Based on executive producer Michael Ausiello’s best-selling memoir Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies, the upcoming romantic drama, Spoiler Alert, stars Jim Parsons as Ausiello, an entertainment writer who has a rom-com-worthy meet-cute with photographer Kit Cowan, portrayed in the film by Ben Aldridge. Like the memoir, the heartbreaking holiday movie chronicles the couple’s love story from their first fated moment, to their last, when Kit is diagnosed with terminal cancer. The movie also stars two-time Academy Award-winner Sally Field and Bill Irwin as Cowan’s parents Marilyn and Bob.

Ahead of the movie’s theatrical release, Collider’s Steve Weintraub was able to sit down with stars Field and Irwin. During their interview, they talk about what initially drew them to Spoiler Alert, reuniting as a married couple after 20 years, and how they handled the film’s more emotional scenes. They also discuss the genuine way the movie depicts relationships, and how it isn’t considered a typical romantic comedy. You can watch the interview in the video above, or read the full transcript below.

COLLIDER: Listen, congrats on the movie. I have a lot of questions, but I like throwing an individual question and a curve ball at the beginning. Sally, my first question for you is for you, are you now a huge Tom Brady fan?

SALLY FIELD: That’s not a curve ball, it’s just the wrong film. For the next film, but am I a huge Tom Brady fan? Well, having met him now, absolutely. Of course, I said to him at the time, “I’m also a Rams fan because I’m in LA.” So, oops. He said that he was coming back because he was going to have a redo, but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen either. But he’s just adorable.

Image via Focus Features

Bill, I am a huge fan of Legion and I loved the series finale. I love the entire show. I just want to know real quick, were you as happy as I was with how the finale all came together?

BILL IRWIN: Yeah, but I wish it hadn’t finaled. I wish there were further that story could go. It was a great, great gig and I’m glad to see Amber Midthunder in her stardom now.

For people that I haven’t seen that series, it’s fantastic. So for both of you, you guys have both done such great work. So many things that people can watch. If someone has actually never seen anything you’ve done before, what is the first thing you’d like them watching, and why?

FIELD: Who are we talking to?

It could be anyone. I know, the problem is it could be like a 15-year-old or it could be a 50-year-old, I mean.

FIELD: What is the first thing I would like them to watch? Themselves, probably. Watch yourself, watch where you step, watch your life, care about things, pay attention, read up. You know what, I wouldn’t have anything to say. I don’t find myself promoting myself, even though here I am, but I’m promoting a film, so I don’t know that I’d have anything specific to say to them, a young person. I would wonder what on earth you have behind you. Clearly you are Marvel fan.

I like a bunch of things. I know, people don’t realize you’re probably looking at a very small laptop screen, so it is hard to see behind me. Let’s just say there’s some items.

FIELD: There are definitely some items.

I’ll switch to Bill then. Is there something that you’d like people to watch?

IRWIN: I’ll put it this way, as I get older, I wish I could go back and see – we did a stage show called Fool Moon.

FIELD: Oh, wow.

IRWIN: I don’t even know when to count it, but I’d love to sort of see…

FIELD: Have it be the beginning of that and come to the theater and see you do that.

IRWIN: Yeah. I’d love to be able to go back and see that, and see how it compares to my memory of doing it. Which is interesting about this movie, Spoiler Alert, we’ve been talking about what a really fun bit of work it was, it’s a pretty heavy movie in some ways, but coming to work, it’s not always the case, but coming to work on this job was just really enjoyable.

Image via Focus Features

Jumping into why I get to talk to you, one of the things that I really love about the movie is that it doesn’t try to Hollywoodize anything. It’s a real relationship about two people and what they really went through. And movies like this are really hard to get made nowadays. Can you sort talk about that aspect and why you wanted to do it?

FIELD: Well, I initially wanted to do it because two of the people I have such great respect for, and regard for, and I am close to, and I adore, and who are in this industry, and who I’ve had the great opportunities to work with, and that’s Michael Showalter the director, and David Marshall Grant, the screenwriter. They called me together and said they had this film, would I be in it? And I said, “Absolutely. I’m in it. I’m yours.”

David Marshall Grant I worked with for five years on a show called Brothers and Sisters that we did, and Michael Showalter, I did a little movie called Hello, My Name Is Doris, and so they said, “Great, but would you read it first before you just go ahead and say…” And I said, “I’ll read it, but I know I’ll do it. I will be there.” And so luckily, it is a wonderful story about how hard it is to love somebody for the duration and keep that up, and what that is, whether it be the parents to each other, or to a child, or whether it’s your partner, love and compassion and understanding and endurance, these are some key things people have to remember in the world today, I think.

IRWIN: Everything Sally says. It’s an interesting movie in that it’s so many different things, but it is not a three-month span rom-com story, it’s a story of a long relationship, which culminated in marriage, didn’t begin as a marriage, and background characters, supporting characters of this long time marriage. As I told Sally, I’m thinking back now, my first day of work, I show up, I’m working with Sally, I’m working with Showalter, I’m working with Jim Parsons, whom I greatly admire, I’m just meeting Ben Aldridge and he’s my son in the hospital. My first line is, “For Christ’s sake, Marilyn.” So we’re right into a relationship right away.

If I’m not mistaken, you guys played a married couple like 18 years ago, or am I wrong about that?

IRWIN: 20 years ago.

FIELD: Yeah, he keeps saying that, stop it— just the other day.

It’s amazing that you guys got to do it again.

FIELD: It’s fabulous. It was another added part to this for me in that it was Billy doing this. We were on Broadway together a number of years ago, all right, I admit, and it was a hard show to do. Billy had the brunt of it, but it was still a hard show. So when you do eight performances a week for month, after month, after month, you kind of bond.

IRWIN: You do bond. You do bond. I had a moment, however-many years ago it was, I’m downstage sort of in ruminative mode, Sally’s upstage me throwing plates, and I would revel in watching the audience’s eyes on her. They couldn’t believe what she was doing, and yeah, we were able to hit the road running as husband and wife.

Image via Focus Features

I like knowing about a big emotional scene. So if you have something, like a big scene coming up, how do you like to prepare for something like that?

FIELD: Well, they’re different scenes in different ways. I mean, certainly this scene, what the requirements were for Bill and me, I can’t speak for him, but I venture to say he’s going to say exactly the same thing that I do, is I didn’t have to prepare at all. I did no preparation. As a matter of fact, I had to stay away from it as long as I could because I have three sons, and even though I did not see any of my sons as Kit, I just know you put yourself in that emotional arena. And we got to improv a little bit with what we did and what we said because it’s Michael Showalter and he allows that space. But for me, I had to stay away. It was best not to prepare very much at all because I would’ve then left it in wherever that preparation was happening. It was so vivid because of what it’s about to these two parents. So for me, it was just step in and try to maintain.

IRWIN: Yes, just try to maintain. I, like Sally, am the proud parent of a proud young gay man, and you’re telling this story of something that happens to your son, it just kind of tells itself, and you hang on for dear life.

Spoiler Alert is now in theaters. For more from the movie, check out Collider’s interview with stars Jim Parsons and Ben Aldridge below: