Before stars Billy Crystal as Eli, a child psychiatrist who, after recently losing his wife, Lynn (Judith Light), encounters a troubled young boy, Noah (Jacobi Jupe), who seems to have a haunting connection to Eli’s past. As Eli attempts to help Noah, their mysterious bond deepens, sparking haunting memories and unearthing unsettling secrets about the past.
The ten-episode limited series makes its global debut on Apple TV+ with the first two episodes on Friday, October 25, with one new episode every Friday through December 20.
We recently had the good fortune to sit down for a conversation with Billy and Jacobi to take a deep dive into their on-screen dynamic. The actors take us through what it was like shooting a unique fight sequence and what they learned from each other during the process of making the show.
The Before co-stars also share some insights into how they had fun on set and why Billy wrapped the shoot by giving Jacobi a $20 bill.
Of course, many of you will know the former for his role in the Monsters Inc. franchise as the iconic Mike Wazowski. While we had the opportunity - and with Disney Parks planning a new land themed after the Pixar property in Orlando - we asked Billy if he'd like to reprise the role in a future movie.
"I really hope so! They’re building this Monsters Inc. land. I went to the Disney D23 and announced it," he told us (via ComicBookMovie.com). "I’m really excited about that. I hope there’s more for Mike. He’s really one of the great characters I’ve ever played; this joyous little underachieving one-eyed monster."
"And the wonderful people like John Goodman, Henry Winkler, and everybody involved with the series," Crystal added. "I would love that there be another movie. Maybe Mike and Sully are now living in an assisted living place for monsters, I don’t know!"
You can check out the full interview with Billy and Jacobi in the player below.
In the first episode, Eli and Noah have a fight scene of sorts. What do you both remember about shooting that sequence?
Jacobi: Didn’t we have to do it again?
Billy: Yeah!
Jacobi: So, we did it and then we did it again because I think we needed to…they added more stuff to it, so we ended up doing it even crazier and even crazier. It’s so fun because we were wrestling and then there was blood and then suddenly, everything just stops abruptly.
Billy: When we first shot it, I felt it was not rough enough. It was not scary enough. I brought in clips from a movie called The Miracle Worker which was Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke and the story of Helen Keller and her teacher Anne Sullivan. They have fights. Granted, she couldn’t see and she couldn’t hear, but he shot off in a way that’s similar to that. I really wanted it to be as physical as you see and, with the stunt coordinator, we worked it out and we did it a few times. It’s disarming. It’s essential for understanding the rage that he’s experiencing, but the reasons for it, I can’t see because they’re in his mind. I love that sequence.
Jacobi: I like it.
Billy: We shot it handheld and close and made it safe for both of us. That was a good scene to do.
Jacobi, to work with someone like Billy Crystal, what did you learn from him and what were some of your favourite experiences doing so?
Jacobi: I loved working with Billy. He’s such an incredible, talented actor. He’s great at everything, including psychological thriller series, which I didn’t think I was going to be working with him in, but here I am! [Laughs] He’s so incredibly lovely and such a wonderful person to work with.
And Billy, you’ve had a phenomenal career both on stage and screen, but what did you learn from Jacobi by having him as your co-star?
Billy: I learned from him every day. Every scene that we did, I learned about him. I learned about his honesty, having to have the truth of the moments he had to play, otherwise he couldn’t play them. ‘Tell me why I’m saying this. Tell me why am I feeling this?’ He needed the basic things that any veteran actor would ask any director. ‘Why? Why am I in this scene? Where am I, who am I, who am I talking to?’ That was really wonderful to experience because when you create a show and so much hangs on the fact your co-star is a young person…limited hours of being able to shoot and the stamina of having to do 10 episodes with the things Noah has to go through. He kept saying, ‘More. I want to do more. I can go further than that.’ The directors would push him and he was up to it and would sometimes say, ‘I can do more.’ I loved his courage.
This is a very intense series and both of your characters go through a lot as there are many hard-hitting scenes in what proves to be an edge-of-your-seat series. Between takes, how did you unwind and have fun?
Billy: Oh, you have to.
Jacobi: Yeah, you have to. We were up to no good!
Billy: Out of frustration, if I said an F-bomb, he’d go, ‘Oh, you owe me a dollar!’ So, the last day of shooting, I gave him a $20 bill.
Jacobi: I either spent that or I still have it.
Billy, while I have you, I know they’re bringing new Monsters Inc. content to the Disney Parks, but do you think we’ll see you back as Mike at some point?
Billy: I really hope so! They’re building this Monsters Inc. land. I went to the Disney D23 and announced it. I’m really excited about that. I hope there’s more for Mike. He’s really one of the great characters I’ve ever played; this joyous little underachieving one-eyed monster. And the wonderful people like John Goodman, Henry Winkler, and everybody involved with the series. I would love that there be another movie. Maybe Mike and Sully are now living in an assisted living place for monsters, I don’t know!
Jacobi: [Laughs]
Both of you get to work with some visual effects in this show. They’re really creepy, but what did you both enjoy about using your imagination in scenes like those?
Billy: They took a long time in post-production. Sarah and I would meet weekly with the special effects as they would come in and develop them more and adjust them until they could be perfect. I think they’re pretty great and we had a great group of people. When you act with them, you have to say, ‘Now, what am I looked at?’ Especially for Jacobi who had only done one movie prior to this so you’re dealing with, ‘I have to look where and what am I seeing?’ ‘Well, this thing is gonna come out of the corner of the ceiling.’ ‘What does it look like?’ ‘We don’t know yet but it’s…’ It’s hard, but when it’s finished and it’s seamless, we’re really grateful we had a great special effects group.
Before premieres with its first two episodes on Friday, October 25.