There’s that classic joke that every straight man is just one six-pack from having gay sex. The award-winning independent film Humpday—which was recently released on DVD—gives us a slight variation: Maybe hetero males just need one well-placed dare to convince them to switch teams.
Why would straight men accept such a challenge?
“Our characters are at a place in their lives where they say to themselves, ‘I’m not as happy as I should be, and I’m not as happy as I was when you and I were 19 and in college dreaming of all the things we thought we were going to do.’” says Mark Duplass, who plays the married “Ben” in the film.
Duplass is an indie film actor best known for his work with his director/writer brother Jay (The Puffy Chair). He appears next with Ben Stiller in Greenberg. He’s also scripted the upcoming comedy Cyrus with John C. Reilly and Jonah Hill.
In Humpday, Duplass is one of two straight college buddies who reconnect 10 years after school. His friend Andrew soon drags Ben to a wild party thrown by people who blur the line of sexual identity. Surrounded by these free spirits, Ben and Andrew goad each other into entering Humpfest, an actual amateur porn competition in Seattle. What’s the most risqué thing these longtime friends could do? They could do something that deeply scares them, filming themselves having sex with each other.
This very small and unique film was shot over 10 days. It was a surprise hit at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, winning a special jury award.
“That was amazing. All of Sundance was amazing,” says Humpday costar Joshua Leonard. “Of course, I’ve had great experiences at Sundance before.”
Joshua Leonard is referring to his first film; he shot to international fame after starring in the biggest indie film of its time, The Blair Witch Project. He just finished writing and acting in his own directorial debut, The Lie, based on the short story by T.C. Boyle.
What drew Duplass and Leonard to Humpday?
“These friends are so competitive with each other. Yet, they love each other so much,” states Duplass.
“I really wanted to work with Mark,” Leonard says. “I didn’t know anything about the project before I said yes. And then I got the details, and I was like, ‘Sure, okay.’”
“I think our characters’ lives push them into a little bit of a panic mode.” Duplass says. “It makes them want to put everything into a box, shake it up, turn it upside down, and see what happens.”
“I kind of relate to Andrew, the way he wants to push boundaries,” Leonard says.
Aren’t the characters aware that what they propose isn’t all that extraordinary? Don’t they know that there’s a whole business out there founded on straight people turning gay for pay?
“These guys are buffoons,” Duplass says of their characters Ben and Andrew, “To them, this is at the outer limits, one of the craziest things they could do. That’s why they love it.”
Throughout the film, neither character has any problem being affectionate with the other. It always seems distinctly possible that Ben’s and Andrew’s competitive streaks and love for the other could lead them to dare each other into sex.
“The physical affection wasn’t something we rehearsed,” says Leonard. “I’m pretty affectionate with all my friends, and so a lot of that came naturally, I guess.”
Many of Duplass and Leonard’s film projects require a natural skill that scares other actors: improvisation. Humpday is no exception. The film utilizes only two hand-held cameras; it was shot with little rehearsal. The actors mostly discussed their characters beforehand through e-mail. Writer/director Lynn Shelton wrote a trigger script and then shot multiple impromptu scenes with her actors, picking the best and funniest shots to tell her risqué tale. The story was shot in chronological order, a process that helped the actors develop their characters further every day.
“That touch of naturalism in what we love, what we gravitate toward,” Duplass confirms.
Duplass and Leonard are not the typical men you’d imagine shooting porn, gay or straight. In Humpday, there is a rumpled comfort to them. With their homemade art film, they trying to escape becoming middle-aged schlubs by doing something edgy.
“I think the act of gay sex represents a marker for them in their friendship,” Duplass surmises.
Leonard also acknowledges the edge of discomfort the film explores. “Straight guys are so weirdly threatened by being thought of as gay. We like to think of ourselves as so open-minded, but that’s often bullshit. A lot of straight guys can hang out all night in a roomful of gay guys, as long as the gay guys never question that he’s totally straight. That’s sort of funny and paranoid.”
For a comedy, Humpday also asks a lot of fascinating questions. What would we do in the name of friendship? What risks would we take on a dare? How do our actions—both in and out of bed—define us? By taking risks and crossing boundaries, this entertaining experience will likely stir long discussions long after audiences view Humpday.
The movie certainly added some interesting flavor to the actors’ lives.
“It’s definitely different when my wife’s grandparents see the movie, and I have to sit there and discuss it with them,” Duplass says of the unexpected popularity of Humpday. “It’s interesting for them to watch me kiss another dude; it’s a whole other bag of worms, so to speak.”
