Wolfs' Amy Ryan on comedy-dramas, Pitt and Clooney and working with "insanely funny" Steve Carell

Luckily for the New Yorker, fun is the name of the game in Jon Watts's first post-Marvel big-screen outing, Wolfs, which follows Hollywood up-and-comers George Clooney and Brad Pitt as a couple of 'fixers' who take on a crime that's slightly more complex than they anticipated.

Sure, Ryan's role in the movie, as a powerful politician who calls for help when her sexual conquest ends up seemingly dead in her hotel room, may not seem "fun" on the surface.

But even among the drama, Pitt, Clooney and Ryan find comedic beats from the moment they share the screen together - and that chemistry came easy for the trio.

"They have such a beautiful rhythm," Ryan says of the movie's A-list odd couple. "You can't deny that friendship that's there, that history.

"And they leave room for each other. It doesn't feel – even though their characters are competitive – the two actors on set don't appear to be competitive, you know, trying to win the scene from one another.

"Maybe they were, and I just didn't see it... But, you know, there was support for each other, which extended to me too. It very much felt like [we were] a trio in that scene."

While only present in the opening stages of the movie, which plays out as much as a play as it does an extended big-screen sequence, Ryan’s Margaret leaves her mark. There's a mystery to her that sets the tone for the film from the off.

While Margaret insists that she "doesn't do this sort of thing" (i.e. one-night stands with young conquests, and presumably getting mixed up in the criminal underworld), the audience gets a sense of her power and importance in this universe. And this complexity naturally appealed to a risk-taking performer like Ryan.

"It's fantastic to play a woman who is not defined by her role as mother, girlfriend, ex-wife, you know? Here's a very powerful, formidable woman in a very stressful, slightly comical situation.

"And I love that it was this launch pad that almost felt like a one-act play. In the script, it's around 35 pages of, 'Oh my gosh, this is unusual and fun.' And it proved to be that way in the making of it."

"Unusual and fun" could be the tagline for Wolfs, which jumps from one chaotic situation to another across its runtime.

Whether it’s 'Margaret's Man' (Clooney) showing off his slightly unorthodox cleaning techniques or 'Pam's Man' (Pitt) consistently pranking his unwitting partner-in-hiding-crime, there is rarely a dull moment.

And all of this comes from the mind of Watts, who used his MCU clout to secure funding for what has been a passion project of his for a long time. That passion, at least for Ryan, came through every day on set.

"Working with him was just a great experience," she explains. "I love his sense of humour. He's wonderfully absurd.

"And I really like his first film, Cop Car. I love how compact and tightly-woven that is, and how he uses moving pictures to tell a story, kind of old-fashioned in that sense.

"He was very hands-on. He would do a lot of takes, and he would quickly assemble the scene. He'd go back to his monitor, and he'd kind of edit things together. Then he's like, 'Oh, I need another shot of this and that.'

"So you really felt part of it, the whole process from start to end."

No clearer is Watts's "wonderfully absurd" humour than through the character arc of Austin Abrams's 'Kid'. We won't spoil what happens here – partly for your enjoyment, partly because it almost defies description – but anyone who has seen the film knows you can't really talk about it without mentioning Abrams's tighty-whities-wearing deadbeat.

While the Kid doesn't feature too much in Ryan's opening sequence, outside of lying sprawled out on the floor, covered in blood (all of these scenes were shot with Abrams himself, Ryan confirms), the 56-year-old enjoyed having the up-and-comer on set, including for a very enjoyable closing credits scene.

"Austin was a really extraordinary team player. It's always an unusual thing, you know, to meet someone – but especially when they're in their underwear," she laughs.

"But within our first 10 minutes, Austin and I quickly found a really good friend we have in common, and somehow that drops your shoulders, like, 'OK, I feel like I know you already.'

"It just felt very easy and playful, and I like how our scenes kind of fell into a little bit of the theatre of the absurd, as opposed to this tale of, you know, this hot seductress."

Thinking of it, "unusual and fun", "wonderfully absurd", "theatre of the absurd" – these terms could all describe chunks of Ryan's award-laden, constantly-varied, decades-spanning career.

After all, many across the globe will know Ryan best for her time on The Office – which still draws in millions of viewers on streaming platforms around the world – and Only Murders in the Building – for which she picked up a SAG Awards nomination alongside the show's stellar ensemble.

In the former, Ryan played Holly Flax, who enjoys a typically deranged will-they-won't-they (spoilers, they will – and it will tug on the heartstrings) with Steve Carell's Michael Scott across four manic seasons.

Working with one of the planet's finest improvisers naturally proved a challenge at times.

"No matter how many episodes I did with Steve Carell, it was very hard to keep a straight face with him," she explains.

"He's just insanely funny. Thankfully there were always two cameras, so one camera would just go off silently when I started to laugh.

"I'd be holding my breath, laughing, and you'd see my shaking shoulders on the other side of it."

Ten years after leaving one star-studded comedic series, Ryan joined another, signing onto Steve Martin and Martin Short's Only Murders in 2021 as Jan, the foil of Martin's Charles Haden-Savage.

It's a role that keeps on giving for Ryan – she surprisingly rocks up in season 4 – and one that promises to keep on giving for audiences, too, who continue to be engrossed by her increasingly crazed character.

What can we expect next? "I like to think, you know, she'll appear now and again, riding up the elevator," she teases. (If you’ve watched early episodes of season 4, you’ll know.)

"As long as that show goes on... It's such a joy to be around that cast and those writers.

"Steve Martin, Martin Short, they have had these very long careers, very successful careers, and then they both happen to have very long friendships that go with it, and it makes sense why they want to work together.

"I like to think Jan is like every smart New Yorker – you never give up your apartment, under any circumstances. You hold on to that. So I hope that continues."

Only Murders, Wolfs, even The Office – all of these projects seamlessly blend comedy and drama. As much as Ryan thrives in outright dramatic roles (see: an Oscar nomination for Gone Baby Gone), she often chooses projects and parts that flit between lightness and depth, bringing several layers to the screen – and that’s a deliberate choice.

"I remember reading that Jane Fonda once said that when you play a two-dimensional character, it actually hurts your body to put your three-dimensional self into a two-dimensional character.

"So no matter what the script is, it's always yes, of course, if they are more human and more complex... we humans are more nuanced, full of contradictions.

"I can find comedy in human folly. You know, human mistake and human ambition, whatever it is. Life is funny."

Will Ryan's next project tread similar lines? Well, in truth, even she doesn't know. There's nothing official on the agenda at the moment. Acting-wise, at least.

In the immediate future, there's something more important than performing on screen to deal with – playing her part in a national election.

"I'm looking forward to casting my vote," she smiles. "I'm putting my energies into that right now."

Working on fun projects and shaping the future of your country – it turns out there are two reasons to get up early in the morning.

Wolfs is now streaming on Apple TV+ – sign up to Apple TV+ now.

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