5 Questions with Wes Haney

The perfectly ludicrous “Rebound,” written by Wes Haney, is the tale of a burly stranger who mysteriously arrives at the door of a newly single mom looking to rent out her guest. We asked Haney how the project began, working with his two leads, and what’s next for him…

1) Can you talk briefly about your background, and how you first got interested in comedy?

I grew up in a small town in Indiana, pretty typical midwest upbringing. I was interested in comedy though as long as I can remember. My aunt was and is a very funny person and some of my first memories are trying to make her laugh doing Pee-wee impressions. Loved him. Farley was big for me too as a kid. I saw Tommy Boy in theaters four times. 

Even though I loved it, I didn’t consider comedy as a realistic path until I took my first trip to NYC when I was a senior in high school. Conan picked me out of the crowd at a Late Night taping because we looked alike and then put me on camera in a little back and forth with him. That moment gave me the push I needed and I’m not sure I would have gotten it otherwise.

As an adult, everything has more or less revolved around comedy – doing improv and sketch in college and then Chicago, creatively flatlining in LA for awhile, then jump starting everything again writing, acting, and live performance-wise these last few years in NY.

2) What’s the origin story here? What was the first seed of the idea, and how did you build from that?

Rebound is a quasi-sequel to another short I made with Doron Max Hagay, Bounce, about a guy who suddenly leaves his wife and baby to move to NYC, leaving behind only an absurdly brief note.

So that’s the backstory. Rebound was born out of wanting to see the flip side, that there might be just as much of a story going on back home. I figured if Sienna (Katy’s character) wound up with a guy capable of such a rotten move, then maybe it’s due to a romantic blind spot. And the idea that she might rebound almost instantly to an even worse guy was very funny to me and felt like a pretty rich idea to explore.

3) Your two leads, Katy Fullan and George McAuliffe, are so perfect in this. Did you write it for them? Can you talk about what they brought to the roles, maybe that you didn’t anticipate?

Katy and George came to mind right away when I started thinking about it, so it was very much written for them. I think they both delight in playing these sorts of damaged, delusional characters, so I knew they’d run away with it. 

They both really nailed the essence I’d intended, but the fence lift moment and George’s “wake him up” line are two things I love that weren’t in the script. Such funny reiterations of who this guy is, bulldozing into this little family’s life, setting up shop. And Katy just filtering honest reactions through that character to both of those things so perfectly.

4) What’s the funniest film, new or old, you’ve seen recently?

Greta. Isabelle Huppert is such a funny psychopath.

5) What’s next for you?

I'm finishing up a feature-length screenplay I'm writing with my buddy Sam Weiner and acting in a short that Ben Kitnick’s directing this summer. 

Contact Info:

IG and Twitter: @westonhaney

Facebook: @weshaney1