun to wear it--

MB: They looked good what are you talking about?

MC: Ehh there were some close up of some butts that don’t need to happen, but that’s okay! No, it was a lot of fun; they did big Farrah Fawcett hair, big eyelashes! It was fun, for a girl anyway it was fun.

MB: But I did get to wear a corduroy jumpsuit, that was pretty fun.

MB: Yes, it’s my first time in Austin, its my first time in SXSW.

MC: Yeah this really started so we haven’t been able to be out and about that much. I went to the kick off party last night however and yeah it's great a lot of people here, seeing lots of fun movies so it’s my kind of place. I wish there was a little more time to see other movies, but it’s fun it’s great! We get to all see each other which we haven’t seen each other in a long time so.

MB: I think growing up in the suburbs I related so much to these people who believe if we get our own plot of land and a fence put in the right neighborhood everything is going to be perfect and sort of going to potluck dinners and seeing peoples other aspects of peoples personality come up to the surface. I related to that part of the script and even if it is a simpler time there aren't iPhones or other distractions even then its a movie about people who are really disconnected and having a really hard time connecting to the each other.

MC: The social hierarchy that exists the way we live now, we just in the movie we just sort of point out that no matter where you go there you are. It'€™s like now we'€™re all on space pods and everyone is conniving to get to the better space pod, because we're still like that bigger, better deal social hierarchy situation that we feel we'€™re sort of floundering in no man's land because our space ship isn'€™t cool enough and even the next one up would be the place where we arrived and it's still like you know, if you leave earth and you'€™re floating in space and still you struggle with the same issues that are sort of empty in the end but you struggle with here.

MB: I think the most memorable for me was that scene at the end where everyone is together because so much has happened and he had been with you ... getting to see what everyone brings to the table all in one room.

MC: It was like theater, we would run these long scenes where everyone was sort of there. Like I was saying earlier everything was repressed sort of what character is dealing with individually, like this big crescendo moment, everything kind of comes flying out it was a lot of fun to shoot.

MB: A film called The Normal Heart on HBO. The last season of White Collar, I start filming soon.

MC: And I’m writing, developing a TV project right now for Warner Brothers.