Yahoo News Ellie Kemper takes a hike in Happiness for Beginners trailer
Ellie Kemper is roughing it.
The Bridesmaids and The Office star is going camping in Netflix's Happiness for Beginners, which EW can exclusively premiere the trailer for below.
Kemper stars as Helen, a newly divorced woman who decides to try to find herself by signing up for a backcountry survival course hiking the Appalachian Trail. Over-confident but underprepared for the journey, Helen is determined to be the best hiker in the group — but she ends up making unexpected discoveries in the wilderness.
Based on the novel by Katherine Center, the film also stars Luke Grimes (Yellowstone), Nico Santos, Blythe Danner, and Gus Birney. Vicky Wight directs.
For her part, Kemper was attracted to the role because of its more cynical leanings, a stark contrast from the optimistic characters she usually plays. "I liked that Helen is a grump," she tells EW. "She's a little pessimistic. She's going through a really tough time and she doesn't really believe in the goodness of things. It felt like that would be fun to play because it is so different from the optimistic, funny, bright-eyed women that I've played in the past. I wasn't intentionally speaking up for something like that, but once I read this script, I thought, 'Oh, this is, this is really interesting to me.' Everybody has different sides to them, and I haven't been able to portray that as much on TV and in film."
Barbara Nitke/Netflix Luke Grimes and Ellie Kemper in 'Happiness for Beginners'
We caught up with Kemper in advance of the trailer debut to talk filming a movie in the wilderness, whether Grimes taught her any outdoorsy skills he picked up on Yellowstone, and more. Happiness for Beginners hits Netflix on July 27.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Were you a big fan of the Katherine Center novel? Or what brought you to the project?
ELLIE KEMPER: I actually had not read the book before meeting with Vicky. To be honest, it was Vicky Wight that first brought me to the project because I had a Zoom with her and it was just magical. She is a lovely human being. I wanted to work with her on anything. When she sent me the script, I gobbled it up. It's such a readable story. And it was only after that that I read the book. I started with the script.
The inciting incident of the plot is that you're going on this Appalachian hike. Is that something you have any grounding in? Did you have to do any training or research to portray that?
A little. When I was 12 or 13, two different summers, I went on a little hiking trip where we were actually backpacking. I had some experience as a kid, but certainly none as an adult, and certainly none at like a "professional" level. We had some experts come in and show us what actual hiking and camping looked like. That was very helpful. But it was a really new experience for me. The whole movie is outside on the trail. I really enjoyed that.
It's a romance, but it's also very much a journey of self discovery for her. Have you ever done something like that where you took time away to find yourself or find new things about yourself?
No, I have not and I should. It's not because I don't need to. Everyone needs to. You hit the nail on the head because the romance is a subset [of the plot]. It's mostly about Helen going on this journey to get to know herself better, which, that's where any happiness begins, making sure that you're happy with yourself. I'm certainly never enrolled in a hiking course for that purpose or something similar. But I would jump at the chance.
I love the trope at play here, which is "brother's best friend." Are you a romance fan? What are some of your favorite tropes?
Some of my favorite tropes are probably just, um, the fumbling guy who you don't think is going to get the girl. And then does. I don't know how to write that up in a succinct way as a trope.
Even in the trailer, you and Luke have such lovely chemistry. Were there camping lessons or things like that that helped you build that together?
Before the shoot, we did about two weeks of rehearsals beforehand. And then there's just so much downtime on the set, so you really get to know everyone really well. It was so lucky because there was a real bond going on, which is always a good thing on a set when you're spending that much time together. It felt very organic. Everybody's still on the text chain. Everybody goes out when together when we're in the same city. There's that nice camaraderie there. With Luke, we did all these chemistry read and he was great from the start. He's not only a phenomenal actor, but he's really laid back and low key in real life. But also, not too cool.
Barbara Nitke/Netflix Luke Grimes and Ellie Kemper in 'Happiness for Beginners'
Did he bring any outdoors expertise from all his time on Yellowstone?
He might bring more than me, but no. In terms of like pitching tents and stuff, no. He was a good sport.
What was the hardest thing you had to learn for the movie?
On a craft level, it's falling. I'm always injuring myself. I had to do a few of those. That is always a challenge for me, how you pull something like that off and make it look realistic, but also not hurt yourself. Just being outside for long amounts of time through the rain and it was in the fall, so some days were beautiful and then some days were not. It was very cold and very wet, very damp, and there was no base camp.
Do you think you'll become outdoorsy now? Do you see you and your husband becoming big campers?
It inspired me to revisit that part of myself because I do think it's such a special thing. My friend goes camping all the time with their kids and I was thinking, "Oh my gosh, that seems like so much work." But when I was out there shooting the movie, I thought, "All these places are not so far from New York City, why not?" It's so simple. It doesn't require that much. There aren't so many bells and whistles, and it's a nice experience to be outside with nature. As an adult, especially living in a city, you forget how soothing and healing and restorative it is to be in nature. I haven't taken any action on that. But it's in my head that yes, we should embark on a family camping trip. I may have to ease into it with some glamping, but then we'll get there eventually. But two weeks ago I found the first tick I've ever found. I think it was from Central Park because I hadn't been anywhere else, and I was like, "That's it, I'm done with the outdoors." It was so freaky.
What do you hope people take away from the movie?
It was really instructive to me because it's about finding happiness and of satisfaction in the everyday things. The most helpful thing I found when filming this was the idea of gratitude and making a list of things that you are thankful for. That sounds prescriptive. I don't mean it to be, but the film can bring a lot of light.
Want more movie news? Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free newsletter to get the latest trailers, celebrity interviews, film reviews, and more.
Related content:
