The first mainstream film to tackle the pandemic appears to take aim at actors’ vanity. The director, star and cast members explain why they might actually be heroes
At the start of the pandemic, Judd Apatow slacked. Two-hour strolls, then home for Schitt’s Creek and Ted Lasso. “In my mind, I had tons of downtime. But lately I’ve realised I must have been in full lunatic-workaholic mode. Because I wrote a book and made a documentary and made this movie, all within a very short amount of time. Which sounds to me like a nervous breakdown that had some productivity to it.”
He grins down the line from Los Angeles, 54 now and at the exact physical intersection of Seth Rogen and Garry Shandling. “This movie” is The Bubble, a meta comedy about a group of film stars holed up in Cliveden House hotel, Berkshire, in late 2020 to make a dino franchise flick. Cliff Beasts 6 is claptrap; The Bubble is the biggest film yet to grapple with life in the time of Covid.
