The China Mail - Will Arnett admits doing stand-up for new role was 'very scary'

Cooper's third film as a director chronicles a middle-aged man finding solace in stand-up comedy after splitting from his wife, and is loosely based on the life of British comic John Bishop.

Canadian actor Arnett, who co-wrote the screenplay with Cooper and British screenwriter Mark Chappell, told AFP he fully immersed in the nowhere-to-hide world of stand-up comedy for the role.

"It was very scary," he said as the comedy-drama premiered for the first time outside the United States at the London Film Festival on Tuesday.

"For six weeks when we were in prep on the movie I went up every night... about three times a night, for six weeks in New York at the Comedy Cellar, where we shot all the comedy stuff."

The legendary comedy club in Manhattan has hosted numerous top comedians over its 43-year history.

"It was very enlightening and scary -- by enlightening, I mean really scary," Arnett added.

Cooper, who worked as a camera operator as well as taking a minor acting role, said the filmmaking team "wanted to create an environment where you felt like you were there" in the room.

"That was really the impetus... what it's like to be on stage at a comedy club. You know, we don't cut to the audience. We're just right on the person."

"Is This Thing On?" stemmed from "a chance encounter" between Bishop and Arnett on a barge in Amsterdam, with the actor inspired by hearing the comedian's life-story.

Bishop served as an executive producer on the film and said it was "very hard to put into words" the feeling of watching his life portrayed on-screen.

"Sometimes it wasn't like watching a film, it's like watching a memory. You see something and you think, 'oh my god they've captured that perfectly'", he told AFP.

The movie, which follows Cooper's 2018 directorial debut "A Star Is Born" and 2023's "Maestro", has earned critical acclaimed since premiering at the New York Film Festival last week.

Alongside praise for his direction, critics have lauded the performances of Arnett and Laura Dern, who plays his character's estranged wife.

W.Cheng--ThChM