Self Reliance's Jake Johnson Talks His Directorial Debut, New Girl, Spider-Verse, and More

Not only is Jake Johnson mostly known as an actor, he has a reputation for stealing the show in any project in which he appears. Whether it be Nick Miller in New Girl, Lowery in Jurassic World, or Vail in The Mummy, no matter what project he stars in, his charm and sense of humor as a performer stand out. Johnson's talents aren't only limited to his on-screen charisma, having also collaborated with director Joe Swanberg to write films like Digging for Fire and Win It All, and he also launched the podcast We're Here to Help last year, in which he and cohost Gareth Reynolds offer up advice for the most innocuous of issues from callers. Self Reliance is Johnson's latest project, a film he wrote, directed, and stars in. Self Reliance premieres exclusively on Hulu this Friday, January 12th.

Self Reliance is a comedy thriller film written, directed by, and starring Jake Johnson in his feature-length directorial debut, which also stars Anna Kendrick, Andy Samberg, and Natalie Morales.

When a middle-aged man (Jake Johnson, New Girl) is invited into a limo by famous actor Andy Samberg, his dull life takes a thrilling turn. Johnson is offered a chance to win a million dollars in a dark web reality TV show, where assassins from all over the world attempt to kill him for 30 days. The catch? He can't be killed if he's not entirely alone, leading him to recruit an unlikely team to help him survive.

Self Reliance is produced by Lonely Island and Walcott Productions, while Ali Bell, Joe Hardesty, and Jake Johnson serve as producers and executive producers include Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, and Jorma Taccone.

ComicBook.com caught up with Johnson to talk about Self Reliance and We're Here to Help, along with his experiences in beloved properties like New Girl, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and more.

ComicBook.com: Just to dive right into it and to get what could be a controversial, could be a very personal question that we got to knock out right off the bat...

Jake Johnson: Starting hot.

When it comes to Chicago pizza, what's your go-to? If you want to pick one of the big three, you can go with that, or if you have a more independent place that you prefer.

Well, here's the sad truth: I haven't lived in Chicago now since 2004, and in around 2011... No, 2012, I formed a pretty intense dairy allergy. So I have become the wrong man to ask because I'm now that goober who started doing vegan pizzas, and now I like it. 

I feel like Diane Sawyer a bit, or Marc Maron, to really draw this personal ... If you Google "Jake Johnson," the first thing that comes up is, "Why is Jake Johnson dodging Chicago pizza questions?"

That's right, man. Look, I'm finally ready, because of COVID, I'm just going to be honest now. It's because I have a dairy issue. But before, when I lived in Chicago, my dad was in Lincoln Park, and there was a place called Bacino's, like Al Pacino's, but with a B. And that was where I would go.

Great. I don't know if that place is still in existence.

Not sure. But if it is, Bacino's with a pitcher of beer in Chicago, right in Lincoln Park, is pretty good to me.

Well, thank you. I really do appreciate you setting the record straight. I think we can have a healthier dialogue moving forward.

Me too. I think everybody can. It's going to help heal America. 

To talk about Self Reliance, you wrote, directed, and starred in this movie. I wanted to take it back a little bit to the first gestation of this material. Was this something that you sought out and you said, "I want to write, I want to direct, I want a star in something,"? Was it a project that just started, "I want to write it, see where it goes," then you determined you wanted to direct and star?

Well, the original thing was, I was at first considering ... It was in the early days when Netflix was first coming up, and I didn't think that these streamers were ever going to be real competition to networks. I was on New Girl and I thought that I could maybe do this thing as a miniseries over the summer at Netflix. I started writing it with the idea of trying to have about eight episodes a season, try to do three short seasons, shoot it like a little indie movie the way Swanberg and I have made a few movies together.

And so I pitched it to them and they were developing that show Maniac at the time, and they said that this felt like a smaller version of that, and they passed, and then I got my feelings hurt and just didn't do anything about it. And then during the pandemic, I was sitting around, because I like to try to do some version of work every day, and I was writing some other script and I thought, "This is never going to go, and I don't even care. I'm just doing this to try to get a development deal and get paid." I thought I might as well write that thing that I really loved, and that was this movie. 

