For fun, Joss Whedon likes to hold late-night drunken Shakespeare readings with his friends at his Los Angeles home (because who doesn’t?). Much Ado About Nothing, his adaptation of Shakespeare’s (arguably) best comedy, is an elaborately staged movie version of the wine-soaked bard parties. This is Whedon’s vacation from the superheroes, literally—on downtime during filming The Avengers, when he was supposed to be on vacation, Whedon gathered his merry troupe of actor friends from the Whedonverse (Buffy, Angel, Firefly, Dollhouse) and shot Much Ado About Nothing in 12 days (at his house, appropriately). Do the booze-fueled get-togethers translate well to the big screen? They sure do, thanks to the agile tongues and keen intelligence of Whedon and his chums.

The beauty of Whedon’s adaptation is that it respects the genius of the original work. Whedon takes the opposite approach of Baz Luhrmann’s flashy, over-stylized Romeo+Juliet—he trusts the power of the source material and is wise enough to not let unnecessary modern flourishes and bells and whistles obstruct Shakespeare’s work. This is a gracious, glitzy firecracker of a film that would make Ol’ Willie proud.

Though Whedon has trimmed a good amount of story off of the play, the original themes—about the many faces of love and the value of honor—remain intact. The plot is dizzying, but Whedon does a good job of making the scenes so entertaining that you dial in to each one, never missing a beat. From beginning to end, the film feels like a never-ending party, with bottles popping incessantly and sharp suits and cocktail dresses filling the screen. The film was shot in black and white, which lends itself well to the modern setting as it makes the house and everyone in it look more elegant and effervescent.

Alexis Denisof and Amy Acker play the timeless romance of Benedick and Beatrice like superstars, making the most of every moment (why these two haven’t had more successful film careers, I’ll never know). Their crackling chemistry (which had been developed over years on Angel) is as scrumptious as anything you’ll see this year. When Denisof tries to impress Acker by doing a cartoonish calisthenics routine in front of her while they have a casual conversation, it’s funny in the most unpretentious way, a nice palette-cleanser to the mean-spirited, sarcastic form of comedy seen in recent years. Denisof and Acker slip in and out of high drama and goofball comedy seamlessly, which is a skill the material requires. One minute they can’t stand the sight of each other, barking and verbally stabbing. The next, they’re declaring their undying love and rubbing noses. It’s all charming, all fluid, all convincing.

Though every cast member gets their moment in the sun, Franz Kranz is a standout as the animated, love-drunk Claudio. He’s given the most emotionally intense scenes in the film, and he brings energy to them that are off-the-charts. Though much less experienced in terms of theater time, Nathan Fillion provides the biggest laughs as the self-involved Chief-of-Police, Dogberry. He sings Shakespeare’s lines with a smirk and a curled eyebrow. “Remember that I am an ass. Though it not be written down, yet forget not that I am an ass.”

The modern Los Angeles setting is occasionally incompatible with the centuries-old dialog—hearing grand Elizabethan speech delivered in front of a refrigerator can be a little hard to swallow. The most difficult scene to digest is late in the film—Hero (Jillian Margese) is left at the altar by Claudio when he accuses her of squandering her virginity on another man. A pack of men then proceed to shout shockingly misogynistic insults at her, slinging their hate-filled scorn until she is so shamed she collapses. It’s hard to completely buy that this would fly in our time, though it ultimately doesn’t affect the drama of the scene significantly.

Much Ado About Nothing is light, good-humored fun. It’s sparkly and summery and full of laughs, though the modern setting doesn’t gel with the Elizabethan material quite as well as I’d hoped. The results are almost always delightful when Whedon works with his mates, and this outing is no exception. If Shakespeare were here to see it, he’d likely be pleased. “Twas a joyful romp, lord Whedon. But what, pray tell, is a ‘Buffy’?”

For years Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, The Avengers) has hosted Shakespeare readings at his Los Angeles home with his best friends, who all just happen to be actors he’s worked with on various projects over the years. Over time (and lots of wine), he got the idea to turn these now-not-so-secret shindigs into a film, the result of which is his ultimate passion project—an adaptation of Shakespeare’s timeless comedy, Much Ado About Nothing.

Shot in Whedon’s home to preserve the spirit of the Shakesperean meetings, the film is full of jovial fun, firecracker performances, and a certain verbal virtuosity that both Whedon and Shakespeare share an affinity for. It’s a respectful take on the play because Whedon tells the story in his own voice, not Shakespeare’s. Much Ado About Nothing is timeless, and Whedon appreciates that—he doesn’t inject dialog about iPhones or computers to make it feel ‘modern’. It’s a faithful adaptation, yet also deeply personal.

The stars of the film, Alexis Denisof (Benedick) and Amy Acker (Beatrice), worked with Whedon most famously on Angel, his excellent spin-off of the beloved Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I’m a long-time Whedon fan and absolutely adore Denisof and Acker’s work, so I’m not ashamed to say that I was thoroughly overjoyed to have the opportunity to chat with the duo about Much Ado, working with Whedon, and the benefits of low-budget filmmaking.

WTI: For years Joss’ friends, including you two, have been doing Shakespeare readings at his house just for fun. When he approached you about taking these readings and turning them into a film, was the thought that you wanted to share your little Shakespeare pow-wows with the world, or were you just doing it for fun and playing it by ear from there?

Alexis Denisof: Number 2, for sure. We weren’t even thinking [it would become as big as it is] now. As [filming] was moving along, we all sensed that something special was happening. During shooting Joss was like “Umm…this is looking good. This could be more than the straight-to-DVD or internet release I was thinking it might be.” Amy was saying she thought he was going to shoot it on his iPhone.

Amy Acker: He always said it would be fun to share the readings with people. He thought it would be nice if it was on PBS or something, like a taped reading series in the backyard (laughs). We didn’t know what we were doing, or else we would have probably cried making it! “We’re going to mess up!” (laughs)

AD: Not really knowing [where the project was headed] and not having that much time and having a lot to do, we just put our heads down and got to the business of making it. We didn’t think much about the outcome or get hung up on what it was going to be or how it was going to be received. We just put all our attention on being in the scene, bringing the scene to life, bringing the character to life, and bringing the relationship to life. That’s your favorite place to be as an actor and an artist, to be free of any expectation. There was no failing, you know? If [I wanted] to do push-ups in a scene, I could do push-ups in a scene. If [Amy] wanted to fall down the stairs, she could fall down the stairs. It was sheer joy from beginning to end.

WTI: Joss has his familiar troupe of actors he likes to work with frequently. He draws amazing performances out of you all, and he has a way of making you perform at your very, very best. You two, along with Joss, created one of my favorite television romances of all time as Wesley and Fred on Angel. There’s an intangible quality to a Joss Whedon actor—the way you speak, the way you move, the fine balance of drama and fun. When he looks for new actors to bring into the group, what qualities is he looking for?

AD: Ooh…I don’t think I’ve been asked that before! I guess Joss sees more than meets the eye in a person. He wants to share the hidden talents that an actor might not be getting the opportunity to share, and he sees that, celebrates that. That’s why actors love to work with him. If you’re lucky enough to work with Joss, he’s going to find areas to explore that he might not have even thought of himself if you haven’t been given the opportunity [in the past]. That’s one of the things we’ve loved about him.

AA: You don’t really have to say “I’ve always wanted to do this.” He’ll come to you and be like “I think people should see you do this.” Then, you realize in the back of your head “I was really wanting to be a blue demon!”

AD: That takes a lot of courage from a director and a writer because most directors and writers have a studio breathing down their back and the expectations of delivering something that’s guaranteed to work and deliver. [Studios] don’t want to be told “I want to try this with this actor, I want to find this side of them” or “I want to tell this story in a new way that’s never been told.” [If he went to a studio and said] “Would you like to give me money to shoot Shakespeare in black and white with actors who are good friends that I think would be great for the material, but aren’t necessarily box office [stars].” You know, what studio would put money into that? None of them. But, to Joss, that’s what it’s all about.

AA: I think the common thread of all the actors, especially in this movie, is that everybody is there one hundred percent. There was no one he brought into the project that was not fully invested, whether they had one line or soliloquies running up stairs. Everybody was there to help each other and to help make the movie happen. I think that was important to him.

AD: He sees the spirit of true collaboration, which is that serving the greater good of the project is as important as serving yourself. I think he knew that he could put people into the film that would work together as a team and bring it to life and do whatever was needed. [Much Ado About Nothing] is the definition of a passion project.

WTI: Everybody in the film delivers their lines very well, but you two actually have some great physical comedy moments. How much fun did you have with that?

AD: It was fun. We keep tipping our hat to Joss, but part of why is his love [for] Shakespeare and part of what is in his storytelling is exploring these great, lofty moments of beautiful poignant love or these dreadful tragic moments of self-loathing, but through all of that, there’s always time for a good pratfall or a good moment of slapstick. He’s not afraid to go to all of those places within the same story, and that’s the case with Shakespeare too. Some of it came out of us, the actors, but some of it came out of Joss seeing the scene a particular way. There’s a scene where I do some pretty silly calisthenics, and that came to me very suddenly [when we were setting up the first take.] I just had a moment of clarity with the character and I saw this physical thing that I thought would put a twist on the scene. We kinda tried it, didn’t we?

