Film South Florida: Steve Carell obviously wasn’t Steve Carell, The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Golden Globe winner, when you shot the film last summer. He was just Steve Carell, ex-Daily Show correspondent, Will Ferrell’s occasional sidekick, and star of a sitcom that had an uncertain future. What led you to cast him as Frank?

Jonathan Dayton: We had known Steve from his work on The Daily Show and other features. What’s great about Steve is that he's committed to what role he does, whether it's the dumbest weatherman or a news anchor. He’s just one of those smart comedians. He loves his work. It wasn’t as if he was our perfect picture of the character. It was not until we met him and talked one on one about the character that we realized he was going to be incredible.

FSF: Did the sound of a cash register opening go off inside your heads when The 40-Year-Old Virgin debuted with $21.4 million en route to a total $109.4 million?

Valerie Faris: It was more of the response of the producers. The producers were thrilled. We got the most excited when we started filming and saw the way Steve performed the character. I thought, All my God, I can’t see anyone else in this role who could be this vulnerable. I knew it would be good.

FSF: Fox Searchlight reportedly paid a Sundance-record $10.5 million to distribute Little Miss Sunshine, which cost $8 million to make. You don’t spend that kind of money without certain box office expectations. Will mainstream audiences readily accept such a pitch-black comedy?

Dayton: One never knows. We were thrilled when Fox Searchlight stepped up. We had a screening [during Dayton and Faris’ visit to] Miami. It was such a diverse audience. It was a Miami population, with people of every ethnicity, who were in their twenties or were clearly retired. Everyone responded well. We didn’t plan it that way. It’s not something we wanted to orchestrate. We wanted to do something that made us laugh and had an emotional life. And the audience really responded. It’s always a mystery how well a film will do. You never really know what will happen, but we’re optimistic.

FSF: You made names for yourselves with your commercials and music videos. What are you doing making a low-budget dysfunctional family road-trip comedy your film directorial debut? Shouldn’t you be spending billions of producer Jerry Bruckheimer’s moneyon the next Con Air or The Rock?

Faris: We got this offer. Our videos are not the kind Bruckheimer likes. There’s no fast cutting or beautiful women in short black dresses. We’re not Bruckheimer-type filmmakers. We had done commercials, so we were interested in doing a character-based film. It was a new frontier. It’s fine to focus on something other than visuals. We’re always been interested in storytelling.

Dayton: It’s what’s expected of video directors. For us, it was more of a challenge to do something character-based than something that’s just stylish. We hoped to have some style, but it was not a priority. We wanted great performances and characters with emotional lives.

FSF: How tough was it to get Little Miss Sunshine up and running?

Faris: It was a long process. It started six years ago. We didn’t think it would be so hard, even if this wasn’t a film, at least on paper, that’s commercial. The hardest part was trying to cast stars and names in an ensemble film, all of whom would get equal billing. Think of the obstacles: we were asking people to work for nothing, and we were trying to get Hollywood stars.

Dayton: We shot the film a year ago, starting on June 7 [2005]. I could not believe I was on the film set. I had heard about films falling apart days before shooting. The breakthrough came when one of our producers, [Money Store founder] Marc Turtletaub, decided than rather than wait for a studio to put up the money, he would fund it himself. That made all the difference. When we had the money, getting the cast was easy. Everyone loved the script, but no one would commit until it was going to happen. Once we got the greenlight, everything came together quickly.

Faris: Our producer wanted us to cast people right for the role, with some box office value.

Dayton: Our cast was great prior to The 40-Year-Old Virgin. There's no denying it's a different world a year later.

FSF: What are the pros and cons of two people directing a film? And what is the division of labor?

Dayton: Directing can be a lonely job. Most directors have a collaborator or two who are credited as a director, such a cinematographer or an editor. Mine is my spouse. And so for us, it’s a public collaboration that begins early on.

Faris: People don’t understand. It’s not the usual thing. They don’t know how it works with two directors. The biggest obstacle is that people aren’t used to working with two directors. During the rehearsal period, that question dissolved. We’ve done it so long, working together, that it doesn’t present a problem.

Dayton: From the first day [the cast and crew] see we’re on the same page. ... The beauty is we can be in two places at the same time on the set. One may run and give notes the cameraman; the other gives notes to the talent. But no one sticks with the same job. We always change things around.

Faris: It’s something we started doing 20 years ago. It’s taken on a life of its own.

FSF: In its review, Premiere ran an unattributed quote that describes Little Miss Sunshine as “National Lampoon’s Vacation for people who think they’re too smart for National Lampoon’s Vacation.” True or false?

Dayton: Some people may think that when they initially heard the concept or see the poster. It’s a different film. It’s one of those things. We have two jobs: to make the film and to get people to see it. We hope people will see a fresh approach to what has been a somewhat tired genre. We were not interested in making another dysfunctional road-trip comedy. That’s the last thing we wanted to do. Fortunately, [Michael Arndt’s] script was fresh and we avoided those pitfalls.

FSF: So what message do you hope audiences will take with them about beauty pageants that seemingly sexualize little girls?

Faris: We’re not trying to say anything about pageants. It’s a place to stage a scene about how a family ultimately rallies around a girl they love, who’s up there doing what’s she doing. She’s enjoying herself. It’s much more than about a contest’ it’s about supporting her.

Dayton: Life as a contest vs. life as a dance. Much of the film, everyone’s concerned about being No. 1 and winning. Through the process of the life, they find that life is also a dance. To move and find pleasure in the simplest things is its own reward. It’s important not to editorialize. Obviously the pageant world has a lot of baggage. We didn’t want to add to that and simply betray the film’s honesty. We want people to draw their own conclusions. People draw many conclusions about what the film’s saying and any messages to be derived.

Faris: The pageant is a contest. The family’s literally put to the test. We could have put them to another type of test. [Pageant contestant] Olive is really a beautiful girl with indescribable beauty and innocence.

FSF: You’ve directed VW commercials, and much of Little Miss Sunshine is set into a VW van. What is it about that brand of automobile that you love so much and made it perfect for the road trip?

Dayton: The script called for a VW van. It’s odd that we have done so many commercials for VW There’s something about VW vans that appeals to certain generations. Everyone has their VW van stories. My second car was a VW van.

Faris: My family had one when I was in high school. We had to push it to pop it into second gear. A lot of family trips were done in a VW van. It’s an iconic van. It’s also great to shoot in. The window arrangement makes it perfect for shooting.

FSF: What’s next? Or is everything hinging on Little Miss Sunshine’s fate at the box office?

Dayton: We’ve had a lot of interest from the film community. It’s been amazing to have such a groundswell of interest after Sundance. We have a Red Hot Chili Peppers video [for “Tell Me Baby”] and more commercials. We hope to find another script we love as much as Little Miss Sunshine.

Faris: We don’t think anything’s going happen too quickly. It’s not easy to find material that speaks to us. So we’re waiting for the right [project] to come along.

Dayton: It pays to nurture a project rather than rush it.

Little Miss Sunshine opened August 18. Click here for more information.

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