I think one of the things that I appreciated most about the movie is there's obviously a built-in concept of codependency, and I think you showed a lot of restraint in not being super on the nose about, "Well, the surface-level narrative is this, but actually it's much deeper." But based on concept, narratively speaking, there are themes of that in there. Since those early days of the project, did that change at all? Did that evolve at all? Or did it start more just, "This is the formula, this is the structure of the story,"?

The big idea of it first came is, I really like big ideas. I like big story engines. I like the Japanese reality shows. I mean, they're no longer considered Japanese reality shows because now Mr. Beast is doing them all in a day. But any of those shows that just psychologically mess with people, and push it and push it. When I was growing up, it was really taboo and really hard to find. Anything that was a human experiment was the key, and it was something that was really fun to watch, and so I wanted to do something like that. I liked high-stakes reality shows, I liked game shows, and so I knew I wanted to do something in that zone as well. 

In terms of the codependency thing, that thing came because I liked the premise of, when I was trying to come up with the rules of this, if they said, "Well, I can't kill you," it's like, "Well, how could I get a character, if I was playing that character, to say yes?" And I wouldn't want to risk anybody else's life. If I'm going to be walking down the street with a friend and I'm playing some stupid game and they're in danger, it's not worth it. But if I can only do it when I'm alone, then when I thought of that, it made me laugh. And then I thought the idea is, that would be a great thing if everybody thought you were just lonely. 

You're wearing so many hats in this movie as a writer, director, actor. Other than the physically taxing elements of, you're spending more time invested in this project, did you feel that once you were on set, once you were actually bringing it to life, was it an easier process because you had so much time invested in it already, you knew exactly what you wanted? Or was it more challenging because not only are you on set as an actor, but you also have to think of 400 other things?

The way that I like to do creative stuff is I like when things change. I like things being fluid. It's one of the reasons I'm not an actor who does theater in that I don't care about doing everything exactly how it was written a hundred years ago. That doesn't excite me. What excites me is when a new person comes on or a camera operator is holding the camera in a pretty funky way and it's moving the scene, I am open to say, "Well, what if we just change a little?" Or when you get to a location, if you wrote it one way, and even though you scouted it, when you see it and it's all set decked and you're there with a camera, things change. And I like being able to change in those moments. 

The problem is, when you have this many hats, it just becomes an exercise in manic behavior. What I really tried to do is surround myself with really talented people like Ali Bell, my producer, Joe Hardesty, another one of my producers who I could really lean on. Anna Borden, my second AD, I really leaned on her as basically a co-director. And Adam Silver, the DP. I had enough people that we could be making changes, and then I would go like, "Are we still making the same movie?" And as long as those heads of departments said yes, I knew we were in a good zone. 

You brought up working with Joe Swanberg and he has a ton of output in his career in a really collaborative environment. So when it came to directing, was there a specific collaborator you would either reach out to to bounce ideas off of who wasn't directly involved with the film or maybe even someone you haven't worked with in the past that you were like, "This is the type of director, this is the type of filmmaker I want to be with this project,"?

Well, I reached out to a ton of people and I tried to put them all in the special thanks, so you'll see at the end of this, if you ever look, there's a lot of people in the special thanks because I did ask a lot of people's help. In terms of directing, Swanberg's a huge influence. The way he runs a set is incredibly ... He's not only talented, but he allows other people to really shine, which I think is important. 

But, really, I think it was, for me, I've done so much television in my life. And with New Girl, I think we did 140 episodes. Stumptown, I think we did 30 or something crazy like that. Minx, we did two seasons. So you have so many different directors. And so I think for me as a director, which was not a childhood dream, it's not a natural job for me, I don't think I'm a born director. Certain times you have a job where you do it and it just feels right. I was always a little fish out of water at directing. That's not to say I might never try it again, but it's just not a natural thing. But I used all the experience of watching others, and so it was more ... I could handpick from each person I'd worked with. So it's hard to say who, because there were random TV directors who did one great thing that I just would think about in the middle of the night and be like, "Oh, yeah, that thing."

