Sacramento is one of the buzziest movies to come out of the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival, thanks to its stellar cast and fun-loving premise. Written and directed by Minx‘s Michael Angarano, the story follows the careless and carefree Ricky’s (also played by Angarano) adventures after the death of his father. His response is to drag his best friend Glenn (Michael Cera) on a cross-California road trip, despite the latter’s resistance.

Glenn is married to Rosie (Kristen Stewart), and Sacramento sees in at a place in his life where he no longer wishes to engage in immature hijinks and is instead ready to start a new life and family. The movie also stars Mr. & Mrs. Smith‘s Maya Erskine, Imran Karram, and pro-wrestler A.J. Mendez,

Screen Rant interviewed Cera, Angarano, and costars A.J. Mendez and Imran Karram while at Tribeca Film Festival. The director gave some insight into his writing process, and the cast touched on one of their favorite fight sequences in the movie.

Michael Angarano Shares How His Perspective Shifted While Writing Sacramento

Screen Rant: You wear all the hats in Sacramento. When you are writing a movie you are going to direct, that stars people who know, how much does that influence what you’re actually writing?

Michael Angarano: That’s a really good question. I don’t think we really set out to write it for anybody else other than each other. Really, it was our voices. We would literally send voice notes back and forth to each other, just improvising scenes, and then from those voice notes we would write the scenes.

It did change once Mike [Cera] came onboard, when we were trying years ago to get the financing. Then we started to write that character with more intention and with a little bit more structure for Mike. And it really, I think, opened up the script. We were seeing the script through that character’s eyes, and I think it really changed everything.

But everybody we went to, we were like, “Bring whatever you want to bring to it. Don’t live and die by the writing. We infused it with what we wanted; we just wanted to work with people we like and respect, and so we wanted them to infuse the story with what they had for it.

Source: Screen Rant Plus

Michael Cera Reveals That His Sacramento Costar Can Do The Full Splits

Screen Rant: I know your fellow Michael was wearing all the hats, from to directing. What was that experience like?

Michael Cera: He really did an amazing job with the movie. I think he put the movie together beautifully, and it turned out really great. I love it. He is really gifted at creating a great atmosphere on set. It’s natural for him and made for a very good experience. Everybody had a great time every day; there were no bad days. Everybody felt like they had a voice in the process, and he was really good at that.

Speaking of the vibe on set, this cast is stacked, and it feels like a lot of you are coming back together. Is there a scene that you filmed that was your favorite or that was the most challenging in a good way?

Michael Cera: Mike and I have a seat where we wrestle, and it was very physical. We filmed it for hours and really got a work out. I love that scene, and shooting it was so fun. He can do the full splits! You should ask him to.

You recently battled your way back into everyone’s hearts with Scott Pilgrim Takes Off. What was it like to revisit that world, and would you do it again?

Michael Cera: It was so fun. It’s kind of different because you just do it all by yourself. When we made the movie, it was such a beautiful and wonderful cast and crew; it was a collaboration experience. But I’m just so proud to be involved in that, so it was great. I would love to making more [of the anime], but I don’t know if it’s possible.

Source: Screen Rant Plus

A.J. Mendez Reflects On Her Journey From Pro-Wrestling To Sacramento

Screen Rant: What was it that attracted you to this role and story?

AJ Mendez: I really related to my character’s transition. She was an athlete and is now a mother, and so she’s trying to grapple with finding her place and trying to figure out what her identity is.

As a retired athlete entering into a new career producing and acting, you have to learn how to be human again. It’s an awkward time, but the point of this movie is that those new transitions can be really beautiful. It’s an evolution.

Speaking of those transitions, you have been doing that yourself, between Heels and now Sacramento. What’s it like to step in front of the screen in a different way?

AJ Mendez: From being a pro-wrestler, there are so many transferable skills. Promos teach you how to write. Writing is a real skill there; knowing what audience likes and what they react to, I felt like that really helped. But in every other way, this is such a different world.

You really have to start from the ground up, build the foundation, have no ego about it, and see where you land. It’s really cool, in this short amount of time, to build a company like Scrappy Heart Productions and to be able to create television and be able to a part other people’s lives like this.

This cast is stacked, between the Michaels, Kirsten Stewart, and Maya Erskine. What was that vibe like on set for you?

AJ Mendez: It was so much fun. Long days didn’t matter because were laughing at all times. Everyone was down for everything. There’s a particular scene that I helped the guys figure out how to choreograph. We had an actual professional coordinator on set who really handled it, but they were so down and so ready to try anything and really welcomed everything.

We had a very awkward love scene, and Michael made me feel so comfortable and safe.

Source: Screen Rant Plus

Imram Karram Teases Her Favorite Sacramento Scene

Screen Rant: What was it that first attracted you to this role and story?

Imran Karram: Honestly, I love Michael Angarano; he’s such a great actor and person. He’s a good friend of mine, so I loved reading the script. Personally, I can relate to the character that I play so much. Jess, she’s a fighter along with AJ’s character, and I could really relate to it.

Speaking of Michael, what was he like as both director and costar?

Imran Karram: He’s awesome and really knows how to ground a set. Everyone’s just having too much fun the whole time, and his ability just to throw his body around for this movie?

There’s one particular scene that I’m excited for everyone to see. It is all both Michael and Michael. Both AJ and I are much more physical human beings; we both have a training background, so it’s ironic that it’s the two of them throwing themselves around. He just does an incredible job balancing everything.

Do you have a favorite moment or scene that you are a part of?

Imran Karram: There is a scene where we are meeting the two of them, Michael and Michael, as they are fighting in this ring. That was just an entertaining time for all of us on set. It’s totally them; it’s not stunt doubles or anything, so we were all just laughing that day and dying being part of it.

Source: Screen Rant Plus