"Jenna was a pleasure to dress," Kaplan continues. "She has a great figure—nothing needs camoflaging. I just got a note from her saying she thinks she’s never looked better."
Kaplan also dressed Anne Bancroft, who plays Jake’s mother Ruth, in very elegant clothes, all by Calvin Klein. Bancroft wanted Ruth to wear black, as a true New Yorker would. "As I talked to each actor, they all said, ‘I want to wear black,’ with the exception of Edward," says Michael Kaplan. "And he had to wear black whenever he was a priest. All of the actors needed to compromise—I didn’t want this comedy to look like a funeral!"
Kaplan conferred with the film’s advisors in choosing appropriate wardrobe for Jake and Brian. "Things have changed so much," says. "When I first met Father Duffell, he had just come back from jogging and he was wearing the latest Nike clothes. I realized that these people are totally integrated into society."
"Whenever Brian was doing something that was part of the ceremony in the church, he would be dressed appropriately," explains Kaplan, who found the ceremonial clothes in catalogues and stores that cater to clergy. "The same thing for Ben Stiller playing a rabbi. Aside from that, there are no rules."
But how far the ceremony reaches into the clerics’ personal lives was a question for the film’s advisors. "There’s a scene where Ben Stiller is putting on the teffilin and saying his morning prayers," says Kaplan. "I thought since he had just gotten out of bed, he might just do it in his underwear, and Rabbi Norry said no, definitely not. He would be dressed."
When Brian dons his civilian clothes, on the other hand, Kaplan dressed Norton in lighter summer colors, in clothes of priest-like simplicity. Stiller’s rabbi, on the other hand, is dressed almost exclusively in New York City black.
Interestingly, Kaplan found that working with Edward Norton as a director was much the same as when they worked together on "Fight Club," in which Norton acted. "I kind of knew he would be a director in the way he had talked about his wardrobe during ‘Fight Club,’" says Kaplan. "He has a vision, and very definite ideas."
"Edward is very thorough, open to ideas and incredibly focused," adds Hawk Koch. "He’s also really good at communicating to actors and pushing them to their limits to get the performance that they have inside them."
"He has this great ability to create an environment where the actors feel safe enough to try new things and take risks," adds Blumberg. "And there are these great unexpected moments that came out of improv that add to the scene." Ben Stiller in particular added to each and every scene in which he appeared.
"Ben always comes up with funny things, and it’s really fun to watch because he’s different every time," notes Jenna Elfman. "He’s extremely talented with comedy—like nothing I’ve ever seen."
Movie Database
In Theaters
