Dave Franco talked to Insider about how he and his wifeAlison Brie ended up taking Molly the first night they met.- Brie recently expanded on the evening while on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," saying that the two happened to have dinner in New Orleans during Mardi Gras with a mutual friend.
- After the friend showed Franco a text exchange she had with Brie on how she wanted to "hook up" with him, it led to "48 hours of drugs and sex," Brie told Fallon.
- The two then took Molly before making "
The Rental " for research purposes. - Brie's character does it in the movie.
- "If anything it reminded her of how happy she is on Molly. And how much she loves to dance, which we incorporated in the film," Franco told Insider.
Dave Franco and Alison Brie aren't scared to say it: They enjoy taking Molly.
Franco has revealed this while doing press for his directorial debut, "The Rental" (available On Demand and at select drive-ins beginning Friday), in which Brie stars.
In fact, Franco said the two took the drug MDMA (known as "Molly") the first night they met eight years ago.
"Now, we didn't meet while we were on Molly, but we did take Molly by the end of the night," Franco told Insider. "Cut to eight-and-a-half years later and we've never been happier."
Brie expanded on the events of the evening recently while being a guest on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon."
She said that the two ran into each other at the New Orleans airport during Mardi Gras. Brie was with a friend who knew Dave and they all decided to go out to dinner that night.
During the dinner, Brie and her friend were texting about how Brie should "hook up" with Franco. Brie agreed. Unbeknownst to Brie, her friend showed the texts to Franco, who agreed that he would be interested, too.
Looking back on it now, Brie calls it "incredible matchmaking done by my friend."
"It was a perfect set-up because we both got to leave the restaurant [and] head out to the evening of drinking and debauchery having a sexy secret that we knew the other person was on board," Brie said. "So then it was 48 hours of drugs and sex [and] a lot of making out."
The two married married in 2017.
The couple did Molly again in preparation for 'The Rental'
Fast forward to later 2018 when Franco was getting "The Rental" off the ground, the couple decided to do Molly again. This time for research, Franco told Insider.
In the thriller, the characters take the drug their first night at the rental house, expect for Brie's character Michelle, who decides to take it the second night. She ends up tripping alone as everyone partied too hard the night before. Michelle ends up in her own world, dancing and smiling, as chaos and death erupt around her.
Franco said what Brie did in that scene mirrors their research Molly session.
"She ended up taking a lot more than me because I was in the middle of trying to find a first AD for the film so I was stressed about that," Franco said. "It was kind of like in the film, she ended up on her own island high by herself. I ended up filming her just to see if we could take away anything from it where she could study the video later to help inform her performance. If anything it reminded her of how happy she is on Molly. And how much she loves to dance, which we incorporated in the film."
Franco said that if Brie was comfortable with it he would absolutely make the footage of her on Molly a DVD extra for "The Rental."
The couple enjoys working together. They have previously starred together in
"It's for me to direct and for her to star in," Franco said. "It's a genre that we love but we felt like people have really been yearning for a smart elevated comedy so we started to think about 'When Harry Met Sally…,' 'Sleepless in Seattle,' and 'Pretty Woman.' We're hoping it's the next one we get to collaborate on."