Oscar Week: Interview with Dan Kwan & Daniel Scheinert of ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’

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CHICAGO – It’s Oscar Week, as the 95th Academy Awards will be broadcast on Sunday, March 12th, 2023, on ABC-TV. Nominated for Best Directors are affectionally called the “Daniels” … Dan Kwan & Daniel Scheiner … for the awards sweeping film “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” They talked to HollywoodChicago.com in March of 2022.

Michelle Yeoh is Evelyn, the co-owner with her husband Waymond (Ke Huy Quan) of a laundromat, who is in the midst of getting a party together for her visiting father Gong (James Hong). Reluctantly helping despite their difficult relationship is her daughter Joy (Stephanie Hsu), who wants to tell Gramps that she is dating a woman. All this is happening while their business is being audited by a IRS clerk named Deirdre (JamIe Lee Curtis), and this chaotic situation is made more chaotic as Evelyn is thrust into multi-universe versions of herself. That’s right, the film explores her split personalities in multiple realms of existence, but instead of being different people, she takes on and absorbs all of them at once.

Everything Everywhere All at Once
Photo credit: A24

Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert were both film majors when they met at Emerson College in Boston, and spent their early post grad years directing music videos. After getting noticed for collaborations with Foster the People, The Shins and Tenacious D, among others, they completed their first feature film in 2016 … the unforgettable “Swiss Army Man.” The film was about a suicidal man (Paul Dano) and his friendship with a flatulent corpse (Daniel Radcliffe). After a couple of solo projects, they are back together for “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”

The Daniels: Dan Kwan & Daniel Scheinert
Photo credit: Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com

In PART ONE of a Podtalk with Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com, Daniel Scheinert (speaking first) and Dan Kwan talk about philosophy, multiverses and tips from Quentin Tarantino …

In PART TWO, a bit on “Swiss Army Man” and a riff on a “Freaky Friday” scenario …

For an interview with Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert by Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com for SWISS ARMY MEN, click THE DANIELS.

By PATRICK McDONALD Editor and Film Critic/Writer HollywoodChicago.com pat@hollywoodchicago.com