Well, in addition to the special thanks, another reason to stick around through the special thanks is then we get to see your character meet up with Samuel L. Jackson to kick off the Self Reliance Cinematic Universe.

Well, no, it's not Samuel Jackson. It's Lamorne Morris. Lamorne Morris sneaks in at the end. Lamorne is leading me into now the Self Reliance universe. So yeah, he's the lead of the second one. 

One of my favorite moments in the movie is Anna Kendrick's character, you're having a hard time with her and she just says, "Let's just do the most fun thing we can do." There was part of me that was bracing for maybe an ironic thing or a super specific thing, and, no, you just went out dancing at a salsa club. You just went to a fun place. For you, is there a thing that, if you're in a funk, you're having a tough time, that you're like, "You know what? This is a thing I know I can do and I'm just going to forget about the stresses of the day,"?

Hmm. That's an interesting ... Honestly, my kids are 10, so being around them when I'm not trying to get them to do homework and they're having fun and I'm sitting with my wife and we're feeling like all their success is because of us, when your kids do something good, you get to have a moment where you're like, "It's because of us. We're the masterminds. We're the puppeteers. They're just our little puppets." And so that's probably my escape, because it's just really fun and I have no responsibility. I get to just watch them do stuff. 

I talked to you previously about Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse and I know you don't know anything, but as far as these multiverses mixing live-action and animation, a lot of characters are coming to life. Do you have an interest in, if they ask for Peter B. Parker to come to life and to have you play that character, are you like, "Yeah, sign me up. I'm there day one," or do you feel like there's something special about that character only existing in that dynamic with Miles and with Gwen?

I really love how it is. I think the animation is great. I think for me, it's all ... Truthfully, it's all about [Spider-Verse producers] Phil Lord and Chris Miller. If Phil Lord or Chris texted and said, "We think this is really cool and we would like you to be part of it," then I'm in. If it's Sony that says they have got a really fun idea and it's a new director who's at a great studio rate, I feel less excited about that. And so I think that a lot of this stuff is ... There's an element that's just money to make money, and projects just to make money, and then there's a few people who really care, and those people who really care, if it's them, I'm on board for anything.

If Phil says, "Hey, man, you're not going to like this, but we're going to put you in tights in front of a green screen," but it's him and it's Chris, I'm like, "The project's going to be so thoughtful and good and mean so much to so many people. And if you think I could help that, f-ck yes, I'm in." But in terms of me individually having a desire, I don't. 

I love Peter B. Parker as ... I will say this: I would be so sad if I got a call that Peter B. Parker is not returning to the Spider-Verse, because I feel really attached to that character. And Phil and I will go out, or we'll text a lot, and I'm always pitching on Peter B., and I'm trying to fight to honor him. I want to make sure ... He's funny, but he's our Spider-Man. He means something and we always go back, and he means a lot to me as a character. I love playing him. So anything outside of that, I don't give it much thought.

Now, what if they recast and Lamorne is the live-action Peter B. Parker?

I mean, not bad. Not bad. Not bad. I'd be mad at his ass, but not bad.

You'll be buying a ticket, but you'll be begrudgingly buying it.

Well, it'll just be so annoying because he talks the dumbest trash. So I would just have to listen to so much. 

It's funny because somewhat recently, he was talking about New Girl and he was talking about, if there's a reunion, if there's another season, he's there. He's happy to do anything for the fans. And I think he said, "Oh, and we could get Jake. Jake has a low rate so we can get him on board. No problem."

Is that what he said?

He's trash-talking you to the press, Jake.

Well, look, I call that Lamorne "Politician Lamorne." For the people, Lamorne will do anything. Sign the contract, Big Daddy, I'm putting your digits on the streets, Lamorne. 

Talking about New Girl and how it really found this new life on Netflix...

Which is incredible.

There are TV shows like Frasier, which is a reboot, but it's a new season. Or there are things like Friends or Fresh Prince of Bell-Air, where they have a reunion special. If there was a New Girl project on the horizon, would you like to see all of you get together and chat about the show? Would you want to come back for half a dozen more episodes? Or do you think you just need to give it another decade and see how everyone's feeling further down the line?

