Albert Brooks Laments How Comedy Has Been “Relegated to Streaming”: “It’s Always Been Treated Second Class”

Ella McCay is not only James L. Brooks’ return to the directing chair after a 15-year hiatus, it’s also a rare comedy being given a theatrical release, as co-star Albert Brooks is quick to note.

The film follows a young woman (played by Emma Mackey) who becomes governor of her home state while navigating complicated relationships with her husband, father and brother, alongside a star-studded cast of Jamie Lee Curtis, Ayo Edebiri, Woody Harrelson, Kumail Nanjiani, Rebecca Hall and Julie Kavner.

At the Los Angeles premiere on Tuesday, Albert Brooks pointed out that The Hollywood Reporter that it’s rare for a comedy film like that Ella McCay to actually land in theaters, as “comedy, of all the kinds of movies, has been relegated to streaming.”

“It’s always been a second-class art form. You can look at the Academy Awards; I don’t really understand it. It’s the hardest because you need a reaction from the audience,” he continued. “You can go see Death of a Salesman and if nobody makes a peep, it could be a hit. But if nobody laughs at this, you’re not going to be happy. It’s always been treated second class.”

The star — who has been involved in hit comedies including Broadcast News, Defending Your Life and Lost in America — explained he’s also being more selective about his roles these days, since “as you get older, sometimes what they offer you you don’t really want to do.” When it comes to James L. Brooks though, he added, “I don’t say no when he asks me to act in something. I’ve said yes for decades,” most notably with Broadcast News.

And although his last directorial effort was 2010’s How Do You KnowJames L. Brooks doesn’t see this as his big comeback, saying, “I had a day job with The SimpsonsI was producing movies, and it didn’t feel like that to me. Now that people say it to me I say, ‘Oh yeah.’ And then at a certain point I was going nuts not writing, and so I wrote the script for this.”

Mackey called working on the project “one of the great privileges of my life” in having a role “where I get to play different ages and get to play someone who is very forthright and inspired and motivated to keep going and to do a job that she deeply cares about, for the right reasons.”

Curtis noted that in getting the director’s call, “I’ve been waiting a long time for a filmmaker like James L. Brooks to ask me to work with him,” and celebrated the project as “it’s funny, it’s very smart it’s about something. It’s about this beautiful young woman and the possibility that you are not your family, that you don’t have to carry your family legacy with you everywhere you go; you can break free from those patterns, and I think we’re all influenced by that.”

Ella McCay hits theaters on Friday.