ET sat down with the stars of the funny, heartbreaking new comedy ahead of its select theatrical release on Friday.
The Don't Think Twice cast just wanted to make something true to them.
ET's Denny Directo spoke to Mike Birbiglia, along with his co-stars Keegan Michael-Key (Key & Peele), Gillian Jacobs (Community), and Emmy-nominated actress Kate Miucci (Garfunkel and Oates), about the new comedy film -- which Birbiglia wrote and directed -- about an up-and-coming improv comedy team dealing with bitterness and jealousy when confronted with the reality that this weird, fun thing they do together can't last, and that some of their professional dreams might not be realized.
Calling it "a film about failure," Birbiglia is the first to admit, "It's not a sexy or shiny concept. But it's something we all committed to, and I think that's why it works."
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"There's a couple things," Key adds. "It's that sense of failure ... And the other one of course is, 'Wait a minute, why did my dream come true for that person?"
Key explains that for the cast, the movie almost felt "autobiographical," and indeed, Jacobs connects what happens in the movie to her own struggles with rejection while trying to "make it" in comedy.
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The Love star shares a memory about "a very depressing trip home, where I basically cried in my childhood bed, and wondered if I'd ever make in in this profession."
That frustration and self-doubt, which applies beyond the entertainment industry, is something Jacobs says caused her to question what she was doing.
"I didn't really make a living doing it, so how long is poverty romantic?" she remembers questioning. "Which is something this film touches on."
Key, who is celebrating his second Emmy nomination for Key & Peele, thinks the answer is to do something you can be proud of, independent of recognition.
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"At the end of the day, if you feel good about what you did then that should be success," he said, joking, "Now I'm gone take that [Emmy] statue!"
Don't Think Twice is in select theaters Friday.
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