I mean, I will say, I hate both of those things. So I don't like the idea of all of us sitting on a couch and hugging in front of cameras and then getting sincere and being like, "What Max Greenfield means to me..." with him right there. All that feels really bizarre to me, as well as the idea of doing a, "Let's get the gang back together." And now it's like, "Nick Miller's definitely fatter." I'm thinking that we're all with our fake kids. I don't know.

But the same thing in terms of the Peter B. Parker thing. Liz Meriwether is the creator behind it all. It's her vision, it's her show. Liz was such a great partner in that she allowed us all control of our own characters with her, so we could improvise, we could move around and she would write to us, but it's her baby. So if Liz texted me in the middle of the night and said, "I have a great idea for New Girl," that's very different than if Netflix or whatever, Hulu tried to put something together just to make money on it. But I don't think Liz is doing that because I think she's slammed and doing new stuff, and I think it's hard to get everyone. But if it came from her, I think we would all for sure listen. She's really talented and she gave us all the biggest jobs of our lives. 

Another big franchise that you've been involved in is the Jurassic Park series with Jurassic World. 

I like that New Girl's a franchise. Because you went from Spider-Verse to New Girl, and one more big franchise. So the New Girl franchise is a fun one, and I want to see action figures. I want to see a New Girl comic book. Somebody do that.

New Girl Dominion.

New Girl Dominion. Do that, man.

It's New Girl but it's related to Jurassic Park because they're both about a bunch of fossils, am I right? You made that so long ago.

Now we're pitching. Now we're pitching.

We'll set up a separate Zoom about this.

Now we're talking business, my guy. 

You're one of my favorite parts of Jurassic World, and you couldn't return for the sequel. Did you know that in Dominion, your character's confirmed to be a CIA agent?

What? Wait.

I'll take that as a no.

Which one? Dominion was the third one?

The third one, yeah.

Lowery is a CIA agent?

There's an Easter egg, or a dinosaur egg, if you will, there's a screen where they're flipping through staff members and supposedly Lowery has secured himself a government position.

What about Lauren Lapkus's character? Obviously Lauren, who crushed it in the scene with me where she has the boyfriend. She's so funny. Is she in the agency too?

I think there's an "in memoriam"...

Oh, the dinosaurs got her ass.

Yeah. I feel like that's a post-credits scene, "Oh, and by the way, she died on the way to visit her boyfriend."

Yeah. The boyfriend for sure has to die. I think he gets just destroyed by a dinosaur.

She doesn't know what kind of life she missed out on by turning down Lowery.

But I'm not one of those guys that a girl turns you down and you hate her, let her be fine. But I do want that fool to get paid. Let's punish his ass. Let her go, whatever.

Okay. So it sounds like you're a little unaware of Lowery's fate in Jurassic World.

Yeah. I am. 

Since you have been involved in huge franchises like Spider-Man, Jurassic World, New Girl, The Mummy...

The Mummy. That's right.

Are you the type to have any bucket-list roles, "If I can do anything to get into a Star Wars or a Star Trek," do you have anything like that?

No, I didn't grow up ... Those big movies have never really meant very much to me. I think they mean way more to audiences, which are really cool, than I ever expected. But I don't really have a bucket list. My bucket list is to ... I like to create, I like to work. I love working with funny people. I love new stuff. The podcast right now is really fun, because not only ... Gareth and I are doing We're Here to Help and it's really fun and all the callers are fun, but having different guests on. [GaTa and I], we were texting this morning and he just said he would come on. And then I thought like, "Oh, fun. I get to do an hour of bits with him." Because it's not long-form interviewing, it's just bits. So, honestly, my bucket list is just to keep working with funny, talented people. I guess my bucket list is to never weigh 300 pounds. That's what I'm hoping.

As long as you keep it at 299, you're great.

Look, let's be honest, this body was made to balloon up a little bit, but let's just not balloon that big. So I guess that's my bucket list.

Is there something that your kids would be impressed by their dad? Is there something that your kids love if there was, I don't know, a Bluey live-action type of thing?

