Director Alex Lehmann made his narrative feature film debut with the critically-acclaimed “Blue Jay” in 2016, a film that was shot with just a sketch of a screenplay in just under seven days, with actors Mark Duplass (who also wrote the sketch) and Sarah Paulson improvising the dialogue. His sophomore feature, “Paddleton,” which also marks his screenwriting debut, is a much similar, bare-bones production. The first of the Duplass Brothers‘ four-picture deal with Netflix, “Paddleton,” co-written by Mark Duplass, tells the story of two misfit friends who grow closer as one receives a terminal health diagnosis.

On the verge of ‘Paddleton’s’ release, I spoke with Lehmann about his love for the underdog, balancing comedy and tragedy, directing a largely improvised film, Ray Romano, the making of “Blue Jay,” and more.

What was your inspiration for “Paddleton?”

Mark Duplass and I both love underdogs and people that are overlooked or labeled weird or quirky. I love fighting for people who are not necessarily understood. And I’m excited to have genuine relationships with some of the people who mean the most to me. Feeling understood by them is basically the only way I get by in life. So, to celebrate a relationship like that, and to also kind of put it to a real test, it just felt like the right thing to do.

As far as dealing with death, Mark had teased me that I needed to make my next movie facing death because of some comments I had made about another film that really disturbed me. He said, “Well, you got to deal with that. You got to face that. Make your movie about that.” So, I asked him if he’d be willing to die for me [laughter] in my cinematic therapy facing death.

Read the rest of the interview at The Playlist.