AA: That was one of the scenes we were practicing on our own while [the rest of the crew] was shooting something inside. He did [the calisthenics thing] and we were talking about it some more and we said “Let’s get Joss and see what he thinks!” (laughs)

AD: He was slightly concerned (laughs).

AA: He came around (laughs).

AD: He did it a little bit out of faith in us.

AA: I think we did one safety take without the crew (laughs).

AD: That was where the low-budget movie was in our favor because, you know, he had to say yes. We were all in this for the fun of it. He was very willing to go almost anywhere with [the project] within certain parameters, because he had a strong vision for the movie and a strong feel he wanted to bring to it. With that safety he gave us he made us incredibly free. I think that’s part of why the movie’s so infused with fun and joviality and so approachable and easy.

Make sure to catch Much Ado About Nothing when it hits select cities this Friday (June 7th )

Way Too Indie was on the red carpet of the San Francisco International Film Festival to capture photos of Amy Acker and Alexis Denisof from Much Ado About Nothing as well as legendary award winners such as Harrison Ford, George Lucus, and Philip Kaufman. We also have some more exclusive photos from private interviews with Michael Cera, Sebastian Silva, Richard Linklater, and Julie Delpy.

On Saturday night, SFIFF was all about the screening of Joss Whedon’s much buzzed-about Shakespeare adaptation, Much Ado About Nothing, and the excitement emanating from the gorgeous Sundance Kabuki Cinema was infectious. There was a line stretching down the block of excited Whedon-ites (and Shakespeare…um…heads?) who were itching to pile into the theater to watch the highly-anticipated film.

The film’s stars, Amy Acker and Alexis Denisof, were in attendance, and I was waiting for them on the red carpet, shaking with anticipation. Why the shaking, you ask? The two also starred in Angel, Whedon’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer spin-off, which is one of my favorite television shows of all time. I’m a huge Joss Whedon fan (my wedding invitations were Buffy-themed), so it was a special (and surreal) moment for me to take their picture as they posed in front of the SFIFF banner.

Before the screening, Acker and Denisof were asked to introduce the film and thought out-loud that they wished Mr. Whedon were there to help, as he is better at this kind of thing. So, naturally, they called his cell, put him on speakerphone, and had a hilariously awkward conversation in which Whedon seemed to have absolutely no idea what was going on. It was one of the most bizarre film introductions I’ve seen, but it was fun and entertaining nonetheless. They held a Q&A after the film and spoke at length about their previous roles together on Angel, much to my excitement.

Now, on to my impressions of the film.

Much Ado About Nothing

Contrary to what you may have read about Joss Whedon’s take on Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing isn’t simply a ‘contemporary’ interpretation—it’s a purely Whedon interpretation. It’s full of his playful wit, his best friends (who happen to be fantastic actors), and gorgeous views of his home, in which the entire film was shot. The film feels personal because of its history—Whedon and his friends have been holding Shakespeare readings at his house for years, and this film had always been a dream project for him.

Benedick (Denisof), Claudio (Franz Kranz) and Don Pedro (Reed Diamond) arrive at the home of Leonato (Clark Gregg). During their visit, Beatrice (Acker), Leonato’s neice, and Benedick engage in a biting war of words (it’s revealed in the opening scene that they’d had a one-night-stand) while Claudio finds himself falling for Leonato’s daughter, Hero (Jillian Morgese). The two pairs flaunt, taunt, and flirt with each other until calculated deceptions by the malevolent Don John (Sean Maher) introduce deadly implications into the game.

Whedon’s take on the story is as timeless as the source material, which can be mostly attributed to Whedon’s uncanny ability to create on-screen magic with his actors. Denisof is simultaneously dashing and bumbling, and Acker is a silver-tongued vision in a summer dress. Their wordy quarrels are as engaging and vicious as a fight scene, but when they fall for each other, they morph into juvenile, giddy sweethearts. The duo’s charming, Chaplin-esque physical performances are highlighted by Whedon. There are almost too many noteworthy performances to mention, but Kranz is a surprising standout, with his impassioned delivery and ability to handle any mood or tone thrown at him.

Shot in classy black and white, Whedon’s photography is super-smooth, and he proves that he knows how to use his camera wisely (an eavesdropping scene with Denisof is spotless.) Much Ado About Nothing is the perfect alternative to the modern ‘rom-com’, and is a joy to watch with an audience. Whedon handles the cherished source material with finesse and makes it look like he was born to do it.

Stay tuned to Way Too Indie for our full review and an interview with Alexis Denisof and Amy Acker!