Rashida Jones and Hidetoshi Nishijima on dealing with a robot and ‘Sunny’

Rashida Jones and Hidetoshi Nishijima on dealing with a robot and ‘Sunny’

to start so I can let him go Rashida every time I meet anyone from my favorite show in the world I introduce them to Benjamin Wyatt the cat because and there he goes but I W does he like calzones uh I don’t I’ll try I have a little mini I should try it if his name is Ben Wyatt he must he has to it works um just S I love how dark this show is I like that it it says it’s a dark comedy but I fully was not prepared for how actually dark it gets um for you guys as actors when you get to kind of really dive into the darkest part of I think like the brink of a dark comedy what is the joy of getting to bring those little elements in more than necess like you know the slapstick comedy or kind of the sitcoms we used to yeah well I mean I I hope that you know I’ve been lucky enough in my career to do things that feel grounded that have a heart and are grounded in some type of reality um but when things are really really dark the reality is you you have you need to break that tension with comedy that’s just in life I I found that to be the case and actually probably like the hardest like almost um like uh uh ferocious laughter I’ve ever had is when I’ve had the hardest times in my life so hopefully that comes across in the show um and you know I I I think also like just working within the kind of like dark the darkest areas you you need to have that comedy um and I those are the things I I like watching the most and I hope people feel that way about the show which is like I don’t like being dragged so far into the drama of something the darkness of something I’m like give me a break I just need a break I need air I need a little giggle something so hopefully people get that with the show yeah yeah again I love also it’s very weird to be talking through technology that translates things because I I did an in-person interview the other day and the man I was talking to was Japanese and so his translator like at one point he said flower and I was like oh I know Hana because my cousin’s name is Hana because her my aunt’s Japanese and I was like I If we had like just the translation technology I wouldn’t have had that moment and I do like that the show kind of also uses that by having Susie be there she doesn’t she uses this technology she doesn’t speak Japanese what for you guys is the more interesting aspect of that commentary and getting to really explore that as like actors knowing that like yeah these two characters may not actually be speaking the same language at some point and they have to only relate to what the voice in their head is telling them the other person said well I think I mean M Masa his whole thing is he doesn’t he wants to be able to communicate with Susie without the device you know and and Susie is she sort of intentionally put herself in a in a place where she didn’t have to learn the language she didn’t have to fully assimilate um and and in a way she like break she draws him to to her by you know with this thing where she’s like she kind of refuses to learn Japanese so I think it’s sort of like it’s the it’s the opposite of what you’re saying which is like it’s a way to sort of like it’s con it’s so convenient for her that she does doesn’t have to she doesn’t have to bring herself closer to Japanese culture and I think he probably in turn likes that about her because then he wants I think he wants to connect with her on her terms in her language but um yeah there’s all these things that were sort of afforded because of like the technology I don’t think suie 50 years before could have lived in Japan without the simultaneous translation because she couldn’t how would she function in the world she refuses to learn the language but now she’s got this like convenience that um that allows her to do so which is like good and bad like everything I think it’s not only for me but I think a lot of people are experiencing the same thing where even though like I’m not very good in English but even though you have this tight little bit of English even because you’re not a native English speaker there are these moments where because you’re not native you could really um convey emotions very well for example when I met Rashida for the first time via Zoom we were talking with each other uh through the screen we were reading the uh script and then we were giggling bursting out and laughter and uh doing so one side is not a native English speaker but we’re still communicating we’re still speaking I think we have this like soul to soul connection so because of that because I was not a native speaker I think I was able to connect uh clearly and closely so so Masa is not a great English speaker but he does his best to communicate and in that in that situation the two characters have these two um lonely souls and then that connected they had the spiritual connection and then they fell in love so language is something at the other end or um I think the spiritual or this connection of the two souls are more important and then comes language and those are the aspects that is portrayed in this story yeah I 100% agree and I think for last fun question I have to ask I love that this robot that Massa created looks like Eve from Wall-E but is like very very Sinister so it’s like the evil version of this robot that everyone kind of loves if you guys did I know it’s not the point of the show but if you guys did get to have a robot that kind of followed you around do you have a picture of what that robot is in your head and is it like short circuit or something that we already kind of know exists yeah I would definitely want the robot to look as little like a human as possible because I would want to remember that we were different you know like I wouldn’t want to try to be fooled by the robot um I would I think I’d want it to be little than Sunny just like kind of just to again just in size to to feel like I don’t make it too more significant than it is already um but I think it being cute really helps you know especially if she’s annoying like sunny and then maybe a little bit evil you [Laughter] know I agree you made me laugh yeah um for me what’s the best thing about the evolution of technology is that um all the stuff that you have to work do at home chores you have the washing machine obviously it had to be done by hand in the olden days so all these things um that we had to do at home um you know machines and robots have come in to help us have more time and so yes I will welcome robots like that that I I agree with that um thank you guys so much for talking with me today I really appreciate it and Rashida again thank you I I mean it from the bottom of my heart that Parks and Rec has made me very happy very happy for so it means a lot thanks for introducing Ben Wyatt you’re welcome thank you guys have a great day bye

Our Rachel Leishman spoke with Rashida Jones and Hidetoshi Nishijima for their work on the new Apple TV+ series ‘Sunny’