No. I'll tell you, and I don't know if other people who have kids are in this business or it's, sadly, me specific, but they are not fans. In my house, it is not ... My wife is not into the business and she doesn't care much about the business. She obviously cares about me, but the only time my career pops into my family or what they care about is occasionally my face will appear on the Netflix thing or the Hulu thing. And I will say, it's never clicked upon. So I'll be like, "Hey, would you look at that?" And they'll go like, "Yeah. No, we're watching Young Sheldon, Dad." And I'm like, "Well, there's another show called..." "Nope." "Okay, moving on. Back to Season 3, Episode 9 of 'Young Genius Boy.'" 

You mentioned your podcast, and to wrap things up here, since your podcast is, yes, it's about doing bits, but the premise is to offer advice...

Yeah. We're here to help, goddamn it.

It's sometimes very incredibly useful. Other times...

Yeah, agreed. Agreed. It's hit-and-miss in terms of if we can help.

Exactly. So what has been your biggest takeaway from doing this podcast? How has this podcast helped you personally?

That's a great question. Actually, it's helped me a lot. I've been doing the Hollywood game the way that it's always been done since I moved out, since before I moved to LA. When I lived in New York and Chicago and we were ... I've been writing spec scripts since 2001. And the idea of the TV shows ... if it's That '70s Show, I studied the show. I knew all the characters. I was reading all the books. I was trying to do everything. Then putting your scripts in envelopes and sending them cold in manila folders to agencies with a cover letter, getting headshots with a beanie on and sending to commercial agents being like, "Please, I would love the opportunity to give you 10% of my money." This huge push to allow all these gatekeepers to then give notes and develop and to be part of their world was everything that I ever pushed for.

And, to this day, I'm 45. It's just what I do. Apart from when I'm doing a movie with Swanberg where we go make it in Chicago and we pay for it ourselves and we raise money. So what's really nice about this is just how different it is. There's no development. There's no outside voices. Gareth is a 20-year friend. And we go to our studio and we sit down, and Eduardo Franco shows up, or GaTa shows up, or D'Arcy Carden is coming in next week, Bert Kreischer -- all these funny random people, and they pop in and you take a call.

It's new to all of us, because our producer Kevin, puts it together, so I don't even know what's happening. We react, and people bring different rhythms, and the callers are so funny. It ends and you leave and somebody edits it, this guy John or Will, and it's not us, and then it goes out. I've found the audiences have been massive, and it's spreading fast. And you go like, "Oh, it's so neat that it feels like direct-to-consumer, fast, easy." I'm talking to more people in this space and they're like, "Well, that's what this is," and I'm like, "Oh, this isn't Hollywood. It's a different thing next to it." So I guess what I've learned is it's really fun to be playing a new game at this stage in my life. 

Well, I appreciate you taking the time to chat with me. I never know what sort of project you are going to do next, whether it is the sitcom, something like Minx, or it is popping up in these big franchises like New Girl, or podcasting, or directing, or being in a Swanberg movie.

Well, I'll say, the reason for that is, it's always, for me, going back to it with the reunion stuff, I'll talk my sh-t about reunions. But if Liz called, it would change everything. In terms of these franchises, when you say, "Is there anything on the bucket list?" It's not for me. But if somebody calls and they're like ... Ellen Rapport, who I did not know, the script she wrote for Minx was awesome. That is not what I wanted to do. I was not thinking of doing an eight-episode streamer.

I hate costumes. I am a man of comfort. I hate tight-fitting stuff. Her script was just, that pilot was so good. Then talking to her and Rachel Goldenberg, the director, and Paul Feig, who was producing, we had a Zoom, and I thought, "Man, these are not only really talented people, but I'd really like to be around them." Then in terms of directing, this one came because of Ali Bell. She read the script, we started talking. So, for me, it's a people business. And if it's a talented person who's cool, I'm like, "Man, anything... I'm open to anything." 

Self Reliance premieres exclusively on Hulu on January 12th. We're Here to Help releases two episodes every week.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. You can contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter.