There were sentimental reasons for shooting Slow Learners, the offbeat new romantic comedy starring Adam Pally and Sarah Burns, in the suburbs of Philadelphia. Directors Don Argott and Sheena M. Joyce both hail from the Keystone State, so making the movie—which follows two unlucky-in-love pals as they attempt to overhaul their social lives with gratuitous sex and partying—felt like something of a homecoming. And, according to Pally, there were some very appealing suburban perks.
“Most of the time we were working,” he says, “but there were some really fun nights at the Glen Falls P.F. Chang’s.”
Aside from those lettuce wraps, Pally says one of the highlights of making the movie was playing a character so different from those to which he’s accustomed. (Another was proximity to Philadelphia, where he shot the above selfie outside a friend’s house.)
“I liked that it was about quite basic people,” he says. “I know that the term ‘basic’ can be derogatory, but I find them to be charming. I’m a basic person: I like sports and Top 40 music and so I thought it was interesting to take a look at those people who maybe have never found their groove.”
As to whether he ever, like his character, tried on a bad-boy persona to shake things up, Pally says instead he went in a somewhat sportier direction.
“I was a bit of an athlete when I was a kid, and when I first got to high school I decided I was going play football—which was a little outside my element,” he recalls. “I showed up the first day and I was wearing more gear than anybody has ever worn in their entire life, like I had cut the feet off socks and wore them on my arms and I had no skin showing. It was just ridiculous because I’m not really a great football player, but I played the whole year like that. And it was, it was me trying on a different persona for a bit.”
